After last night's salad fiasco I was feeling super bummed out on life and my lack of Chinese food and job.
This morning Rickie's mission was to get me to the grocery store and replenish my stock of foods with things I'd be excited to eat. I must say, I have an incredible husband. He has been very supportive during this whole thing (all six days of it) and has been a food cop when I've wanted to cave and, I don't know, let's say eat a bunch of leftover cake instead of lunch.
We got to the store and I headed for the bison. I knew we could have game, and I was pretty game for a large land mammal. Rickie thinks something went wrong when I was a child to make me need red meat so much, but it was immediately after I grilled up a bison burger that I felt back to normal. It could very well be psychological, but mama needs her burgers.
I also grabbed a mango, some honeydew, and some jicama, which i have not tried yet. My mom suggested it to munch on when I want candy. Which is always, I can't think of a time I haven't been up for candy. Once when I had food poisoning, I guess.
Exercise today was a mile and a half walking with Rickie to get his dinner. How's this for timing -- they opened up a Domino's under a mile away this week. I was tempted to just take a nap in there, smothered by the smell of pizza and bread…but I stayed strong! No pizza naps for this guy.
Saturday, November 16, 2013
Friday, November 15, 2013
Days 4 & 5: Not Much to Report/Adventures in Hunger
The last two days have been semi-uneventful. The PS4 came out last night at midnight so Rickie's PS4 life has been the main event of the past 48 hours.
I tried the shake for the first time yesterday after a morning run feeling too out of breath and with my spirit decently crushed. It was pretty good, I think I'll definitely order more soon. I had another for lunch today, too. Mostly it was so much easier than cooking. Even though we cook just about every night regularly, I've gotten really tired of getting dinner for myself ready.
Unrelated to The Challenge, I have 95% of my Christmas shopping done.
Last night I was ravenously hungry. I had a regular dinner of a couple slices of leftover healthy pizza, then maybe a half hour later I was starving. I ate a baby orange, still hungry. I ate a banana, still hungry. I drank two glasses of water, still hungry. I ate some apple, still hungry. Ate a handfull of granola hoping the oats would, like, suck up my hunger. Still hungry. It was insane. It was worse when Rickie and his buddy came home from picking up their PS4 line tickets at 7pm and had Panda Express.
This morning I mistook the empty PS4 box for a donut box then got very sad because a) there were no donuts and b) realized that even if there were donuts I could not eat them…
It has been a rough couple of days for me! I just love bad food so much. I miss it. I felt super okay with not satisfying my growing craving for Chinese when I weighed myself on Day 3 and had lost 2 pounds, but somehow today those pounds are back and it makes me feel sad and want Chinese even more. Those 2 pounds were 20% of my goal! Then tonight I had a horrible salad experience. I was all psyched up because I had just about all the ingredients for a nicoise salad. I made it up, all happy and excited, and it was horrible. I don't know what happened in the process of making it. But it was ass nasty. So then I ate a few slices of turkey breast and 3 miniature bell peppers and have an apple on standby.
I am very sorry this is a whiney post today. I want a latte and like 3 donuts and a lot of Chinese take out. Staying strong and true to the cleanse makes me grumpy. Don't judge me.
I tried the shake for the first time yesterday after a morning run feeling too out of breath and with my spirit decently crushed. It was pretty good, I think I'll definitely order more soon. I had another for lunch today, too. Mostly it was so much easier than cooking. Even though we cook just about every night regularly, I've gotten really tired of getting dinner for myself ready.
Unrelated to The Challenge, I have 95% of my Christmas shopping done.
Last night I was ravenously hungry. I had a regular dinner of a couple slices of leftover healthy pizza, then maybe a half hour later I was starving. I ate a baby orange, still hungry. I ate a banana, still hungry. I drank two glasses of water, still hungry. I ate some apple, still hungry. Ate a handfull of granola hoping the oats would, like, suck up my hunger. Still hungry. It was insane. It was worse when Rickie and his buddy came home from picking up their PS4 line tickets at 7pm and had Panda Express.
This morning I mistook the empty PS4 box for a donut box then got very sad because a) there were no donuts and b) realized that even if there were donuts I could not eat them…
It has been a rough couple of days for me! I just love bad food so much. I miss it. I felt super okay with not satisfying my growing craving for Chinese when I weighed myself on Day 3 and had lost 2 pounds, but somehow today those pounds are back and it makes me feel sad and want Chinese even more. Those 2 pounds were 20% of my goal! Then tonight I had a horrible salad experience. I was all psyched up because I had just about all the ingredients for a nicoise salad. I made it up, all happy and excited, and it was horrible. I don't know what happened in the process of making it. But it was ass nasty. So then I ate a few slices of turkey breast and 3 miniature bell peppers and have an apple on standby.
I am very sorry this is a whiney post today. I want a latte and like 3 donuts and a lot of Chinese take out. Staying strong and true to the cleanse makes me grumpy. Don't judge me.
Wednesday, November 13, 2013
Day Three: Chubby Loves Pizza
Day Three was pretty uneventful. I got very lazy when by 11am the temperature hit 93 degrees. A huge amount of apartments in LA don't have AC because most of the year, you don't really need it. Needless to say, the heat kind of sleepified me for most of the day.
