Rehydrating and Regrouping

I landed this morning at 6:30 and was at my desk at the university by 9. It was painful to say the least as I was already exhausted from the long last day in London and of course the flight. In any case, I survived. Plus it was wonderful walking into my office at home and seeing balloons and flowers from D, and my BFF who works with me also surprised me with a gorgeous bouquet of tulips. I'm so blessed.

I didn't post for the past few days coz' things were crazy busy in London. It was awesome catching up with old friends and shopping of course! I walked for hours and hours each day and felt good in terms of my stamina and comfort with walking around - didn't even give it a second thought. It just reminds me of how all the exercise and strength training has so many benefits, particularly when it comes to lugging around heavy shopping bags for hours not to mention carrying a 20 kg suitcase up and down flights of stairs at the train station with ease ... yes, with ease :)

I was quite good with my general exercise and food habits over the past week, but I really struggled with my water intake. I was drinking about 4 L of water a day here, but in London, I was lucky to get 2 L ... sometimes less. I was just on the go all the time; I'm paranoid about having to use a public restaurant, and it was so cold!! Anyway. I'm trying to make up for it now, but I know my body suffered.

Today is all about rehydrating and regrouping. I've unpacked but I still need to put a few things away and of course do laundry. I also need to come up with a new exercise routine for the next 17 days, after which I'll be traveling again for just under 2 weeks.

It's the perfect time to also do my Ready for Summer challenge update - I'm a bit late this week, and of course I'm behind on commenting on all your blogs. I do apologize. I'll catch up soon, I promise!

Week 7 Progress and Week 8 Plans

1. Weight loss goal: To lose 10 lbs by May 8 (loss since the challenge began = 7.84 lbs)
I forgot to mention that when I weighed myself on May 8th, I had lost another pound. So, I didn't quite hit the 10 lb mark, but I did make it to 8.84. It's not too horrible. I weighed in this morning (had to check even though I know I was all bloated from traveling and had just eaten breakfast) and the scale showed that I had lost another 1/2 lb. I'm always hoping to at least maintain when I travel, so I was really happy to see that I actually managed to lose some weight, even though it was very little. It makes me feel good that I did not deprive myself of anything in terms of food, but I made sensible choices and watched my portions (though I didn't watch these very carefully). I had some chocolate each day that I was on vacation, but imagine something like a 2-finger Kit Kat bar, not a whole tub of ice cream or anything like that. It definitely made me feel a bit more confident in terms of being able to control my eating habits and that I can modify what/how much I eat without being too paranoid about calories etc. It was definitely comforting.

Week 8 plan:
Although I am weighing in weekly, I'm not setting a weekly weigh in goal. Now, my next goal is to lose a total of 15 lbs by June 3rd. I don't know how reasonable it is about 6 pounds in less than 3 weeks. I will try though. We'll see what happens! 


2. Non-scale goal: Pass my PhD defense
I did it!!! It gave me great pleasure to introduce myself as Dr. PlumPetals on Saturday :) It was a HUGE non-scale goal for me ... in fact I think it's one of the most significant things I've ever done in my life. 


I'd also like to add this week's 'Post to Myself' as an NSV. I have had such trouble being positive. It takes a lot of energy to find the good in what I've done ... in any area of  my life. That sounds like such a depressing thing to say, but it's true. I wrote this post back in August 2011. It was so difficult to even 'fake' writing something positive and cheerful. It's not that I don't notice the good around me, I do. I guess I have just found it difficult to find the good in me. Anyway. As I wrote in my post on Saturday, I would not have even been able to write this post a few weeks ago. Feeling that confidence and determination was good for me. I just need to hold on to it and keep it as a reminder that struggles do not equal failures. 

Week 8 plan:
Finish grading the last set of essays for the semester (thank goodness!)
Organize my bookshelf in my home office
Catch up on blog post comments

3. Exercise: Walk as much as possible; workout at least twice in Canterbury/London
I worked out at the gym 3 times during my stay in Canterbury and did a ton of walking for the 3 days that I was in London. 

Week 8 plan:
Finalize my workout schedule for the next 17 days.
Try to get in at least 4 hours at the gym before next Sunday's weekly check in

4. Nutrition goal: Make healthy choices/keep water at a good level
I tried to make healthy choices while I was away and at the same time, I did eat whatever/whenever I wanted. It was actually quite a pleasant surprise to see that I wasn't craving anything - fries, crisps, soda, etc. Nothing was a craving so I felt quite relieved. The main thing I struggled with, as I mentioned before, was water.

Week 8 plan:
This week will be tricky because there are a number of celebration lunes/dinners so I have to make sure that I continue to control what and how much I eat. 
Get my water intake back on track
Plan the menu for the week and stick to it


So that's it from me right now. Again, I do apologize for not commenting on recent blog posts. I'll catch up on that over the next few days (I hope).