A Dumbbell In A Home Gym

Would You Like Some Human With Your Salt?

(That line's from one of my favorite Futurama episodes, if you were wondering. I'm not planning to go on the Cannibal Diet anytime soon. The line popped into my head because of #1 below.)

It's almost Friday, so it must be time for one of my random roundup posts.

1. Note to chain restaurants: It's great that you're all making efforts to come out with tasty, low-fat soups. Really, it's very cool of you. Soup is good stuff, especially on cool, rainy days. For your next project, how about developing some soups that are less salty than, say, the Dead Sea? I bought a cup of Au Bon Pain's pasta e fagioli soup the other day and nearly had a heart attack when I looked up the nutrition information. All the other numbers were okay, but the sodium? It was in four digits. Holy mariah. Nothing needs to be that salty!

2. My latest recommendation: Trader Joe's line of "instant" rices. I've been meaning to praise their brown rice for a while: cut the bag open, microwave for one minute, and it's ready for dinner. It can get a little clumpy and doesn't taste quite as good as brown rice cooked the old-fashioned way, but it's ideal for those nights when we've just rolled in from the gym -- or if I'm just feeling lazy or really hungry -- and don't want to wait for regular rice to cook.

And if that wasn't awesome enough, I just discovered their pre-cooked wild rice. I love, love, love wild rice, but hate the lengthy cooking time involved. Well, TJ's to the rescue. As with the brown rice, the quick wild rice isn't *quite* as good as wild rice done the slow-cooked way, but I'm willing to deal with the small sacrifice in quality. I made it for dinner with some sauteed portobello mushrooms and a balsamic vinegar reduction the other night; it couldn't have been simpler and tasted like something I'd spent hours preparing.

So if you've got a Trader Joe's nearby and you're a fan of different varieties of rice, check those out. I should really just buy the store's entire stock of this stuff in anticipation of TJ's annoying habit of discontinuing my favorite items; it's the one thing I dislike about that store.

3. Apropos of nothing, I like this picture of myself a lot even though I was having a hair day from Hell:

My husband snapped it on Sunday afternoon; we'd taken his parents to Gravelly Point park and I was sketching National Airport as a plane came in for a landing right overhead.

Happy weekend, all.

Roundup.

1. Every now and again I see someone asking about recommendations for good workout music. I don't usually have much to contribute to this topic. If I'm on the treadmill I usually watch a TV show or DVD. If I'm lifting weights I'll turn the TV to our cable company's heavy metal music station: nothing makes me feel like a badass quite like lifting weights with Slipknot or Slayer or Motorhead grinding away in the background. I do love me some "growl like a bear" death metal when I'm hefting the metal myself.

But I was just reminded of music I find incredibly energizing: The "Pirates of the Caribbean" theme. Laugh if you must, but I'm serious. Back when the first movie was running on cable all the time, I'd put it on in the basement and try to time my Couch to 5K workouts so I was jogging just as the theme really started booming along. (I may have also pretended in my head that I was chasing Johnny Depp, but I'm not telling.)

My husband and I went to see the new movie last Wednesday night and the ending credits planted a ferocious "Pirates of the Caribbean Theme" earworm in my head. The next morning, I was faced with a broken escalator at my subway station. There was also a working one, but I always feel compelled to go up the stopped one or I feel like a big wuss. I didn't want to. But then that swashbuckling theme started playing in my head. And up I went. Arrrrr!

Whatever it takes, right?

2. I got rebellious at the pool this afternoon. I became bored with lap, lap, lap, lap, lap, lap, lap ... so I got a little silly. I went off the diving board. I even went off the higher diving board a couple of times, but I regretted it. On the first dive my legs snapped up over my head under the water and I was afraid my spine was going to be the next thing to snap. On the second higher dive I hit the water face-first and thought my eyeballs were going to get knocked right out of my skull by the rush of water. And that higher board makes a racket; I really didn't want to be the fat lady making the board groan and creak and rattle. Ugh. I stuck to the low board after the two messy dives.

I also did underwater handstands. The first few times I tried those I hurt my left leg by swinging it around and up; if I keep my legs and feet together mermaid-style things go much more smoothly. (Like I said before, the pool makes me forget I'm not eight or made of rubber.) I apparently infected other people in the pool with The Silly; I got up from one handstand and looked behind me to see two other adults trying them too. Hee.