After lunch I started dreading dinner. I've been sticking to a grilled chicken salad with some veggies or fruit thrown into it for the first two nights of The Challenge. I've gotten very tired of it very fast.
I started browsing Advocare-friendly recipes to start throwing in some new stuff to my meals and we made a quick grocery list and headed to the store. I grabbed stuff to make a healthy and dairy-free pizza to eat off of for dinner, tomorrow's lunch, and tomorrow's dinner, and some new fruits and veggies!
Now let me tell ya, that pizza was so good I forgot to take a picture of it to post after definitely planning to take a picture. Because it was PRETTY. I've been wanting to buy some of the little yellow cherry tomatoes to try out in some stuff for awhile, but something always stops me. Today I grabbed a carton knowing I could smash em' up into a quick tomato sauce with some whole-grain pasta, eat em in a salad, and put them on this pizza.
My pizza consisted of a whole wheat crust, EVOO, garlic, yellow cherry tomatoes, artichoke hearts, turkey, onion, and bell pepper. One of our favorite things to buy is a big bag of baby bell peppers. They are great for skewers on the grill, salads, fajitas, and just for snacking. They started selling them at our grocery store about a year ago and it's a definite on our list every week--they are just so handy!
I am well aware that this post is largely about pizza, but I just discovered a huge part of this challenge is being flexible and creative with the meals. I'm not craving curry or burgers anymore since I ate something I love for dinner! I grabbed some granola and almond milk for a morning mix-up, too.
Mary-Kate and Ashley were right: "Give me Pizza! P-I-Z-Z-A! Give me Pizza!"
After lunch I started dreading dinner. I've been sticking to a grilled chicken salad with some veggies or fruit thrown into it for the first two nights of The Challenge. I've gotten very tired of it very fast.
I started browsing Advocare-friendly recipes to start throwing in some new stuff to my meals and we made a quick grocery list and headed to the store. I grabbed stuff to make a healthy and dairy-free pizza to eat off of for dinner, tomorrow's lunch, and tomorrow's dinner, and some new fruits and veggies!
Now let me tell ya, that pizza was so good I forgot to take a picture of it to post after definitely planning to take a picture. Because it was PRETTY. I've been wanting to buy some of the little yellow cherry tomatoes to try out in some stuff for awhile, but something always stops me. Today I grabbed a carton knowing I could smash em' up into a quick tomato sauce with some whole-grain pasta, eat em in a salad, and put them on this pizza.
My pizza consisted of a whole wheat crust, EVOO, garlic, yellow cherry tomatoes, artichoke hearts, turkey, onion, and bell pepper. One of our favorite things to buy is a big bag of baby bell peppers. They are great for skewers on the grill, salads, fajitas, and just for snacking. They started selling them at our grocery store about a year ago and it's a definite on our list every week--they are just so handy!
I am well aware that this post is largely about pizza, but I just discovered a huge part of this challenge is being flexible and creative with the meals. I'm not craving curry or burgers anymore since I ate something I love for dinner! I grabbed some granola and almond milk for a morning mix-up, too.
Mary-Kate and Ashley were right: "Give me Pizza! P-I-Z-Z-A! Give me Pizza!"
Tuesday, November 12, 2013
A Challenge for Chubby: Day Two
Today was a day of challenge for me. All of them fairly trivial, but after 4 months of the laziest chillaxin you could imagine, normal person things are hard. Waking up before ten and exercise have not been on my agenda for awhile. Exercise in general hasn't happened regularly since I worked a short few months at Beachbody in 2012. For around 18 months I had the excuse of long work days, but since August of this year…no excuses…
I took the morning off running and it would seem that I turned off my alarm when it went off this morning, because when I rolled over and checked the time is was almost 9:30 and it had definitely been the plan to be awake by then. I pumped myself up to leave the happy cozy comfort of our warm bed and made the move. And oh my god it was cold. We've had some absurd weather lately so we haven't turned on our heater until it evens out and stops being 85 degrees once a week, but it makes for some chilly nights. Challenge One for the day was over, though; I was out of bed!
I did not let my Fiber Drink sit this morning, and was much happier! Before I started The Challenge, I was really dreading the Fiber Drink after reading a few people's reactions to it. And honestly, I don't think it's terrible at all. The flavor is fine and it's pretty smooth for having SO MUCH fiber!
Morning came and went without much excitement. Around lunchtime Rickie and I went on a walk to Echo Park and this is where my next challenge occurred. The actual walking, not my problem, that was fine. The problem is that we walked by at least 4 Mexican restaurants. And a vegan ice cream place. And 2 taco trucks. And 3 pizza places.
I wanted all that food. All of it. And I still do, now that I'm thinking about it. I know it is not the best thing for me, but white flour is the primary ingredient of everything good in life. But I kept walking. I wanted to lay in the middle of the sidewalk in protest until someone force fed me a burrito, breadsticks, and ice cream all at once, but I didn't. I guess I should thank LA for having sections of sidewalk that reak of urine, because if I was less than convinced a lovely homeless man hadn't been using that walkway as a bathroom, I might have broken down.
