CUE THE ROCKY THEME SONG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I LOST MY FIRST 10 POUNDS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

WOOO HOOOO!!!!!!!

And I'm hardly even trying! :D


So I came back from Vancouver this summer at my heaviest EVER. But I've been losing about a pound or so a week and I'm feeling GREAT! A bit overworked, but happy!

Just got back from my clinical at the veterans' psych ward and now I'm off to work at the hospital 'til midnight!


A bit of bad news.... I relapsed on my coffee abstinence.... Gotta start afresh and get back to detoxing.

Hope everyone's doing well out there! It's a beautiful world! :D

Why my wedding diet is going to sh*t

Evil. Apple and Blueberry Pie

It's because I have friends that can COOK! This is a pie baked by my good friend Anneliese. It seriously is a little orgasm in a bite. Uh. Mayzing.


Not only is Anneliese constantly feeding me and stuffing me up like a turkey, I have Mamma Lena makin' her DIVINE desserts every other week! Observe (Lena's an AMAZING self-taught cupcake baker):

My first encounter with Leelee's baked goods. It pretty much sparked our relationship.

How stinkin' cute?

For our coworker's surprise baby shower.

Some of Leelee's infamous cake pops!

Hello Kitty Cake Pops

How do I end up gravitating towards such culinary savants? It's a wonder I'm not morbidly obese. Good thing David's Bridal offers plus sizes! :D

Holy Smokes Batman!

I ran a mile today!

Granted it was an intervaled mile but a mile ran nonetheless!

Annie had the brilliant idea of running half and walking half so we did this twice and finished out the day with a total of 2.5 miles in the bag: walk 0.5, run 0.5, walk 0.5, run 0.5, walk 0.5.

I can't believe it! I set my goal on half a mile and even that was painful... I really didn't think I was gonna run that second half mile but there's something about running in a group of 5 and having 4 people in front of you start running.... You just have to move your ass as well. Instinctually, you don't wanna be left behind. Ah yes, nothing like a bit of peer pressure to get your ass into gear. Works like a charm.

Anyways, I felt great when it was over and I think I could do it again! Maybe even by myself next time! I just need some good tunes to load onto my iPod and perhaps I could do the whole first mile without stopping next time.... We shall see.

Thank you friends for supporting my weight loss endeavor. You guys are the greatest motivators ever!! :) Now if I could just get my ass to start studying for my Peds exam on Monday, I'd be set!

Mud Run here I come!

82 Dresses To Go

Hello hello.

School has been slowly but ever so surely consuming my life. The semester will lighten up after the next week or so and I will finally have a moment to breathe. Until then, I hope you all won't mind the blogging stagnation/inconsistencies.

Updates:

Kleinfelds. 11 days away and I am in rough shape. School and stress have been throwing a major wrench into my diet plans and exercise has been getting the shaft. I still managed to eke out 5 hours of workouts last week and still hope to maintain at least that level of activity this week as well. *Fingers crossed*

Dress try-ons. I just tried on 5 more dresses on Friday with Lena and they were bling-tastic. For your viewing pleasure:

So. Much. Fluff.

Bedazzled.

Betrained.

All in all, a successful try-on sesh. I'm beginning to get a better idea of the types of dresses that I think I want for the big day. I don't think I'll have any more time to devote to try-ons until Kleinfelds, which is fine by me because I'll be ready to go all out by then!

Speaking of Kleinfelds and my failed diet, my cousin sent me a project to do in the mail called "Flat Ellie". She mails herself to me and I take her along to various adventures where I document the journey with photos with her in it. I partially blame her for my recent food fails. See below. 

Best. Quiche. Ever.

Korean food. Nuff said.

BROWNIES WITH ICING. YESSSSS.

We're human, right? Indulgence is natural. :)

A Week of Failures...

So I've been pretty much on a binge fest so far this week.

I've been at school an average of 10 hours every day and it. Sucks. Big. Time.

My diet totally reflects how stressed out and frazzled I am. I've succumbed to the temptations of deep fried goodness for the past three days. In my body's defense, I did spend an hour on the elliptical both Sunday and Monday night. Tuesday I started off okay with a veggie sub (which did come with a hearty side of french fries) but then I caved in at dinner when I opted for General Tso's tofu which doesn't sound too horrible except for the fact that they gave me 5 pounds of it along with a side of whiiiiittttteeee riiiiiiiceeeeee...... My weakness. Today I rechecked myself by having a salad for a late breakfast. But then I had a chimichanga (unfried) for lunch today (Uh. Mayzing) with double sides of Mexican rice and ice cream dessert. Fried.

I need help.

But I'm going to get back on track starting this moment. Yes I will have to head back to school this evening for a late night study session but. I. WILL. ELLIPTICAL. TONIGHT.

