Going Green

Last weekend in Oklahoma, my friend Cristin introduced me to the green smoothie.  Yep.  Green. It's green because of all the vegetables you put in it.  She put kale and spinach in hers, along with lots of fruit. 
 
It didn't sound good to me either.  Vegetables and fruits together in a morning shake.  Yuck.  Right?

I was scared.  But, I was very eager to try it.  I thought maybe it would be a new way to get more fruits and vegetables into my diet.  Plus, my morning shakes have really gotten boring and don't seem to fill me like they once did.

So, I tried it.  And, you know what? It wasn't bad.  It also filled me up more than my normal shakes.  And, I've had them everyday this week.

Green smoothies are suppose to be very good for you.  They are nutritious, give you more energy, eliminate toxins, improve your skin, etc.

Anyway, there seem to be lots of benefits to going green.  Let's see if a reduction on the scale is one of them.

Out of Hibernation

I've really been hibernating some these past couple of months when it comes to my exercise routine  - working out mostly at home on the bike, rarely hitting the gym or classes. And, I decided that after Easter I was really going to come out of hibernation.  Tuesday I did my first real spin class.  I have done spin before as part of some personal training, smaller bouts and intense but never an entire class.  Then yesterday I did step class again.  I just needed to beef up my exercise routine, intensify it.

In addition, I've added dance rehearsals to my my day to prepare for next week's event.  So, I am getting more exercise in.  Since Monday, I've burned 1850 calories... burning at least 600 a day.  Meaning -- I'm out of hibernation.  Hope I can keep it up!

A 30 Second Celebration

Next weekend is the local Dancing with the Stars event.  I've had one rehearsal, two weeks ago.  Not really enough practice to make me look like the Star Dancer I'm suppose to be.  Plus, I still haven't been certain about my dress.

I found a great black cocktail dress in Minneapolis but it was still going to need a little work... a little bling.  Between meetings today I stopped in Dillards and checked the racks.  I saw the one I have wanted all along.  I can't believe I went all over Minneapolis in search of it and it was right here in front of me the whole time.

The dress was definitely more than I wanted to spend for a 30 second dance.  But, I took a minute and thought about it. 

I won.  Yes, I won the event last year.  I was the audience favorite.  And, that was before I lost all the weight.  I did it being heavy.  And, here I am one year later and so much smaller.  I really wanted to celebrate all of this... even if just for 30 seconds in front of everyone. 





With my dance partner from last year, who has final approval of

my dress.

 



Missing Appetizers

When I was in the Core Fat Classes (at the beginning of this journey), we were always greeted with taste tests of shakes or entrees as you entered class each week.  I use to think of those as appetizers since I always went home and ate dinner as soon as I finished class.  
We don't get the appetizers in maintenance, and I (surprisingly) miss those appetizers.  Each week I feel like something is missing and tonight I realized it's those appetizers.  Funny, coz I never really cared for them while in Core.  Ha... Isn't that typical?

By the way, I'm celebrating another loss on the scale.  I have had several weeks of travel, which means lots of challenges.  So, I'm thrilled to see the scale down!

Beaver Bend

We decided to get away for the weekend with some friends from Texas.  We all met up in Oklahoma at a cabin in Beaver Bend/Broken Bow.   It was about a 7 hour drive on our end, so not too bad for a real get away.

It was gorgeous. 

I can easily say I've never been one to dream about going to Oklahoma.  In fact, I've never been in or through the state.  And, if it weren't for our friends who suggested it, I probably would never have gone.  But, we really wanted to just do something with them.

What I really liked was that we were somewhere with the kids that would allow us to be active.  We could hike, canoe, paddle boat, etc.  There was a lot of opportunity for movement.  We could do stuff.  And, we were able to escape the normal stresses of life and the "looming" holiday.  :)

Discovering the Excellence

We spent 7 hours in a car today (not great opportunity for exercise) traveling to Oklahoma for Easter weekend.  I've never been to Oklahoma, know very little about the state or what it has to offer.  But, I'm up for the adventure and am looking forward to discovering the excellence they speak of on their welcome sign!

