Back in the CLT

I'm back in Charlotte, hopefully for a while. I'm considering going ape-shit if I get told I have to go out of town again until at least November. Anyway, now that I'm back in Charlotte, I have to get back into the swing of my old habits. I went to the gym every day while I was out of town, but the crappy old treadmills in hotel gyms don't quite get the same amount done as the ellipticals at the gym...so I'm going to be going all hardcore on those this week. Also, I'm going to pilates class twice (I've upgraded to the level 2 classes!) once on Wednesday and once on Saturday, and I'm hoping to lift three times this week. I missed a lifting session yesterday and I'm pretty disappointed in myself.

Blake's parents were in town for the weekend, and we all stayed up in Winston after the (awful) football game Saturday. By Sunday morning, I was dying to get back to Charlotte since I had been gone for two weeks and I had a lot of errands to run. I had to actually plan to make dinner again most nights this week, and I wanted to try something new. Susan had told me about Pasta & Provisions a few weeks ago, so I went to check it out.

This is fantastic. It's the closest thing to a legit Italian deli/bakery I've seen since I left NJ to move southward. The selection is so good, I had to force myself to only get dinners for two nights, otherwise we'd be eating only pasta all week long. I also got lunch meat because (and I can't explain how happy this made me) they actually stock Boar's Head Oven Gold Roast Turkey, aka The Best Lunch Meat Ever that I can never find in NC. They apparently have it at Lowe's Foods, but there isn't one around here. So it was a positive experience. I'm probably going to go back there weekly. I had to physically restrain myself from getting a huge loaf of foccacia bread. I'm still trying to lose weight after all.

Last night, I made the chicken ravioli with pomodoro sauce. It was very tasty, although the sauce was a bit too spicy for my liking. Tonight I'm going with an old stand by: fajitas. Totally boring, but Blake loves them and they take less than 30 minutes to throw together so I'm all over that.

I'll be checking in more often now that I'm back at home...hope everyone has a good Monday!

WTF: PETA edition

I would like to start this post by mentioning that I am all about animal rights. It makes me sick to see what some people do to dogs and cats and I know how disgusting and deplorable the conditions of many cattle farms are. In fact, if I wasn't such a picky eater and I enjoyed eating beans or fish as a protein substitute, I would become a vegetarian immediately (as of right now, I eat only poultry. And occasionally bacon, because it's the best thing ever). A lot of days, I eat no meat at all, instead opting to get my protein allotment from milk, cheese, and eggs. Though I will admit that it would be nearly impossible for me to give up wearing animals (what would my shoe collection be without leather and suede for god's sake?).

Anyway, my point is that most of the time, I fully support animal rights groups. Which is why I donate monthly to and regularly volunteer at my local humane society. But then today, I catch this article about PETA, and all I can say is WTF??

They want Ben & Jerry's to stop using cow's milk in their products and instead use human breast milk. HUMAN breast milk. I get that I was a "bottle baby" and maybe that's why this grosses me out so much, but really? EEW. I know that dairy cows don't have that great a life, but it's better than being a meat cow, right? I don't know. But what I DO know is that as an adult human, I will never be drinking or eating products made with breast milk. Ever.

Does it make sense that cow's milk is for feeding baby cows and human breast milk is for feeding baby humans? Yes. And I suppose this is all some stigma created because of hundreds of years of humans drinking cow's milk. And I guess it's only equally as gross as when I hear about people that eat pigs feet and fish eyes and other weird shit that is generally accepted in other cultures. But still. Yuck.

What is kind of funny though is imagining a "human dairy farm" where hundreds of mommies are hooked up to breast pumps all day. Come on, admit it. That image is hilarious (and it would be a pretty good way for a stay-at-home mom to make some money while the kids are at school...haha).

Things that Rock

So last weekend, I did a lot of shopping for new gym clothes. And the problem that I always have continued: I couldn't find a damn pair of yoga pants that are the correct length for my 5'2'' frame. They either are 4-6 inches too long, or they are capris. No in between. I swear I tried on every pair of athletic pants that would be reasonable for yoga use at Dick's Sporting Goods, and all I came out with was a pair of capris. Which were nice, but sometimes I don't shave my legs too often in the winter, so a pair of full pants is kind of necessary.