And my husband is totally kicking butt at getting over his pool phobia. He is unrecognizable as the guy who hung out by the wall looking miserable on our first day there. He's gotten over his fear of sinking to the bottom to the point that he even went off the diving board a few times today. He also bought goggles, as our pool contains enough chlorine to pickle your eyeballs and we've both had issues with dry, sore eyes after extended swimming. So now he looks like a bigshot swimmer.

I don't think he's ever going to love swimming as much as I have this summer, but if I can get him hooked enough that once our pool closes he'll consent to join a local rec center that has two pools open year-round, I'll consider my mission accomplished. Heh heh.

3. Finally, I've come to one of those big realizations:

Know how a couple of months ago I was musing about trying maintenance for a while? I decided against it. Or so I thought. This afternoon I finally plowed all the way through "Winning By Losing" by Jillian Michaels, and it hit me: The calorie and exercise levels I've been keeping were fine when I was 270 pounds. But they won't do now that I'm at 171 and trying to pare off at least 30 more pounds. I've been on maintenance. I guess the good news is that apparently I can handle it. The bad news is that my current calorie and exercise levels aren't going to cut it if I want to be in the 150s by the end of this decade.

It somehow seems monumentally unfair: the closer I get to my ultimate goal weight, the harder I'm going to have to work even though I've shed around 100 pounds already. But it's what I have to do if I want to see the pounds keep coming off. I could certainly live with where I am now, but I also think I could do better.

My challenge is to keep everything interesting and fun while stepping things up. Not starving myself; not suffering; not backsliding into the wrongheaded, destructive thinking and behavior that has tripped me up so many times before.

In other words, I'm going to have to keep doing what I've been doing all along. Just more so.

Weekend Update!

1. PastaQueen pointed out this article in Salon. (Sorry about the flippin’ ad.) Please go read it -- it’s a welcome antidote to that ungodly article about “hogging” that makes the Internet rounds on occasion. I like it that Josh Max likes fat women and isn’t ashamed to admit it, but I absolutely LOVE it that he speaks up when guys talk trash about fat women in front of him. Damn. What I wouldn’t give to see the looks on those faces when he says “Hey -- I’m married to a fat woman and I think she’s gorgeous, and by the way? You’re a jackass.” Well done, Mr. Max.

2. This morning I cleaned off my dresser. That sounds like a simple enough task, but in my case the thing was so messy and covered in junk that it was a massive undertaking.

Easily found near the tops of the piles of crap were size tags from the Medium skirt I bought last month and the size L shirts. As I kept tossing stuff, size XL and XXL tags from older purchases came to light. At the bottom were lots of 3X tags from various shirts and skirts I’d bought over the years.

Yes, now you know my secret: I’m a horrible, terrible slob. That being said, it was kind of neat to have a History of Nicole’s Weight Loss in reverse. And now the top of my dresser is tidy and clean, and if I have my way it will never feel the touch of another clothing tag with an X after the size.

3. I am so proud of my husband. He’s making every effort to get over his aversion to the pool, and he’s doing a darn good job of it. In fact, he specifically asked to go on Thursday night. I had that day off from work and planned to spend part of it at the pool; he told me that if I wanted to I could wait until he got home from work so we could go together. I assumed he was just humoring me and went by myself in the morning. Nope; he was actually disappointed that I went without him. Because the weather happened to be nice and that’s been a somewhat rare thing lately, I offered to go again. And off we went. I don’t think he’s ever going to love the pool as much as I do, but he no longer looks as if he’s floating in his own special circle of Hell when we're there.

And me? I’ve been to the pool five more times since the first trip last weekend. I’d have been there even more if it weren’t for the stormy weather today. (However, two times in one day was probably excessive; I felt dead to the world the next morning. Like I said in the last entry, the pool makes me forget that I’m not a little kid anymore.) Whether or not swimming is an effective exercise for weight loss -- I’ve read mixed reviews on that -- it gives me one hell of an upper body workout. My arms don’t even wait for the next day to start aching.

4. I won this dress on eBay last week. It may not be your taste, but it’s the kind of thing I’d have been wearing all along if I hadn’t been so self-conscious about my weight. In fact, I saw that dress in Urban Outfitters back in November when I was shopping for my Christmas party skirt, but by the time I got back there again it was long gone. (In the end I’m glad I waited. I got it for a fraction of the original $198 price!)