Tomorrow I will take my exam in the morning and blast my excess calories with a fantabulous round of hardcore tennis with Anneliese.

Friday's plan. Schoolwork. Work-work. Then another round of poundin' some serious balls on the tennis court.

Saturday. Pot luck at Brent's. Dun dun DUN! Must. Stay. Next. To. Veggie. Dish. And. Avoid. Hashbrown. Casserole.

Sunday. Weigh In #4. :(

I probably shouldn't have weigh ins during weeks when I have pot lucks to attend to. It just isn't fair.

Neglectful Blogger Is Me.

What a busy couple of days! Sorry blogging world!

So I had my third weigh in this morning and.............. still no change.

I'm not disheartened though. This week I seriously brought the pain with that double workout session on Thursday and I worked out a total of 5.5 hours!!! Wa hooo! I'm still sore from the weightlifting but it feels great because it's a reminder of what I was able to accomplish. Even though I haven't lost any poundage recently, people have told me that I do look more toned and I can see it too. Especially in my thighs (Which better be the case cuz they're still in pain)! Yay! Goooooooooo Gina! :)

Next week's goals are to get up to 6 hours of exercise and maintain adequate hydration. Eating healthy is a give-in, not an option.

Speaking of eating, the worst thing I ate this week (Worst as in least nutritious) was probably dim sum (My first dimsum experience!) and I've come to determine that sesame balls are China's greatest invention. Ever. Pics for your tastebud delight:

Asian Tapas.

Thanks Lena!

Lena took me to this fantastic place in Chinatown, Philadelphia and you could tell this place was legit because there was a massive line! It was totally worth the wait because the whole point of dim sum places is that little mini-buffets come to your table and you just pick out what you want. Uh. Mayzing. I love buffets that come to you! :)

In other news, I babysat for the cutest 3 month old baby on Friday night and it has totally exacerbated my already fulminant case of baby fever. Meet the painfully adorable Chloe.

A. Dorbs.

Risk of dropping her for want of a good pic.

Almost babynapped her.

She was so good! I had her sleeping in like 15 minutes! Sigh. Seems like all my friend are having babiessss... except me. Wah. One step at a time, G-dubs.

Okay so today is another day of wedding shows. I'm hoping to win the Big Kahuna at this one since it's at a smaller venue (Keep your fingers crossed for me). I'll have an update upon my return!

Appreciating Life.

Dude.

I am totally beat.

Tonight Katie, Anneliese and I went to our usual weekly workout session at the Y but at the last second, we did some serious DOUBLE TIME. We did our scheduled hour long class of Bodypump which was SORE. TASTIC. By the end of the workout, I was only lifting the single pound bar and even then my limbs were shaking from pathetic, puny exhaustion. While I was basking in the happiness of knowing that the workout was over, Katie suddenly asked if we wanted to do another class. Another class. Like as in, another hour of self-induced torture? Yes. That is exactly what she meant. With a smile plastered on my face I stated with my best eager-beaver expression, "SURE KATIE! WHAT A SPLENDID IDEA! I SHOULD HAVE THOUGHT OF THAT MYSELF! LET'S MOSEY ON OVER NOW! I CAN'T WAIT TO BE IN AGONY AGAIN! PLEASE. ALLOW ME TO LEAD THE WAY." So that's exactly what we did. We attended the Bodystep class that started right after our class ended.

Bodystep was painful last week when it was all I did. Bodystep after an hour of strenuous weight-lifting? Indescribable. It makes me hurt just recalling the memory of it all. What was going through my mind during the actual experience?

Here's just a snippet:

"This must be what the Spanish Inquisition was like."

"The people who invented the Chinese Water Torture are jealous that they didn't think of this before."

"I think I'd rather pee out a bowling ball than have to go through this experience."

"I can't taste anything. Oh wait, I think that's pain I'm tasting. Wow, I can taste pain."

"Guantanamo Bay sounds great right about now."

"Are my legs still attached to my body? Oh god. I can't feel my legs. I think my legs fell off."



Anyways, you get the idea. I'm not going to lie, during Bodystep my only goal was to keep moving. Forget the actual moves that I was supposed to be doing. Right now, all I'm trying to accomplish is to look somewhat alive and less like a flopping corpse. As crazy as the experience was, I'm glad I did it. It was great to see that I can actually survive something like that and be able to confirm that I don't ever want to feel that level of pain again.

I'd like to take this opportunity to thank my body for not dying. Thank you Body. You're more swell than I thought. I'll never take you for granted ever again. Amen.

Baby Bop Legs, Saddlebags, and the Chub Flub Club

Someone once told me that I had Baby Bop legs. Yes, Baby Bop. The character from Barney and friends. Here's a little reminder:

Baby Bop. And her legs.

