Last weekend was the 7th annual Girl's Weekend with a group of fantastic people I've met throughout the years. The basic premise is that a group of about 10 of us go somewhere we've never been. We keep it on the cheap. Previous destinations have included places like Minneapolis, Chicago and Memphis. This year, we chose to go to exotic Eureka Springs, Arkansas. It's a little tourist town of less than 3,000 people located about 4 hours South of Kansas City. To sum it up, it was AWESOME. We stayed in a "Cabin" that was a lot like one of the many Real World houses we've all seen. It was equipped with 4 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, a hot tub, and a fire pit. It was also located at the top of what felt like the steepest, winding, gravel driveway I've ever seen. The only real directions that were given to us was that it was exactly 1.4 miles south of the train station. That should give you an idea of how hidden this place was. I'm not even sure there was an address. I believe that the heart racing and sweating that happened from driving up this driveway is what led to the biggest weight loss I've had thus far. 5.1 pounds in 5 days. INSANO.
Okay, so back to the weekend: Obviously in 3.5 days of fun, there are a lot of stories and a lot to tell. I don't want to bore you with the details but here are some of the major highlights.
Thursday night:
We arrived at the cabin around 11:30pm and immediately ran around the giant cabin like kids in a candy store. This was followed by changing into our swimsuits and taking a trip in what will forever be referred to as "The Hot Tub Time-Machine". Good times.
Friday:
We got up leisurely, ate brunch, showered, and then headed into downtown Eureka Springs. We all sort of split up. Some people wanted to check out the stores, others wanted to partake in the best Bloody Mary bar in Eureka Springs. As you know, I can't really eat or drink so I just hung out with the people drinking because it always leads to funny conversation. Afterwards, we set out to have an old time photo taken. I've never been a huge fan of doing this, but for some reason, the girls I'm with think it's the greatest thing since sliced bread. We dressed as pirates and wenches and took a photo aboard the "Sea Hag". I always complain about doing this, but honestly, the results are pretty friggin hilarious. Photo coming soon. After this, we searched for a place to have dinner. After that, we were walking by some voodoo place and SG declares "What the eff is an intuitive reading?" I had no idea, but for 30 bucks, I was about to find out. The proprieters of the voodoo store shut the store down for us. They let us bring in beer and sit around like storytime in kindergarten while the majority of us had readings. I went first. I thought the whole thing was kind of vague for me, but here's the gist: I'll be rich, I'm going through something difficult but I'll make it. Neat. Everyone else's reading was EERILY accurate. I mean, scary precise and accurate. We spent the better part of 3-4 hours there and then headed to a bar known for having the largest dancefloor in Eureka Springs, as well as a bevy of hats that you could wear and a hula hoop contest. Enter the debauchery. SG promptly gets a guy who looks like Larry the Cable Guy to help her do a noodle bong. Everyone else is dancing like maniacs. It was a really fantastic time. I didn't even mind the fact that I couldn't partake in any adult beverages because honestly, it was pretty entertaining anyways.
Saturday:
Some people didn't get a chance to have their intuitive readings so a handful of us went back. We rendezvoused back at the cabin so we could head to Beaver Dam Lake where we had rented a pontoon boat from 2-6. The road there was winding and hilly, causing not one, but two of our girls to yack from motion sickness (or being hungover...who knows) We spent the afternoon on the lake which was nice. However, the lake was 55 degrees so only a couple crazies jumped in. We got home and A and SG began to build a fire in the firepit. That was better than TV to watch. I hope I can get some pictures from KL to post eventually. SG sang Kumbayah while carrying wood to the pit. Hilarious.
Sunday:
We pretty much drove back as soon as we woke up.
Overall, it was pretty awesome. I can also cross Arkansas off the list of states I haven't been to. Bonus!
5.26.2010
5.20.2010
Week 5.5
Today I had a round of fasting labs at the buttcrack of dawn. I usually have my appointment on Mondays after work, however, due to the fact they needed to be fasting labs, I had to move to Thursday. I know I shouldn't be disappointed, but I really am. I was sure that I had a big week. I've been trying not to weigh myself at home like a crazy person because, let's face it, it's probably unhealthy. When I heard that I had only lost 2.7 pounds in 10 days, I felt like crying.
