Boston Adventure

About a year and a half ago, I went to visit my sister and brother-in-law in Boston. They live about 1/2 mile from the train stop that takes them anywhere they want to go in and around the city, and they try to not drive their car whenever possible because getting around Boston by car is a pain in the ass. That 1/2 mile just to get to the train was awful. My knees hurt, my feet ached, I despised the one hill we had to climb, and then we had to actually go into the train station, climb down the stairs, and get on the train. By that point, I was a mess. And that was only the beginning. Once we reached our destination, we would also have to walk wherever we were going. The science museum, the Boston harbor, restaurants...it was all a complete nightmare. There were several times I was practically in tears, desperate to not take one more step.

I missed out on a lot. I insisted on taking the car several times when the train would have been the better choice because I. JUST. COULD. NOT. DO. IT. I spent most of that trip in pain and just wanting to go home to my nice suburban life where my car would take me wherever I wanted to go. I didn't enjoy the time with my sister like I should have.

It made me very sad.

This visit, 70-ish pounds down, I wanted to walk everywhere. I asked my sister how she managed to move the train SO much closer to her house. It was such an easy, short walk that I couldn't even believe that I once found it painfully difficult.

We walked everywhere.

We took the train to Harvard and walked the 2 miles back. No problem whatsoever. We did another mile or so that night.

We walked well over 5 miles one day. It was beautiful out, chilly, but the sun was shining, so we walked and walked and walked. I saw more of Boston on foot in one day than I'd ever seen there in all of my previous visits combined.

As we were entering the train station one time, we heard the train approaching. We ran for the train. Ran down the stairs, and we caught it before it pulled out of the station. It was exhilarating for this former nearly-300-pound person to run to catch a train with no problem. I wasn't even winded when I got there.

The whole trip, I kept remarking how my life had truly changed. It was amazing how easy it all was. I wasn't dragging my bones all over the place. I wasn't merely existing. I was living. Really and truly.

I crossed off two very important items on my "Reasons to Lose 100 Pounds" list this week:

39. To be able to run all around any city with my sister, up and down hills and the subway stairs, without feeling like I am going to pass out from leg/knee pain.
40. To not have a couple of miles of city walking feel as daunting as a marathon.

It was easy. It was fun. It felt amazing. My feet didn't hurt.

And a bonus? Finding out that my beautiful little sister with the adorably curvy body I'd love to have? Yeah. She's only 2 sizes smaller than I am right now. I wore her old coat. It was a bit snug but it FIT. It buttoned and everything.

I may have a ways to go before I am "done" but I am in a great place right now. I'm looking forward to whatever is coming next.

Here are some pictures of our adventures...

Bundled up in the icy cold night:


At Harvard:



Snowy park:


Breakfast with my sister and her sister-in-law and nephew:


The most amazing pizza from Pizzaria Posto - rosemary ham, brie, arugula, honeycrisp apples, and a wine reduction sauce. Yum.


Hanging out by the water:


Riding the train...comfortably!






Outside the aquarium:


With some penguins:


And for comparison, these are from previous trips to Boston. What a difference, huh?

Obesity As a Sales Tactic

Sad but true...

575-pound Heart Attack Grill spokesman dies at 29

River, who stood 6-foot-8 and weighed about 575 pounds, gained a measure of fame in the past year as spokesman for the Heart Attack Grill, a Chandler, Ariz., restaurant that specializes in thick hamburgers and fries. He died on Tuesday at the age of 29.

Spring Challenge Starts Today (for me)

I had an amazing long weekend in Boston with my sister, and WOW what a difference losing 70-ish pounds makes for getting around a city. I am planning a whole blog about my experiences with that, but I just wanted to do a quick post to say that band or no band...um...I gained some weight. Even with all the walking. Even with my sister being a vegetarian and therefore eating mostly vegetarian meals. I'm hoping it's mostly travel bloat and will be gone by tomorrow, but seeing the number on the scale start with "21" instead of "20" this morning was a little disheartening.

But life goes on. Today I will be back on track and out of vacation mode. Because I was away, the spring challenge starts today for me, and I am going to take it seriously.

Spring forward.

525,600 Minutes

What a difference a year makes.

281 pounds to 208 pounds.
Size 26 to size 16.
Can barely make it from the parking lot to the park to running around Disney all day.
Can barely walk a mile to a mile being barely a warm-up.
What a year.

Hungry...I Think

Today's menu:

7:30 AM: Coffee. Then some leftovers from Pollo Tropical - about 1/3 of a small Tropichop with chicken, black beans, brown rice, onions, and salsa. Yeah. At 7:30 AM. My husband thinks I'm weird because I eat that sort of thing in the morning, but I LIKE leftovers for breakfast. (Side note: does anyone else find it bizarre to order a small fast food meal and have LEFTOVERS? I used to eat the LARGE Tropichop...PLUS a side of fried yucca.)