Here Comes Peter Cotton Tail

It seems like every class we talk about the looming challenge ahead.  There is always a holiday.  Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, Mardi Gras, Easter, Mothers Day.... etc.  And, we spend much of the class dedicated to this imminent confrontation with evil food.

It gets old.  Living every week of class with curriculum wrapped around such silliness.  Holidays are challenging, sure.  But, they don't always trigger some episode that will make me stop everything I've been doing and pig out.  Maybe they do for others... ok, I get that.  But, it really does get old.  And, I've actually lost weight ever week we've had a major holiday.  I'm hoping for the same success this week when that little furry rabbit reappears!

Living Outside of the Box

Tonight was my weigh in.  Two weeks since my last one -- with the Minneapolis trip and its many calories included. 

I knew I wasn't down.  I could tell by the home scale.  But, I just wasn't sure how UP I was.

So, here it is: 

.5  

Up a half a pound.  Hmmm.  Not bad, really.  Considering all the additional calories and the inactivity of conference meetings, I am pretty happy with that figure.  I'm thinking all the dresses I tried on helped me burn some extra calories and that's what saved me. 

Anyway, I'm happy to know I can go out of town for six days and my weight basically remain the same.  That's a moment of victory for me.... feeling like I can actually live outside of the box. 

Courting Disaster

I was invited to participate this year in Marketing's 4th annual non-sanctioned volleyball tournament.  My team -- Courting Disaster.  I'm proud to say we delivered on that brand promise and had a perfect record.  We were 4 - 0 with an emphasis on the 0.  :)

It was fun to play and, even though I truly stunk, I felt more capable of playing.  My size didn't seem a problem... wasn't a contributor of my inabilities.  Nope... that was strictly my lack of coordination.  And, we all knew we were going to stink from the beginning -- hence the name and the caution tape. 

But, it certainly was fun.  Win or lose... I played the game.... and, that really meant something.

Biting Off More Than I Can Chew

My trip to Minneapolis was challenging.  The conference offered 14 hour days of  eating, corporate sponsored dinners, open bars, ongoing snack breaks.  Fortunately, the food offered was filled with healthy choices.  Many, many vegetables served at every meal.  And, lots of fruit offerings at breaks. 

While I tried to focus on the healthy choices as much as possible (and stuck to lots of shakes for my mornings), it was still difficult to be in that environment without wanting to just eat constantly. 

On several occasions, I know I ate or drank more than I should have.  I know my calories were up.  And, to make matters worse... I also knew my activity level was down.  Even though I kept my exercise routine, my activity during the day was pretty low.  I was sitting in conference breakout sessions for most of my 6 days.

This coming weigh in should be interesting. 

The Minneapolis Dress Scene

Almost every free minute I have had so far has been spent either researching healthy living opportunities here in Minneapolis or searching for the perfect dress. 

As I've written before, I'll be dancing this year again in the local "Dancing with the Stars" event.  So, now I have to find something sparkly to wear.  I figured while I was in another metropolitan area, I should take advantage of the expanded stock. 

I want something that has bling and will show off my much smaller portions.  Even though my performance is short, the dress is still important.  Important enough, at least, for me to search for something in another part of the world. 

So, I've been to every dress shop in Minneapolis and been in every dressing room available.  I tried on over 20 dresses... find a couple close to what I wanted, but none that were overly flattering.

I did finally buy one dress, though, late today at Neiman Marcus.  It's a black cocktail dress with lace on top, beaded and very slim fitting.  A gorgeous dress at a very good price.  Even if it doesn't work for the event, it's definitely something I can wear to the many functions I have to attend for work.  And, I can honestly say... I don't have one cocktail dress in my closet (that fits).