Apparently, I simply am not eating the right way. I'm eating the right stuff and the right amount of calories, but just not at the right time. I'm not gonna lie, I've been eating 3 meals by the time I get home from work. I typically wake up at 6am. That means I'm eating around 300 calories in 11 hours. I then eat another 4 meals once I get home and before I go to bed. Essentially, I'm shoving 4 meals into a 5 hour period and stretching 3 meals across 11 hours. This weeks goal: Actually eat every 2-3 hours. The way it was explained to me, 700 calories a day is basically starving. The way you trick your body into thinking it's NOT starving (thereby boosting your metabolism) is by eating every few hours. Since I suck at doing that, I've been slowing down my weight loss.
So, I hereby state that I'm going to do my damndest to do what I'm supposed to. This is hard, and honestly, quite expensive...so I'd like to do it for as short a period of time as possible.
In other news, I plan an epic post about the impending Girl's Weekend of 2010 (Eureka Springs, Arkansas). We leave tonight and I've been looking forward to it for longer than I can remember!!!
YAY!!
Apparently, I simply am not eating the right way. I'm eating the right stuff and the right amount of calories, but just not at the right time. I'm not gonna lie, I've been eating 3 meals by the time I get home from work. I typically wake up at 6am. That means I'm eating around 300 calories in 11 hours. I then eat another 4 meals once I get home and before I go to bed. Essentially, I'm shoving 4 meals into a 5 hour period and stretching 3 meals across 11 hours. This weeks goal: Actually eat every 2-3 hours. The way it was explained to me, 700 calories a day is basically starving. The way you trick your body into thinking it's NOT starving (thereby boosting your metabolism) is by eating every few hours. Since I suck at doing that, I've been slowing down my weight loss.
So, I hereby state that I'm going to do my damndest to do what I'm supposed to. This is hard, and honestly, quite expensive...so I'd like to do it for as short a period of time as possible.
In other news, I plan an epic post about the impending Girl's Weekend of 2010 (Eureka Springs, Arkansas). We leave tonight and I've been looking forward to it for longer than I can remember!!!
YAY!!
5.16.2010
The cherry on top...
Post Authoring Note: This is long, and probably uninteresting, but I promise the end is worth the read.
I had extremely high hopes for Saturday. For weeks, I had been planning on walking in a 5K for the Humane Society with a few of my girls. Not only was this organized physical activity (which I typically avoid at all costs...but really...I'm trying to turn over a new leaf), but it was also for a good cause.
Enter: The rain on my parade (LITERALLY).
I woke up on Saturday morning around 6am. The weather guy said there was a 50% chance of rain. Since lately I've been trying to be a glass-half-full-kinda-gal, I held out hope that we'd avoid getting poured upon. No. Such. Luck.
It was cold. It was rainy. But still, I used all the caloric goodness (a whopping 70 calories) to summon up a positive attitude. We finished the walk and then I started to get very excited about "Super Secret Saturday".
For those of you who don't know this about me, one of my favorite activities is taking a space and redoing it. I've moved around enough that I get to do what I love often enough. In fact, I've been fortunate enough to have several people in my life trust me enough to let me get my hands on their spaces. I mentioned to SG that I felt like redoing something in my apartment and she said she would offer up their home office for me redesign.
Honestly, the shopping is usually my favorite part. However, keep in mind that it's cold, windy, and raining. The first thing SG and I did was frequent the Lotawana Garage Sale festivities. After scoring a desktop organizer for 2 dollars we were hopeful. However, have you ever noticed the kind of crap people put out at garage sales? No lady, I don't want to pay 7 dollars for the hamster habitat that you bought in 1987. Anyway, the moral of that story: Don't believe the hype. No matter how colorful or promising the "HUGE GARAGE SALE" sign is, chances are, you'll be disappointed.
We headed off to Office depot where we got what we thought was a stellar deal on a really cool office chair and a file organizer that matched the $20 desk we found on the classifieds. We hit up Lowe's to buy paint and supplies. Another note: Why is it that home improvement stores suck the life out of you? I mean, who are those places optimized for? Seriously. We got the paint, we were still excited. Then began the search for a sleeper chair. Earlier in the day, I mentioned that maybe we should go somewhere like Bob's Discount Furniture. At this point, SG says "Wait, that's a real place? They exist?" Ironically enough, that's the last place we stopped on our world tour of greater KC furniture stores. The search was unsuccessful. It was only 3pm at this point. It had already felt like the world's longest day. We got all our goods back to the house and took a break to get some calories in.
