Finally a bit of an update

I really am terribly sorry for being away for so long.  I have been reading and not commenting on a thing, because as you all know I'm suffering the drastic consequences of a breakup with the man I intended to marry in the not-so-distant future.

So where am I right now?

Well, I went home for about ten days after the break up.  I spent some time wit my family, my brother came home on leave from the Navy, and I saw my friends often. I knit a sweater.  I didn't exercise even the slightest bit while at home, but started Bikram yoga at a local studio before I left.  I have 10 more classes to take and then I'll have to stop, I guess, or maybe go once a month.  The studio is VERY expensive.  I had a six-week hiatus from running, but I have a 10-mile race in April and soon I am going to register for my first marathon in September.  I ran on Tuesday and a slow three miles today.  School started on Monday and so far I think it will be a good semester.  Fortunately, being a totally broke graduate student is doing wonders for my diet - as I am comfortably at 129 pounds.  If I can lose between 10-14 more, I will finally be at my ultimate goal weight.  For once, I think it is attainable.

As for Juan - it is really, truly over, unless there is some earth-shifting miracle.  He finally confessed that he had been planning to break up with me and had been having doubts since Thanksgiving, but did not want to ruin my Christmas (which he did anyway).  He thinks we are ultimately incompatible (amazing, since only a few months ago he was going on wax poetic about how I was the woman he wanted to have a family with).  I mailed him the last of his belongings, and once I get my package with my things in it, I guess we never have to speak again.  My heart absolutely aches.  I miss him so much.  I love him every day.  I know he is being a royal asshat right now and I do not want to be with someone who chooses his job over me, but we had a wonderful relationship for the past year and a half.  Despite all of the traveling and missing one another, we made it work so well, until he chose to be selfish and give his work the attention I deserve.  It really just hurts so much and nothing will make it better.  I am not completely in the depths of despair, only because I know I have obligations and have to keep living my life.  One day at a time.

I am going to get caught up on some blog reading and finally send out some comments and thank-yous to the people who have been incredibly supportive of me through this.

I hope things are going well in this new year for all of you.  Each of you deserves to be happy and at peace.

Almost time to go home

I am taking my last exam this afternoon and leaving the morning to spend 12 days at home for the holidays.  I was 129.8 this morning.  If I eat super light today (though I'm having salty sushi for dinner and simply might retain water by morning) I will be under 130 again tomorrow and have reached my initial goal.

125 by Christmas.  I can do it.

Feeling good today

Just a short post... for once I am feeling halfway confident and strong today.

I fasted most of the day yesterday and hit the gym this morning.  5K in just shy of 25 minutes on the treadmill and then my bursting class... according to my heart monitor, in an hour and fifteen minutes, I burned 806 calories.  I love starting the day with a negative calorie intake.  I hopped on the scale after the gym and finally it read 129.8.  It's about damn time that I break that horrible 130.  I know it's sort of a false reading because I was dehydrated from the gym and all, but it makes me feel so much better.  Now, I am drinking my Emergen-C mixed with 4oz water and 4oz orange juice and eating 1T peanut butter.  I plan to spend the rest of my day hydrating at work and I think I will pack fruit and yogurt for lunch.  When I come home from work, I'll steam a big bunch of spinach and swiss chard with lots of lemon juice and a touch of olive oil.

Today is going to be a better day - for everyone.

Thank you

Thank you, my lovely readers, for the positive comments and support for my last post.  I realize that Australia is not the only place in the world struggling with the aftermath of crazy weather so we should all continue to keep that in mind.  The blog community here has a network of beautiful women from all over the world, so let us continue to show support for one another.