I spent the week waiting for it to get here in something of a tizzy. It’s a junior size 11. The seller listed the bust and waist at 38 inches and 32 inches, which is right on the nose for me. But she had the hips listed as “free”. Hm. I’ve got some big ol’ hips. How free is “free?”, I wondered. Would I be able to wear this reasonably soon, or was it going to be a goal item?

It arrived on Friday. After waiting for as long as I could stand to, I took it upstairs and tried it on. It fit!

I am going to need a good strapless bra because it’s very much a “Hi, I'm Nicole and these are my boobies!” cut. And I wore a black shrug I got from Torrid with it because I’m not so big on completely baring my arms. But I did wear it out to dinner on Friday night. Yeah, I was way overdressed for the restaurant. I didn’t care. I like dressing up, even if everyone else is in shorts and T-shirts.

5. Finally, my weight is holding steady in the 172 range. Sigh. I don’t think I’m going to make my goal of being in the 160s in June. This last week happens to be my bigtime PMS week, and my body will be holding on to every drop of fluid like I was dying of dehydration. It’s only been in the last couple of weeks that I’ve felt like I’m getting back on track with eating and exercise, so let’s hope that July will be the month in which I bid a final farewell to the 170s. Man, I hate the seventies.

Completely and Totally Random

Quick question: If you spend the entire night dreaming that you're hiking and you actually wake up exhausted because you got lost during your dream hike and ended up walking about 23 miles, that counts as exercise, right?

Right?

It's been an okay exercise week and a pretty crappy eating week. I'm not surprised. I'm PMSing, my old friend the "I'm Sick of This Shit" hormone has been riding my ass again, and although things have calmed down somewhat from the emotional chaos of last week, I'm afraid to relax lest the other shoe drop into the eye of the hurricane. So I'm tense. I'm eating. It happens.

I've gotten hooked on Lay's Cheddar and Sour Cream baked potato chips. Mmmm -- salty cheesy crappy goodness. They aren't as greasy as full-fat potato chips, but this is exactly the kind of nasty fake food I've been mostly managing to avoid for the last year, and once Aunt Flo is out of here and not making me want to buy my own personal salt lick, I'm going to try very hard to go cold turkey on the things. I really don't want to develop a taste for junk food again.

Because I have so little to talk about, I hunted around for one of those Friday meme writing prompt thingies, found this site, and decided to patch together my own "Friday Five" from their lists. So here it is:

1. How do you eat your Oreo?

If anyone's watching, just bite by bite like a normal cookie. If I'm alone, I'll take the Oreo apart, lick all the frosting off, and then eat the cookies. Licking in public just seems undignified somehow.

2. If you could bring back one beverage, candy or junk food you loved from your youth, which one would it be?

Wacky Packs! Okay, the gum was total crap, but the gum wasn't the point. As a little kid I found those stickers endlessly hilarious even when I didn't quite "get" them; I suspect stickers like this one probably went right over my head. But I always thought Raw Goo and Ajerx were comedy gold. Yes, I know they occasionally revive these, but the newer ones never seem as funny as the ones from my childhood did.

3. Who are some celebrities that everyone seems to like but you?

Julia Roberts, Ben Affleck, and Jennifer Aniston spring immediately to mind.

4. If you were to be the current world champion for any sport, which would it be?

Figure skating. Move over, Kimmie Meissner. (Just kidding. I like Kimmie.)

5. You're abducted by aliens. What's the first thing you say to them?

"Get that friggin' probe out of my ass."

Happy Friday, everyone.

Comment Spammers Bite My Ass Parade.

Whee! It's another one of those smorgasbord entries!

1. While hunting through my site stats, I discovered that a NicoleW (which is the handle I use on TypePad and Blogger) has been posting comment spam on Blogspot sites. Lots of Blogspot sites, from the looks of it. I wouldn't think anything of it -- if only I weren't getting "credit" from some folks for posting this rubbish.

If you got comment spam from a NicoleW and your Web search for this person led you here, I'm not your culprit. But hi! Feel free to hang around and read. Unlike my Blogspot doppelganger I've got no male sex toys to offer, but maybe you'll get a laugh or two.

(And if I were going to promote sites that hawk male sex toys, I wouldn't be doing it under my own handle. I mean, c'mon. I may not always be the brightest bulb in the chandelier, but gimme a little credit here, huh? My boss could be reading this.)

Now that we've got that cleared up, on to the usual eating/fitness babble.