Truth be told, the actual painting and planning was really fun (at least for me). Where things took a turn for the worse is when we had to assemble the furniture we bought. Who the hell writes those instructions? Also, if you're going to reference parts using letters and numbers, PUT THE FRIGGIN LETTERS OR NUMBERS ON THE PARTS. After dealing with those instructions and all those parts, I am really passionate about how horrible instructions are. I would like to start a letter writing campaign to the government to regulate the quality of furniture assembling instructions. Okay, so perhaps that's a stretch, but I'm still peeved. Around 1am, we finished everything. The room looked awesome (in my opinion).
Here's where the cherry on top comes in. There are some things in this life that you do that are so embarrassing, so incredibly stupid or careless on your part, that you can't bear to have people find out you did them. This should probably be one of those things, but since I'm an open book, I'll share it with you guys anyway.
I had backed the Lexus into SG's driveway so we could unload the desk and then all our shopping goods. I was so incredibly tired and was so excited to crawl into bed when I got home. It's still cold and windy and raining. I remember clearly putting the seat warmer on, and turning the heat up. The rest is kind of a blur.
In order for this story to make sense, you have to understand some of the logistics involved. SG's house is on a hill. Her driveway is steep and curves a bit. At the end of the driveway, on either side, are concrete blocks (sorta the height of a parking block) that prevent you from going into what I like to call their moat. So I pull out of their driveway in Drive (since I'm backed into their driveway, I can pull out face first). I really thought I had cleared the blocks and the moat so I started to turn right out of their driveway. Clearly, I overestimated how far down the driveway I was. Instead of clearing the moat, my front tire (on the passenger side) went over the concrete block and I was dangling with that tire over the edge, touching nothing. The car was basically teetering on the concrete block. The car looked like it was going to tip right over into the moat. I jumped out of the car and then ran back up to SGs door to tell her I broke the car.
After calming down a bit, I called Lexus Roadside Assistance. They were so helpful and friendly. They sent out a tow truck at no cost to me to "winch" me out of the moat. They were there within the hour. The tow guy basically said that there was a good chance trying to get the car out would cause damage to the undercarriage because of the concrete block. I had to sign a waiver and then he began his work. Note: before he started working, he outright laughed at me and asked me if I was drunk. He then said that I shouldn't worry about him damaging his car because he's been doing this since he was 16 and he'd never damaged a car. The guy was 24.
The tow guy told SG she should call the Lotawana police since his truck was blocking the majority of the street. Now, this city probably doesn't see a whole lotta action. The one and only police officer on duty actually shows up. Now we have the blazing lights of a tow truck AND a police officer at 2am. People start trying to drive by. Each person's face was priceless as they gawked at my misfortune. If there was a thought cloud above their head, it would probably read something like "OMG. What kind of idiot can't pull out front first out of a driveway." Anyway, the police officer also was laughing at me and asked how this could possibly happen. He then asked for my name, at which point, I begged him not to publish this in the Lake Lotawana news. He promised he wouldn't, but how can I really be sure?
This has already been a really long story so I can't say "To make a long story short". It took about 30 minutes to get the car out and there was minimal damage. I can't say enough how lucky I am to have Sudhir. When I called him panicked, he very patiently told me that I should call roadside assistance. He then told me "I can tell that you're worrying like crazy...don't worry, it's just a car. You didn't get hurt, it's no big deal." I'm not sure how many women are lucky enough to have a man that would say that to them when they drove his dream car head first (completely sober) into a moat.
The end.
I had extremely high hopes for Saturday. For weeks, I had been planning on walking in a 5K for the Humane Society with a few of my girls. Not only was this organized physical activity (which I typically avoid at all costs...but really...I'm trying to turn over a new leaf), but it was also for a good cause.
Enter: The rain on my parade (LITERALLY).
I woke up on Saturday morning around 6am. The weather guy said there was a 50% chance of rain. Since lately I've been trying to be a glass-half-full-kinda-gal, I held out hope that we'd avoid getting poured upon. No. Such. Luck.