The rest of the walk was lovely. We circled the lake and watched the ducks and started the last mile home. I sort of pooped out and really had to be convinced to keep going once we hit our street and the last stretch was hella uphill, but we made it home and I rewarded myself with some Spark before getting lunch going.
Today I went ahead and made a bunch of whole grain wheat pasta to eat off of for the week and experimented with a variation of the tuna noodle salad my mom makes. Her version is tuna, green olives (not my thang), green bell pepper, mayo, and shell noodles. I thought I should probably replace the mayo with something else and ended up using balsamic vin and it turned out pretty good! I think tomorrow I'll do a pasta with chicken and fresh basil from my "garden." I say "garden" because the basil is the only thing that is not dead. The more I forget I have a "garden" the more it grows, I'm very proud of it. I think I need to head to the store and grab some baby tomatoes and some other things (whole grain tortillas to satisfy my Mexican craving?) tomorrow…
About an hour after lunch I definitely fell asleep. Hard. I woke up hot, confused, and thirsty. It was not my finest moment.
The rest of the afternoon wasn't very eventful. I did a chicken salad with balsamic and cranberries for dinner and I'm eyeing a mandarin orange now…
Thinking about not running again in the morning…still sore and now my sniffles from last week are returning…decisions decisions...
I took the morning off running and it would seem that I turned off my alarm when it went off this morning, because when I rolled over and checked the time is was almost 9:30 and it had definitely been the plan to be awake by then. I pumped myself up to leave the happy cozy comfort of our warm bed and made the move. And oh my god it was cold. We've had some absurd weather lately so we haven't turned on our heater until it evens out and stops being 85 degrees once a week, but it makes for some chilly nights. Challenge One for the day was over, though; I was out of bed!
I did not let my Fiber Drink sit this morning, and was much happier! Before I started The Challenge, I was really dreading the Fiber Drink after reading a few people's reactions to it. And honestly, I don't think it's terrible at all. The flavor is fine and it's pretty smooth for having SO MUCH fiber!
Morning came and went without much excitement. Around lunchtime Rickie and I went on a walk to Echo Park and this is where my next challenge occurred. The actual walking, not my problem, that was fine. The problem is that we walked by at least 4 Mexican restaurants. And a vegan ice cream place. And 2 taco trucks. And 3 pizza places.
I wanted all that food. All of it. And I still do, now that I'm thinking about it. I know it is not the best thing for me, but white flour is the primary ingredient of everything good in life. But I kept walking. I wanted to lay in the middle of the sidewalk in protest until someone force fed me a burrito, breadsticks, and ice cream all at once, but I didn't. I guess I should thank LA for having sections of sidewalk that reak of urine, because if I was less than convinced a lovely homeless man hadn't been using that walkway as a bathroom, I might have broken down.
The rest of the walk was lovely. We circled the lake and watched the ducks and started the last mile home. I sort of pooped out and really had to be convinced to keep going once we hit our street and the last stretch was hella uphill, but we made it home and I rewarded myself with some Spark before getting lunch going.
Today I went ahead and made a bunch of whole grain wheat pasta to eat off of for the week and experimented with a variation of the tuna noodle salad my mom makes. Her version is tuna, green olives (not my thang), green bell pepper, mayo, and shell noodles. I thought I should probably replace the mayo with something else and ended up using balsamic vin and it turned out pretty good! I think tomorrow I'll do a pasta with chicken and fresh basil from my "garden." I say "garden" because the basil is the only thing that is not dead. The more I forget I have a "garden" the more it grows, I'm very proud of it. I think I need to head to the store and grab some baby tomatoes and some other things (whole grain tortillas to satisfy my Mexican craving?) tomorrow…
About an hour after lunch I definitely fell asleep. Hard. I woke up hot, confused, and thirsty. It was not my finest moment.
The rest of the afternoon wasn't very eventful. I did a chicken salad with balsamic and cranberries for dinner and I'm eyeing a mandarin orange now…
Thinking about not running again in the morning…still sore and now my sniffles from last week are returning…decisions decisions...
Monday, November 11, 2013
Chubby Runs: Day One
Suh-weet. Jesus. Running is terrible. If the Zombie Apocolypse starts tomorrow, I better bank on my climbing and hiding skills, because this bitch will not make it more than three blocks without deciding it might be nice to be driven only by the instinct to spread the zombie virus. There's a lot less running if you're a zombie, and I'd be down for some aimless shuffling.
I walked/ran 1 mile. This zombie app I downloaded only made me run away from zombies once, thank god. It's a pretty okay app if you enjoy zombie stories. I happen to be a big Walking Dead fan and Husband Rickie and I just played the choose-your-own-adventure-esque Walking Dead video game a second time, so this app works very well for me. I yell a lot at people on the show or in the video game, I think I'd be a better survivor, and this app lets me attempt to prove it.
