My Life In Kilograms

Living my life in kilograms is an aggravation, but it is my reality while living in London.  The first time I worked out on the elliptical a few months ago, the machine asked me for my weight.  I don't remember my exact weight, but it was somewhere around 250lbs.  So I entered in my weight, and the machine told me this was an invalid number.  It took me a minute to remember that life over here is in kgs- not in lbs- and that the machine thought that I was 550lbs.  I took out my Blackberry to figure out what my weight was in kilos (ahh, dividing by 2.2 is always fun).  Now as I lose weight, I always have to figure out the kg equivalent in order to get a (somewhat) accurate calorie count on the cardio equipment.  Today is the first time I have not weighted triple digits in kilos; today I got to enter 99- exciting!
  
Now check this out.  We fell back over the weekend, so it is dark an hour earlier.  I took this outside of my flat on the way home from the gym at 5:20pm- sad:(
     

Being In The Teens

Hitting my 100lb goal was amazing, but getting out of the 220s is possibly even more exciting.  Being in my teens, albeit the high teens, means that Onederland is getting close!  I am thrilled about moving towards this next threshold. 

    

I had forgotten to mention two things about our tasty dinner out with the new Londoners in my earlier post, so I will do so now.  This dinner was the first time I wore all misses clothing out (apart from when I wear jeans, which barely counts).  I wore a large Ellen Tracy cashmere tank top with an extra large matching cardigan and a size 16 Ann Taylor skirt.  I accept that Ann Taylor is cut big and an AT 16 is gigantic compared to a designer 16, but I don't care.  This time last year I wore a 22W from Talbots after all:)  I remember when I started buying all of my size 14-16 clothes during law school.  With the help of Adipex and a wicked gym routine, I had lost a lot of weight.  After years of fat clothing, I was very excited to be able to fit into the clothing that everyone was wearing and I went shopping crazy.  I had a saleswoman in the Ellen Tracy department of Bloomingdale's, and I am convinced she was able to retire due to the amount of clothing I bought.  I bought more items than would have been reasonable for a first year associate, and I was in my first year of law school.  I just couldn't help myself.  I felt so liberated and so... alive!!!  I felt normal.  Yeah, I might have been limited to the larger sizes of these stores, but I was easily shopping in stores that had been off limits to me just a year before.  That is how I feel now.  I am doing most of my current shopping in my closet at mom's rather than buying garments that will only last me a few months, but I am starting to remember how good it feels to wear these smaller sizes again. 

    

Secondly, meeting new people is so much more comfortable for me now.  I have always been social and never suffered from the fat girl shyness that seems to be so common in heavier women.  At the same time, I was always concerned about how people would view me during these dinners.  How would they react to my eating an extra piece of bread because I was hungry?  Would they look down on me for clearing my plate?  Would they notice that I was always sweating due to my extra insulation (sounds nicer than fat, doesn't it)?  Most importantly, what would the couple say when they left the restaurant?  I am pretty sure the comment was frequently something like, she is nice, but isn't it sad that she is so big.  Now I am much less worried about how people view me.  Yeah, I am big, but I don't stand out in a crowd anymore.  Isn't it nice! 

There's A Crazy Lady At The Gym!!!

   
Yes, my friends, there is a whack-a-doo at my gym, and she almost always works out when I am there.  I have even tried showing up a bit later or a tad earlier, and it is like La Loca changes her plans when I do.  It is infuriating. 

   

She is an older woman, not old, but definitely not a contemporary of mine.  She works out with a DiscMan, which I find to be highly entertaining.  She keeps a stack of CDs in her locker and listens to Mozart and other classical music during her workout.  Yeah, strange.  She wears the old school headphones with the headband-like thing connecting the two earpieces.  After she has been working out for a bit, she puts a little towel between the headband and her head... I assume to keep her hair from getting too sweaty and from getting a mark.  I would suggest actually showering after a workout to alleviate this issue, but who am I to judge? 