It was cold. It was rainy. But still, I used all the caloric goodness (a whopping 70 calories) to summon up a positive attitude. We finished the walk and then I started to get very excited about "Super Secret Saturday".
For those of you who don't know this about me, one of my favorite activities is taking a space and redoing it. I've moved around enough that I get to do what I love often enough. In fact, I've been fortunate enough to have several people in my life trust me enough to let me get my hands on their spaces. I mentioned to SG that I felt like redoing something in my apartment and she said she would offer up their home office for me redesign.
Honestly, the shopping is usually my favorite part. However, keep in mind that it's cold, windy, and raining. The first thing SG and I did was frequent the Lotawana Garage Sale festivities. After scoring a desktop organizer for 2 dollars we were hopeful. However, have you ever noticed the kind of crap people put out at garage sales? No lady, I don't want to pay 7 dollars for the hamster habitat that you bought in 1987. Anyway, the moral of that story: Don't believe the hype. No matter how colorful or promising the "HUGE GARAGE SALE" sign is, chances are, you'll be disappointed.
We headed off to Office depot where we got what we thought was a stellar deal on a really cool office chair and a file organizer that matched the $20 desk we found on the classifieds. We hit up Lowe's to buy paint and supplies. Another note: Why is it that home improvement stores suck the life out of you? I mean, who are those places optimized for? Seriously. We got the paint, we were still excited. Then began the search for a sleeper chair. Earlier in the day, I mentioned that maybe we should go somewhere like Bob's Discount Furniture. At this point, SG says "Wait, that's a real place? They exist?" Ironically enough, that's the last place we stopped on our world tour of greater KC furniture stores. The search was unsuccessful. It was only 3pm at this point. It had already felt like the world's longest day. We got all our goods back to the house and took a break to get some calories in.
Truth be told, the actual painting and planning was really fun (at least for me). Where things took a turn for the worse is when we had to assemble the furniture we bought. Who the hell writes those instructions? Also, if you're going to reference parts using letters and numbers, PUT THE FRIGGIN LETTERS OR NUMBERS ON THE PARTS. After dealing with those instructions and all those parts, I am really passionate about how horrible instructions are. I would like to start a letter writing campaign to the government to regulate the quality of furniture assembling instructions. Okay, so perhaps that's a stretch, but I'm still peeved. Around 1am, we finished everything. The room looked awesome (in my opinion).
Here's where the cherry on top comes in. There are some things in this life that you do that are so embarrassing, so incredibly stupid or careless on your part, that you can't bear to have people find out you did them. This should probably be one of those things, but since I'm an open book, I'll share it with you guys anyway.
I had backed the Lexus into SG's driveway so we could unload the desk and then all our shopping goods. I was so incredibly tired and was so excited to crawl into bed when I got home. It's still cold and windy and raining. I remember clearly putting the seat warmer on, and turning the heat up. The rest is kind of a blur.
In order for this story to make sense, you have to understand some of the logistics involved. SG's house is on a hill. Her driveway is steep and curves a bit. At the end of the driveway, on either side, are concrete blocks (sorta the height of a parking block) that prevent you from going into what I like to call their moat. So I pull out of their driveway in Drive (since I'm backed into their driveway, I can pull out face first). I really thought I had cleared the blocks and the moat so I started to turn right out of their driveway. Clearly, I overestimated how far down the driveway I was. Instead of clearing the moat, my front tire (on the passenger side) went over the concrete block and I was dangling with that tire over the edge, touching nothing. The car was basically teetering on the concrete block. The car looked like it was going to tip right over into the moat. I jumped out of the car and then ran back up to SGs door to tell her I broke the car.
After calming down a bit, I called Lexus Roadside Assistance. They were so helpful and friendly. They sent out a tow truck at no cost to me to "winch" me out of the moat. They were there within the hour. The tow guy basically said that there was a good chance trying to get the car out would cause damage to the undercarriage because of the concrete block. I had to sign a waiver and then he began his work. Note: before he started working, he outright laughed at me and asked me if I was drunk. He then said that I shouldn't worry about him damaging his car because he's been doing this since he was 16 and he'd never damaged a car. The guy was 24.
