Big City Life - wisnowbird's journal

[wisnowbird]

146.6. I didn't get in much water yesterday (out & about most of the day), so I'm hoping my body is just retaining some fluids due to my lack of drinking enough. I went out for dinner with my sister & we ordered a bunch of skewer-type foods. Mushrooms & zucchini, salmon & onions, calamari, etc. One of the items ended up not being on a skewer, though - it said red pepper & monkfish on the menu. It ended up being a full roasted red pepper filled with a monkfish/potato mash. We each split it, so it was maybe 1/4 cup of filling for each of us. That could have me slightly higher as well.

I did my abs DVD on Sun & my abs are still a little sore today. But I'm going to do the DVD again today. Then try to take a walk as well. I want to clean up my apartment & get some stuff off my old desktop so I can return it to it's box! It's cluttering up my living room. If I can get all that done today, then tomorrow starts the return of the job search. I really just want to get my place cleaned up ASAP, though, because my sis & her 2 cats will be moving in next Mon for about 5 days while she's in between apartments. Her cats are really jumpy & throw up a lot. My cat is super laid back & thankfully has an iron stomach. I don't know if they'll stay in their separate rooms or not (that's the plan). I think my kitty will not be happy to lose the entire bedroom.

[wisnowbird]

Back to 146 again. I really thought it was going to be around 145. I woke up feeling skinny & my tummy is a little flatter today. Oh well, it will come.

I didn't get my workout in yesterday, but I did get my old computer stored away & a bunch of old bills shredded. Yesterday was kind of chilly, so I didn't even leave my apartment. Today is supposed to be much nicer - sunny & 70's. I have some errands to run & then this afternoon I'm going to send my resume out to a couple of recruiters. Ugh - I hate being on the interview circuit.

[Seal]

wisnowbird-just checking on how you're doing. Are you seeking suggestions or would you rather not? God I admire you quitting your job. Wish I could be that brave.
Seal

[wisnowbird]

Yay - today is a good day 145.6!! That's the lowest weight I've been at since moving to NYC. It probably would have been even a little lower if I'd had more water to drink yesterday. It was another day of running around the city, so I didn't get to drinking much water until I got home in the evening. I got my sister's law school graduation gift - a new gorgeous duvet cover. I think she's going to like it since she's moving to her new apt next week. New bedding for a new apartment. Plus it'll last her for years. I got my dad to agree to getting her the accessories - the bedskirt, pillow shams, decorative pillow. Now she'll just have to pick up the sheets on her own (she has some gift certs to use) & she'll be all set. She's going to be really surprised because we both thought this particular style was sold out, but I found a couple of things left in a corner at Macy's.

Today is shaping up to be a gorgeous day. It's sunny & not too windy. I think I'll take a walk & enjoy the weather

Are you seeking suggestions or would you rather not?

I'm absolutely open to any suggestions!! Especially anything that might help me keep my carbs slightly higher (so I don't get the itchy rash) & still lose

[wisnowbird]

145.8 this morning. Weird thing yesterday - I kept drinking, drinking, drinking (legal things - water, Crystal Light), but rarely had to go to the bathroom. I guess I must have been somewhat dehydrated? I was really good yesterday - went for an hour long walk & then ordered a Cobb salad for dinner. The restaurant always puts a couple of slices of bread in with their delivery entrees & sometimes gives me a free cookie. The bread wasn't that hard to resist, but they threw in a white chocolate/macademia nut cookie - my FAVORITE from them. I immediately thought - I'm eating it. I went & entered the entire salad & cookie into Fitday. Then I ate the salad with the cookie sitting right there in front of me. During the course of eating the salad, I decided I didn't really need that cookie. I'm doing good with losing right now & how many times have I said just one thing and it leads to just one thing every single day & I end up maintaining for a loooooong time instead of losing anything. So I put the cookie in the freezer & resisted. I had a tiny bit of s/f jello instead.

This afternoon I'm getting my hair cut. I'm hoping it turns out nice since I'm going to someone new as my old stylist moved away.