After returning home to lay on the couch and try to remember how to breathe, it was time for the Fiber Drink. No one warned me to not let it sit. If anyone doesn't know do not let it sit. I do not care if your cat has brought a squirrel inside the house, you drink that shit first, then deal with that loose, possibly rabid squirrel. I was worried about the taste after reading another blog that I believe called it "funk nasty" (great disco name, write that down) but was pleasantly surprised that I did not mind the actual taste. Tomorrow I will not make the mistake of letting it sit and I think I'll be good to go. But dear god, do not let it sit.
Side note here, I've seen a good few people say something along the lines of "the Fiber Drink filled me up so I just had a few grapes after for breakfast." Eff you people. I don't know if I was eating my feelings after the whole "letting it sit" fiasco or if that big ol' one mile of exercise got me, but ho wanted some toast. And an egg. And frankly, some of the leftover cake from this weekend. So I ate a full meal after. 12 grain toast, one egg, 1 cup grapes-ish.
The morning passed and eventually it came time for lunch. I lived it up with a surprisingly delicious tuna sandwich. In leiu of mayo I opted for a drizzle of rasberry vinagrette and a bunch of romaine. It was like I shoved a salad into the sandwich. I was pretty psyched as I had a crazy pang of hunger hit me out of nowhere at 12:20.
After lunch I had a great call with Brandi and Rachel to talk about Advocare, and I have to say, it really hit me how great the products could be for people working in the TV and Film Industry. Most days everyone is working at least a twelve hour day, and there are many days where you opt for a less healthy meal because it's easier or you're stress eating. Between a meal replacement shake and Spark it could really help some folks out who are working long days.
It's not quite dinner time, but I'm planning on grilling up a chicken breast and pairing it with a little salad. Unfortunately, the TV just mentioned meatball subs. Maybe later this week I'll pick up some ground beef (93% lean at least, of course) and attempt to make meatballs and grill a couple tomatoes in leiu of sauce. I do say "attempt" on those meatballs because I have had a very sad meatball situation before. Maybe this time it will work out!? Who knows, the meatball world is my oyster!
More tomorrow, hope everyone is having a lovely Challenge!
I walked/ran 1 mile. This zombie app I downloaded only made me run away from zombies once, thank god. It's a pretty okay app if you enjoy zombie stories. I happen to be a big Walking Dead fan and Husband Rickie and I just played the choose-your-own-adventure-esque Walking Dead video game a second time, so this app works very well for me. I yell a lot at people on the show or in the video game, I think I'd be a better survivor, and this app lets me attempt to prove it.
After returning home to lay on the couch and try to remember how to breathe, it was time for the Fiber Drink. No one warned me to not let it sit. If anyone doesn't know do not let it sit. I do not care if your cat has brought a squirrel inside the house, you drink that shit first, then deal with that loose, possibly rabid squirrel. I was worried about the taste after reading another blog that I believe called it "funk nasty" (great disco name, write that down) but was pleasantly surprised that I did not mind the actual taste. Tomorrow I will not make the mistake of letting it sit and I think I'll be good to go. But dear god, do not let it sit.
Side note here, I've seen a good few people say something along the lines of "the Fiber Drink filled me up so I just had a few grapes after for breakfast." Eff you people. I don't know if I was eating my feelings after the whole "letting it sit" fiasco or if that big ol' one mile of exercise got me, but ho wanted some toast. And an egg. And frankly, some of the leftover cake from this weekend. So I ate a full meal after. 12 grain toast, one egg, 1 cup grapes-ish.
The morning passed and eventually it came time for lunch. I lived it up with a surprisingly delicious tuna sandwich. In leiu of mayo I opted for a drizzle of rasberry vinagrette and a bunch of romaine. It was like I shoved a salad into the sandwich. I was pretty psyched as I had a crazy pang of hunger hit me out of nowhere at 12:20.
After lunch I had a great call with Brandi and Rachel to talk about Advocare, and I have to say, it really hit me how great the products could be for people working in the TV and Film Industry. Most days everyone is working at least a twelve hour day, and there are many days where you opt for a less healthy meal because it's easier or you're stress eating. Between a meal replacement shake and Spark it could really help some folks out who are working long days.
It's not quite dinner time, but I'm planning on grilling up a chicken breast and pairing it with a little salad. Unfortunately, the TV just mentioned meatball subs. Maybe later this week I'll pick up some ground beef (93% lean at least, of course) and attempt to make meatballs and grill a couple tomatoes in leiu of sauce. I do say "attempt" on those meatballs because I have had a very sad meatball situation before. Maybe this time it will work out!? Who knows, the meatball world is my oyster!
More tomorrow, hope everyone is having a lovely Challenge!
Sunday, November 10, 2013
Chubby Prepares: Day -1 of The Advocare Challenge
Tomorrow I start the Advocare 24 Day Challenge. And someone is not very good at sticking things out. Not pointing any fingers…but it may or may not be that chick in the mirror that has gained 10 pounds since her wedding in May. That bitch loves candy. She is doing us no favors.
To get myself in gear I set my alarm Thursday morning to get up and go on a pre-challenge practice run. Spoiler alert, I did not wake up and go running. I did have a very cute running outfit picked out, though, and bought two pairs of running shorts on sale at Target the next day. I have good intentions.