So today I had to go to Target to get a gift bag for a baby shower gift, and I stopped in to the athletic gear section...and oh my god. Not only is most of it (of course) cheaper than what I got at Dick's, but the Champion C9 for Target brand pants COMES IN LENGTHS. This is not only awesome for me (petite length, thank you very much) but would also be awesome for tall people, because they also come in regular and tall. I can't really understand why Nike and Reebok and Underarmor don't do this. It makes perfect sense. You can't exactly wear heels when you're working out so that your pants are the right length. So needless to say, my stop at Target was fantastic. $20 perfect length yoga pants. I heart them.

I went in for my second pilates class today, and it was more of a full house...there were 5 of us. But all of the other people had been going for a while, so the teacher did more of a level 1/2 class, which was great...now I know what to expect from level 2. So I think that after the next two weeks I'm going to upgrade myself. This way, I can go on Wednesday nights. And if I also want to go on Saturday mornings, the level 2 class meets at 10 instead of 11. Yay.

If you're wondering, I made it through my mini-week in New Orleans without getting sick. It actually wasn't bad at all because we were staying at a really fancy hotel with an awesome gym and full free breakfast buffet. We also went to a place that has the best calzones ever for dinner one night. And we brought Alan for his first trip down Bourbon Street...the look on his face when we pointed out the (ahem) "advertising" outside of the live sex show was priceless. He echoed Jon's sentiment from a few weeks ago "I can't even believe this place exists." We don't have to go back there until March now. Score.

I go to Tennessee tomorrow for the week. Cleveland, TN is not very exciting, but the client there is freakin awesome so I have no complaints. Also there is a Moe's right by the office, so I will be eating many burritos. After I get back I get to be in Charlotte, hopefully through the end of the year. I'm sooo excited.

Hope you all have a good weekend, I'll check in from TN sometime soon.

Ugh.

I can't believe I have to go back to New Orleans tonight. Ugh. At least it's only until Friday afternoon and we're staying at a really swanky hotel. But still. I guess it's also good that The All Salad All The Time diet will be back. I've been working my ass of at the gym, but I'm still sitting firmly at a 6 pound loss. It's gotta come off at some point.

I got upgraded to first class for my flight tonight...so that does make it slightly more tolerable. But only slightly. I have to leave for Tennessee on Sunday, so I'm looking at yet another short weekend. But after this, I shouldn't have to travel for a while...god willing. I have half a mind to just request random days off so that I don't get assigned to any traveling jobs but then show up in the office anyway.

My mood will be poo until I get back Friday night...sorry in advance. At least I have Saturday's pilates class to look forward to!

The wait is over!

You might think that this is going to be a post about weight loss or something, but actually, I just caught a glimpse of the new iPod nanos, and I want one. Badly. I currently have a 4GB second generation nano, but it doesn't hold all of my music, which makes me sad. I was excited to see that the 3rd generation held 8GB, but I restrained myself, knowing that as soon as I got one, something better would come out. But now, a 16GB version is out! And it comes in purple! I need it!



Unfortunately I've been shopping way too much lately. I'm expecting to receive $450 in frequent travel bonus in the next few weeks, so I think I may get myself this. I would dangle it in front of myself as a reward for losing weight, but that would be wrong because this would actually HELP me lose weight because my iPod gets most of its use at the gym. I heart it.

On a side not, I'm wearing my purple shoes with a green dress today, and although I look tres chic, my feet are KILLING me. Breaking in new shoes is the worst, isn't it?

Oops.

So I have to do some recruiting this week for work, which means I have to suit up. And I'm heading out to my business professional client in two weeks, so again, I will have to wear suits. So I wanted to buy a new one. Or at least a cute jacket to be worn with a skirt. I had $50 in gift cards from the Ann Taylor Loft that went into effect yesterday, so I planned to hit the mall after work. I also needed to refill some makeup items.