   

She typically works out on the treadmill behind me.  She bangs her hands on the sensors as she walks and jogs- over and over again.  And she SINGS- out loud.  She doesn't sing words, rather, she opts for something more like, "LAAA DEE DA, DEE DAAAAA, DAAAAA, DAAAAHHHHHHH"!  It is almost enough to turn me into a crazy lady as well.  I have come close to saying something to her, but crazy is crazy.  Maybe I'd be better maintaining my distance.  On Thursday she dropped her DiscMan while on the treadmill.  It was just way too difficult for her to cope with, and she wound up falling- feet in the air- when trying to retrieve the DiscMan.  I watched this entire episode in the mirror and actually giggled when I saw her feet positioned somewhere above her ears- coupled with her constant F-bombing.  Sorry, but it is the truth.  In case the image of the woman with the towel on top of her head, feet in the air, was not enough for all of you in Blogland, I will leave you with one more.  The cord connecting the earphones to the device is very long- maybe 8 feet or so.  Once she moves onto lifting and stretching, the fun really begins.  She places the DiscMan on the floor and just drags it around like a little puppy on a leash.  She walks from machine to machine with this DiscMan dragging on the floor, following obediently all the while!  It would really be funny to watch if she didn't aggravate me so.  I wish I could complain to management, but I really doubt this would do much good.

Hip Hop Hooray!

I thought that I sweat broke my iPod at the gym two days ago, but it came back to life for yesterday's workout.  I celebrated by listening to The Notorious B.I.G. followed by Naughty By Nature.  The music certainly kept me more motivated to move than watching the news does (which is what I frequently do), but it came at a cost.  I felt completely dirty.  I hate the lyrics, hate how women are portrayed, hate the N word, hate the violence, hate the vile references to sex, hate all of it!  Other than the beats, I just can't do it.  My issue is that most of my music is jazz, Bruce, Sting and music that is, well, not at all naughty by nature and not at all helpful to a workout.  So I am on the hunt for new music.  A girlfriend of mine is a marathon runner and has a ton of music with a strong beat.  I am going to see if she will hook me up with good gym music!
  
Kenny and I had dinner with a colleague and this colleague's wife last night.  The couple recently moved to London, so we thought it would be nice to give them some American love for the evening.  It seems that they are having a bit of difficulty adjusting to life over here, but that is to be expected.  It is a huge cultural change- I remember how out of sorts Kenny and I felt when we started out in London.  Anyway, we had such a tasty meal that I would be remiss if I didn't describe it for the foodies out there.  I wanted to take pictures to post but couldn't really do that when out to dinner with business people.  I started with spiced lobster tail served over a port-poached fig and sauteed duck foie gras.  It was just heavenly.  Kenny had the crab lasagna with shellfish foam, which was equally yummy.  Our mains were delicious as well- sea bass with blue cheese gnocchi for me and slow coked belly of pork with seared scallops for him.  I didn't eat all of the main, but I did inhale my chocolate mousse with raspberry jelly and mango sorbet.  The fact that the scale is down this morning is a complete fluke (but I will take it where I can).  It frequently takes two days for the scale to notch upwards after a bad meal, so I will probably see a disappointing number tomorrow morning:(
  
Minus last night's slide into the land of the chocolate mousse, I have been eating very, very well.  I don't eat breakfast most days but have leftover fish and veg for lunch.  I cook another fish and veg dinner every evening and wind up having a little snack as needed between lunch and dinner- along with about a 1/2 cup of apple juice mixed with fiber powder after my workout.  I am a bit concerned how I will make out this weekend.  English friends are having us to their home for dinner tomorrow night, so I fear that we will be eating a roast of some sort.  The following evening Italian friends are hosting us for an evening of pumpkin risotto... tasty but so NOT good for my weight or my waist! 
  
To the gym I will go to combat the effects of this food frenzy!
  
Happy Friday!

I'm Jonesing Here

Seriously, I am.  This Traveling Bandita has been travel-free for a month, and it is driving said Bandita nuts!  This is the longest I have gone without seeing anything new and without being on a plane in 2011.  So here I sit, planning our trips for the remainder of 2011.  I have a brief trip back to the States in November to visit doctors and will be staying with mom and Muldoon (always fun to hang out with two of my favorite girls).  Upon my return to London, Kenny and I will be spending Thanksgiving weekend in Marrakesh.  Thanksgiving is obviously not something the English celebrate, so Kenny will just take Friday off so we can be in Marrakesh in time for lunch and some touring around.  I am really not sure how much we will like the trip, but it is worth a try.  While we liked Istanbul, we had very little patience for people hastling us in the street and cab drivers charging us 4x the appropriate fare.  We have been warned that Marrakesh will likely be worse than Istanbul in this regard, which means it won't be the most leisurely of weekends.  In an attempt to make the trip as enjoyable as possible once we arrive, I have started researching restaurants and sights to see.  We shall see how this works out!  It looks like this is going to be a meat heavy trip- mostly pigeon and lamb.  I have never had an issue with meat when out in public, so I do not foresee any issues.  Again, it is only a weekend.
 
