Pour Some Sugar On Me

Well hi there, Blogland.  It has (again) been a while since I have posted.  First, I am busier than usual and have been traveling since March 12 or so.  Second, I am not losing weight.  Combine these two reasons, and we see why I have been MIA. 

I just started working out this week after a two month hiatus.  Some of you probably read that I really messed up my body earlier in the year due to excess exercise.  It took me a while to get that sorted out, and during that period I was exhausted.  My body cried 'uncle'; luckily I listened.  From there I started traveling and really didn't have time to exercise (I am always active, but I mean gym/elevated heart rate exercise).  Just in case you don't really believe that I have been out of town for two months, here is my itinerary:

March 12-20- in NJ to deal with my doctor, sort out my body and start house hunting-- more on that later.  Land in London on March 21, unpack and repack, and fly to the Maldives via Dubai on March 22.  Arrive in the Maldives on March 23- stay until April 1.  Arrive home in London at around 11pm on Sunday, April 1.  Unpack and repack.  Have car service collect me at 7:30am on Monday and fly to NJ.  Land in NJ at 12:30 that afternoon, view a home I like at 1:30, put in an offer at 4, negotiate the price by 6:30 over dinner with my mom and some of her girlfriends.  Agree on price by 7pm and enjoy what is left of dinner.  Run some errands on Tuesday before catching a 7:30pm flight back to London.  Land in London Wednesday morning, unpack and repack, and fly to Portugal for Easter weekend the following day (Thursday for everyone who is completely lost).  Return to London late on April 8 (Easter Sunday).  See friends for a day or two before unpacking and repacking to AGAIN return to NJ the morning of April 12.  Mom and I went to PR from April 15-20, and Kenny and I attended the fundraiser for his boarding school on April 21.  He left for London the following day, but I decided to stay in NJ.  At this point we started to run into some issues with the house we were scheduled to buy, so I was busy looking for replacement houses.  Kenny came back to NJ on April 27, and we were in NYC from April 30-May 4.  Then we FINALLY flew back to London on May 7, arriving on the morning of May 8.  A friend visited from the US from May 11-13, and that brings us pretty much current. 

So now I am back to the gym but am operating at a much lower intensity.  I did 1 hour of cardio on Monday and 50 minutes on Tuesday.  Today I went to my first Body Pump class, and the girls in the class actually shrieked when they saw me after so long.  What a great feeling!  I will increase my workouts at some point, but for now I am just getting back into a routine. 

As for the sugar title, SUGAR is the devil and is another reason I am not losing weight.  When I became sick in February and March, I pretty much listened to my body.  When it wanted salmon, it got salmon.  When it wanted white beans, I served them up.  And sadly, when it wanted chocolate... I obliged.  That was fine for a while, but sugar is a slippery slope.  The same way a crack addict cannot smoke even the slightest bit of the stuff without risking a full relapse and an alcoholic can't have a sip of vodka tonic without (more likely than not) waking up next to a full bottle of tonic but a much less full bottle of vodka, I cannot bring that sweet goodness into my home. 

Up until recently I was SOOO well-behaved.  I would have desserts occasionally when I was out to dinner or at/hosting a dinner party.  Apart from that, I stayed away from sweets.  I stayed away from them for so long that I thought I was now fine with sweets and I could eat them responsibly.  More importantly, I thought I would save money by buying a larger quantity of that sugary goodness and rationing it out over time.  Rational Nora thought this was a great idea- a little bit of sweets per day- no more.  Sugar Addict Nora also thought this was a great idea- trick Rational Nora into thinking she was in control before diving head first into the sweets Rational Nora bought.  Sugar Addict Nora definitely won the battle.  Rational Nora WILL win the war.

I am back to life without my daily sweets.  I won't buy them on the fly or rationalize that just a bit would be A-OK.  Once I get the taste for sweets, it takes time to ween myself.  Today I had tuna salad and sauteed zucchini for lunch.  No chocolate, no ice  cream, nothing to ruin the hour I spent Body Pumping.  Today is a new day, and today is going in the right direction. 

**One thing on my weight, it is surprisingly stable given what I have been doing (eating) and not doing (working out).  I got down to 193.4 for one day, but that was a fluke.  I was up to 196.6 the following day.  I am bouncing between 195 and 200.  I don't like seeing any number starting with a 2, but I know it is temporary.  Blah.