Another update from the cult

Considering last week included the Brew at the Zoo, and some of the most amazing food stuffs I've ever had the pleasure to eat (Shrimpbombs! from Golden Toad), I'm pretty happy with having lost .6 lbs, which brings my total for two weeks up to 4.8lbs. Which is right on target for healthy, long-term weight loss. If you're curious what .6lbs looks like, may I share this adorable little Oaxacan panda bear with you? Only $860!

Cult Update

Went to a meeting on Tuesday instead of my usual Monday, what with the holiday and all that. I may like the Tuesday leader better than the Monday one, but more evidence is needed before I make a decision. Still -- good news! I lost this:4.2 lbs of tiny adorable dinosaur-ness.

The nice thing about a cult...

... Is that even if you leave, you're always welcome to come back. Or maybe that was about "family". Ah well, no matter!

The gist of it is after falling off the Weight Watchers wagon about a year ago, due to wedding planning and moving anxiety, along with financial woes, I went back to a meeting today. I've been reading my friend Rob's continuing adventures in the cult, and I wanted back in! I also didn't want to be that stereotypical female who got married and suddenly felt free to put back on the weight she lost to fit into a wedding gown. That wasn't why I'd done it in the first place. Also, while there's some freedom in being able to wear yoga pants to work now that my office is in the basement, I don't want them to be the only thing that fits!

So -- the details. At my best, I was down 52.2 lbs. I've put about half of that back on. Ultimately, I want to get back down to where I was, plus a little. My goal is to lose 33 lbs. In other words, I want to lose this:So, welcome back to the continuing adventures of ktbuffy in cult-land. Any and all suggestions, helpful hints, commiseration, or recommendations of low-in-points food gratefully received!

I bought shoes!

I know, I know. Just pretend to be surprised, ok? For me?

I had lunch today down in the Union Square area, and since we couldn't get a reservation until 1:30, I headed down a little early and hit DSW. I didn't even know that were having a special clearance, but I was very happily surprised. I had less than 20 minutes, I think, to get in, find silver shoes, buy them, and get out again and meet my lunch date. So how'd I do?

I bought two pair!! (Not that I can find any pictures of them online, of course.)

The first pair was a peep-toe t-strap that buckled at the ankle. The t-strap was all pretty and rhinestone-y, and someone remarked that it looked like a dance shoe -- which I took as a good thing, since I plan on doing a lot of dancing in it!

The second pair (both were from Nina, by the way) was on the clearance rack, open toed sandals with a strap that crossed over from the outside of my foot to the inner ankle, then became a slingback strap. Very fancy.

I didn't have a lot of time, as I mentioned, so I bought both, went to my lunch with a fun editor (sent back my burger for being too rare, which I hate doing, but it was red!), and came back to the office for a fashion show. See, I need other people's opinions. I like to hear what other people have to say, and having taken in all their thoughts, will then make my final call.

So I walked around the office, wearing one shoe of each pair, and polled about 8 women. Off the bat, most preferred the fancier shoe with the slingback. But when I described what it was for, and when I would be wearing it, most said the t-strap was better. So, the t-strap it is!! I'll be trying it on with the dress tonight to make sure I like the look with the hem, but then I can go and get my super-bra, and take the dress to be altered for the wedding.

And speaking of weddings, I was reading Weddingbee, as I'm wont to do, and read this in one bride's post describing her dress-shopping adventures:

Well, with this dress I learned the lesson that 95% (my rough estimation) of brides realize upon dress shopping – what you initially think you want is probably not what you end up liking/buying.

And what struck me about that was that I'm apparently in the 5% group. Sure, when I was a kid dreaming of dresses, I had a different idea of what I wanted, but when I actually WENT dress shopping, the dress we walked out of the store with was almost exactly what I described to the saleswoman.

I'm not saying I'm super-amazing or anything, but part of my weight loss journey, I think, has been recognizing the looks that work for me, and sticking with them. And as that makes four labels I can throw on this post, I'll leave it at that. To thine own self be true -- but before you can do that, make sure you know who you are!