In other news, I logged 26.2 miles this week (funny it worked out to be the same as a marathon), attended two of my classes and did some weight training today.  Unfortunately, this amped up exercise regimen is leaving me quite hungry and I have been eating far too much to lose weight properly.  I have been consistently between 128.6 and 130.6 this week (depending on when I weigh).  I think that this weekend, or perhaps this morning, I am going to write out some food plans for the week, so I know exactly how many calories I have planned, with no wiggle room.  Considering all of the exercise I am doing, I want to aim for 900 or so.  I'm clearly eating above that, or I would be losing quickly.  This morning, I ran 3.5 miles (the first 5k in less than 25 minutes) and did the weight machine circuit at the gym.  My heart monitor says that I burned 543 calories in 53 minutes.  On the days that I am more cardio-heavy, I burn more like 850.  I just finished a quarter-cup of oatmeal (75) with teaspoon of natural peanut butter (32), a tablespoon of carob chips (35), and a quarter-cup of light soy milk (18) - a filling 160 calories.  I'll shoot for home made soup and salad for lunch, and something very light for dinner.

I know I was talking about cutting off my hair to donate it as one of my new year's resolutions.  I am going to make an appointment soon, and my goal was to be 120-125 by the time I cut my hair.  My ultimate goal weight is 115-118, so I think that aiming for a six pound loss before the haircut is reasonable.  I  just have to pick a date - how long should it take?  I was losing so evenly and steadily before the holidays.  I need to get back to that.

Welcome to my newest followers!  I have now reached 100!  I never thought 100 people would care enough to read the crazy things I write about, but thank you, thank you :)

I'm also thinking about posting some new progress pictures, so compare with my last set.  I was a few pounds lighter then, but I have been working out more now... thoughts?

Ariana, Astrid, Nerisaga, Cinnamon,  A Quiet Battle, Erin Rose, and Bones Are Pure - thank you all so much for the incredible compliments about my fitness regimen.  It's girls like you who inspire me to keep going and keep running!  I just hope I don't ever let you down.

Kat Not Jas - thank you for the compliments on my photos and thinspo.  The ones you were asking about, yes, my friend/brother/and I took all of them :)

Oh, happy belated birthday Cinnamon!

And Mich, I haven't commented on one of your posts in a while, but girl, you're still keeping me laughing, sorry about the crazy nun flashbacks!!!  And by the way, I hope you're not too snowed in!

Alice D.  I am so glad you are safe and sound.  I hope your family and friends are safe too, and if there is anything I can do, let me know.  I know it probably sounds stupid and all, but I still have your little packet of tea all ready to go that I wanted to send you around Christmas.  I would love to send it to you now if you'd email me your address.  Maybe a cup of tea will help bring some calm to this crazy situation.

Adeline, please don't be too discouraged, your last few posts (William drama and purging) have been heart wrenching for me to read.  I want you to be happy and to love yourself, and good riddance to a man who doesn't appreciate you.  I hope you have a lovely weekend out of town and do come back uplifted.  We love you.

I'm just about to shower and then go in search of a few items of new running gear (gloves and sports bras being the most essential) since most of my stuff is quite old and shot.  If I happen to find any other special somethings along the way, I might just have to treat myself.  Also, I need to start brainstorming ideas for Juan's Valentine's day gift.  Any ideas?

Catching up

Good morning my little chickadees!

Sorry I have not posted in a few days.  For some reason, I have been quite tired lately and have been having trouble finding the motivation to write.

The snowstorms have been throwing my exercise routine for a loop, but I still managed to run 25.2 miles last week (I started a running log spreadsheet so I can see, by the end of each month, and the year, how many miles I have run).  Of course I have been eating too much, but yesterday I managed to dust off our old treadmill and get in my cardio.  This treadmill is clearly incorrectly calibrated, since when it says you are running 6.0 mph it feels more like 6.5 or 7.0 mph.  I ran for 80 minutes, and I calculated that at 6.5 mph I did about 8.6 miles - the furthest I have even run in one shot!  I felt really great afterwards and less guilty for eating bad food earlier in the day.  The only problem is that now, my little legs are quite tired, so I may just run three miles on the treadmill and try to rest.