The following weekend we are off to Vienna to see some Christmas markets, and I am planning that trip as well.  My German girlfriend has given me some suggestions on places to visit and restaurants to try, and I am pretty sure Vienna will be much more relaxing than Marrakesh.  It will also be terribly cold in comparison.  This girlfriend told me I should have a floor length fur coat for the weekend- sorry darling, but that just isn't in the cards!  My long wool coat, fur hat and warm scarf will just have to cut it.  This will be another meaty weekend, but I suppose I will need all of this meat to keep me warm while walking around sans fur coat:)
 
Kenny and I then go back to the States for Christmas.  We will spend the week before Christmas in NYC and then stay with mom for about a week.  It is always fun to be back in NYC and catch up with our friends, and the City is so beautiful around Christmas!  And of course, Christmas wouldn't be Christmas were our family not all together.
 
Our last jaunt of the year is going to Barcelona for New Year's Eve.  We will be there for a long weekend, and I am planning this trip as well.  We have already visited Barcelona, so we will have less sightseeing to do on this trip than on the others.  The good and bad of this is that we will probably spend a long weekend eating and drinking (wine) our way through the city with no regard for reason.  At least I know I won't eat so much that I will invariably gain an obscene amount of weight in almost no time at all.
 
So yeah, there it is.  This has almost nothing to do with my band, but I really, truly feel the need to talk about travel... and your Traveling Bandita will soon be traveling again!

Skinny People Do It Too

Yes, it is true.  The skinnies of the world work out.  I am amazed that even after losing 100lbs and being so much smaller than I have been in years, I am frequently the largest woman in the gym.  Where, I'd like to know, are the bigger women?  I don't buy that this is Europe and people aren't as big.  That is pure rubbish (look at me, adding in an English word like rubbish to prove my point).  I see a lot of big women in London; I just never see them at the gym.  I think the answer is that the bigger women are just not working out... or at least not doing so in traditional settings.  This is an unfortunate reality, because the bigger women really, really, really need the benefits associated with exercise.
  
Now, Blogland, I see this in our community as well.  We have all gone through major surgery, and many of us have spent a lot of money out-of-pocket for the surgery, yet a decent number of bandsters/sleevesters are reticent when it comes to exercise.  This is obviously not applicable to everyone out there, and most of the people I follow regularly have really embraced exercise as part of an overall lifestyle change since having WLS.  But for the people who really and truly believe that they can reach their goals (assuming these goals are to no longer be obese or overweight) merely by eating less and relying on the band, good luck with that!  It might work for a few, but this doesn't seem like a way to lasting success and weight loss.  If just eating less were enough, most of the women at my gym would not be tall, slender women who look like their body shape comes naturally to them.  If just eating less were enough, there wouldn't be a whole fitness industry geared not only to weight loss but to healthy living.  If just eating less were enough, the successful bansters out there wouldn't always be posting about their spin classes, their 5k runs, their marathons, yoga, boot camp, etc.  From what I see, and from what I have experienced in my 10.5 months of banded life, just eating better is not enough.  If I want to become complacent with my weight, I could probably knock out my workouts and not gain too much weight.  But why, in the name of whatever Deity you answer to, would I EVER become complacent at 224.2lbs when the synergies of healthy eating and serious exercise can get my so much further?
  
So the moral of the story is- EXERCISE- IT IS FOR EVERYONE!
  
And I have a song to get everyone in the mood to visit the gym.  I was walking home from my gym last week- hoodie on with my black shorts, water bottle in hand and sweating profusely- and these two South African guys saw me and began to sing this song.  It was actually very cute, and I blushed.  I wasn't embarrassed, I knew they weren't making fun of me or anything, they just saw a woman who had obviously come from the gym and broke out into song.  Here it goes (and yes, I know that the lyrics didn't deal with the gym originally, but work with me people):
   

  

LET'S GET PHYSIAL- PHYSICAL!