2. I'm in another good news/bad news situation. The good news is that my eating is definitely back on a more even keel. The bad news is that I've been sick all week and my exercise has been fairly pathetic as a result. I'm starting to wonder if I'm ever going to get both things in synch at the same time ever again, with the exercise and the eating ying-yanging in perfect harmony and all that. Sigh.

I looked through my FitDay entries from last week and noticed that I'd been eating a much lower percentage of protein and fat than I normally do, so now I'm wondering if that's why I felt munchy all the time. I'm not a carbophobe by any means, but I definitely feel more satisfied and less prone to eating anything that won't run away when I eat a more balanced diet. I'm making an effort to do that this week.

3. Today, another complete stranger approached me on the street and asked me if I'd lost weight.

I cannot tell you how much things like that continue to weird me out. I mean, it's nice. I'm not complaining. It beats the hell out of strangers making Fat Albert "Hey hey HEYYY!"s at me. Even so, it freaks me out a little. I don't know what it says about me that while I'm used to strangers being rude, I never know quite how to handle it when they're really nice.

4. Speaking of strange web searches showing up in my site stats, I get one that pops up fairly frequently: "Ass Parade Nicole". That totally sounds like something people probably call me behind my back.

Because I never learn, I ended up Googling that phrase myself just to find out what on earth people were looking for. I was smart enough to not do that search at work, at least. As anyone who isn't me probably guessed, it's big butt porn. I don't know what else I thought it could possibly be.

And this entry should end up earning me all kinds of nifty web searches. Which I'll probably write about in future entries, leading to even more wacky searches. It's the gift that keeps on giving ...

Happy Friday and great weekend, everyone.

Man. Is It Friday Yet Or What?

As you can probably tell by my lack of updates, this has not been one of my standout weeks. Far from it. It's been one of those weeks when I'm pretty much hanging on by my fingernails until Friday night gets here (if it ever freakin' does). The sick kitty had some teeth pulled and seems to be doing loads better at last, but it's been a stressful situation. I'm not sleeping well. I can't concentrate for anything at work. My weight was back down to 181 on Tuesday morning so that's something, but I'm pretty much trying to maintain rather than worry about losing this week. I've got too much else going on.

(Big achievement of the day: Voluntarily walking all the way up the broken, stopped escalator at the Metro station rather than walking up the one that worked, as I usually do. It's not a huge climb, but it's really wiped me out in the past and I'd only do it if the other escalators were broken and the line for the elevator was too long. I didn't even feel that winded when I reached the top.)

I don't know why I'm currently in a "dragging my feet over strength training" mode; I've been putting it off all week long. I finally did a weights session tonight and felt fabulous afterwards, as I almost always do. I can feel triceps now. Actual triceps. On my arms. I'm the only one who can feel them because they're still sleeved in lots of arm flab, but dammit, they're there. In fact, if I can make a goofy confession, I'm becoming fascinated with the body that's emerging from all this flubber. I've never, ever, ever stuck with a steady exercise program for more than a year, and seeing muscles pop out in places where I've never seen them -- actual definition in my forearms; smooth quads rising from above my knees when I walk downstairs -- is an amazing experience.

Um, yeah. Anyhow, I'm looking forward to Friday night even more than I usually do. I am a complete sucker for Olympic opening ceremonies. They make me incredibly happy. Yes, I know -- the pageantry often gets out of hand and crosses the line between merely showy and utterly ridiculous. I don't care, because it's not about that for me. I love the parade of athletes. I love watching all the joyful people trying to drink in as much of the experience as they can. For the vast majority of them, marching in the opening ceremonies is the only Olympic gold they're going to get -- and it's good enough for them. They're excited. They're proud. It's always wonderful to see. I'm a figure skating fan and within a week at most I'm sure we'll be bogged down in the usual bitching and griping about marks and placements and judging, but tomorrow night everyone will be happy and joyful just to be a part of things. I can't wait to see it.

Hope everyone has a terrific weekend.

Bonfire of the Inanities.

So tonight I feel like getting all the vain, shallow stuff off my chest.

1. I'm not happy with the photo on my company ID badge. It was shot a couple of years ago when I was pushing maximum density. While there could be advantages to walking around with your own "Before" photo dangling from your neck every day ("You SURE you want that huge piece of birthday cake? Look down!"), I'm shallow. I'm tired of looking at Old Me; I want a photo where I have a visible neck. Is that so wrong? I actually pondered "losing" the old badge so I'd have to get my picture retaken. But there were a couple of flies in that particular jar of ointment: one, they charge you a not-insubstantial replacement fee, and two, I remembered that they keep copies of the badge photo. If you lose one badge, they just slap together a second one with the same picture.

