Vegas on a Diet - NOT

Okay so I was in Vegas this past week. Exercise consisted of....walking. I did a lot of it. Way more than I expected even. Now, one of my favorite things to do is eat. I know, I know. That doesn't really work well with a diet. No it doesn't. Which is probably why I have not had a lot of success. But that issue aside, let's talk about the food in Vegas!

Part of our room package included meals at the Luxor's buffet. It was okay. The first night we were not impressed. It got better the next couple of days, but we had decided we would not eat dinner's there on Friday and Saturday because we love trying cuisines and restaurants we don't normally get at home.

So, Friday night we ate at Red, White & Blue at The Mandalay Bay because my DH was craving-- I mean like get-out-of-the-hungry-angry-pregnant-woman's-way craving --little-neck clams. You can't get those on the west coast on the half-shell. He ate a dozen and was blissfully happy once again. I had crab cakes and a salad...smothered in blue cheese. It is my kryptonite.

Saturday night I had the most amazing meal. We went back to Mandalay for dinner to Red Square, a Russian restaurant. Yummy! We had their tasting menu (essentially a fixed menu with some extras) that was very good.

I had the Fillet Mignon...oh my god it was so good. I can't tell you the last time I had a steak that good. We loved the atmosphere and really enjoyed ourselves. I tried things like smoked salmon (hate it still, sorry Dad!) and tasted caviar for the first time, which was totally overpowered by the smoked salmon. I had steak tartar for the first time, and no shock there but I loved it. Why? Well I eat my steak very rare. LOL! But that's another story for another time.

All in all, I did not over eat much, I was very aware of stopping when I felt full. Not overfull. I have not yet braved the scale to see the truth of my vacation, but I know I did okay. Bottom line, I had fun and really enjoyed myself. As of Monday, it was back to the #Twitloss grindstone, so ladies get your sneakers out, your water bottles filled, and your iPods loaded because I am on a mission! More on that next week....

Wanna hear about our room and what not? Check out my post on my blog.

What I want to know is, while I was in Vegas, what were you up to?

New York, New York!

Hello fellow Twitlossers! I apologize for the lack of update last week. I meant to write one before I left for vacation, but with all the preparations, it slipped my mind. I'm such a bad girl!

So, PK whisked me off to beautiful Manhattan last weekend. We stayed from Friday until Monday, and let me tell you it was a whirlwind of activity! They say that New York City is the city that never sleeps - and they are right!! The City has this special kind of noise... kind of like a whooshing. But it's not irrititating. It's actually kind of soothing. What is irritating is the constant squeak of breaks that are overused (cabs are EVERYWHERE but they're difficult to catch) and horns honking.

New York was a magical experience though. The lights, the buildings, the history, the food... everything. I loved it! And I'd gladly go back in a heartbeat. No, really. A heartbeat.

I didn't bring any workout clothes, even though I knew there was a gym at the hotel we stayed at. I know, I'm a bad girl. But I knew that we were going to be walking everywhere anyway (we probably walked between 12 & 15 miles in the 4 days we were there) and I wouldn't have a lot of time to do much exercising even if I had brought clothes. Seriously, we packed a TON of stuff into the few days we were there. I'll blog about it all on my MamaKitty blog... probably next week. I haven't decided yet.

I felt myself getting sick the last day we were there, which sucked because I hate being sick, but at the same time, I'm glad it was at the end of the vacation. Being sick on vacation sucks even harder than being sick any other time. So I'm currently dreaming of hopping on the elliptical after I get off work, but it's not in the cards right now unless I want to die from coughing myself into a heart attack.

I put a few pictures up on my Photobucket and am posting them here. I mostly stuck to pictures that had something to do with Twitloss (namely: food I ate while I was there and drinks that we had the first night we arrived), but I snuck some pictures of the City because it's so beautiful. I wish I would've taken more, but I was so caught up in experiencing the trip that I forgot to document a lot of it. :(

So, how do you keep up with your diet/exercise when you're on vacation?