I WANNA GET PHYSICAL!

LET'S GET INTO PHYSICAL!

  

***This is a first for me- I am updating this post based on MandaPanda's response.  I 100% agree with her that larger women are intimidated by the gym.  If you are one of those women, don't let fear or the idea of being uncomfortable stop you from doing something you could grow to really enjoy (and that is good for your health).  I have always had a really good self image- even when I weighed in at 320+lbs, so I never worried too much about what people would think of me at the gym.  If anyone had said anything I wouldn't have run off and cried- I would have said something along the lines of, "Seriously, I am here trying to deal with an obvious problem, and you think it is amusing to comment on issues I am working on".  Yes, I had rehearsed that just in case I ever needed it... but I didn't!

  

People who are working out are surprisingly unobservant about what is going on around them.  They are there to complete a task, and that task is their focus.  Maybe avoid a gym full of frat boys or meat heads, but other than that, go for it.  When I started working out post-surgery, I decided to swim.  There is no impact, and I could do it by myself.  I didn't want to be on a treadmill having trouble even keeping up a 4mph pace, so I didn't even try until I had lost some weight.  Now I am upstairs with marathon runners and some beautiful women who look like they must be in the service industry (and by this I am referring to the oldest profession, not people working at restaurants).  I am completely comfortable working out next to these people at this point!   This is the great thing about the gym--- there are different options for different people.  Try water aerobics if your gym has a pool, try one of the short classes.  Speak with the manager of the gym and ask for advice on which classes will suit you best.  But at least try it.  It is not going to negatively impact your weight, and you will probably have a much better experience than you had anticipated!

My Life- Set To Music

Some of you have probably noticed that I have theme songs for just about everything that happens in my life.  My Fair Lady, Hall and Oates and KC and the Sunshine Band have made their way into this blog.  I am kind of like JD from Scrubs- he just looks to the side and something completely random pops into his mind.  I look to the side and BAM (as Emeril would say) music pops into my mind!  I just can't help it.  I rarely sing out loud, as I am well aware that dogs on multiple continents would cower in agony were they to accidentally encounter one of my episodes, but I almost always have music running through my mind.  Kenny and I were recently picking out our Christmas cards, and one card had a sleigh on an island with the sun behind it (he was so not on board with this card by the way).  I immediately broke out singing, "If you like pina coladas, and getting caught in the rain".  Apparently I have done this more frequently than I'd like to admit, because Kenny started laughing and said he KNEW I was going to sing that song.  My other favorite is to sing "All by myself, don't wanna be all by myself- anymore".  Too bad for Kenny I pull this one out when he is swamped with work and, sadly, ignoring me a bit.  Kenny is back in the office today, so it is an All By Myself day.  I know he is in hell trying to finish a project though, so I won't sing this one to him tonight. 

   

While Kenny went to work this morning, I went to a local pub to see friends and catch the end of the Rugby World Cup Final.  What a mistake!  I got to the pub with only 10ish minutes remaining in the game, and the place was so crowded that I couldn't even make it to my friends' table.  In case that wasn't enough to make me realize that I had made a bad decision, the Kiwis I was standing near were kind of unpleasant.  I guess this is what happens when people start drinking heavily at 9am.  The girl behind me was F-bombing her way through the morning.  I find cursing to be an art form, and it is a skill that I have done my best to refine, but all of the eff this and eff that was so annoying.  I do hope she is able to rely on a more extensive vocabulary when she is outside of the pub! 

   

So I cooked a fantastically yummy paella for dinner tonight.  I don't know if the whole shrimp might turn some of your stomachs (if so, sorry about that), but man oh man was it fantastic. 

  

Get in my belly!

 

I absolutely love paella- it is one of my favorite dishes, but I so rarely eat it.  Most restaurants in the States think that cooking a pot of rice of shrimp yields a paella, and many paella restaurants throughout Spain are way too touristy to focus on a consistent and high quality product (Spaniards eat the dish at home, never in a restaurant).  The rice will probably do bad things to my weight tomorrow morning, but at least consuming those excess calories was 100% worth it.  Yum! 

 

Happy Sunday:)