Happy New Year

I went to the new Pandora store in SoHo and the sales rep mentioned a cute 2011 charm to which I stated “There's nothing about 2011 that I'd like to remember.” laughter ensues.

I thought 2010 was bad truthfully 2011 was a disaster. Between dealing with a sick parent and a Jerry Springer-esque messy breakup I am all to ready to begin the new year. My ex and I parted ways after my birthday before Thanksgiving.... what a way to start the holiday season & I always thought I couldn't live without him, but I'm managing. We made a decade in May so imagine wasting all of your roaring 20's on a jerk.

I'm going into this new year determined to rebuild myself. After spending a decade completely intertwined with someone else I've forgotten who I  am. All my goals, wants and desires were for our future. So this New Year's resolution is all about getting to know me:

What is it that I want?
Where do I see myself in 5 years? In 10?
What can I do differently in the next relationship?
Do I even want to date again?
Do I really want to stay in NYC?
Will I go back to school?
What am I going to do to get healthy?

Over the next month I will have many more questions with very few answers, but what a fun soul searching journey this will be.

I wish everyone a happy, healthy, prosperous new year and I want to leave you with a quote from my favorite childhood book Wacky Wednesday by Theo Lessig, which helps remind me even when things get crazy just take it easy & sort yourself out for tomorrow is a new day.

Wacky Wednesday was gone
when I counted them all.
And I even got rid
of that shoe on the wall.

6 Month Challenge- Delayed

Unfortunately I woke up to sharp pains at the bottom of my feet. After several long weeks I went to see the podiatrist who after x-raying me found that I had heel spurs and plantar fasciitis. It hurts like crazy so I have been pretty much in the bed and stuck at home. The pain is worse in the morning and feels like someone ran over my feet with a truck. The first doctor I saw gave me silly inserts that only aggravated the situation. The Second doctor prescribed pain killers and lots of stretching, but this is a temporary fix as he stated the location of the spur can only be fixed with surgery.

*Le sigh* So now that the pain inst as severe I am taking my workout to the mat by opting to do workouts that do not impose any heavy impact on my feet. I do some standing exercises like standing crunches so long as when I come down lightly on my toes.

Beginning next week I will restart my challenge. In the next 10 months my goal is to lose 50lbs at roughly 2lbs every two weeks. Doable? Absolutely!

A pocket chair... sorta

I get to Bed Bath & Beyond and always end up buying more than I intended to. Just as I'm approaching check out I noticed the pocket chair. My pockets aren't that big but it can certainly fit in my bag. The metal braces make it a bit on the heavy side and as a woman I really don't need to add another ounce to what I'm slinging on my shoulders.

I can however think of many reasons to carry it around. It's beach season and I think it will see the most use for the purpose of having a chair at the beach. I might also have it handy for BBQs and picnics. For $10 I think it's worthwhile to have. 

Goody Spin Pin- Mini

This week I stopped by my local CVS Pharmacy just to skim the aisles. I already own the regular Goody Spin Pin and I was quite happy to see they released a mini version. These are great for when you need to wear your hair up and oftentimes replace elastic bands for me.

They come 3 in a pack which I paid $7.99+tax for and two packs should be plenty. These little magical pins are able to do the job of a ton of bobby pins. I really love how they don't painfully poke me in the scalp and the pull too much on my hair. All I can say is "Why didn't I think of that?"

Over the cloud

Last year I had enough with my old All-in-one printer and I was determined the next one would be faster, better, and smaller. I ventured out to buy the HP Officejet 6500A Plus, it isn't the Photosmart eStation that serves as a printer and e-reader which I couldn't afford, but it is still one tough machine.

Sometimes searching for coupons online is a hit or miss, luckily I snagged a $25 off coupon on a random search and around the time of my purchase HP was running a sweet promotion making the final price only $136. 

I'm in love with the whole cloud technology thing. I can print to my home computer from anywhere in the world simply by sending documents to my printer's email address. So when my tech-illiterate dad needs a copy of something all I have to do is email it and it automatically prints. Gone are the days I had to repeat instructions over the phone to my dad on how to open his email. If you have parents or grandparents out there like my dad this will be a great way to send them pictures.

This printer is also wireless. Although wireless printers have been out for years I was still tangled up in a myriad of cords and cables. Finally, my lazy derierre can sit in my bedroom and print on the printer in my livingroom. My computer and printer no longer have to be side by side, a crucial investment for my space constarined Manhattan apartment. Heck, if I wanted to I could hide my printer in the closet or under the kitchen sink and still be able to condct business as usual.

6 Month Challenge- Week 4

It is January 24th

I was walking through Harlem with another friend/coworker on some random day the prious week and came across Twirl Fitness. I heard some things about them offering pole dance classes so I searched the web for more info which eventually led me to Twirl Studios. My friend decides she too is ready for a health revolution and drops by Twirl Studios to get the scoop, the prices are good and we decide to go for one class.

The classes are an hour long and in this hour I developed a new found respect for pole dancers. It requires amazing core and upper body strength. In addtion, the teacher is great, patient, understanding, non-judgemental. The three of us that were in that class at the moment do a few twirls on the pole, but seriously I need to be able to do at least ten pull-ups before I can gain any real momentum in this class.

I wake up on Tuesday and muscles I never knew existed are in pain. The teacher warned us this would happen and advised that we continue to stretch. I'm in so much pain I decide to take a few days off to rest and think about my next step. I weigh myself again and I weigh 220lbs, I have lost 8lbs so far and tell everyone the great news.

On Thursday, I caught a cold that knocked me off my feet ultimately I decide to keep resting. It is now Saturday and I decide that I should do the 21 day(s) challenge again at the Medium level. I hope to lose another 8lbs.

6 Month Challenge- Week 3

It is now January 16th

I am so tired I decide to workout Tuesday, and Thursday instead having to double up on Thursday. NYC gets hit with some bad weather and my cowrkers are calling out so I was staying at work a few extra hours. Saturday we celebrated my Weight Watchers buddy's birthday I am demotivated. Tuesday arrives and I decide I will be so disappointed if I dont finish all the workouts so I hop to it.

The fact that the workouts are now almost 30 minutes long versus the 19 minutes on day one makes it worse. Finally on Thursday January 20, 2011 I complete the final two workouts. I worked out for 4.5 hours and burned a total of 1,790 calories which soon I will burn that much on one day.

The Weigh In

I have a Wii Balance Board which is as acurate as the scale as my doctors office I now weigh 224 lbs. a slight dissappointment, but i'm happy it is something. My Weight Watcher friend loses 7lbs.

What now???