I tell the sad story of my lack of motivation to give insight into why I am doing The Challenge. My dear, wonderful friend Rachel Edgar is the one who tuned me into Advocare. Redgar has never steered me wrong (except for this one time in college with Marshmallows, but I'm just as much to blame in that situation) and has saved me from myself a good few times. She was aware of a mental slump I was in (general lack of motivation, lack of activity due to one job coming to an end and a new job yet to come…) and I got to thinking about how enthused she was about Advocare and her general positive attitude and thought…hey, maybe I should give this a shot.
My goal in doing this challenge is to hit a mental and physical restart button. I want to be able to wake up and run, and I'd love to shed the "Assistants' Ass" I put on during a year at a desk job being an assistant on Top Model. And I'm doing this for me. Just about every person I've talked about The Challenge with has replied sarcastically, "Oh because you have so much to lose."
I'm not a big person, I am still under 120lbs with the extra weight I've gained. But it is not good weight, and I'm not comfortable in my own skin right now. It's not healthy weight I've gained, there is a difference. I'd love to have muscle mass and the appropriate amount of fat in the right places, but what I've gained is just hanging sad fat. I know my body, and this is not what it is happy with. I am tired, I don't fit into my clothes, and I have no motivation to do anything other than bake and watch everything on Netflix. If one more person shames me for wanting to lose 10 pounds of sad fat I will snap. And I will have the ability to snap, because Spark.
Today I started putting things in place to be ready for tomorrow. I took out everything from the mystery boxes of vitamins and cleanse whatevers and read the instructions. Then I quickly realized I was going to miss at least one round of something every day because too many boxes (amiright) and then it hit me…Organization Baggies!
I organize, it's what I do. It's what I do professionally, I was THRILLED when on my first day working as a Production Assistant I found out there is a job where you JUST ORGANIZE. You solve everyone else's problems and organize. It is amazing. So, as I have been searching for another show to work on, the apartment is looking pretty organized as the time ticks on.
Anywho. I went through the booklet for The Challenge and made baggies for each day with everything I need to consume from Advocare. If there is something left in the baggie at the end of the day, I know I messed up. No mystery!
I also wrote out on the first 12-ish baggies the meals for each day. After about 10 times writing it, I am very aware that I am supposed to have a protein, a fruit, and a complex carb for breakfast, a protein, a vegetable, and a carb for lunch, and a protein, vegetable and carb if needed at dinner (with the Omega thing). I could plan my meals in my sleep if need be. I understand my fourth grade teacher making us write vocabulary words 10 times each now.
So here we go. Tomorrow morning, God help me, I will go running. I have downloaded apps ("Zombies, Run!" If the threat of fake zombies catching me doesn't motivate me, I don't know what will), bought groceries, and picked out a cute outfit for exercise.
Wish me luck.
To get myself in gear I set my alarm Thursday morning to get up and go on a pre-challenge practice run. Spoiler alert, I did not wake up and go running. I did have a very cute running outfit picked out, though, and bought two pairs of running shorts on sale at Target the next day. I have good intentions.
I tell the sad story of my lack of motivation to give insight into why I am doing The Challenge. My dear, wonderful friend Rachel Edgar is the one who tuned me into Advocare. Redgar has never steered me wrong (except for this one time in college with Marshmallows, but I'm just as much to blame in that situation) and has saved me from myself a good few times. She was aware of a mental slump I was in (general lack of motivation, lack of activity due to one job coming to an end and a new job yet to come…) and I got to thinking about how enthused she was about Advocare and her general positive attitude and thought…hey, maybe I should give this a shot.
My goal in doing this challenge is to hit a mental and physical restart button. I want to be able to wake up and run, and I'd love to shed the "Assistants' Ass" I put on during a year at a desk job being an assistant on Top Model. And I'm doing this for me. Just about every person I've talked about The Challenge with has replied sarcastically, "Oh because you have so much to lose."
I'm not a big person, I am still under 120lbs with the extra weight I've gained. But it is not good weight, and I'm not comfortable in my own skin right now. It's not healthy weight I've gained, there is a difference. I'd love to have muscle mass and the appropriate amount of fat in the right places, but what I've gained is just hanging sad fat. I know my body, and this is not what it is happy with. I am tired, I don't fit into my clothes, and I have no motivation to do anything other than bake and watch everything on Netflix. If one more person shames me for wanting to lose 10 pounds of sad fat I will snap. And I will have the ability to snap, because Spark.
Today I started putting things in place to be ready for tomorrow. I took out everything from the mystery boxes of vitamins and cleanse whatevers and read the instructions. Then I quickly realized I was going to miss at least one round of something every day because too many boxes (amiright) and then it hit me…Organization Baggies!
I organize, it's what I do. It's what I do professionally, I was THRILLED when on my first day working as a Production Assistant I found out there is a job where you JUST ORGANIZE. You solve everyone else's problems and organize. It is amazing. So, as I have been searching for another show to work on, the apartment is looking pretty organized as the time ticks on.
Anywho. I went through the booklet for The Challenge and made baggies for each day with everything I need to consume from Advocare. If there is something left in the baggie at the end of the day, I know I messed up. No mystery!