Sometime last week, Ariana asked if I had always had this sort of fitness level or if I had to work at it.  Honestly, I have put in a lot of work to get to where I am.  Until I went to college, I was completely un-athletic.  Then, at the start of my freshmen year, they were recruiting for the rowing team.  I happen to be almost 5'8" so someone asked if I might be interested.  One thing led to another, and I spent the next four years rowing varsity crew for a Division I school.  In college, I had little else to do besides row, study, and go to the gym, so I was sort of a gym rat.  My sophomore year, I managed to lose some weight too, and get down to 128-130, which stabilized to 134ish over that summer before I left to study abroad in France.  Then, even though I kept up with my running and whatnot, I gained quite a lot of weight.  I came home, was back on the team, and lost a few pounds, getting back to my body's preferred weight of 140.  Since I graduated, I took up running (particularly in San Diego) but slacked a bit in the stifling weather this summer.  As soon as it cooled off, I started running again.  I began with a mile or two and now I can run more than eight.  I think that my recent addition of calisthenics and weight training is definitely going to help too.  Sorry if that was an over-explanation :)

Victoria also asked me about the cleanse pills  take.  I have been taking them every day for a while.  They help regulate my digestion, but you really aren't supposed to use them for more than 30 consecutive days.  I think I would probably be fine without them, seeing as I am a vegan and have lots of veggies and fruits in my diet, but they comfort me somehow.

Anyway, I need to get dressed, have a small breakfast, and get on the treadmill.  After I shower, I need to write two cover letters for recent jobs I found.  Then, I should probably work on my last two graduate school applications, and by the time that is all over, it will be time to go to work by 12pm.

I hope everyone has a healthy, happy day - filled with exercise and low calories...

And my darling Cinnamon finally received her package :)  Hooray!

Back down a bit

Finally, my weight is back down a bit.  129.4 this morning after working out and having breakfast, so I think it is pretty accurate.

I had a body fat analysis done yesterday at the gym... the trainer put me in as 5'8" (I'm 5'7.5"ish) and "athletic" and according to the machine I am 12.2% body fat.  Honestly, I do not believe that for a second, I have to be much higher.  My mom did say today that my legs looked really great when she saw me in shorts though.  I still want to get under 120.  I am going to be a lean, mean running machine.

I may have issues with food, but I love the way working out makes me feel.  I know I need to eat enough to at least power me to run seven miles if I want to.  Today, I had a rice cake before going to the gym, running 1.5 miles on the treadmill for a warmup and going to my 45 minute bursting class.  We did a fair amount of ab work today which was good, and then I did two of the machines upstairs to work my abs and back.  Tomorrow, I need a good run, at least four miles.  If I run six or seven, I'll skip the lifting circuit at the wellness center.  If I run four, I'll make sure I leave for work with enough time to do the 20-minute circuit of machines at the wellness center.

I received my new copy of Runner's World in the mail today and I absolutely want to look like the girl on the cover.  Her name is Lauren Rudge.  I think I'd like to be a little bit leaner, because I've seen other photos of her where she looks pretty bulked up, but on the cover of the magazine, she is flying and looks incredible.

Just a few more things - I submitted my application to George Mason University this weekend, I bought a bunch of yarn to knit two baby sweaters and an adorable stuffed turtle toy, I had a BIG salad for lunch, annnnnnd I love all of you who continue to leave me such encouraging comments!  Thank you so much.  I can't do this without you.  We can't do this without each other.  

For those of you who are really feeling down and depressed right now, I hope you can try and get a bit of sunshine today and think of something that you are really good at to make you feel better.  Everyone is good at something, and we should all try to love ourselves more (please listen to me in this moment of clarity!)  No matter how big the gap is between your thighs or how much your love handles stick out, you are a beautiful, talent-filled person.  That's my little bit of love to share with the world today.