Cult update

I haven't been blogging much lately about my progress towards my weight goal, if only because I totally stalled. Since April, when I was down just a hair over 50 pounds, I went back up a few pounds, and got stuck on a long, flat, boring plateau. This week -- hooray! Down 1.2 pounds, back to a total lost of over 45 pounds. Still a while to go, and this is the hard part, I think, where I can pretty easily keep where I am using the methods that have helped in the past, but I really need to step things up a bit to lose the last 15 pounds I want to see vanish before The Big Day. I'm pretty solidly in size 10 bottoms, with a couple of size 8s, but still hitting a size 12 on top, thanks to the bodacious ta-tas. Hoping to hit Ann Taylor this week for their sale though, and see about picking up a dress for my sister's wedding. For my wedding dress, I knew I didn't want strapless, but I'm thinking it might be fun for hers. I have to see how they look on, and if I can get the proper supportive cinches and hoists from my bra lady!

Piles of piles of piles of paper!

Back in the office today after my week in London, with a big heaping pile of paper to read and get through. not just queries, which can go quickly, but also manuscripts or partial manuscripts from not one, not two, not even three, but FOUR of my authors!

I'm also a guest on the Teen Lit Authors group on Yahoo, so all my patented "Ask and Agent" advice is appearing there this week. (And I think I just made one more connection for you web trollers between my online identity and my real one. Ah well.)

In other news -- Heroes returns. Hooray!

Oh, and an update from my cult (hitting ALL my labels today): I'm so far down a total of 51.2 pounds. Less than ten now to my goal! And I did a semi-major shopping spree this weekend, finding myself very comfortably in size 8s. Hoorah!

Getting back on track!

So I've been on a little plateau with my cult lately, seesawing over the same two pounds for the last two months. Up, down, up, down, I blame everything from the altitude, to cold weather and heavy clothes, to no clothes, a big meal, and even, today -- heavy earrings.

Well, I'm putting a stop to it. I've lost a total of 46 pounds so far, but I have about 15 more to go to my goal weight, and I want to hit that. I also want to wear a bikini for the first time since I was a wee child, and I have a beach trip planned for May.

So I'm getting back on track. No more ignoring my points tracker, no more binges on cookies or bread. When I have a business lunch planned, I'll make sure to have a small breakfast, and I WILL get back to eating more fruits and veggies again, instead of just buying them and letting them go bad in the crisper drawer. Hello, apples and grapefruits and celery!

I also need to start seriously training for the Danskin tri I'm planning on doing in July, which means as well as my NIA classes, I need to get back on my bike, go run some runs, and find a new pool to swim in.

Once I have my weight back in control, I can apply that perseverance to other aspects of my life. More on that soon.

Getting Motivated!

Waaaaaay back when (January 2004), my good friend Yi Shun convinced me to sign up for the Danskin Triathlon, and write all about it for her website. The first article appeared in February 2004, and several months later, having successfully completed our training and finished a tri, we celebrated. A year later, we did it again, though I didn't train for it, and suffered much more during the running of it.

Well... I'm doing it again. Thanks to my cult, I think I'm in much better shape than when I ran the 2005 tri, at least. But of course, I can't just run any ole tri. No, I have to step things up, and go to the next level. I can't just do the same thing I've done before! So yeah, I'm running the Danskin Tri again, but this time, I'm doing it in Denver. At altitude.

Yi Shun's going to do it with me, and maybe our friends Jodi and Gretchen as well. What this means is that I need to start including running, biking, and swimming workouts with my NIA classes. And I have to tell you all about it, so that I can't back down.

Wish me luck!

Update-y goodness

It's been a lot of fun to see everyone run with the idea of posting your favorite books, and I'm liking the lists we've all come up with so much better than the so-called "official" lists. Keep 'em coming!