Not only do I feel like I was able to really get to know the city while here, I believe I am also now an expert in the Minneapolis Dress Scene.

McTrust

Today we had a plenary presentation by the President of McDonald's USA.

She talked about how companies (like mine and others there) build brand trust and spoke specifically about their strategy.  It was a tense presentation.  Many of my colleagues were waiting for her to talk about how Super Size Me drove concerns around their brand and potentially deteriorated trust with consumers.  But, she really never brought it up.  In fact, she avoided that all together.


Actually, she made an obvious point to talk about how she eats at McDonalds everyday and is still able to run a marathon.  She also talked about how her three grandchildren eat McDonalds regularly and how proud that makes her.  By the way, this was a very tiny woman.  Extremely petite with not an ounce of fat on her body.


Hmmmm.  Trust.  Seems like an interesting topic for them especially considering all their colleagues were hoping to learn from their experience -- how to rebuild trust in the communities you serve after some unexpected real bad publicity?  This is something all of us worry about regularly.  But, they didn't trust us to talk about it.  Missed opportunity for them because I think they lost even more trust.

Lake Calhoun

My husband left this morning. After I dropped him at the airport I went exploring.  A woman in my roundtable mentioned Lake Calhoun. 

Lake Calhoun is one of Minneapolis' largest lake, and Minneapolis' most popular. Lake Calhoun is immediately west of the fashionable Uptown neighborhood, and as such, is popular with the beautiful people and the cool kids, fitness enthusiasts, hipster families, and those who love people watching.
(According to http://minneapolis.about.com/od/lifestyles/a/Lake-Calhoun-What-Is-There-To-See-And-Do-At-Lake-Calhoun.htm). 

I dropped off my husband then hit the lake.  It's a 5k and it took me about less than an hour to walk it.  And, there were tons of people around.   Of course, it reminded me of walking the LSU lakes and all the people attracted to it.  The main difference was the weather was lovely.  The lake even had ice on it and I appreciated the chilled air on my brisk walk.

After the lake, I went to a few of the parks and walked around.  The opening session of the conference didn't start until noon, so I had some time.   I really wanted to see how they varied.  Which ones had the most people?  Why?  What were some of the things that drew people to them?  I keep thinking about infrastructure.  If you were to build it, what would you build? 

Anyway, I enjoyed my morning walk with the locals around their beautiful lake.

Twin City Travels

For my entire adult life I have been interested in traveling to Minnesota.  I can't really explain why.  It's just an area I haven't been.  There aren't too many states in the continental United States that I still need to see.  But, Minnesota and the region to its west is an area of the country I have been dying to explore.

Now I am here and excited! 

So much to see and do.

I have a lot of meetings throughout the area that require me to get around the region.  I love that I'm not just stuck in one part of the city. Since I had to be here for six days, my husband joined me for the beginning part of the trip.  Even though I was in roundtable meetings all day on Friday and some today, I had time in evenings to explore. 

And, the first thing we did was stop by the Mall of Americas.  There was a project there being done by colleagues that I wanted to see.  My friends in MN had put a man in a glass box in the mall and had people vote on things for him to do several times a day.  It was all part of a plan to get people to think about healthy living.  It was a curious project.  When I asked my friends there working the booth (interacting with the mall goers, answering questions), they didn't really know what the long term thought was behind this project.  I was quite curious because I wasn't really sure how watching a man live in a glass box in the mall would change my perspective on healthy living. 

Anyway, I was even more interested in all the walking trails and paths that Minneapolis has to offer.  I wanted to really explore those and see if they were heavily utilized. We were able to go by a few today.

My thought is that you have to have infrastructure (like trails) for people to live active and healthier lives.  But, I also believe that just building trails won't make people walk. 

This is all part of a project I've been working on for my job and I wanted to do a little research on it while here.

Tomorrow I will explore those more!