The tow guy told SG she should call the Lotawana police since his truck was blocking the majority of the street. Now, this city probably doesn't see a whole lotta action. The one and only police officer on duty actually shows up. Now we have the blazing lights of a tow truck AND a police officer at 2am. People start trying to drive by. Each person's face was priceless as they gawked at my misfortune. If there was a thought cloud above their head, it would probably read something like "OMG. What kind of idiot can't pull out front first out of a driveway." Anyway, the police officer also was laughing at me and asked how this could possibly happen. He then asked for my name, at which point, I begged him not to publish this in the Lake Lotawana news. He promised he wouldn't, but how can I really be sure?
This has already been a really long story so I can't say "To make a long story short". It took about 30 minutes to get the car out and there was minimal damage. I can't say enough how lucky I am to have Sudhir. When I called him panicked, he very patiently told me that I should call roadside assistance. He then told me "I can tell that you're worrying like crazy...don't worry, it's just a car. You didn't get hurt, it's no big deal." I'm not sure how many women are lucky enough to have a man that would say that to them when they drove his dream car head first (completely sober) into a moat.
The end.
5.11.2010
One Whole Month of Starvation.
And it wasn't even that bad, honestly. I mean, it's not the easiest thing I've ever done...but it definitely was easier than I thought it would be. I had my 4th weigh in last night. I was down another 2.6 pounds this past week. That brings the total to 16.5 pounds total...IN FOUR FRIGGIN WEEKS! I hate to keep bringing up how long it took me on Weight Watchers but it's pretty astounding. It took me a little over 6 months to lose that much before. It's a pretty sweet feeling to have lost it in a sixth of the time.
I also had my full body scan to make sure that I'm losing it the right way. They like to make sure that at least 75% of the weight you lost is from body fat, and not from muscle. The weight I lost was 88% body fat. I lost less than a pound and a half of muscle mass. They said all that is great news and much better than expected. Yay, me!
My clothes are starting to look to big for me, I can wear things that have an empire waist without worrying about whether or not people will think I'm pregnant...Overall, I feel good!
I also had my full body scan to make sure that I'm losing it the right way. They like to make sure that at least 75% of the weight you lost is from body fat, and not from muscle. The weight I lost was 88% body fat. I lost less than a pound and a half of muscle mass. They said all that is great news and much better than expected. Yay, me!
My clothes are starting to look to big for me, I can wear things that have an empire waist without worrying about whether or not people will think I'm pregnant...Overall, I feel good!
5.06.2010
I love to travel (in theory...)
It's no big secret that I haven't really made traveling to far off and exotic places a priority in life. Honestly, I've moved around enough that I always had to travel somewhere to see either family or friends. The way I saw it, if I had to take time off and spend money, I'd rather go see the people that I love than sit on a beach somewhere or tour an ancient city. Generally speaking, I still feel that way.
Here I am though...31 years old (gasp)... and I've barely crossed off the top 5 places I'd like to see in the world. Now that I'm actually thinking about and coming to terms with the fact that maybe I'd like to have a kid in the next few years, I realize that my time to travel is limited. Don't get me wrong, I'm not one of those people that believes that life as you know it should end when you have a child. However, I do think there's a distinct difference between exploring Rome with your husband early on in your marriage and doing so with a toddler in tow.
I've at least got a jump on Sudhir. I traveled to Western Europe my junior year of High School for Spring Break with my pals. I've done the touristy type travels in India...seen the Taj Mahal, the world's largest banyan tree, etc. Sudhir has only been over the Atlantic to go see his family in India. Not only that, but the last time he did that was in 1991. We both want to see the world, that's for sure.
Now here's the problem. I hate planning stuff. I feel like if I don't know about the area or have never been, I don't feel comfortable committing to anything. I'm afraid I'll make the wrong choices, really. This is why my preferred way to travel is with other people. People who thrive on planning travel. People like SG, or Shween, or my friend Em. These are people so committed to making the most of their travel, they buy actual books to figure out what to do. HARD.CORE.
Also, when it comes down to it, I've got a crapload of weddings and bachelorette parties to attend over this summer. All that stuff costs money because they're located all over the country. I've never felt comfortable spending boat loads of money on vacations just for the sake of vacationing. Sure, flying to Cozumel for my pal MGs wedding will be a vacation of sorts...but really, I'm going there to share in her special day with her. Two birds with one stone.