Just Eat It...

Week 2 of the miracle pill is going well. I am simply less hungry. It is the most amazing feeling to not be constantly hungry. I mean I am no starving child with a bloated belly but I never realized the constant gnawing hunger I lived with until-- I didn't. I mean apparently it I was living my life like I was in the Eat It video with Weird Al...come on you remember it! No? Okay Let me refresh your memory!

Now that I have planted that vile ear worm for today, let me please remind you all...stop the junk food talk on Twitter! ROFL! I can't take it. I mean it. I am looking at you Robin with your S@#$T%^&S talk. Anyway. Maybe the food focus has shifted because I have been obsessing about my writing stuff the last couple of weeks? True I have been...my pointer finger is a little tired from clicking refresh so much! (Click here for more details.)

Exercise-wise things are going well, I am working out about 3 days a week and walking at work 3-4 days in addition to that. So I am hoping to be looking as svelte as possible by my trip to Vegas...next week. Yeah I know. I have high expectations. How about you? Any good short term goals your shooting for?

Milestones

Even though I haven't had a lot of time to hit the gym recently, I've still been pretty good about the way that I eat. Now that I'm working, I'm up and moving around a lot more and have a lot less time to be bored and think that I'm hungry when I'm really not.

I hopped on the scale the other day and was dismayed to realize that I'd only dropped 2 pounds. But hey - it's 2 pounds. And it's not sitting on my ass anymore. So, I'll take it!

If you don't follow me on Twitter, you probably haven't heard that I'm going to New York next weekend with PK. Yup, we're headed to The Big Apple! I've never been, so I'm really super excited. I'm hoping to stick to my diet, but with all the places we're heading, I'm pretty sure that diet is headed right out the airplane window. Anyway, I decided that I needed to go shopping for some new jeans because the only pair I have that fit me a) have a broken zipper and b) slide off my ass towards the end of the day. So, I headed to Hell-Mart to get a new pair of jeans. Joy.

The thing is: when I got into the dressing room, I found that the size 16s I'd pulled off the rack didn't fit me. They were too big! So, I went back and got a size 14. And OMFG ladies, they fit!!

I haven't been a size 14 in five years.

I want to call Jose and tell him that even though I haven't had the time to hit the gym lately (and I miss him dearly), I'm still losing weight.

I visited the school's gym today just to see what they have available. The weight room is kind of pathetic, but they have a ton of elliptical machines so next week, I'll be hitting the gym after work. I'd go before work, but they double as classrooms, and unless you're taking a PhysEd class (which I can't take - the VA won't pay for it, since I went to boot camp), the rooms aren't open until 2:30. That's ok though. I get off work at 3:00 on Tuesdays & Thursdays, and I can move my schedule around so that I get an extra hour off another day in the week.

I want to take this milestone and run with it. I want to keep hitting more and more until I hit my goal.

What milestones have you hit recently?

Topamax Week 1 - My Body, it is a Changing!

A while back I blogged about hitting the doctor for some weight loss help (among other issues - no not the mental ones, just gotta live with the fact I'm crazy) and he suggested a pill to help prevent migraines and help with weight loss. Well, last week in the madness of my life I got on the scale Monday morning. Now note here and now. I AM NOT putting this on my weight tracker. I refuse. I weighed in at 205. Did you hear me people? Two-Hundred-and-five-freaking-pounds!

Enough is enough. Look I know I cheat here and there, but I exercise and I drink diet shakes instead of eating food. For crying out loud I should at least be able to maintain the 195 I was at. Deep breaths. In. Out. So, I called the doctor. He called in my prescription and I started my pills Wednesday night. I read through all the lovely side effects...but I focused on the important two (besides migraine prevention). 1) Loss of appetite - that's right if I don't feel hungry I shouldn't eat, right? RIGHT?! 2) Loss of taste for some foods...please god let that be all things that have fat in them! ROFL! Okay I know it won't work that way, but maybe if I stopped craving sugar as much it would be easier, ya know?