I also wrote out on the first 12-ish baggies the meals for each day. After about 10 times writing it, I am very aware that I am supposed to have a protein, a fruit, and a complex carb for breakfast, a protein, a vegetable, and a carb for lunch, and a protein, vegetable and carb if needed at dinner (with the Omega thing). I could plan my meals in my sleep if need be. I understand my fourth grade teacher making us write vocabulary words 10 times each now.
So here we go. Tomorrow morning, God help me, I will go running. I have downloaded apps ("Zombies, Run!" If the threat of fake zombies catching me doesn't motivate me, I don't know what will), bought groceries, and picked out a cute outfit for exercise.
Wish me luck.
Sunday, September 11, 2011
So, Here We Go.
Here I am, edging into the second week of my allegedly grown up life just south of Los Angeles. Ironically, in the City of Angels people don't smile when you pass them on a sidewalk. Having grown up mostly entirely in the South, I'm adjusting.
Thus far my adventure is pretty tame. I have for the most part spent my days unpacking and color coordinating my closet while watching un-adult amounts of Sex and the City, Grey's Anatomy, and Harry Potter. Eh, whatcha gonna do?
Yes, I know the city is my playground and while unemployed at the moment I should be living it up/taking it by storm/not taking a nap (I did just take an accidental nap and may I say, it was glorious). However, taking cities by storm takes money and energy, and at the moment I lack both.
The journey here to get here took it out of me.
Because he is the best human male in existence, my dad volunteered to drive from Memphis to LA with me, planning on stopping a few places along the way to a) see the sights and b) not crash the car as a result of sleep deprivation.
We began our adventure early Saturday morning, equipped with Red Vines and an ungodly sized tub of pretzel sticks (all still in my car). After a sad good-bye to Mom, we were on our way. To put it more accurately, Dad drove us off as I sat balled up in the passenger seat crying. A strong start if I do say so. But soon I was feeling better, ironically it was as we passed into Arkansas, the "Natural State" of hopelessness and hundreds of Razorbacks fans cutting you off in traffic through the entire state. "Fuck those Pig People" became the most used phrase quickly.
Arkansas offered many great places for fond memories to be made. That's not true. We stopped in the...quaint...town of Russellville for lunch. Of our three options, we chose McDonalds. Safe, routine, delicious. Our charming cashier, Kimberly, battled her register to decipher the pictures on her screen to match our order, and some five minutes later we paid. Kimberly was having a rough time with speaking and tapping simultaneously. After a quick trip to what I have honored as the most terrible bathroom of the trip, and possibly my life, we were back on our way.
This time I was behind the wheel, taking us through the rest of Arkansas and almost all the way to Oklahoma City. Some 30 miles outside our pit-stop I had a sudden attack of coughing and we found our way to the next rest stop. Side note: Oklahoma is the most disgustingly hot state. There is nothing to break up the heat, as far as I could tell. Some sad little grass and a lot of scrubby bushes and pathetic trees. Continuing on...
In Oklahoma City we met a couple with whom Dad is friends with from back in the Air Force Day and had dinner. One of those Road House places with peanuts on the ground. After lunch at the good ol' Russellville Mickey D's, my wee tummy wasn't feeling so hot. So, being from Memphis I figured Barbecue as a good choice for dinner. What I received looked like one of the many armadillos we had passed on the side of the road earlier that day. Nevertheless, I ate it. It had a toasted bun...but I already missed Central BBQ at home.
The last few hours of our drive that day weren't very noteworthy. I fell asleep for a hot minute and woke up in time to see more sprawling nothing and our cross into Texas. Somewhere in the OK/TX area the wind became crazy, the poor Civic was pushed to her limits this trip. Go Civ! You da man. (The wind continued for 2 states.)
Our stop for the night was Amarillo, Texas. It was windy. When I say windy, I mean like Dorothy holding her skirt down and Toto praying to the doggy gods he can get through the screen door windy.
However, the hotel was wonderful. Country Inn or something. The beds were cozy, the shower was brand new, and the Olivia and Dad were tired. After a much needed sleep and a complimentary breakfast, we were on the road again.
Highlights of Day Two included passing a Cattle Processing Place (acres and acres of cows and poop, enough to make me really sad to eat beef...so much so that I have to emotionally over-eat now when doing so), crossing into New Mexico, driving through the most nothing I have ever seen, driving through the most Indian Reservations I've ever seen, eating at an unhappy little diner--home to delicious chicken salad, getting new windshield wipers (immediately using them), and crossing into Arizona.
The best part of Day Two was our spur of the moment detour to see Meteor Crater (Experience the Impact). Prior to doing so, we stopped at the nearest rest stop and climbed on some giant Arizona rocks. After dismounting the rocks, we walked to the opposite side to discover the sign that warned of venomous snakes and insects. It makes sense that you'd only put the sign on one side of the rock, right?
On to Meteor Crater. Well, it was big. The most exciting part was the radio broadcast we turned on for park information. Every loop ended with the broadcaster saying in his very best hardcore hole in the ground voice, "Experience the IMPACT." It became a very big joke between Dad and I...and we bought coffee mugs with the slogan slung across the crest of the crater. We're winners.