Greetings

Just got here last night and am happy to be away a few days.  I had shipped a bunch of our grantmaking portfolios up for the roundtable I am participating in and threw in some shakes, soups, and puddings.  I was delighted to see my box of goodies was here when I checked in.  Let's hope I use them all so I don't have to carry them back!

Late Night Dancing

 

Dance rehearsals began late tonight.  We started at 9 pm. (Yes, very late -- considering I fly out tomorrow and have so much to do).  But in the short period of time we were there... we actually got the routine down.  It's fun to be dancing again!  It's even more fun to be dancing with so much less weight!  Even though we aren't doing much in terms of a performance (compared to last year), it's still great to feel the difference.   

Ok. I gotta hit the hay.  Flying to Minneapolis in the morning.  I'll be gone for 6 days.  That's my next big challenge!

Feeling Like 10 Million Bucks!

I have spent the last year working as the Campaign Cabinet Chair for the local United Way.  The Campaign really got into gear at the same time I started the diet.  And, the folks I have worked with on the campaign have also watched me melt away (as they say).

This afternoon was the Announcement Event -- where we announce the results of all our hard work.  In about the same time I lost 75 pounds, I also helped raise 10 million dollars for my community.  Pretty amazing, eh? 

Might be a great recruitment tool for filling this volunteer position... look at how campaign will help you lose weight!  :)

Anyway, I feel like 10 million bucks! 

After Announcement Event with my very fun trophy! 
(Trophy has caricature of me and caption "Blue Eyed Blonde with a Mission")

Swimsuit

I had to buy a new swimsuit this weekend!  I'm ready to swim again.

It was great to put something on that I actually thought I might wear in public. I have never experienced that before.  I'm heading to Minnesota Thursday.  I'm planning to bring it and get some exercise in at the hotel pool!  Can't wait!

Feeling Good

Actually, I still feel miserable.  But, I just had a weigh in and I am down another 2.6 pounds!  My illness did come with a change in appetite.  I didn't really feel like eating as much.  So perhaps being sick was a good thing?  Eh, no... I have been pretty miserable.  Nevertheless, I'll gladly accept that 2.6 pound loss. 

Best Dressed and Sick as a Dog

It was a struggle... but I made it to (and through) the Best Dressed event Saturday night.  I was not feeling well at all.  And, I tried not to let on how sick I felt.  I was happy to be invited and wanted to be there.  But, it was a challenge to pretend I was up for it. 


It's interesting how much easier it is to get dressed and ready these events with a smaller body.  The choices of dresses alone is quite a bonus.  But, the feeling overall... it's so different than before.  Just so much easier.  Such a free feeling.  And even though I wasn't feeling well, it felt good to experience that.  A great reminder to me that my hard work is paying off.

Sick and Tired II

On Friday, September 24 I posted an entry called Sick and Tired.  Today, I'm right back there again.  I feel terrible!  I was suppose to be in New Orleans today for a work function.  I emailed our partner to let them know I was feeling pretty miserable. Sad thing is.. I can't really just take the day off.  I have so many things I need to follow up on -- I have to get those completed before I can lay down.

Not sure if it's sinus stuff or just feeling completely run down.  I am exhausted.

Truth is... this year has been very busy.  I have been challenged with staffing issues (not enough staff) and additional projects and it's taking a toll on me.  I think there's also more demand on me right now to be at functions on behalf of the company.  There are so many things the company is invited to participate in that gets passed on to me (whether it is for the CEO to attend or just the company needing a representative).  Last week I worked all day, had functions every night, then we did the heart walk Saturday.  It's hard to get work done if I am constantly out.  It is especially hard to get anything done with staff out and me attending these things. Plus, I think the more I go... the less I can think clearly.  I think I've been juggling too much and you can definitely tell by my inability to get the simpliest tasks completed.  That drives me absolutely insane. 

I am both mentally and physically wiped out. Feeling sick and tired, again. 

I hope I feel better by tomorrow.  I have a big function for work with our ceo or others from the company.