The trip I'm planning right now is to Italy. Italy was at the top of both the hub's and I's list of places to see in this lifetime. I figured, no time like the present! No matter how you slice it, we're gonna be dropping at least 4.5Gs on airfare and hotels. That means we'll probably spend about 6Gs on food, wine, and seeing the sights. That's a lot of loot, if you ask me! I'm not going to judge anyone for what they choose to spend their money on. I know people think what we spend our money on is ridiculous (no, we didn't NEEEEEED a 55 inch LCD TV, but it sure did make us happy.) In any case, it's hard for me to justify dropping over 6Gs on a vacay. I'm gonna suck it up and do it though. If anyone is interested in joining us (and planning it!) please let me know. We're looking at 9/17-9/24. Holla!
Here I am though...31 years old (gasp)... and I've barely crossed off the top 5 places I'd like to see in the world. Now that I'm actually thinking about and coming to terms with the fact that maybe I'd like to have a kid in the next few years, I realize that my time to travel is limited. Don't get me wrong, I'm not one of those people that believes that life as you know it should end when you have a child. However, I do think there's a distinct difference between exploring Rome with your husband early on in your marriage and doing so with a toddler in tow.
I've at least got a jump on Sudhir. I traveled to Western Europe my junior year of High School for Spring Break with my pals. I've done the touristy type travels in India...seen the Taj Mahal, the world's largest banyan tree, etc. Sudhir has only been over the Atlantic to go see his family in India. Not only that, but the last time he did that was in 1991. We both want to see the world, that's for sure.
Now here's the problem. I hate planning stuff. I feel like if I don't know about the area or have never been, I don't feel comfortable committing to anything. I'm afraid I'll make the wrong choices, really. This is why my preferred way to travel is with other people. People who thrive on planning travel. People like SG, or Shween, or my friend Em. These are people so committed to making the most of their travel, they buy actual books to figure out what to do. HARD.CORE.
Also, when it comes down to it, I've got a crapload of weddings and bachelorette parties to attend over this summer. All that stuff costs money because they're located all over the country. I've never felt comfortable spending boat loads of money on vacations just for the sake of vacationing. Sure, flying to Cozumel for my pal MGs wedding will be a vacation of sorts...but really, I'm going there to share in her special day with her. Two birds with one stone.
The trip I'm planning right now is to Italy. Italy was at the top of both the hub's and I's list of places to see in this lifetime. I figured, no time like the present! No matter how you slice it, we're gonna be dropping at least 4.5Gs on airfare and hotels. That means we'll probably spend about 6Gs on food, wine, and seeing the sights. That's a lot of loot, if you ask me! I'm not going to judge anyone for what they choose to spend their money on. I know people think what we spend our money on is ridiculous (no, we didn't NEEEEEED a 55 inch LCD TV, but it sure did make us happy.) In any case, it's hard for me to justify dropping over 6Gs on a vacay. I'm gonna suck it up and do it though. If anyone is interested in joining us (and planning it!) please let me know. We're looking at 9/17-9/24. Holla!
5.03.2010
I survived yet another week...
And ya know what? I actually think it's getting easier and easier. Today's weigh in resulted in another 4.2 lbs of weight disappearing. For those of you keeping track at home, that's 13.9 lbs in 3 weeks. Just to put that in perspective, it took me about 4 months to lose that much on Weight Watchers. Granted, I could still eat a spoon of frosting on WW, but I digress...
Life has gotten a lot easier now that I can actually eat meat every now and then. Mind you, it's not like it's a ton of meat, but it's just enough to make me feel like I'm a real person again. I was really worried about the rest of the summer but now I think I'll be just fine. I have a renewed sense of commitment to making this happen...
In the meantime, I'm also making myself a goal of blogging at least once a week about something completely NON-diet related. I'm starting to feel like my life revolves around my prescription for Anorexia...
Life has gotten a lot easier now that I can actually eat meat every now and then. Mind you, it's not like it's a ton of meat, but it's just enough to make me feel like I'm a real person again. I was really worried about the rest of the summer but now I think I'll be just fine. I have a renewed sense of commitment to making this happen...
In the meantime, I'm also making myself a goal of blogging at least once a week about something completely NON-diet related. I'm starting to feel like my life revolves around my prescription for Anorexia...
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