*BIG HUGS*

2011 Resolutions

Just a quick little post.  I hope you all rang in the new year with your loved ones and a bit of Champagne.  I was barely awake texting Juan who is currently in Mexico visiting family.  Ironically, for a person who loves the beginning of a new year, I am feeling terribly unmotivated right now.  I slept in until 9am for the first time in ages and I really just need to get dressed and get out for a run.  I know I will feel much better afterward.  I think a good breakfast should help too.  I'm in the mood for oatmeal with banana - I always make 1/3 cup with water and usually add a few pieces of banana and if I'm feeling adventurous, a teaspoon of peanut butter.  Oatmeal is one of the few foods I do not feel guilty eating - I know that is is healthy and good fuel for me, even when I am trying to hardly eat anything.  Balancing restricting and exercise can be really hard, because you cannot train as well without fuel, but I always feel that every calorie I consume is making me gain weight.  That reminds me, I am really enjoying my new exercise class, but I am also nervous about gaining.  Obviously, the class will help me tone, but muscle is heavy and I really want to lose another 10+ pounds. (Ok, now that I've written this, I can't finish my oatmeal... I suppose that is a good thing)

Here are my 2011 resolutions.  They are generally listed in order of importance.  Meaning, the most important ones are to get under 120 pounds (seemingly impossible now that I have gained 3-4 pounds back and am hovering between 129 and 130) and have a teeny tiny slim waist.

1. <24 inch waist
2. <120 pounds
3. Run one 5k, one 10k, and one Half Marathon
4. Be a stricter vegan – no cheating, especially for chocolate!
5. Take great photos to frame
6. Complete two unfinished knitting projects
7. Learn to cook Mexican food
8. Knit something for Dr. Park’s baby, Dulce’s baby, and a hat for Pauline
9. Bake bread at least two times per month
10. Go back to France
11. Make curtains for my windows and closets
12. Buy and refinish at least one piece of vintage furniture
13. Send more packages to Pauline
14. Drink real Champagne
15. Go to the opera
16. See a new movie at least once a month
17. Embroider something or learn calligraphy
18. Donate my hair

Did anyone else make resolutions?

Still too heavy

UGH 129.6 this morning.  I was doing so well before all of these Christmas festivities!  Yesterday, I was supposed to fast with some of the great people around this community.  I was great until I got in to work at noon and immediately became inundated with Christmas sweets.  Luckily, I do not go into work until four in the afternoon today, so I can make up for my failure yesterday.

As usual, I fit in a run - and it was a total blizzard outside!  The plows had come through but it was gusting up to 40mph winds so my normal 36 minute/4.4 mile route took me 43 minutes!  You should have seen me all bundled up, it was quite a sight.  In  little more than an hour I am going to that new class at the wellness center I joined.  I need to shed these disgusting pounds of fat hanging off of me and reveal lean, slim muscles.  Enough is enough already.

In other news, I dropped my phone in the bathtub, like a total idiot!  I was taking a bath, Juan texted me, and next thing you know - PLOP!  It is ruined but luckily I had my old phone to reactivate temporarily until I can figure out possibly buying a new one.  I just have too many expenses right now - another graduate school application ($65), new front tires ($130 since my dad was nice enough to give me $60), contact lenses ($100+), a small credit cared bill, possibly a plane ticket to California, etc.

Over the next few days I need to think about my new resolutions for the coming year.  I know my immediate goal for January/February is to get down to <120.

I hope everyone is doing a better job than I at losing and shunning all of the fat-inducing sweets that seem to surround us right now.  I know I can do this, but I need to refocus.  Today is a new day, and I am going to rock a liquid fast (tea for breakfast after my 10am class, water, instant low-sodium miso soup, vegetable juice, and more tea).  Maybe, if it goes well today, I can continue tomorrow and either stay with liquids or are fruit.

Thank you all so much for the kind words - I can hardly believe that all of these people I do not really know can be so supportive and sweet.

And Cinnamon, I mailed your package yesterday! :)

Joyeux Noël à Tous!