Anyway, I thought I'd check in with a cult update. I'm down an even 45 pounds, which is very exciting, with another 15 pounds to go to my goal weight. Those last 15 will probably take almost as long as the first 45! What I'm finding slightly more difficult lately is continuing to be good about tracking all my food. A part of it, certainly, is the change on the Weight Watchers site to the tracking system. There's more food to find, I think, but it's slower, and feels somehow bulkier. Plus, while I can see everything just fine on my work computer, on my home lappy, the box is weirdly foreshortened, with no way to resize it. Annoying, I say.

I think it also hasn't helped that my regular leader has been on vacation, and wasn't at the last two meetings I went to. Which means, including Christmas Day and New Year's Day as missed meetings, I haven't seen him for over a month. Still, I'm still on a happy downward trend, with only a little bubble up where last week I got used to weighing myself with less clothes on -- which you can do in the safety and comfort of one's own or one's boyfriend's bathroom, but can't in a public room full of other people. But I like sticking to the regimen of only weighing myself at meetings, and not worrying about how much I weigh every single day. I'm glad I don't have a scale at home.

But my regular NIA instructor is back from her maternity leave (yay!), so I'll be making more of an effort to get to at least two or three classes a week as opposed tojust one, and I do think that the 20 minutes brisk walking I do each day back and forth between my new apartment and the subway certainly helps in the keeping me active column. As does the fact that my favorite pizza place and Cold Stone Creamery are now a LOT further away, and I have to think ahead to have snacking food in the house. Which doesn't always help me at work, but does in those hours when I'm at home in front of the computer or the tv. And I just keep remembering to drink lots and lots of water.

So it's all good. I now have four pairs of pants that are size 10, and I'm finding it such a thrill to buy mediums now, not larges or extra-larges. And I was actually looking forward to buying a bathing suit for the next time I'm near a beach, which hasn't happened in, oh, ever!

Holiday Miscellanea

After a half day at the office, I'm about to eat some lunch, waiting for my laundry to be done, with my bag packed to head up to my mom's for the holiday weekend. I have a pile of manuscripts, magazines, and queries to read, so in an effort to be diligent and actually get them done, I won't be bringing my laptop. I'm not so much worried about the email that will pile up, and the blogs I won't be reading, but I've gotten very dependant on the eTools aspect of Weight Watchers, and without the computer to track my food intake, I'll be reduced to doing it my hand. Still, I've managed before and I will do so again.

And how's it going?, you ask. Well, as of this week, I'm delighted to officially say that I've lost more than 40 pounds. All my clothes are pretty much big on me now, even some of the stuff I bought right before I went to Germany only a month and a half ago. So yeah, I think I'll be doing some shopping this Black Friday. Perish the thought.

Anyway, wishing all my readers a happy, healthy, friend-filled Thanksgiving Day, whether your turkey is roasted, fried, faux, or other. Gobble, gobble!

Driving along in my automobile...

Do doot do doot do doot do doot...

Actually, I'm out here in Colorado again, and since Doyce had to go into his downtown office this morning, I dropped him off at the light rail and have enjoyed the use of his car (and carefully detailed hand-drawn map) today. Ran some errands -- marveled at everything I want to buy at Target, got perhaps overly ambitious in a crafty project at Michael's -- and even managed to finally post my third round story for Storyball, only four days late. Go me!

Meeting some friends for dinner and a movie tonight, which should be fun. Oh!! And yesterday, while I was killing some time after lunch and before Doyce was ready to leave work, I went into a Banana Republic (yes, they call to me with their siren song. So shoot me!) and tried on a bunch of pants. And they fit! Size 10 skinny jeans. Says so right on the label. Wooohooo!

Back in the saddle again

Back to work today, and trying to tackle the large piles of books and emails that have piled up while I was gone. I think I have a system under control, though, so I'm giving myself a blog-break.