Sigh. I guess I'll just have to live with it. I imagine that failing all else, we'll get new badges when our company moves headquarters next year.

2. As crummy as my ID badge photo is, my passport photo is so scary I'm surprised it doesn't turn people into stone. I just looked at it for the first time in a long time today. Hideous! I was 30, I was getting married, we were going to Ireland for our honeymoon, and I was running around DC like a kook trying to get everything together to renew my passport. My face looks like a blob of dough with two raisins stuck in it where my eyes should be. I didn't have on even a dab of makeup. And it was a really hot, humid day, so my hair was lank and flat and my face was shiny. Y'know, I was getting a picture that I was going to be stuck with for the next ten years -- would it have killed me to use a smidge of powder? What was I thinking?

My sole consolation is that I'll have the passport renewed again when I'm 40 -- and that if all goes according to plan I'll look a hell of a lot better than I did when I was 30. That's just neat.

3. A few months ago, I was asked to be a bridesmaid at a wedding taking place this October. Just to clear up any possible questions, I adore the bride-to-be and I was so touched to be asked that I misted up a little. But the thought of looking for and appearing in a bridesmaid's dress brought on enough angst for a week's worth of Cathy comics. "AAACK! I'm going to be the fattest woman in the bridal party! What if I lose a lot more weight after we get the dresses and I have to spend a fortune on alterations? What if I gain all the weight back before the wedding? What if the dresses are sleeveless and I still have my batwings? AAACK!" And so on.

I know I'm being silly. It's going to be fine. And nobody's going to be looking at me anyhow. However, it is an incentive to avoid going completely off the rails this year.

All About Meme.

Just to clarify something from the last entry (and you guys are so nice -- thanks for the kind comments, as always), I should probably explain that the nasty, bitter "You're fat! You're fat! You're fat! Fatty-fat fat fat!" inner voice of mine pipes up whether I weigh 270 pounds or 118 pounds. Unfortunately, I heard "You're fat!" from influential adults (and plenty of non-influential but loud kids) so often when I was growing up that it became second nature for me to say it to myself, regardless of whether it had any basis in reality at a given time. It sucks, and it's one of the many self-defeating, negative habits I've tried to work on over the past year. Unfortunately, the days that are ruled by the "Sick Of This Shit" hormone are harder. But they do indeed pass.

Anyhow, now for a little change of pace ... I got tagged by Dee!

1. What were you doing 10 years ago?

Oh, this is a fun one. Ten years ago, I was digging out of the Blizzard of '96, and I was all in a dither. I was having feelings of a "more than friendly" nature towards a friend of mine. Although I was pretty sure he felt the same way about me, I was afraid to force the issue; I had been told in past relationships that I could be pushy, and I really didn't want to scare this guy away. We'd go out to bars and shows with other friends and flirt a lot and we emailed each other constantly (I still remember how I'd drop everything and hustle to my old work computer whenever I heard the little "beep beep!" that signified a new email), so I decided to enjoy what was going on and let the chips fall where they may. Friends of mine would keep me up half the night on ICQ or IM nagging me about making a move on him, but I held fast to my "Whatever happens, happens" philosophy.

And we've been married for six years now. I guess I had the right idea.

2. What were you doing a year ago?

Digging my old "Yoga for Dummies" DVD out of mothballs. God, I'm boring. But I'm a fitter and more flexible bore, so I've got that going for me.

3. Five snacks I enjoy:

--Trader Joe's dry roasted edamame
--Pepperjack cheese
--Honey-roasted peanuts
--Grape tomatoes with a good balsamic vinegar
--Mini-pitas and hummus

4. Five songs to which I know all the lyrics:

-- Nine Inch Nails -- "Sin"
-- The "Winnie the Pooh" movie theme song.
-- Devo -- "Whip It"
-- AC/DC -- "Big Balls." (Oh, man -- HOURS of entertainment when I was in junior high.)
-- The Replacements -- "Tommy Gets His Tonsils Out."

5. Five things I would do if I were a millionaire:

1. Quit my job.
2. Go to Italy for the Olympics.
3. Pay off our mortgage.
4. Open a huge no-kill animal shelter
5. Get a whole mess of state-of-the-art fancy-ass exercise equipment.