11:00 AM: 1/2 of a scooped out pumpernickel bagel with a shmear of light cream cheese. There are always bagels at work on Fridays and my stomach was grumbling away.

1:00 PM: They brought lunch in at work for a meeting. It was from my favorite Jamaican restaurant - jerk chicken, steamed cabbage, rice and peas, coco bread, plantains. My plate had about 1/4 of the food of pretty much everyone else, but I did have a little of everything. Yep, even the coco bread. It went down fine.

5:00 PM: My "real" lunch break time and I was hungry again. I went to the Fresh Market and got some shrimp sushi. I ate about half, but peeled off most of the rice, so pretty much spicy shrimp salad and cucumber. I also went for a short walk, 1/2 mile.

(I wanted to walk to the ice cream shop. But I didn't.)

It is now 7:25 PM and I'm hungry again. I don't even know if it is head hunger or real hunger but it would be ridiculous to even consider eating anything else right now. I know I've had PLENTY. I am at work for another 30 minutes and by the time I get home at 9:00-ish, I will want dinner.

I went from having practically zero appetite to feeling like I am starving. I don't get it. I've eaten protein. I've eaten real food. I've had plenty of water. I don't understand my band sometimes. I want the scale to move and if I keep eating 5 meals a day, it ain't gonna happen.

I'm feeling a little a lot frustrated. I considered taking one of my old diet pills today. They're probably expired and they're at home, so I didn't, but I don't like feeling like I WOULD.

I figured that writing this all down might be better than having a snack. So thanks for listening. I'm off to get another glass of water.

I'm Sipping, I'm Gulping, I'm Peeing, I'm Springing

I've been faithfully doing the Sip & Gulp Challenge.


I'm sipping, gulping...and it has been suggested that I may as well move my computer into the ladies' room at work because I spend more time there than at my desk. I had to put a customer on hold earlier so I could go pee. I've never been so hydrated in my life.

I even bought myself a LARGE and pretty glass to use at work so that I will drink more. See:


You'll notice that it is EMPTY. For the third time already today, thank you very much. And that was before lunchtime.

I've also joined the Spring Challenge...


To be honest, I am nervous about this. Every time I join one of these things, I don't lose much and get frustrated. BUT, maybe the third time is the charm? The challenge starts on the day before I return from my vacation to visit my (gorgeous, thin, foodie, vegetarian) sister in Boston. So as soon as I get back, I need to buckle down and get this done.

This new fill I have is weird. I can eat lots of chicken, lettuce, ground turkey, veggies, pineapple. And I had a small piece of bread from Panera with my soup yesterday. But I can't eat meatballs or pork chops at all. I'm losing again though, which is awesome, but slow.

I'll leave you with my ABC's, which has been going around Blogland and I've been meaning to get to this and finally did. Late as usual!

(A) Age: 35
(B) Bed Size: King
(C) Chore You Hate: Anything to do with the floors...vacuuming, mopping, sweeping. Ugh.
(D) Dogs? No thanks, I have parrots.
(E) Essential Start Your Day Item: COFFEE!!!
(F) Favorite Color: Green
(G) Gold or Silver? White gold or silver
(H) Height: 5'2"
(I) Instruments You Play: I used to play bass guitar. I wasn't very good though.
(J) Job Title: Technical Support Rep
(K) Kids: I don't have any.
(L) Live: Florida
(M) Mom's Name: Bonnie
(N) Nicknames: Steph, Stephie, Noodle
(O) Overnight Hospital Stays? Other than when I was born, just once when I had my lapband installed.
(P) Pet Peeve: People who drive too close in the rain. Scares me!
(Q) Quote from a Movie: "The first rule of Zombieland: Cardio. When the zombie outbreak first hit, the first to go, for obvious reasons, were the fatties."
(R) Right or Left Handed? Right
(S) Siblings: Little sister.
(T) Time You Wake Up? It depends - some days I have school, some days I don't need to be at work until 11:00, some days I get up early to workout. Uusally any time between 7:00 AM and 10:00 AM (on weekends when I get REALLY lucky and can sleep that late).
(U) Underwear: Cotton.
(V) Vegetable You Dislike: Mushrooms, okra...I used to hate bell peppers but they're growing on me.
(W) What Makes You Run Late: Facebook
(X) X-Rays You've Had Done: knee, wrist, teeth, chest
(Y) Yummy Food You Make: Shepherd's pie, sloppy joes, roasted cauliflower, roasted brussels sprouts
(Z) Zoo, Favorite Animal: Parrots

Pork Chops = No Bueno

It's a bummer to spend an hour making a really delicious dinner only to get utterly and completely stuck 3 bites in.