The Plans That Weren't

Kenny is in Miami for work and won’t return until Wednesday, and a university friend living in Dubai was supposed to come for a quick visit on Saturday.  Everything was planned- and everything was cancelled.  My friend’s passport got held up at the Italian embassy, so he won’t be landing here until Monday.  I almost booked a flight home to see mom for a few days.  I almost booked a flight to Miami.  Instead, I decided to stay in London (remember a few months ago when I blogged about how I always have theme songs for my life?  This weekend’s song is, not surprisingly, All By Myself).  I didn’t want to spend so much money on a flight for such a short trip and miss two or three days at the gym!  Who am I???  I skipped going somewhere because I didn’t want to miss the gym! 
  

     

Yesterday I saw Phantom of the Opera for the first time.  It was an amazing performance and was such a nice way to spend a few hours.  Many shows start in London before making their way to Broadway, and I didn’t know until yesterday that Phantom is one of them.  It has been playing here for 25 years!  London is known for the theatre, and I really don’t take advantage of the great access I have.  I will try to go more frequently this year! 

Last night my gym buddy and her fiancé (who also works for Kenny) adopted me.  We went out for drinks and dinner with a group of their friends and had a great time.  One of the many wonderful things about being smaller is that I am so much more comfortable meeting new people.  I am social by nature and have always been more confident than many, but things are just so much better now.  I blend in, and I actually fit in the seats/around the table.  We were at a popular Notting Hill pub and did a fair amount of drinking.  Getting to the bathroom required a lot of maneuvering around people at the bar.  It was great to be able to squeeze through groups of people without completely displacing them.  Now when I shimmy behind a guy, I know my boobs will hit him rather than my belly (and not too many guys in a pub have an issue with a woman’s boobs knocking into them).  I still need the belly to shrink, but it is heading in the right direction.

On the subject of getting the belly down, I had a great week at the gym.  I went to Body Pump on Monday, Wednesday and Friday AND did Spin on Tuesday and Thursday.  This is in addition to my normal cardio routine.  I am going to try to keep to this schedule.  The classes are a way for me to push myself and do exercises that I would never attempt on my own.  Several women attend these classes every day, and I am slowly becoming friendly with them.  I think this will help keep me going, as they will notice if I slack off and skip a class or two.  Another great thing for my accountability is my new Polar monitor.  I can accurately chart how long I have worked out for and how many calories I’ve burned.  Gone are the days of saying that I worked out for about an hour when I only completed 45 minutes of exercise.  When I combine the classes, the cardio, the women, and the Polar monitor, I am pretty convinced that this is going to be a great gym year for me!  More importantly, this will be my goal yearJ