[Seal]

Good Job resisting temptation. My DH loves those cookies. I don't but when I made him for his b-day I ate them anyway! Keep up the good work.
Seal

[wisnowbird]

Finally saw the scale move today to 145.2. I was at 145.6 all weekend. I don't understand how I can be the exact same weight - to the tenth of a pound - for days in a row It was frustrating because I was only eating about 1200-1300 calories. So yesterday I changed it up a bit - made some Spinach Lasagna from Linda Sue's site. It came out really good & bumped up my calories to more like 1800. Today I'll probably have a leftover slice for lunch & then I'm making one of her chicken dishes for dinner.

My sister & her two cats moved into my apartment yesterday. They're only here until Thurs or Fri, when she moves into her new apartment. Then my dad comes to visit on Sat & stays until the following Thurs. We have her two cats in my bedroom with the door shut & my cat has the run of the rest of the apartment. Of course she spends most of the time sitting right in front of the door to the bedroom They're all doing well, though. One of my sister's cats hid under the bed all day yesterday, but finally crawled up by me around 3 in the morning. The other one has explored every inch of my room. It's kind of nice having someone else around (for a little while) to cook for. I can try new recipes & see if she also likes them. She does low carb, too, but not for weight loss. She's already a size 2 & just wants to keep it there.

It looks like it's going to be another nice warm day. I may go for a walk before it gets hot out.

[wisnowbird]

144.8 this morning. I continue to move down very slowly. But at least it's moving. Yesterday I had a little bit of fruit with lunch - a small slice of watermelon, a few grapes, some strawberries & blueberries. It was nice to eat the cold fruit because it was so hot & muggy yesterday!

I'm kind of scared about the next week. My dad is coming to visit & will be staying with me for almost a week. It's also going to be my PMS week. Combine the two together, with my dad wanting to go out & try restaurants in the city & I'm nervous I'll cave & eat some bad stuff. I'm going to really have to watch myself & try to eat salads when we go out for dinner. I've already ordered some groceries for delivery, so we'll probably eat breakfast & lunches here. I might have to try more of a CAD WOE while he's here. I'll see how it goes.

My sister got into her new apartment last night. Of course the movers were late, then it started to POUR, so they had a delay getting her stuff into the new building because they didn't want to take it out in the rain. They didn't finish until 10:30 at night. We started moving around some furniture & putting away clothes from the wardrobe boxes right away, so we didn't get back to my place until after midnight. All the cats are now getting along - no fights & all doors are open. I know my cat is going to miss the other two when they leave, probably on Sat.

ETA: I made a few recipes from Linda Sue's site this week. The spinach lasagna was really good, the green enchilada chicken I'd probably also make again. The meatloaf meat portion turned out great - I tweaked it & added 1/4 cup of low carb milk to keep it moist - but I screwed up on the sauce & added too much dry mustard, so we scraped that off & froze the leftovers. I think I'll try the meat loaf patty melt with the leftovers. I also have the ingredients to make pizza chicken (which looks really yummy) while my dad is here.

[wisnowbird]

144.4 I really thought I was going to be up just a little today. I had a few more strawberries & some grapes along with lunch yesterday. Then I had a large dinner of leftover meatloaf meat (scraped the too mustardy sauce off) with melted mozzarella cheese along with 1/2 onion, 1/2 red pepper and some mushrooms sauteed in a little butter. It was really good. I also had a couple pieces of s/f candy before I went to bed. I know it takes a few days for food you've eaten to show up on the scale, but these things weren't high calories. I thought they would cause a little water retention, but apparently not. Or maybe it was the 3 1/2 hours of unpacking at my sister's new apartment that helped.

My dad flies in this afternoon. I've already been planning out places to go for our dinners out where I can stay on plan. Probably one of my favorite restaurants around my place for dinner tonight. Then tomorrow I might make dinner before we go out - we're seeing Avenue Q on Broadway. Monday we have reservations to go out to a steak place to celebrate my sister's graduation from law school. Tues is graduation & then open for dinner. Wed I'll probably cook again unless he really wants to go out. Thurs afternoon he flies home.

I had really wanted to get down to 142 for my sister's graduation. Looks like maybe I can get below 144 if I stay good. That would be close & I wouldn't be complaining.