And then I got to work yesterday and I have an email coupon from Banana Republic for 30% off yesterday only. That of course sealed my fate. I came home with a dress, a skirt, and a shirt from Banana as well as a jacket from Ann Taylor Loft and my makeup. Oops. And there was definitely more I wanted at Banana, but I'm just going to monitor it closely online until there is another sale. Because I need a break from shopping right now.

Other than that, the weekend was good. Wake won a close and stressful game, and the tailgate was fabulous. I didn't eat like an idiot, which was a plus. Sunday was a busy day, but I got a lifting session in. I hadn't used the kettlebell in a while, and I was in some serious pain as a result yesterday. I've been continuing my intense cardio sessions at the gym and my lifting and pilates in the morning. I'm still only down 5 pounds, but I have faith that the rest will come off eventually.

Our softball team has its first playoff game tonight if the rain stays away. Yay! Hope you all have a lovely day.

Hi!

Happy weekend! I'm busy making cookies for the tailgate tomorrow but I wanted to check in. I had a pretty good week. Even with the threat of catered lunches (see earlier posts) I was good and only took the salads (and one piece of tasty bread) and then ate what I brought from home. I decided that what I would really like for lunch is an ounce of cheese, some whole wheat crackers, and some walnuts. So I got those things, and then portioned them out so that I was only eating about 400 calories and supplementing them with produce. I'm a lot happier when I can eat whatever I feel like in moderation than when I restrict myself, so that's what I'm going to be doing from now on.

As of this morning, I was down 5 pounds. I'll admit, I got a bit of a boost from the food poisoning fiasco, but I miraculously kept that weight off, so I guess that's a small victory. I've been following the "lose 8 pounds this month" cardio routine from Self (but making it slightly longer so I can get 45 minutes in) and I think it's seriously working. There's nothing like switching up the normal routine to get shit done. I don't want to get ahead of myself, but if I can keep taking the weight off at this pace, I might be able to lose the next 5, buy my purse, and then lose another 5. That would be crazy!

Speaking of switching things up, I can't remember if I mentioned this before, but I decided to try out a new gym today. My current gym is fine, but it's starting to get a bit crowded and they don't have classes at the times that I want them to be. But I thought it was the only gym uptown (and therefore the only existing gym that I wouldn't have to drive to). But last weekend, I was playing around online and I found a new gym that had opened uptown. It's called Elements for Women and it's a chain of women-only gyms. Their website was all about how they focus on individual attention and personal training and yoga and pilates and all that. So I signed up for a free trial. And I HATED it. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure that for a lot of people this place is great, but I had several problems.

First of all, I don't mind working out with dudes. They don't scare me. But that was a major part of their pitch. And then I find out that the personal trainer they have on staff is a dude. I have been considering getting a personal trainer once a week in order to vary my workouts, but I really wanted a woman. Mostly because I don't like how the guy personal trainers try to flirt with you to trick you into buying sessions with them while you're trying to work out. And I just think a girl would know more about what exercises to do to make my hip fat go away. But this place only has a dude right now. Also, since they just opened, they don't have many classes yet, and all of them right now are at lunch time. I am more of an evening exerciser. There is only one circuit of lifting machines (which were actually smart-card activated and really cool) and there were no cable pulley machines and very few free weights. There were exactly two treadmills and 4 ellipticals and they were all the same brand. I like that my current gym has 5 different types of elliptical machines because all of the different brands seem to work different areas. Also, they don't offer laundry service, aren't open on weekends, and are pretty expensive. I felt bad telling them that I didn't think it was for me, because they were so nice, but I just didn't like the feel of it at all.

I may ask my current gym about personal training packages on Monday. I am still considering doing that. Also, I'd really like to try one-on-one pilates instruction with the machines and whatnot, so I've been looking into studios for that. It's expensive. I may join a studio for a weekly mat class and then see if I can graduate to personal instruction.

Well, I've got to go to bed because we leave for the tailgating at 8:30 tomorrow morning. It is a 3:30 game. That's how we roll. Go Deacs!