We landed back at JFK on Saturday afternoon, and got through customs and baggage claim and passport control without too much hassle (comparatively), met with our driver, then headed back to the glorious comforts of my apartment, and the stuffed DVR. Enjoyed my first American meal in weeks (yum, chicken roll!) and watched the season premiere of "Battlestar Galactica" before collapsing into insensibility at 10pm Eastern, or about 4am, according to my body's clock.

Sunday, though, we were up bright and early, had a giant delicious diner breakfast, and watched another episode of BSG before I took Doyce off to the airport for his trip home to Denver. And then I collapsed on the couch for the remainder of the afternoon watching "Heroes," "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip," "Ugly Betty," "Gilmore Girls," "30 Rock," and "My Name is Earl." Much more still to see. There's a lot of tv on in two weeks, especially at this time of year. I'm also saving "Veronica Mars" for last, since those, alone among everything else I taped, I'll save even after I watch them. At least until the Season 3 DVD is released.

Today, my body still not adjusted properly, I woke up early (!) for work, got all gussied up in my favorite new suit, and spent a busy morning going through the above-mentioned piles. Hit my Weight Watchers meeting at lunchtime, and was highly gratified to learn that not only didn't I GAIN any weight while I was off in Europe, and not being as exact about counting points, but I went down another 3.8 pounds! Total weight lost so far: 34.4 pounds. Woot!

Still, no time to rest on my laurels, smaller though they may be. Back to work! When I get home again later and have time to put up a fuller photographic essay, I will do so!

All Packed!

The hard part wasn't fitting my clothes into my bags, but more finding room for all the little power cords, and books, and shoes, and boots, and bags of Cheerios (What? I'm on a DIET, folks!), and assorted presents I'm bringing for people over in Europe.

On the plus side, it'll be way easier to bring everything home in two weeks. I'll ship all my work stuff (books and papers and all) from Frankfurt back to the office, give away the presents, and leave whatever books I read for fun wherever I finish them. Not to mention eating the Cheerios (and, um, some peanut butter. Reduced Fat! See above!). See? Easy!

Except for all the souvenirs I bring home, of course...

A momentary pause

...In the hectic week leading up to Frankfurt, so I'm taking a minute for me. Actually, I'm taking more than that, since I'm leaving work early tonight (for this week, at least. Any other week, it would be "leaving on time") and heading down to the gym for my NIA class. Will hope to go again on Thursday, with the other days in the week before I leave devoted to laundry, me prep, and packing.

This past weekend, as well as being a veritable cornucopia of family, included two shopping trips to various malls in the tristate area, with delightful success. New suit, new sweater, new jeans, new dress, new tank tops, new fishnets, all ready to go to Europe!

And newly svelte ktbuffy, as I'm down another 4 pounds. Lost a total of 29.6 so far, which was nicely remarked upon by the various family members, in their inimitable ways.

Besides all the work yet to do (I fuss, but it's entirely doable), I have to decide what books I want to bring with me. I'm still only halfway through Specials by Scott Westerfeld, since my Labor Day flight, but I don't want to bring that, since I'm trying to keep it to books I can leave lying around wherever I finish them, and don't have to worry about bringing back home again. The list so far, yet to be whittled down:

• Tyrannosaur Canyon by Douglas Preston
• Bergdorf Blondes by Plum Sykes
• The Lost Art of Keeping Secrets by Eva Rice
• Imperium by Robert Harris
• Storm Front by Jim Butcher

Plus my Rough Guide to Prague. Which is way too much! Help!

Woot! New keychain!

It may not look like much, but that, my friends, is the sign of my having lost 10% of my body weight since I first joined my cult. Woohoo! My clothes all seem to fit differently -- from things I haven't tried to wear in ages popping out at me from the closet to more recent purchases feeling baggy and down right dowdy (if not entirely pull-off-able!). Had a good talk with my leader after the meeting, since I was a little concerned that the proper weight range for my height was still another 50 pounds away, and he's got me looking only another 20 pounds down the road. Which sounds so doable, in fact, that I'm seriously debating that big reward I was promising myself. It's still up in the air, but what do you think: tattoo or piercing? Vote below!