Thread: Just Breathe

Carrie - I know you;re not supposed to say congratulations to a bride-to-be but how about

WHOOPIE!!!!!

:jumpgreen :jumpgreen :jumpgreen


That was such a sweet proposal if i ween't a man I'd be Sniff teary eyed.

Oh Carrie, I started tearing up! :jump: I'm so happy for you and your "fiance".

CARRIE!!!


WONDERFUL NEWS!! I just returned back to the US and read your journal!

SO WONDERFUL!!!

(PS I had a 5 hr layover in Chicago and thought of you!!)

I know! I thought of the same thing! If I knew my layover was going to be that long, I would've emailed you!

I'm scheduled to go to Zimbabwe the second week of October. It'll only be for a week (thank god!)!!

Awesome to reenter the US in Chicago! After spending 3mo in Asia, it was a welcomed treat to see big brawny mid-western football loving chicago boys!!!

Oh and some observations:

Food. Tons of it everywhere. The US is all about food, snaking and TONS of choices. I was shell-shocked at the airport with all the choices and people eating McDonalds.

Portions. HUGE in the US compared to Asia. Take plain yogurt for example. The yogurt here is 6oz. In Asia, it's 3oz and no one eats sweetended yogurt. Actually, you would be hard pressed to find sweetened yogurt. Also, 3 oz fills you up -- you don't NEED 6oz.

Fruit. In the US it has less flavor but looks perfect. Due to my jet lag this mroning, I went to the supermarket at 6:15am. I bought pears, grapes and a couple apples. They did not compare to the taste of the fruit in Asia. Also, the whole wheat bread -- sliced kind. The slices are HUGE vs Asia.

Non-food observation. English. After spending 3mo not understanding background conversations -- it is very distracting to hear English being spoken around you. You cannot concentrate, can't block it out.

Anyways, jsut a couple observations...

WOW! What a proposal. That is like something out of th emovies. It's nice to know there are some true romantics out there.

hi there!
well, i certainly have not posted here in my journal lately! but i'm back to south beach starting today and i'm definitely motivated. since we just got engaged, we a have a lot of events coming up over the next year or so. the first being our engagement party on 11/18. i want to look and feel my best during these happy times. so i'm back on plan, following phase 1 of SBD for two weeks and then on to phase 2. i'm cutting back my running schedule during the first week. i've been thinking my body needs a break (i've been doing 35+ miles a week for a loooong time now) - and this seems to be the perfect time. if i'm not exercising as much, i will be even more diligent about staying on plan, LOL. any support is appreciated. i know i can stick with it this time ....!

today's menu:
B: scrambled eggs and coffee
S: string cheese
L: salad w/ tomatoes, sprouts, broccoli, kidney beans, a little cheese, and a pinch of real bacon pieces. dressing was LC/LF italian
S: SF/FF latte and some peanuts
D: chipotle burrito bol w/ the following ingredients: lettuce, black beans, salsa, guacamole

Sounds like being engaged has been quite the motivation for you!

Hey Carrie! Love reading your journal.

Wanna know a little trick about the FF/plain yogurt? I discovered it when I was in Vietnam and they only had plain yogurt...put a packet or 2 of Splenda in it. Perfecto!

hi shannon!! i love it when you pop in. how is everything going? thanks for the yogurt tip!

today is day four of phase 1. i am feeling pretty good. my tummy seems a LITTLE flatter and my pants feel a LITTLE looser, LOL. although i said i wasn't going to run during P1 (1. b/c i never seem to have enough energy when i first start SBD, and 2. b/c i felt my body could use a break), i did end up running 6.2 miles yesterday. i took it nice and slow ... felt great.

today's eating plan:
B: leftover baked orange roughy
S: coffee w/ skim milk
L: salad
S: peanuts and maybe more coffee
D: cobb salad, i think

as an aside, i am having all my high school girlfriends over tomorrow nite for a get together. it has been planned for a long time, and i am really looking forward to it. i have already decided that i'll be drinking some wine w/ them .... and although it is not on the P1 plan, i'll just hop right back on the train the following day.

Hey Carr!

Definitely use the yogurt trick. It's awesome. I NEVER eat anything else now -- only plain ff yogurt. Horizon's is awesome for your "gut" too -- has "good" bacteria in it -- the greek yogurt is awesome too. Buy it at Trader Joes -- FF/Plain and add some pumpkin spice to it. VERY GOOD!!

I'm doing better at the gym. Getting my energy back up. Still eating WW pitas with my eggs but that's ok.

I'm having a HUGE party on Sat night. My 4 friends and I organized it and we've invited about 75 people. It's at a bar in DC. Should be FUN!!