[wisnowbird]

Yay - 144. I was pretty good with my dad being here yesterday. We went to one of my favorite southwestern restaurants & I passed on the yummy frozen margaritas as well as the bread/olive oil. I got the salmon & green beans along with a little corn pudding. I only ate maybe 1/2 the corn pudding & stuck with water to drink.

Today we'll probably eat at my place. I'm going to make either tilapia or pizza chicken for dinner before we go to see Avenue Q. We're bringing my sister's kitties over to her new apartment today. That'll be fun walking across the city (about 1/2 mile) with two crying kitties in carriers. My cat is going to be lonely. She & one of my sis's cats have been having fun chasing each other around. It's been fun, but I'm ready to give her back her barf cleaning duties

[wisnowbird]

143.6 today. I made Linda Sue's pizza chicken for an early dinner yesterday - really liked it. We went to see Avenue Q on Broadway. It was really funny. There was this one song - the Internet is for Porn. Hilarious. When the show let out it was pouring, so we ran over to Juniors right down the street for some dessert. My dad had a HUGE slice of Devil's food cheesecake. It was probably 3 times the slice of the sugar-free diabetic slice I got. I didn't quite finish all of mine. It was good - especially for being sugar-free & crustless.

Tonight we're going out for a big dinner to Tribeca Grill to celebrate my sister's graduation. I'm going to take a look at the menu before we go so I can be prepared with a good healthy choice. I'm surprised I'm continuing to lose at a decent rate when my carbs have been a little higher. I guess that's what works for my body. My calories have been consistently around 1400-1500 and my carbs fluctuate between 40-90 per day. I guess I'll keep it up. The only question I have right now is about my scale. I was over at my sister's place yesterday & got on her scale. Then got on my scale when I got home. Her scale was 1.4 lb higher than mine. But in the grand scheme of things, does 1.4 lb make a big difference? I'm definitely losing weight - that's the important thing.

[wisnowbird]

Back up to 144.6. It's still down from over 145 yesterday. I was eating CAD the past few days with my dad here. We ate in for breakfast & lunches, but had dinner out nearly every night. I'd usually end up with a nice balanced meal - a roll, some meat, veggies or salad & part of a dessert. For eating all that & to be up only 1 lb, I'm pretty satisfied. My dad left this morning, so I'm back to eating more normally. That 1 lb should go away quickly. The best thing - I have NO cravings even though I had carbs!

[wisnowbird]

Back to 143.6 this morning. I think it's partially due to stress. I've got a lot going on with my job search. There's one company that I started talking with about 2 months ago. They told me it was a 95% done deal 6 weeks ago. Then they had to put a hiring freeze in place because they relocated some divisions (not the one I would go into, nor any chance of that one moving out of the city) to another part of the state. In order to give those people whose divisions were being moved an opportunity to be re-assigned in NYC, they put the hiring freeze on for a month or so. Now they've opened it back up & are telling me that all I have to do is wait until next Friday for the offer (they have to post the position for internal candidates for 1 week before they can offer it externally). My old boss (whom I really like working for) would be one of my new bosses at the new position. The people in the department are very easy to get along with - they've taken me out for breakfast & met me for coffee before.

But in the meantime, I've been interviewing at other places. I'm on the verge of two other job offers, probably to be made today or Monday. I really want the job with company #1, but have been strung along for so long I don't know if I can trust that it really will come through in another week. Is it smart to pass up other good jobs to take a chance on a great job??

I can't stall the other offers (should they be made) for any longer than maybe a day. That just doesn't fly here because they need to make an offer to their second choice fast if I don't want the job. It's very much a job-hunters market right now for the industries I'm looking in. Ahhhhhhh - I need a crystal ball

[wisnowbird]

143.8 today which doesn't make a lot of sense unless it's water retention. I ate only slightly over 1000 calories yesterday (really low for me). I'm thinking about making a burger for lunch today & then maybe ordering salmon for dinner (yum). I need to order more groceries. While my dad was here we went through the majority of my food.