Well, Tuesday was one week on the pills and I have to say I am not as hungry as usual. I wake up and my first thought is not, "What's for breakfast?". That in and of itself is a small miracle. I am happy to say that overall it seems to be working. Even to the point that I skipped cake that was in the kitchen at work today. Don't get me wrong, by the third trip in there it was taking will power, but it was so much easier to find because I didn't crave it like I crave oxygen. :D

And where does this all lead to? I am happy to say that I believe that with a combination of a few weeks of hard work in the exercise department paired with the Topamax I managed a 6lb drop this week! Woot! Woot! Now, I do not expect that to be a regular occurrence, but I would like to see a steady drop, especially since I am headed to Las Vegas in a couple of weeks. Wanna look my best for my vacation!

So, How are you all doing? Any successes you wanna share? Small or large? We celebrate just the same here at Twitloss!

jiggy me this

First, let me just say I am SO sorry. No, not for missing last week. I'm sorry for this video. I didn't want to post it. I didn't. No, really, I didn't. I don't even LIKE this song. No, I don't. Stop it. I DON'T! But.....it was in my head. And it's so catchy. And, before I knew it, I was embedding it right here. Sigh.



So. Damn. Catchy. Will Smith, you're the devil! The DEVIL I SAY! But....maybe if I put this on my MP3 player I'll run faster trying to get away from it.....

Anyway, it appears I am back on the wagon for real this time. Back to the gym AND back to recording calories. Hooray! My legs are protesting the return to treadmill inclines. Tough shit.

Now if I could just back away from the cheesecake and key lime pie.....although, I have to tell you all that I have broken (at least temporarily) my cupcake addiction! And, I'm working on the fast food addiction. Yes, I've been cooking a lot more things at home but....fast food is so fast! Obviously, there are still areas that need some work.

Happy Tuesday!

on a serious note...

I'd prepared myself to write a light-hearted and funny post today about losing weight and being healthy. But I went to the hospital to see a friend last night, and even though he's doing well, I find myself neither light-hearted nor funny. I don't want to bring anyone down, but this isn't a laughing matter.

My friend, who I'll call Smith (because he's a locksmith), was diagnosed with lymphoma about 2 months ago. The lymph nodes in his neck are so swollen that they're now pressing on his vocal cords. He has lung cancer, and it has metastasized to his brain -- which is why he was in the hospital - he had surgery on September 1st to remove the large tumor. He has several small tumors that could not be removed by surgery, and will have to be blasted with radiation, because the chemotherapy they're going to treat his lung cancer with won't work on his brain.

Why am I posting about this today? Because it's a health issue, and a large part of Twitloss is about maintaining a healthy lifestyle.

Smith has smoked for 20 years. His was about a 2 pack a day habit, which is a lot. But I've seen people who have smoked far less than that develop lung cancer. My maternal grandmother, maternal grandfather, paternal grandmother, and (maternal) great-aunt have all succumbed to lung cancer in the last 20 years. They were all smokers.

This is quickly turning into a "Don't smoke!" post, but it's so much more than that... I want you to be healthy and live a long & happy life. Living healthy doesn't have to be painful. Yeah, when you first start exercising you get those aches and pains, but when you get to exercising every day you feel great! Eating healthy doesn't have to taste nasty. There are millions of healthy recipes floating out there on the internet that taste fantastic (believe me - I use them all the time).

If you don't want to live healthy for yourself, why not live healthy for those around you? Your kids, your spouse, your parents, your family, your friends.... there are a lot of people out there who want you around for a while.

This is me Bailing...

Okay, nothing to say today because I am buried under EDJ stuff. :( I have however worked out two days this week. :D Yay me!

The weekend was awesome, but I did not eat well. I did have rabbit for the first time. It was good...but I couldn't eat a lot of it. Have a great week and keep loosing those pounds!