We finished our day in the town of Williams, fiftyish miles south of the Grand Canyon--our adventure for the next morning. Nothing much to report here, the hotel restaurant carded me when I ordered wine and accepted my response of "I left everything in the room." as enough proof of my legality. Honestly though, I had just washed my face and was wearing clothes that were very 12 year old chic. I guess the mere fact that I ordered wine was enough, I wasn't trying very hard to weasel my way into looking older...or something. Whatever, you get what I'm saying.
We crashed and Dan the Man woke up at some ungodly hour claiming to still be on Memphis time. I heard him clunking around and eventually was forcibly woken up around 6:30am. After stumbling around to get ready, we were eventually on our way to ye olde Grand Canyon. After excessively voicing our distaste for the twenty-something dollar charge to enter the park (really, how do you charge for that? It's a god damn natural wonder), and seeing three elk, we found ourselves in some place eating breakfast. The service was prompt and the eggs were really big. We filled up, shoved the tiny baby jams they gave me for my toast in my purse, and were on our way to explore the big hole in the ground.
We ooed and awed and then came across some squirrels, which were probably the most exciting part. Calm down, yes the Grand Canyon was breathtaking and beautiful and huge and vast--but I fucking touched a squirrel. They were fat little things, too. I named them all "Stan," we took pictures, then went to look down and marvel some more. After soaking in the hole in one location, we transferred to somewhere East and took more pictures. I climbed a tree, and eventually we called it gravy and found ourselves back on the road. Our destination for the day: LA.
We drove through much, much, much nothing for a very long time. Eventually we came to the California state line, stopped to promise we didn't have any fruits or vegetables, and eventually found ourselves in the bitty town of Needles for lunch. We stopped at an awesome burger place (probably one of the best meals of the trip, I shit you not) where they actually waited for you to order the food before they made it. CRAZY.
Once we set back out, we encountered every labor day boat person on their return trip to wherever they go home with their boat to. And I have decided this--boat people are largely dicks. Now, there's exceptions to every rule, sure. But for the love of GEEE-ODDD, they all wanted to be in the left lane with their boats! That's just not how the cookie should crumble, Boat People of America!
Eventually we made it to more civilization and Dad pointed our where Air Force Bases used to be and a hill that he and his buddies used to routinely ride down like crazy people on their motorcycles. Around 7pm, we were almost to LA. A quick stop in Bellflower to check out the new apartment and grab my keys from Steven, a hop over the the rental car place to grab my Dad's new wheels, and in a hot minute we were checking into another hotel.
Quick notes on the previous paragraph: Dad's rental car got upgraded or something, and he got a sweet ass something or other with an analog clock in the dashboard. Nothing says cool like a clock. Additionally, Dad is the most stressful person to follow in traffic in a new city. But I made it in one piece.
Another awesome hotel was our home for the next few days. We crashed for the night, eventually ordered some room service for dinner, and fell asleep happily.
As this entry is getting very long, I'll leave it at that and pick up with the next morning on the next post.
Until next time, keep it classy, people.
Thus far my adventure is pretty tame. I have for the most part spent my days unpacking and color coordinating my closet while watching un-adult amounts of Sex and the City, Grey's Anatomy, and Harry Potter. Eh, whatcha gonna do?
Yes, I know the city is my playground and while unemployed at the moment I should be living it up/taking it by storm/not taking a nap (I did just take an accidental nap and may I say, it was glorious). However, taking cities by storm takes money and energy, and at the moment I lack both.
The journey here to get here took it out of me.
Because he is the best human male in existence, my dad volunteered to drive from Memphis to LA with me, planning on stopping a few places along the way to a) see the sights and b) not crash the car as a result of sleep deprivation.
We began our adventure early Saturday morning, equipped with Red Vines and an ungodly sized tub of pretzel sticks (all still in my car). After a sad good-bye to Mom, we were on our way. To put it more accurately, Dad drove us off as I sat balled up in the passenger seat crying. A strong start if I do say so. But soon I was feeling better, ironically it was as we passed into Arkansas, the "Natural State" of hopelessness and hundreds of Razorbacks fans cutting you off in traffic through the entire state. "Fuck those Pig People" became the most used phrase quickly.
Arkansas offered many great places for fond memories to be made. That's not true. We stopped in the...quaint...town of Russellville for lunch. Of our three options, we chose McDonalds. Safe, routine, delicious. Our charming cashier, Kimberly, battled her register to decipher the pictures on her screen to match our order, and some five minutes later we paid. Kimberly was having a rough time with speaking and tapping simultaneously. After a quick trip to what I have honored as the most terrible bathroom of the trip, and possibly my life, we were back on our way.
This time I was behind the wheel, taking us through the rest of Arkansas and almost all the way to Oklahoma City. Some 30 miles outside our pit-stop I had a sudden attack of coughing and we found our way to the next rest stop. Side note: Oklahoma is the most disgustingly hot state. There is nothing to break up the heat, as far as I could tell. Some sad little grass and a lot of scrubby bushes and pathetic trees. Continuing on...