I got a job offer yesterday just as I thought. I'm giving better than 50/50 odds that I get another one early/mid next week. I told the recruiter who conveyed the offer that I need to think about it & will let them know Monday morning. Multiple job offers may seem wonderful to some people, but I hate, hate, hate hurting people's feelings & telling them no. At least I have a couple of days to mull it over.

I downloaded the pictures from my sister's law school graduation earlier this week. I thought I looked cute in my green/white striped shirt & white pants, but now looking at the pictures, I can see my tummy roll & still don't feel like I'm really making much progress with my body changing.

[wisnowbird]

143.2 although I'm wondering more & more how off my scale is.....I took a set of 10 lb weights & put them on the scale this morning. Each individually came up at 9.4. When I put them both on, it read 19. Grrrrr.

Today I'm hanging out watching the French Open & probably World Cup soccer later. I may try to get some exercise of my own in. There's something just wrong about watching sports all day while not doing anything more strenuous than getting up off the couch to get something to eat/drink

[wisnowbird]

143.6 again today. I think my stomach is filled with all kinds of nervous acid from this job offer situation! I was actually up at 7 this morning, which NEVER happens when I'm not working. Just 10 min ago I turned down the job offer I received on Friday. It probably would have been a really good opportunity, but I'm still holding out for the other one. Ugh - I was shaking when I called the recruiter. I felt terrible. If this other job offer doesn't come through I'm really going to be kicking myself in the pants.

I went for an hour walk yesterday since it was so nice out. Today I may try dusting off my abs DVD. I'm going to clean my place, which hasn't been cleaned since my dad left last Thurs & watch the USA World Cup match this afternoon. When I was in high school, I played tennis & soccer, so this weekend was busy for me watching the French Open finals & then a few of the World Cup matches.

[Seal]

First I have to say I laughed at your ID story. I kept one for three years that had me weighing about 170. When mine finally expired the ID guy couldn't believe it was me.

Second I'm glad the hippo avatar went away. It was cute but the real you looks nothing like a hippo!

FYI, Since May 23 you are down 3 pounds. That's excellent. I know its discouraging when clothes don't look flattering in pictures, but they say the camera adds pounds. AND light colored clothes definately make people look bigger. Hang in there!

Seal

[wisnowbird]

Thanks! I'm down 6 lbs since re-starting May 3rd, so that's averaging out to 1 lb a week. If I keep that rate up, I'll be where I want to be by the end of the summer. If only I could pick where the pounds come off (tummy, tummy, go away)

I'm still the same weight as yesterday. I was looking through the foods I've eaten the last couple of days & they're pretty salty - a couple of hot dogs, pork rinds, peanuts. I've also been drinking more soda (diet & caffeine free, as always - haven't had "regular" soda since I was about 19) than usual. So as of today I'm going to make an effort to have only 1 glass of soda a day for a while & get back to drinking more water. I've already had one large glass of water this morning. I have groceries coming this afternoon, so I should be better about food as well. I'm going to re-make some of the dishes that I made when my sister was here. This time I'll have leftovers

[wisnowbird]

142.8 I cut out peanuts & soda yesterday, so I think that helped.

I took some new pictures this morning as I'm now just past the 1/3 mark of getting to goal. I could see some subtle differences - less of a fat fold on my back & my waist is getting slightly flatter. When I can tell a major difference, I'll post those pictures - as unflattering as they are

I was supposed to meet up with some former co-workers tonight, but it got cancelled due to too many people not being able to make it. I'm kind of relieved because it would have been going out for drinks. I'd like to lose a little more before I add alcohol back in. So it looks like next Wed is the re-scheduled date. That also gives me 1 more week to lose some more weight. I was at 150 when they last saw me, so hopefully someone will see a difference.

Tonight I might get to see an old friend of mine. We went to high school together in WI & I convinced her to move out to NM with me when we were ready to go to college. She stayed in NM while I've moved on - WI, FL, NY. I just went back through some digital pictures & realized I haven't seen her since her wedding in May '02. I was probably about 160 or more then. I can't remember exactly when I hit my high of almost 170. She's in NJ for a training seminar & they're bringing a group of people in to the city for the evening. So even if I do see her, it will probably be only for 15-30 min since she's with a group of work people doing touristy stuff. But it would be nice just to say hi. I'll have to pick out a "skinny" shirt - hehe.