I don't entirely disagree. She captures my short stumps quite well, saddlebags and all. But if I am entirely honest with myself, personally, I think I'm more of a Barney's legs type of gal. See for yourself:

Barney- paving the way for stumpy legs everywhere.

So yes. I have no problem admitting to the world that I don't have the best set of gams and I've come to accept that a long time ago. However, I am not a raging fan of my saddle bags. For those who are blessed with great stems and are clueless as to what "saddle bags" refer to, here's a couple illustrations:

A mild case of saddle baggage.

A more extreme case of saddle baggage.

So yes. I am trying to decrease my saddle baggage ratio. Another joy of being a thick curvy gal is the chub flub curse. That's right -- the chub flub. And I have this one bad. It's the fatty inner part of your thighs that chafe and rub against each other causing the most painful friction ever! I get this when I'm running in shorts or wearing a skirt that's too tight. Thus, running in shorts is not a possibility for me. The hoe skirt I still rock. In agony. Sigh. Yes, life with chub flub is so hard. But I'm strong. I can beat this. I'm a chub flub blastin' machine!

Tonight I chub flub blasted by accompanying Katie to Bodystep and almost passing out. I was huffin' and puffin' my ass off. Around 45 minutes, I was starting to feel a bit woozy and I could see the stars appearing in my peripheral vision. Embarrassing!

Must. Not. Pass. Out! Especially with the 89 year old grandma happily steppin' away in front of me!

Well luckily, I didn't and I managed to finish the rest of the session with my eyes closed half the time. But honestly, it was great because I can already tell that I'm going to be sore in the morning! Katie suggested that we do the weight lifting class next week -- Totally lookin' forward to getting my pump on!

Weigh in #2 on Sunday. Eeek!

Kleinfelds or bust!

A Day of Rest? Sort of.

So it's 8:00pm and I am still at work. Boo. All my coworkers have gone for the night and it's just me and the list of translation claims in front of me.... An opportunity for a mini blog!

Classes today were rough and I have another full day tomorrow. Sigh.

Tonight was supposed to be Kickboxing with Katie night but we have rescheduled for something a little different. I was enjoying the kickboxing seshes but my body wasn't any where near as sore as the first time around. I was really hoping to kick my own ass at least once a week -- I wanna bring the pain! I mentioned this to Katie and told her that I was interested in trying all different types of exercises to really challenge my body so tomorrow we're going to partake in Bodystep. Here's a little description:

"It is the ultimate way to give your body a high energy cardioblast and tone the hips and thighs. With over 2,000 steps per session, you will see results in record time. Get in step with bodystep ™"

Sounds/looks pretty intense. Can't wait! :)



****EDIT****

So Lena (Being the evil baker extraordinaire that she is) comes by my desk with THREE CHOCOLATE COVERED RED VELVET CAKE POPS. EEEEEK!!!!! Without even a second thought, I scarf down two immediately. It was beyond delish. So moist and chocolatey and.... simply divine. I look at the third one and tell Lena how much Brian would enjoy one of these. We talk about the practicalities of shipping the last cake pop to him and we determine that it is doable. Here is Brian's saved cake pop:



Evil! Stay away!




Must. Resist.



To keep a long story short, it didn't work out.

Just another shortcoming to add to my weekly list of wedding diet fails. Totally worth it.

The Dreaded Weigh In #1

It's been exactly two weeks since my last weigh in and.....

I've lost FIVE POUNDS!!!!

Okay. I know that 5 pounds can be due to anything: fluids, bowel movements, menstrual cycle, etc. I could easily gain all this back in a couple of days. But honestly, when I decided to step on the scale this morning, I only had one goal in mind: Please do not tell me that I had gained any weight...

SUCCESS! More than success! I think I am going to have weekly weigh ins on Sundays and my goal for next Sunday will be to lose 1 to 2 pounds. I think once I have established the 10 pound weight loss mark, it's safe to say that I am actually losing REAL weight.

So what have I been doing to bring about this change? Definitely eating less crap and attending those kickboxing classes with Katie in addition to my ellipticalling (I love ellipticalling to Jersey Shore).

Things I did wrong during the last two weeks that I will improve on:
- Splitting nachos and cheese with my cousin last night during our movie date (Justin Bieber's "Never Say Never" is SO life-changing. Lol. Go Canada!)
- Going to Old Country Buffet: A semi-sucess. (I forced myself to have two plates of salad before anything else so I ended up only indulging in a small plate of rice, grilled chicken, and jalapeno cornbread. *Golf claps*)
- Going to a Korean Restaurant: Total fail. I scarfed down on spicy rice cakes, dumplings, tofu stew with MORE white rice, and vermicelli noodles. Womp womp wommmmpppp.

I'm feeling pretty motivated and although I don't really SEE the weight loss effects yet, I know I'm on the right track.

KLEINFELDS OR BUST!