6. Five Bad Habits

1. I'm a horrible slob.
2. I'm a procrastinator.
3. I sometimes forget to lock the front door.
4. I tend to wander off and leave things unfinishe-- ooooo, shiny.
5.

7. Five Things I Enjoy Doing

-- Riding my bike.
-- Cooking.
-- Surfing the web.
-- Cracking myself and my husband up with the kind of stupid stuff only the two of us find amusing.
-- Petting my cats.

8. Five Things I Would Never Wear (or buy or get)

1. Ugg boots with a miniskirt. That look is just surfacing over here in DC now, and it was ugly and tacky three years ago when the celebs were all doing it and it's ugly and tacky now. Why do people do this? Stop doing that!
2. Extremely low-rise jeans, especially not with a...
3. ...Cropped t-shirt.
4. 99.999999% of the bathing suits pictured in the Victoria's Secret swimsuit catalogue I got this weekend. (Think "Band-aids and dental floss" and you've got the general idea about how much coverage they provide.) Some of the one-pieces are cute, though.
5. Sweatpants to a nice restaurant, and yes I've seen people do it. Not often, but even once is too much and I've seen it more than once.

9. Five favorite toys
1. My iPod
2. My food processor
3. My Nintendo DS
4. My bike. I almost forgot to mention that!
5. My Xbox

10. Remove the top person from the list. Bump everyone up a spot, and put yourself at the bottom.

So its come down to this
ukraine adventure
145
Reflected Thoughts
A Dumbbell in a Home Gym

And I'm going to tag......

*blush* ... I'm too shy to tag people. Tell ya what; if anyone wants to do this one, you can do it and link the entry in the comments here. It's a free blog-pimping opportunity -- go for it!

This. That. The Other Thing, Too.

Another scattershot entry.

1. Someone found this blog via a search for "Pictures of tight gym shorts" the other day. I nearly splorfed coffee all over my keyboard when I saw that. I promise that there will be no, repeat NO pictures of me in tight gym shorts here. Nobody wants that.

2. I have slowly, grudgingly been getting back into the basement workout groove. I never thought I'd see the day when I was actually unhappy to see the autumn time change, but damned if that isn't the case this year. It's been gorgeous out during the day, but by the time I get home it's too dark for a bike ride or a park walk. Back to the treadmill with me. Oh well. The treadmill is a drag compared to my bike, but I'm still glad we have it.

3. Fat Day is over. Thank God. Although today was one of those "I ate too much salty food last night and now I'm retaining pretty much the entire Atlantic Ocean" days, alas.

4. I rode to the subway with one of my neighbors today. He's seen me riding my bike and so we got on the subject of fitness, and he said "You've lost some weight, haven't you? You look guh---" and stopped himself short before he said "good." Hee. I guess that with both of us married to other people, he thought that would be crossing a line.

5. I found out from him that there is a really interesting-looking recreation center near us that has two pools and lots of fitness equipment and classes and appears to have very reasonable pricing. It looks as if I could even walk there (though that'd be a hike) ... or ride my bike if I ever get around to getting some locks. Hmmm. My husband doesn't seem as excited by all this as I am. Hey, I've got the bathing suit; I might as well use it.

6. Our company Christmas party is coming up; they always take over the ground floor of a local hotel and really do it up big. The last time I went, several years ago, finding something to wear was a nightmare. I hadn't yet completely come to terms with the fact that I was too big to shop in the normal-sizes section of the department stores, and the dressy wear they had in the plus size sections was eye-bleedingly ugly: great big garish appliques and sequins all over everything, and drapes, drapes, drapes. I ended up throwing something together from things already existing in my closet. I'm curious to see how I'll fare this time; I told my husband we could go if I found something cute to wear. More on this as it develops.

And with that, happy almost-Friday, everyone.

Wish Me Luck.

So I'm off to Atlantic City.

This is going to be an interesting challenge in terms of my fitness and my eating. Here's hoping that having lots of trim, fit, gorgeous skaters around will help keep me motivated! My husband and I went to Columbus in the spring and managed to do really well; we had the occasional indulgent meal, but between doing lots and lots of walking in downtown Columbus and not eating much sucky arena food as a general rule, I actually managed to lose a few pounds.

If I don't get a chance to update before I get back, hope you all have a great week!