It's kind of cloudy today & looks like it might rain, so I'm going to try popping in my Turbo Jam DVD for the first time to see how I like it. The goal is to get some kind of exercise, stay away from salty stuff as much as possible & drink at most one glass of soda.

[wisnowbird]

Thought I'd post this picture now before I forget. I met my friend for a couple of hours & she convinced me to go up to Top of the Rock. I am deathly afraid of heights, so it was a really big deal for me to go up (67 stories). I made her take a pic of me for proof to show my family I actually did it That's Central Park, the Upper West Side & the Hudson River behind me.

[wisnowbird]

143 today, which is fine. I had a late dinner last night, but was good - ordered peppered salmon & mashed cauliflower from a restaurant down the street. I have come to salmon!!! I never used to like it, but now I'm eating it once a week or so. I was so hungry on the way to meet my friend & didn't want to get sucked into buying a hot dog or pretzel from the ever present street vendors, so I had 1/2 of my emergency Atkins bar. Not a bad choice under the circumstances.

I have to take a package to UPS today to return some shoes I ordered that were too small. That means a 1/2 mile walk each way to get to the UPS store. It's good exercise. I tried the beginning TurboJam DVD yesterday, but didn't like it that much. Maybe I'll like some of the other routines better. I ended up doing my CardioStiptease abs DVD afterwards. My tummy was so much tighter the summer I was doing this on a regular basis. That's my big problem area, so perhaps if I can get back in the habit I can make it less of a problem area.

[Seal]

I lived in NM too. Albuquerque 1989-1994. Soooo different from the big city-the east-everything. So did your friend notice your weight loss? I think you look thinner than at your sister's graduation even though its only been a few days and I know you haven't lost much. Maybe its the shirt. But you are very close to goal. Do you realize that?
Good Job!
Seal

[bellatango]

I've just loved reading your journal Just got done with the whole thing...you've had a busy year or so, huh?! I think you look great, and I agree about the hippo icon - you look nothing like a purple hippo I'm curious if your friend mentioned your weight-loss, too!! I've lost almost 50 pounds and nobody has mentioned a thing to me other than my husband and kids! I wonder if it's just a taboo subject...people might be afraid of offending me or something? They wouldn't, though - I'd be THRILLED.

There are a few things I envy about your living in NYC- I can't even get a cup of coffee here after NINE PM!!! And I live just west of Seattle so you'd think there'd be a million places serving coffee late into the night, but noooo. In my little town here everything seems to just close down at 9, which is ridiculous. That's ONE thing I miss about living in a more metro area (I lived near DC before) - places staying open late - everyone delivered - and there was a huge variety of places to eat, things to do. *sigh* Ah well - I guess it's good that there's no temptation around (besides one disgustingly yummy bakery.)

[wisnowbird]

Wow, Seal - we lived there at the same time! I lived in Albuquerque from '92-'95 when I was going to school - UNM - everyone's a Lobo, woof, woof, woof.

To answer both of your questions - nope, she didn't mention anything about my weight loss. But to be quite honest, I didn't expect her to. She's very, very low maintenance & not too concerned about things like that. Plus, she only saw me at my high weight for the two days I was out for her wedding & I'm sure she was paying more attention to the wedding than to my weight gain (whew - flew under the radar - hehe). When we lived together in NM, I was skinny, so if she remembered me from then, she was probably thinking now that I'd put on weight - LOL:


I guess today is the day for pictures. I dug up some old ones from two years ago when I was at this weight. Oh, I forgot to post my weight today - 142.4!!!!! This is just about my Florida weight - I was at 141-142 for about a year when I lived there. Unfortunately, pulling up those pics made me realize that although I may be at the same weight, I'm not the same size. I was working out regularly back then, so my stomach/waist was a lot flatter than it is right now. I need to start doing my abs DVD regularly again because it really did make a difference. Pic from 2 years ago in July: