Weight Watchers - Again! (For the Last Time!)

Last Monday I went to my first Weight Watchers meeting in about 7 years. In 2007 I had success with WW Online, but recently it just hadn't helped me be accountable to myself. The logical choice was to join again right before the official Beginning of Summer Weekend - you know BBQ, beer and fried seafood season.

I won't have my first weigh-in until Monday, but I'm hoping it will go well. The reason I've always picked Monday as my weigh-in day is because it really helps remind me not to go overboard on the weekends. (Update: I was down only -1.6 lbs, which was good but not stellar. Working on hitting 5% by Family Picture Day on June 29th.)

I'm also working on building my running endurance. My goal is to make it all the way around the lake (3 miles) without walking by the end of the summer. So far I can make it about 1 mile, and then alternate running and walking the last 2 miles.

So here's to joining again, hopefully for the last time. WHEN I reach my goal weight I will become a Lifetime Member. Here I go again... wish me luck!

The Hardest Part of Exercise

Is getting dressed. Tying your sneakers usually takes more mental and physical effort than actually moving your body.

After working all morning in the mall, I was determined to go for a walk and get some fresh air this afternoon. It started raining just as I had finally convinced myself to get up and go, so I threw on my rain jacket with a hood, and hit the pavement.

I walked up, around, over, and back around Corey Hill, which is near my house. There are several paths that cut up the terraces, which are extended sets of stairs - intense! But it was totally worth it because I remembered there was a swing set at the top of the hill where the playground and park are.

Then I walked down the hill toward Beacon Street and power-walked the rest of the way home, past some very tempting restaurants (who wants to try Roadhouse or Dalia's with me?).

This is exactly the kind of exercise I used to love when I lived in Ownings Mills (Baltimore). It's exercise disguised as neighbordhood expoloration, fresh air and occassional sunshine. And because it didn't leave my bronchitis-wrecked lungs gasping for air, I might actually do it again - on a regular basis!

What's your favorite kind of exercise?

Resolution Update: A Slightly Delayed 2-Month Status Report

2009 Resolutions: The Two Month Update

1. Lose 20 lbs. by graduation (May 1) - I've mostly failed at this goal, althought it remains on the backburner. After reading Fat Land, I've attempted to cut out all high-fructose corn syrup and partially hydrogenated oils (soybean & palm) from my groceries. This has been a great way to help me focus on eating more natural foods and less diet-oriented over-processed foods. Plus, now that the weather is nice I can get outside to be active. In fact, after work tonight the boy and I want on a bike ride/roller blade adventure around the block (about 2.5 miles).
2. Plant a vegetable/herb garden on the deck - More on this project in April!
   
3. Improve my impact on the environment - Trying to figure out if I can compost in the city (without causing a foul smell to waft from my deck).
   
4. Balance my checkbook! - Off by $20 dollars. After 45 minutes of struggle decided to just adjust it and move on. I've also started using Mint.com which has been super useful. It gives you an overview of all your online accounts, tracks your spending by category, lets you create budgets, and even emails you to remind you when your bills are due!
   
5. Journal everyday - I've been journaling a lot more, for sure.
   
6. Have more adventures - Despite my propensity to stay in most nights, I've been having some superb adventures. I had a photoshoot for headshots with Cait Madden (@caitmadden), a hilarious brunch with about 15 of my closest friends at Tremont 647 that later turned into an adventure in Photoshop, and dinner at Eastern Standard with the boy's family. Last week Mike came up and we did a mini beer bar crawl that ended in hilarity at Deep Ellum when we met up with a bigger group of friends. The best adventure so far has been driving up to Maine for two days (10 hours worth of driving plus 3 hours on the bus) to go skiing at Sugarloaf. The mountain was fantastic, the intructors & ambassadors kindly saved a few of my friends. And the day after skiing, we had a Snowpocalypse in the backyard (there was still 3.5 feet of snow there)!
   
7. Spend more time with my friends - See above & last night's escapades at Sunset Grill & Tap. (Damn, we do a lot of drinking in teams!)
   

Resolution Update: The Error is Most Often Human

I didn't post a Resolution Update last week because I ended up leaving work early to meet some of the girls at Savant Project for an impromptu sex education session with Oh Megan. When I got home, after a few delicious Red Heads, I attempted to balance my checkbook as usual. However, there was some discrepency between what the bank thought I should have and what I did. After 20 minutes of struggling with my fuzzy brain, checkbook and calculator on top of the pillows, I gave up.

This week I knew I must find the error or else it would only continue to get worse. For the last half hour I've been adding and re-adding (well, mostly subtracting) the numbers. I checked to make sure each entry in my checkbook appeared in my online statement. I realized that I had written an 8 instead of a 6 at one point, which had thrown my balance off by $20. Eureka!

But it wasn't to be so. I was still off by what I thought was nearly $50 now!! After making sure I was only counting items that had cleared, I checked again. And finally - finally! - found the problem. I had recorded an entry twice - subtracting an additonal $12.33.

It's a relief to finally have it balanced and matching up to my online account again. Like my mom said when I first complained that I was off, "It's your error. The bank doesn't add wrong." As with most things, the error is usually the human.

Resolution Updates: One Month Down

We're one month into the year and it seems like Resolutions are quickly fading from everyone's vocabulary. I've already been less than vigilant about some of mine (especially losing weight, but eh.) I have also been working on some of my bigger life goals - like learning more about wine (check out my other blog, The Novice Palate).

So I thought the one month mark deserved a little recap of where I stand and where I can do for the next month.

2009 Resolutions: The One Month Update

1. Lose 20 lbs. by graduation (May 1) - I'm still trying to work on this, obviously. I did almost lose this month's goal, even if it was in the first week. This month I'm going to focus on strength training (muscles burn more calories than fat) by doing Vinyasa Yoga in my room 3x per week.
2. Plant a vegetable/herb garden on the deck - Still waiting for the weather to break. But I got a great email from Kathleen Banfield at the Food Project about their Build-a-Garden program.
   
3. Improve my impact on the environment - I'm OCD about recycling - paper and plastic.
   
4. Balance my checkbook! - Successful every week, right down to the penny. And I avoided a major catastrophe of overdrawing by being on top of it!
   
5. Journal everyday - I haven't written in my personal journal every day, but I have updated my blog, my journal, or written some note to myself in my mini-notebook every single day. More self communication = more reflection = less crazy, which is always a good thing.
   
6. Have more adventures - I've been doing really good on this one - the Wine Expo with my mom, wine tastings with Dana, girls night out on the cheap & visting Providence to see Mike. Maris wrote about being "Cheap and Chic in the City" and we've successfully revived the "Super Fun Things to Do in Boston" gCalendar -- we would love contributions!
   
7. Spend more time with my friends - See #6, and also the Super Bowl where we did like freshman year and crammed about 20 or so ex-Kennedy Kids plus some new friends into Tom's living room.
   

Resolution Non-Update

I didn't check in on any of my resolutions yesterday, nor did I balance my checkbook. I was too busy this weekened hanging out with winos & foodies at the Boston Wine Expo & a party Saturday night at the Boston Wine School. Read more about it on my wino/foodie blog: The Novice Palate.

Neighborhood Walks & Adventures in Cooking

Working part-time is really working well for me. My bank account could be a little fatter, but I feel so balanced in my life right now -- for the first time in a really long time. I got out of work today at 2:30 and (finally!) finished reading Dangerous Liasons on the bus home. It's taken me longer to read that book than almost any other (excluding Ayn Rand's Fountainhead).

Since it was a balmy 30 degrees today in Boston and I was home while the sun was still up, I decided to go for a neighborhood walk this afternoon. I went up, over and then around Corey Hill in Brookline.

I made a stop on the way home for some dinner provisions. As part of Resolution #1, I'm trying to get out of my food rut. So each week I'm going to try a new recipe or food item and report on the adventure with pictures. Expect updates around Thursday of each week.

This week's adventure in cooking was KALE. It's a type of wild cabbage. I also decided to try chorizo sausage (hence the stop at Whole Foods) to include in my soup for tonight.

Resolution Update: Fun, what's that?

So in the last week or so I've been trying to make a real effort to get out of my cocoon a little bit. The freezing cold weather and alternating mini-blizzards have made it a lot harder for sure. It's so easy to just stay in, getting cozy with the Wii and a glass of wine. However, I did promise myself to be less of a homebody/party-pooper this year.

Friday I was going to try to see a free movie at the Omni Theater at the Museum of Science after meeting my new coworkers in Cambridge for drinks. And then we were going to go to my friend Kate's for games & dessert. All three plans failed on Friday because the boy decided that I needed a night to just unwind. Apparently work, even though it's only part time, had me wiped out. Plus, it was about 2 degrees before the windchill. Brr!!

But there were definitely highlights this week! Wednesday was world's longest day ever. I got up at 4:45, and was with Maris by 6 am at the Sheraton for GMA's Great American Job Fair. Then after work, we met up with Kate and Dana at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government to hear about "Women Waging Peace." And of course what trip to Harvard Square would be complete without a stop at the Border Cafe?

On Thursday, Jess came over to interview me about co-op experiences. So I turned that into, let's get a bottle of wine & have some delicious snacks. Maris brought this cheese that's similar to brie but much more flavorful (cannot remember the name for the life of me), petite baguettes and some fruit. We all chatted about life in the living room and even had a mini Wii Bowl-a-thon.

This coming week I'm trying to organize a girls night. First, wine tasting at Federal Wine and Spirits downtown. Then movies at the Lucy Parson's Center about resistance to the separation barrier in Israel and Palestine. Lastly, heading to the Fireplace in Brookline for Jazz Night (and hopefully bumping into my client, chef & owner Jim Solomon).

If you're wondering about more adventurous ideas, check out this Google Calendar: Super Fun Things to Do in Boston.

Resolution Update: Scale Victory #1!!

So, in sticking with Resolution #1 I started this week by making a menu for each day. Then the boy and I headed to the grocery store for a massive healthy-food shopping trip. It was quite the success. I basically chose recipes inspired by Tosca Reno's Eat Clean book mixed with recipes for my new Crock Pot!

This week, following the "just eat a little healthier, eat a little less, and drink more water" plan, I lost 4.2 lbs! Which means I'm only 18.4 away from my goal for graduation on May 1!!

For a little inspiration I wrote a bunch of my favorite quotes on my scale in brightly colored Sharpie.

They say:

• "Don't Stop Believin'" [Journey]
• "It's not that some people have willpower and some don't. It's that some people are ready to change and others are not." [James Gordon]
• "Don't be afraid of changes. Don't be afraid of your life." [Eclectic Collective Changes]
• "Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure." [Nelson Mandela]
• "Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal." [Thomas Jefferson]
• "Regret is an appaling waste of energy." [Katherine Mansfield]
• "You can learn new things at any time in your life if you're willing to be a beginner." [Barbara Sher]
• "Did you ever think that maybe if you're not happy it's because of you?" [SK6ERS]
• "The truth is that our finest moments are most likely to occure when we are feeling deeply uncomfortable, unhappy or unfulfilled. For it is only in such moments, propelled by our discomfort, that we are likely to step out of our ruts and start searching for different ways or truer answers." [M. Scott Peck]

And now off to eat some home-made chicken soup before my first day of work tomorrow!!

Resolution Update: Getting back in the black

So today I have my first successful attempt at working on Resolution #4 - balance my checkbook. I used to do this regularly, back when I opened my first bank account and my mom helped me monitor my finances very closely. With her help, I established a fantastic credit history. I got offers nearly every week to open new cards, usually with 0% intro interest rates. And then I started taking them up on their offers. That was the start of my troubles. I was offered a $5,000 limit on my first card without my mom. To an 19 year-old who had just discovered a passion for shopping (my entire wardrobe used to fit in one suitcase, now I can barely get it in 8 drawers + my closet), it was total freedom. That summer I was also working about 55 hours each week, so I was never worried about paying the card off - there was always enough. But one month I spent $800 - and this was before I had any real bills - so it all went toward eating out, movies, and clothes. That was the first month I didn't pay the card in full. I don't think I ever have since.

By balancing my checkbook each week, I hope to come to terms with my bank account - no matter how depressing it might be right now. At least knowing is much better than not knowing, which leads to overdrawing my account or missing card payments. Tonight I spent about 20 minutes after dinner cross-checking my online statement with my ledger. It was actually pretty painless, and I feel so accomplished! I'm also going to try to pay for more things with cash. Why? Because then I won't pay interest, then I'll see how much it REALLY costs, and it will make balancing the checkbook even EASIER!

Resolve.

Last night was a perfect way to bid farewell to 2008. It was an interesting year, eventful and yet somehow not really. This morning I went back to Hillside Manor to have a delicious three-hour brunch with Kate, Jack, Maris, Adrienne, Ben, Dan, and Ed. It was exactly the right way to start this year - amazing food, strong coffee, and a lot of inspired breakfast-table conversations. I then came home and cleaned my whole room for four hours.

So of course, what January 1st would be complete without a list of resolutions for the year. Here we go:

2009 Resolutions

1. Lose 20 lbs. by graduation (May 1) - that means about 5 lbs each month, totally do-able. How? Eating colorful food (inspired by Tosca Reno's Eat Clean) and of course exercising!
2. Plant a vegetable/herb garden on the deck - this will probably have to wait until Spring. But I'm going to get some books from the library to learn first.
   
3. Improve my impact on the environment - bring my own water bottle, recycle, use more biodegradable products, and try to eat more sustainable foods (see #2).
4. Balance my checkbook! - First step in getting my finances under control and moving in a positive direction. I'm going to make an appointment with myself on my Google calendar to balance it each week.
   
5. Journal everyday - I've stopped writing to myself as much and I need to get back to it.
   
6. Have more adventures - inside and outside the city, get to the lake more. We're going to revive the "Super Fun Things to Do in Boston" gCalendar.
7. Spend more time with my friends - this goes along with #6 clearly and is inspired by my Life To Do list #7 (stop saying "Because I have to.")

Expect weekly Resolution Updates every Sunday this year. (I guess that's resolution #8).