In Oklahoma City we met a couple with whom Dad is friends with from back in the Air Force Day and had dinner. One of those Road House places with peanuts on the ground. After lunch at the good ol' Russellville Mickey D's, my wee tummy wasn't feeling so hot. So, being from Memphis I figured Barbecue as a good choice for dinner. What I received looked like one of the many armadillos we had passed on the side of the road earlier that day. Nevertheless, I ate it. It had a toasted bun...but I already missed Central BBQ at home.
The last few hours of our drive that day weren't very noteworthy. I fell asleep for a hot minute and woke up in time to see more sprawling nothing and our cross into Texas. Somewhere in the OK/TX area the wind became crazy, the poor Civic was pushed to her limits this trip. Go Civ! You da man. (The wind continued for 2 states.)
Our stop for the night was Amarillo, Texas. It was windy. When I say windy, I mean like Dorothy holding her skirt down and Toto praying to the doggy gods he can get through the screen door windy.
However, the hotel was wonderful. Country Inn or something. The beds were cozy, the shower was brand new, and the Olivia and Dad were tired. After a much needed sleep and a complimentary breakfast, we were on the road again.
Highlights of Day Two included passing a Cattle Processing Place (acres and acres of cows and poop, enough to make me really sad to eat beef...so much so that I have to emotionally over-eat now when doing so), crossing into New Mexico, driving through the most nothing I have ever seen, driving through the most Indian Reservations I've ever seen, eating at an unhappy little diner--home to delicious chicken salad, getting new windshield wipers (immediately using them), and crossing into Arizona.
The best part of Day Two was our spur of the moment detour to see Meteor Crater (Experience the Impact). Prior to doing so, we stopped at the nearest rest stop and climbed on some giant Arizona rocks. After dismounting the rocks, we walked to the opposite side to discover the sign that warned of venomous snakes and insects. It makes sense that you'd only put the sign on one side of the rock, right?
On to Meteor Crater. Well, it was big. The most exciting part was the radio broadcast we turned on for park information. Every loop ended with the broadcaster saying in his very best hardcore hole in the ground voice, "Experience the IMPACT." It became a very big joke between Dad and I...and we bought coffee mugs with the slogan slung across the crest of the crater. We're winners.
We finished our day in the town of Williams, fiftyish miles south of the Grand Canyon--our adventure for the next morning. Nothing much to report here, the hotel restaurant carded me when I ordered wine and accepted my response of "I left everything in the room." as enough proof of my legality. Honestly though, I had just washed my face and was wearing clothes that were very 12 year old chic. I guess the mere fact that I ordered wine was enough, I wasn't trying very hard to weasel my way into looking older...or something. Whatever, you get what I'm saying.
We crashed and Dan the Man woke up at some ungodly hour claiming to still be on Memphis time. I heard him clunking around and eventually was forcibly woken up around 6:30am. After stumbling around to get ready, we were eventually on our way to ye olde Grand Canyon. After excessively voicing our distaste for the twenty-something dollar charge to enter the park (really, how do you charge for that? It's a god damn natural wonder), and seeing three elk, we found ourselves in some place eating breakfast. The service was prompt and the eggs were really big. We filled up, shoved the tiny baby jams they gave me for my toast in my purse, and were on our way to explore the big hole in the ground.
We ooed and awed and then came across some squirrels, which were probably the most exciting part. Calm down, yes the Grand Canyon was breathtaking and beautiful and huge and vast--but I fucking touched a squirrel. They were fat little things, too. I named them all "Stan," we took pictures, then went to look down and marvel some more. After soaking in the hole in one location, we transferred to somewhere East and took more pictures. I climbed a tree, and eventually we called it gravy and found ourselves back on the road. Our destination for the day: LA.
We drove through much, much, much nothing for a very long time. Eventually we came to the California state line, stopped to promise we didn't have any fruits or vegetables, and eventually found ourselves in the bitty town of Needles for lunch. We stopped at an awesome burger place (probably one of the best meals of the trip, I shit you not) where they actually waited for you to order the food before they made it. CRAZY.
Once we set back out, we encountered every labor day boat person on their return trip to wherever they go home with their boat to. And I have decided this--boat people are largely dicks. Now, there's exceptions to every rule, sure. But for the love of GEEE-ODDD, they all wanted to be in the left lane with their boats! That's just not how the cookie should crumble, Boat People of America!
Eventually we made it to more civilization and Dad pointed our where Air Force Bases used to be and a hill that he and his buddies used to routinely ride down like crazy people on their motorcycles. Around 7pm, we were almost to LA. A quick stop in Bellflower to check out the new apartment and grab my keys from Steven, a hop over the the rental car place to grab my Dad's new wheels, and in a hot minute we were checking into another hotel.
Quick notes on the previous paragraph: Dad's rental car got upgraded or something, and he got a sweet ass something or other with an analog clock in the dashboard. Nothing says cool like a clock. Additionally, Dad is the most stressful person to follow in traffic in a new city. But I made it in one piece.
Another awesome hotel was our home for the next few days. We crashed for the night, eventually ordered some room service for dinner, and fell asleep happily.
As this entry is getting very long, I'll leave it at that and pick up with the next morning on the next post.
Until next time, keep it classy, people.
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