Week 5

Still sick. I went into the capital city to visit the doctor. Had the flu and a minor sinus infection so she gave me super strong vitamins to take for 2 weeks and some antibiotics to take for 7 days. After about 3 days of taking those I was feeling human again and very anxious to be out and about. Gonna start back to the exercising a little slow, but ready to get back to it on Monday!

Week 4

Well friends, this will be a short recap of week 4. The temperatures here have been pretty chilly and the weather has not been nice (we even got several inches of snow yesterday), but I did manage to go for a walk/jog on Tuesday. I bundled up in many, many layers and kept my hood on to keep my head warm. However, it was all to no avail...I have been in bed with the flu since late Tuesday night. So unfortunately I have nothing else to report for this week except mmmm, tea and hot showers are good.

But I plan to get back into in again once I'm feeling better. Check in with you next week!

Week 3

This was a good week. I started the Couch to 5k program and managed to get two days of it in. The other days were filled with either strengthening videos (and still lots of laughs at my inability to properly execute the moves with grace and ease-but hey I'm having fun) or with long walks around the town. I have started taking the long way when I am out and about just to get some extra steps in each day. And I volunteer more often now while at school to run from classroom to classroom or up and down the stairs when my partner or I need something not in our own classroom. The calves are starting to look very nice from all the stairs I climb! I will say that working out has been rough this past week because 1) Winter has come back and she is REALLY cold and 2) She brought her cousin with her-Incredibly Cold and Powerful Wind.

This wind made my first Couch to 5K jog very interesting. Sarah and I were originally just going to do one of our long walks. But we figured no time like the present to get started. So as I listened to the podcast, she followed my lead when it was time for the 60 second jogs and when it was time for the brisk walking. Funny note about this, apparently whenever it was time to jog, I kept saying over and over "Shit, shit, shit". So she knew it was time. As if jogging were not difficult enough when you are first starting, we were given the added difficulty of running into very strong winds (which were great when we started heading back into town with the winds at our back).

Each time we walk, we choose a new direction through town so as to see more of Floresti. This time I chose to take her out of town towards the big hospital. In order to get there, we have to walk along one of the main roads. This was great fun. We counted 6-7 horn honks from Moldovans driving by, some to let us know they were coming, some to gawk at the weird American girls running while others were simply trying to figure out if we needed a ride because we had to be in a hurry since we were jogging. We also noticed a taxi driver passing us 3 or 4 times - our theory is that he wasn't sure if we needed a ride, so he kept passing us with the possibility that we may flag him down. Now for me being incredibly inexperienced with jogging and running, I was sorely tempted especially after we reached the outer limits of town and I knew we still had to turn around and head back to my apartment. But Sarah was a great cheerleader and kept me going. The podcast itself is about 30 minutes, but we walked a little before and after the podcast so in total we were gone about 1.5 hours. I felt great afterward and thankfully because we stretched before and after plus the extra time walking, I never got so sore that I was not able to move the next day. At one point, when I knew I was not able to jog anymore, we tried skipping our way home and we even stopped on the side of the road so I could show Sarah how to hula. Although I realized right away that was not the best idea as cars were coming toward us and we looked weird enough. The best part of the whole walk/jog was that she and I laughed (as usual) most of the way to and fro.

I am sadly reporting that keeping a food journal has ended. I am just not good at paying attention. However, I am still keeping track of what activity I do each day in my planner so at least I am half keeping track. I think I gave up on the food tracking because I was basically eating the same thing the whole week (oatmeal for breakfast and 1 cup of my homemade chili for lunch and again for dinner). I have taken to cooking one big pot of something at the beginning of the week then eating that for lunch and/or dinner throughout the week. Week 3 was chili, week 4 (this week) is a bean and veggie soup. It was an experiment since I have never made a soup with beans (especially dry beans), but overall a success. Still needs a little something to add a bit more flavor, but not bad for my first attempt at playing with ingredients.

I have not done my measurements yet, mostly because I forgot about it. But I will ask Sarah to help me next time we get together to workout.

That's all for now. Happy week to everyone!

Week 2

So this will be a light one. This past week's weather was really great for outdoor activity so Sarah and I took advantage of it. We walked for an hour and half twice last week and got to see new parts of the village. It was great, the walking was easy! Not because we were meandering, but because we were just chatting the whole time and enjoying the new scenery. But we were still a little out of breath because of the pace and the small hills we encountered along the way.

The first walk took us close to a nearby village and along part of the river that runs on the outskirts of my village. It was beautiful and now I know I should bring along my camera next time we go out. Our second walk had a duel purpose-one to exercise, but also to run some errands around the village (i.e. ATM and grocery shopping for that night's dinner). We took the long way down to the valley where our ATM is located then wound our way through one of the neighborhoods that neither she nor I had been in before. It was a whole new set of Moldovan's staring at the weird Americans and their heavy backpacks/bags.

I also did some of my cheesy and wonderful strengthening videos throughout the week, but not as often as I should have. They are easy to do so I really should be doing them everyday. But laziness gets the better of me especially when the weather is gloomy.

I knew the weekend would be a little bit of a set back to losing weight because a group of volunteers were in the capital city to celebrate my friend's birthday. But I made sure to do as much walking all over the city as possible and watch the portions when I was able to. Overall it was fairly successful for me, but I'm not gonna lie-I loved,enjoyed and ate every morsel of the yummy Pad Thai I had at her birthday dinner. And of course, there was a lot of beer consumed over the weekend. But it was a celebration and not my norm.

I still haven't started on the Couch to 5K. I endeavor to begin this week (as I have said each week since downloading the podcast haha).

While talking with my site mates we decided that the best way to measure our weight loss (and yes, I said "our" because they are joining me in exercising and losing weight) is to take our measurements. So in the next post I will let you all know where I am right now and will start using that as a measure of my weight loss once a month. I'll still weigh myself, but that's a little trickier for me since I don't always have access to a scale. Plus, with exercise comes muscle building and since muscles weigh more than fat, I don't want to rely solely on pounds as my measurement of loss.

That's it for week 2.

Special Edition Posting: The "D" Words

Some random thoughts: Dieting and Dating

Disclaimer: This is not meant to be preachy or to give the impression that I at all know anything about dieting or dating. I am a fan of alliteration - I don’t know why, I just love when there is a play on words that all start with the same letter and yes I realize that I’m a geek. But I digress.
The other day while I was writing in my food and activity journal I was thinking about the word dieting (and lately I've been thinking a lot about how long its been since I dated anyone seriously) and it occurred to me that dieting and dating are similar in a few ways. Then I laughed because dieting…dating there goes that alliteration I love. And I kept thinking about how the two are related and ever so similar.
So there you have it, that is where this “Special Edition Post” comes from. I’m sure this is no great revelation and that there are many people who have come to the following conclusions, but I thought I would share some of what I came up with. Mostly though, I am writing this because simply put, it just made me laugh.

&

So here we go in no particular order:

1) We diet so that we can feel and or look more attractive thus making it easier to date. But dating can be stressful and at times heartbreaking which usually ruins a diet. And (we've all done this) once we get into a relationship, we get comfortable and slowly stop doing the things we did for our “dating diet”. Then the “diet” goes out the window…It’s a vicious circle.

Mostly I included this picture because it is the vicious cycle of dieting and dating (Diet/Date, Famine Response, Fall Off, Feast Response, Repeat).

2) When dieting, we usually “go without” the bad stuff. But then we get that craving because its been so long and we end up gorging ourselves on the bad stuff. It’s the same with dating…go too long without and you jump feet first, eyes closed(even though you know you’re doing it) into something with the bad stuff. And by the way, this is goes for women AND men.

3) Dating the right person is like eating the right foods. You want it to be mostly good and healthy, but you can’t live on a sugar free, sodium free, fat free, low carbs, high protein diet for the rest of your life-its just not healthy. Your body needs a little sugar, a little sodium, some fat (and yes there are good fats in food), carbs and protein to function properly. Sometimes bad is good for you. Same with the “right” person - they can’t be totally perfect (you’re not so why should they be??). They have to have some bad qualities. It’s all about moderation and finding the right balance for your health (in both dieting and dating). I guess the keyword is…moderation in both dieting (which is really a horrible word because we say that we are “going on a diet” which implies temporary change in habits until we get to the desired outcome) and dating. A nice mixture of good and bad keeps us healthy and happy. And bad is not always well…bad for us.

4) In the beginning of a diet we are totally excited and committed to making it work…this time. The time before was just a trial run, a practice to figure out what doesn't work for you. Then after the first couple of weeks go by you realize that you actually have to work at dieting and weight loss, you have to make some long term lifestyle changes not just superficial ones, reality sets in and the glow of this “new you” that you’re going to become fades a bit (usually life gets in the way). Its kinda the same with relationships (and new cars)…its great and fun and shiny in the beginning. You’re getting to know each other, the sex is great ‘cause its with someone new, there’s new stories to hear, new restaurants to try and new friends to meet. Then after some time, the new wears off and you realize that you actually have to work at being in a relationship, you have to make some long term lifestyle changes not just superficial ones, reality sets in and the glow of the honeymoon period fades a bit.

Hope this made you laugh a little.

Week 1

Here is the update for this week...

I have started a food and activity journal to keep track of what I'm eating and what exercising/activity I do each day. So far its been easier than I thought it would be to keep track of everything. The "journal" is just a small notebook so its easy to take with me wherever I go. I haven't done a lot to change the food that I eat. Mostly right now I'm trying to have smaller meals more often (difficult when you teach and there's only small breaks in between classes). I need to get better about packing something and bringing it to school because there aren't a lot of healthy alternatives to purchase at school. Choices tend to be sweets and pastries-neither of which is good for someone changing their eating habits.

As for activity, this week has been a bit rough. By the time I get home from school I don't want to go back out in the very cold temperatures we've been having so I've just been doing strengthening workouts in my apartment. These workouts are great! They are 8 minute stretch, abs, arms, legs and buns videos from the 90s. The leader is decked out in his best spandex jumpsuit and he's completely over the top and my workout buddy Sarah and I spend most of the workout laughing at his wondrous cheesiness and our own inability to do the exercises well (especially the abs workout-we are pathetic!) But each time I do the videos they get a little easier. I usually feel it two days later, but its just a reminder that its working muscles that need to be worked.

My goal for this week is to actually get outside for some cardio. I know I need to start building that because its not great at all. I found a really great (free) podcast that a guy put together as part of the Couch to 5K that Cool Running has. The program is about conditioning yourself to be able to run (or most likely my case jog) a 5K after 9 weeks. The guy who created the podcast set it up in 9 separate podcasts one for each week. In each he prompts you when to shift from a walk to a jog/run. Each week the amount of time jogging/running is increased to help slowly condition the body. The first week has more walking with small 60 second sprints...the last week is logically a full jog/run for the whole 5K. I'm excited to get started. Sarah is going to do this with me, but since she is the more experienced runner I'm going to get started on it without her to get me closer to her level before she joins me.

So we'll see how this coming week goes!

The photographic evolution of Becca

This post is simply a few photographs of me since 2007 when the weight really started packing on to now.

I will begin by showing what is traditionally my favorite pose-I hide behind the person I am with in some kind of cute way so that my body is not showing! I am well versed in how to do this. These are both in 2009 (left-October / right-August)

2007

These pictures are from October/November when my friends took me to Disneyland for my 30th birthday. Most of the time I had to ride the amusement rides alone because there was not enough room for me and another. But it was still a great celebration!!

2008

Starting out the new year in England with friends January 2008

Camping trip on the coast of California with my closest friends May 2008

Disclaimer: No I'm not married-this was a theme party that my friend Josh and I put on in May 2008.

September 2008 another themed party. Finding a costume was tough because the theme was pimps and hoes. I was too big to comfortably go as a "ho" so I opted for a pimpette but even that was hard to find so I finally went with a plus size pimp costume and added accessories.

October 2008-wedding for a great friend. I was so glad I was able to wear a black dress for that event cause as you all know-its soooo slimming. The girl in the middle is the sister of the bride and my best friend who is getting married this year.

My graduation from Graduate School in December 2008

2009

February 2009 I participated in my second fire walk(the picture is me with one of the instructors). Phenomenal experience and part of the reason I finally accepted that I was leaving America and letting go of a sad and drawn out breakup.

St.Patrick's Day celebration March 2009

My going away party 2 days before leaving America June 2009

And now to my Peace Corps life: the following pictures are from my first summer in Moldova (June-August 2009)

First days in Moldova (June 2009)

A trip to a monastery (July 2009) where women have to wear scarves and skirts (to this point, I hated wearing skirts because I always felt even bigger in a skirt and didn't think I was feminine enough to wear a skirt or dress)

Picnic celebration July 2009 (Notice the pillow like quality of my breasts!)

Farewell lunch and celebration for host families (August 2009)

Activity day with some of the village kids August 2009

August 2009 helping my new host mom make tomato juice (by the way, my apron is a table cloth!)

October 2009 celebrations at my school (Halloween and my School Director's birthday)

Making Thanksgiving dinner for a big gathering of volunteers (November 2009)

2010

Starting the new year in Spain (January 2010)

Spent Easter in Vienna with friends (April 2010). This was the first flight that I didn't have to ask for a seat belt extension. What a wonderful feeling!!!

May 2010 at a BBQ with a friend and his host family

Helped with training new volunteers in June 2009. Dress code was business casual, but the summers here can get so hot that I have found I actually prefer skirts to pants (this alone speaks volumes about what a little weight loss can do to a person's perspective)

July 2010 Picnic with new volunteers

Trip to Odessa, Ukraine in August 2010. Lots of beach time and swimming in the Black Sea which meant bathing suit time. Not a fat girls favorite thing. But I realized after this trip that I was much more confident with myself because I allowed photographic evidence of me in a bathing suit and because of a late night/early morning swim we had in our underwear

Coasting on some new confidence from the summer, I have become more willing to wear dresses and skirts to work (September 2010 and October 2010)

I now am more willing to do silly poses not thinking about how fat I look in pictures (taken October 2010). Although, this does illustrate that I have gained a little back (layers of clothes during the cold winters do not help one appear slimmer though)

November 2010 helping with a presentation for some of the English Educators

Out with friends November 2010

New Year's celebrations back in America during my visit home December 2010