Hello my little chickadees... I hope everyone is enjoying their holiday weekend, even if you are not celebrating Christmas, I am sure you have a few days off from work or school.  It is nice to slow down and take a breath every once in a while, right?

Where shall I start?  Well, first of all, my weight was 129.6 this morning.  Not absolutely horrific, but I did take a laxative tea last night and I still think I gained between 1.5-2.5 pounds over the past two weeks.  Fortunately, I have no let everything go to shambles - on Friday, I went to a class at my local wellness center that I think I described a few weeks ago.  I signed my contract and joined, so I will be going Tuesday/Thursday/Friday mornings and running on Sunday/Monday/Wednesday at least.  I really need to supplement my running regimen with some weight and and core training.  I think this class is perfect, and if I manage to get down under 120, with this class I will look slim and toned and will probably have some abs to boot!  On Christmas eve I went to church with my family and then to my best friend's for their annual Christmas party.  I actually looked pretty cute in my new (via ebay) J Crew dress and sort of 60-ish styling.  I paired this dress with black tights, black patent leather ballet flats, and a black skinny belt to give it a waist.  I had cute gold ball earrings, winged eyeliner and a high ponytail after flat-ironing my hair.

On Christmas, I woke up early, bundled up and took my dog Lucy for a three mile run.  She was really well behaved and we had a great start of our Christmas morning.  When I arrive home my family was waiting for me to open our gifts.  We had such a lovely morning and everyone was pleased with the gifts I chose for them - an iPod shuffle for my computer illiterate father (so he does not have to sit and watch pseudo-music videos on YouTube any longer).  Sidenote on the iPod shuffle - if you do not have an iPod and have always been leery of/were unable to shell out the money for a big one, the shuffle is fantastic.  I have the first generation of color iPods - a 30G, which I do love, but Juan gave me his old shuffle because he did not use it anymore.  I use it everyday!  I love just putting a bunch of songs to get my psyched up for running and clipping it in my pocket.  It is light and practically unbreakable and I would absolutely recommend it to anyone, especially for fifty dollars!  For my mom, I was able to snag a signed copy of Ina Garten's latest book How Easy is That? that she absolutely LOVED.  I knitted a new hat for my brother because the one I made for him four years ago is practically worn to shreds.  For my older brother I bought him this groovy skin for his Kindle, since my parents bough both of my brothers Kindle 3s for Christmas.  I also filled my mom's stocking with some fun things - NARS lipgloss and a mortar and pestle from Sur La Table - and my dad's with great books and C.O. Bigelow shaving cream.

I was also the very lucky recipient of a few great gifts.  My parents were incredibly generous this year and bought my a Kitchen Aid stand mixer.  Additionally, I received some wonderful books, Mad Men seasons two and three on DVD, tea, and a great photo calendar from my younger brother.  It's poster sized and has a photo montage of my friend from France and me.  My aunt bought me a new air popper to pop popcorn, since our original one is from the 70s and smells like it might explode every time I turn it on.  Air-popped popcorn is one of my all time favorite low-calorie snacks/meals.  Basically, I was incredibly fortunate this Christmas!

Today, it is snowing like none other.  Luckily, I went out this morning for 4.5 miles with Lucy.  I do not think we'll get much accumulation, but it makes me want to snuggle up with some cocoa (check!) and write and knit and make up packages - I'm looking at you Cinnamon and Alice D!  If you have yet to see Alice's adorable Christmas video, please go now!  Behold my packages of tea ready to go to far corners of the world!

I hope you are all enjoying your weekends.  Warmest wishes for the next week as we get ready to welcome a new year.  I LOVE celebrating the new year.  I love making plans and resolutions and trying to improve myself.  Obviously, I do not reserve this only for January, but I feel like it is a clean slate to start afresh.

Plateau

The words just haven't been flowing the past few days.

I'm at a plateau, my dear girls, meaning I hover between 128.8 (after my run) and 130.2 ever morning for the past week.

This calls for some drastic action.

