and we're back...well almost.

so tomorrow i head back to the city. i didn't do such a good job of updating ye olde blog site mainly because i kept pretty busy this week and had a stellar week at home. ;)

for what its worth-- def. included some workouts while home which i really hope helps me with my goal which we will know when i step on the scale most likely wednesday morning back in DC.

so what did i do during my winter vacation?

3 zumba classes
(including one 1.5 hour zumba-athon)
1 circuit training class
1 yoga class
(best gift one can give oneself....moments to breathe space into all places that hurt)
+
1 fabulous gurls night
(including at least 45 min of dancing at mardi gras!)
+
few other nights with the ladies on various occasions
visit with justin (yes my collaborator) and his (cute) new homeowner friend paul
+
picked up lucky from the airport
randomly bumped into andy and his family at dinner
+
quality time with my mom
more quality time, this time with lynn and family in CT
+
some solid words from RJB
flirty email from another boy (not---jad)
+
smiles and hugs from bella and her mom
good food, fb messages, text check ins
AND MORE!

= one happy heart!

the bonus points will come if the scale is at or under the last weigh in. we'll check measurements on wednesday too!

tchau friends.

four minute update

howdy folks-
rapidly trying to get ready to leave for RI while also making sure the house is in perfect condition for my housemate and her mom who return from a four month visit to India! Her mom is coming to help her settle in with two new pups--- anyway i digress...

3 minute update

so def. not on the I diet, but still following a lot of the suggestions. Am bringing the book to RI with me as I am very afraid of gaining weight back while home. something about home and vacation makes you forget about calories!

i know i owe a weigh in....hasn't happened with measurements, but the good news is the scale said 140 today! Very exciting for me.

However the goal for home is going to be to return weighing the same or less!


wish me luck!

i'll update more when home!

tchau.

GUEST BLOGGER...Slow and Steady...

Guest Blogger: Laura Kingstorf

I have a new found respect for fitness classes. On Tuesday, it will officially be a month that I have faithfully attended not one but two classes a week. I realize that is only 4 classes each, but I usually have a lot of one-night-stands with classes (ie. that time I tried yoga last summer). But this year I've been sticking to a plan, and finding the routine to be extremely comforting.

I'm a part-time triathlete in the summer months and biking is my weakest event. I realized that I need to start building a base early in the year, but with a constant 6 inches of snow/ice on the ground and 4 foot snow banks around every turn, I thought I'd try a spinning class at the Y. My initial plan, actually, was to go swimming at least 3 mornings per week, and spin or run 2-3 times per week after work. Then I stepped back and realized that is how I usually proceed when the fitness bug bites. I get into an elaborate plan with work-out logs, diet journals, and double sessions for a week or two. The next two weeks are a recovery period, usually involuntary due to an exhaustion-induced illness, and by that point the fitness bug has since flown away and I'm eating a Guinness ice cream float. This time I went to one spinning class on Tuesday after work about a month ago. I took it slow and got to talk to the instructor, Geno, afterwards. Since that day, I've been going back every week. Admittedly, I haven't run on the treadmill in a few weeks, and haven't gone swimming since 2008, but I'm also not completely worn out. I plan on adding one swim or run a week starting next week and then building up my aerobic activities slowly (ZUMBA?!).

The second class I've been faithful to is a combination of Yoga and Pilates and it takes place 3 floors down from my desk as I type this. I've been working in the same office building for 2 years and never set foot in the practically complementary fitness center that we have on the first floor. I finally responded to the mass e-mail begging people to join and was greeted with such a warm response. There are 4 fitness classes offered each week as well as unlimited use of the treadmills and freeweights, said the fitness coordinator, and she invited me to try a class out for free. What?! It's not Bally's by any means, but the membership level I chose breaks down to $2 per week. Not too shabby. I've been attending yoga-lates class every Friday at noon for the past month. It's an amazing stress reducer and since I had to pay for all of the classes ahead of time I always have incentive to stick with it. Seeing naked ladies that I work with in the locker room will take some getting used to..

technical difficulties

hey dudes and dudettes
so i know it's tuesday and i didn't post updates yesterday. that's because the scale went up one lb. ;( then i knew why. so this week thanks to my female chromosome my weight is going to be up and down--due to such technical difficulties, i will regroup next monday.

for now though i should probably share some feelings and thoughts. i'm def not following the diet stage II in the least but i made another soup from her book and i think it's amazing. i made my first cuban black bean soup! i was pretty excited about it and about freezing yet another bag of soup for a later "easy meal". in general although not meal by meal i'm still using my "instincts" to remain faithful to the food lists and choices.

and i can't tell you how much i am loving my body right now. my upper half has been making me really happy. the lower half still has some jiggle but i get excited looking at my stomach and the muscles and tone that it finally has. def. still room for improvement, but for the first time in a long time i feel like i'm making some healthy progress.

at one time i thought that i wanted to lose weight just to be thin. now i def. DON'T want to be thin--i would much rather have a toned and healthy body. before starting the diet i wasn't sure what would happen and whether or not i could even lose more weight. after losing 15 on south beach 6 years ago--i have always tried to push the scale down and it's never stayed more than a week. not only has it stayed down below the added holiday weight but also 5 more lbs. today at one point it said 140. that's amazing for me!

if it drops below 140-then i'll be stoked! again no worries- i'm still in a healthy weight zone for my height and age. i also hope that once my stomach is in pretty good shape, that maybe i'll start to see my thighs shrink. one can have hope ;)

alright... so although i didn't post an exact weigh in, i gave you the emotional weigh in/check in. and all those results are positive. but in my other life i need to be going so i can stop having so much free time and actually find employment. ;)

tchau!