No more food for the rest of the day for me (I had rice cakes and tea for breakfast, a few pieces of chocolate, and a spinach salad with Morningstar strips, roasted red peppers, and sundried tomatoes for lunch). I had to run errands and help my mom out this morning, so I did not have a chance to get in my workout. Yesterday, I ran 3.2 miles in 27:30. I am hoping that I can break 27 minutes on my 5k on Thursday morning.

Tomorrow, I am meeting my roommates from college for lunch. I plan to wake up early, go for a run, and be ready by 9:15. For lunch, I will have a salad, of course, since there is barely anything else for me to eat at the diner we are going to.

I wanted to be 125 by Thanksgiving, but it is not happening. I apologize to all of you beautiful, hard working girls for letting you down. I will do better.

Salad for lunch, only, tomorrow. Thursday is the race and Thanksgiving, so I will have a small piece of my vegan shepherd's pie and a slice of my vegan maple cake. Friday, out for another run and nothing after breakfast.

And for my darling Adeline. Pardon my French, but I fucking adore you. I am sorry you have been hurt, but please take comfort in the fact that it was likely not intended that way. I think people have simply been inspired by you. If you have to leave us, I understand, but I will miss you terribly.

Hmm

So yesterday was a great day. I was down to 129.2 and tested out my new sneakers (a gift from my amazing marathoner friend) on a lovely four mile run that took me about 37 minutes.

I ate like a bird all day, just some fruit and carrots and lots of low/no calorie drinks since I knew I would be going out to have sushi last night.

At dinner, I ordered seaweed salad (my favorite!), a pot of green tea, and three kinds of veggies rolls (only 6 pieces each, rather than fish ones that have 8) - avocado, veggie, and japanese pickle. Unfortunately, I ate it all and had some of those fried noodles that they put on your table while you are waiting for your food.

I was too scared to weight myself this morning because I know all of that salt will cause me to gain two or three pounds of water in an instant.

I also decided to take a photo of myself - since I've noticed a nice trend in the before-and-after department here around Blogger. This is more of a "middle" more than a "before," but my goodness is it a painful reminder of how much work I have left. Considering I wanted to be 125 by Thanksgiving, which is in 10 days...

So I know I have been in worse shape than this, but my thighs are definitely disgustingly huge and my arms will forever be chubby, it seems. I don't know how I am possibly fitting into a size 2/4 right now. Oh, and that tape measure reads 25.5"

Much better today

I feel 100% better today.

Sometimes, a nice long sleep is what you need to shake off a bad few days. Today, the sun is shining and it is not so cold. I took Lucy for a 3.5 mile run and felt so good afterward. 129.2 after my run (I forgot to weight before).

I did the grocery shopping for my family, and picked up healthy food and lots of drinks. Baby greens and baby spinach, roasted red peppers, sundried tomatoes, baby carrots, hummus, jam, rice cakes, soy yogurt, orange/pineapple juice, pomegranates, pears, tangerines and lots of seltzer, in addition to the other things my family requested. I love when I can control what food enters the house (I never buy candy or anything like that) because I remove the temptations.

Since I woke up late, I did not eat breakfast, so I just had my first meal of the day, a mixed green salad with 6 or 7 Morningstar Chick'n strips, roasted red pepper slices, one tangerine, a few sundried tomato slices and my home-made low-fat vinaigrette. I can feel that today is going to be a great day and the numbers on the scale tomorrow will prove it.

Thank you Amy, Mich, Ariana, Bones Are Pure, Aina, Cinnamon Brown, & Trinity for being so kind to me lately. Your encouragement makes such a difference when I'm feeling down.

Adeline, stay strong dearest. We are all struggling together - chin up. We are here for you and you have been doing amazingly lately. (((hug)))

No sunshine today

Yesterday was a pretty good day, since I ran four miles with my dog Lucy and managed to see 129.8 on the scale (breaking 130 for real seems to still elude me).

Then, today, I am a full pound heavier. Seeing that on the scale honestly ruins my entire day. To make matters worse, taking car of my mom after her surgery is turning out to be pretty difficult, I'm struggling with the writing I have to do for this application, and Juan and I had a fight this morning. I was going to take Lucy for a run again, but not I'm just crying and do not want to go out. I ran Thursday, Friday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday this week, so I think it is ok to take today off. I know I deserve the punishment for being so fat, but my heart just isn't in it this morning.

Fighting with Juan just makes me feel so cold inside. He never gets angry, and he was angry at me today - over something kind of insignificant. I suppose I won't eat anything though.

Goals, motivations and thank yous

I have officially reached my first goal. For the third day in a row, I was under 130 - 129.4 to be exact.

It's amazing how high we all feel from losing weight. Just a few tenths of a pound less on that scale in the morning is enough to set me in a good mood for the whole day. Somehow, I feel I am not alone in this observation.

I went for a short run today - it was 30 degrees and I strained my hip yesterday, so only about 2.5 miles and some extra hills. I love the way I feel after I get in from a run, sort of invincible. Even when I have only been out for a little while. In San Diego, I was running 4-6 miles every time I went out. Now I run 2-3. I need to get my strength and willpower back so I can run some 10ks this spring. As for now, I just have the Turkey Day 5k to worry about. Even a silly little race helps motivate me to work harder.

I would like to thank the several girls Adeline, Mich, Amy, Bonesarepure, Cinnamon Brown, and Ariana - among others - who faithfully and kindly comment to my posts. I try my best to write back in a timely manner, but please know that every comment I receive really makes my day so much better. I appreciate all of the considerate, compassionate words you offer. We could all learn a lot from you.

So, today, I am pledging my next goal weight to this community. I promise that I will lose the next five pounds by Thanksgiving, not for me, not for Juan, not for anyone but the lovely girls here. We are all struggling with our own versions of disordered eating. None is less real than another. Regardless of what stage you are in, we can offer support to one another, and so I am going to do it for you all.

Moderately satisfied

So I suppose I am officially at my first goal weight. 129.6 yesterday and 129.8 this morning.

As I say practically every day, I have to be extra good today so I can be less tomorrow. I am setting a new goal, 125 by Thanksgiving. Considering how well I have been doing lately, I think this is completely realistic. 5-6 pounds in 25 days. Bring it.

I went for a chilling run this morning. I actually felt pretty good, but I am in serious need of a new pair of sneakers. My shoes have way too many miles on them. Funny thing is, this boy who I used to date, who still has feelings for me, offered to buy me a pair. I know that sounds weird, but he was the top XC runner when I was in college. He lives in NYC and coaches/paces for a running club (that is sponsored, and I think he has pretty nice swag hookups). Last year, while he was finishing his MBA, I helped edit almost every one of his papers - and he is not a native English speaker, so by edit, I really mean halfway re-write. I did it because he is incredibly nice and sweet, I just don't feel the same way about him. Anyway, he offered to buy me a new pair of Asics as a "thank you." Unfortunately, a little shoebox has yet to arrive at my door. I do not expect him to buy them for me, but if he did, I do not want to buy another pair. Does that make any sense?

I bought four different kinds of tea on Saturday - regular chai, apple spice chai, green tea with mint, and green tea chai - YUM! I just love drinking tea. It warms me up, makes me feel full, and I think it is so good for your body.

Right now, I am drinking a homemade pumpkin-spice latte. No $5.00 Starbucks for me! I whisked one heaping tablespoon of pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie mix) with about 2/3 of a cup unsweetened almond milk, a pinch of pumpkin pie spice, one packet of Splenda, and a teaspoon of vanilla. I poured that into some strong, freshly brewed coffee, and voila! WAY less calories and all of the yummy fall spiciness!

I hope everyone has a great day. Just a tip, keeping your hands busy, with knitting, for example, is a great way to stop snacking! When I knit, I completely forget to eat :)