It's Been Awhile

So I'm sure some of you have been clamoring for a new blog post of mine. Not that my life is super exciting. Nothing much is new lately. I'm still in New York but there's a light at the end of the tunnel to end my monotonous past 6 months. I'm leaving in about a week to go home to DC!! I will be in DC for about 2 weeks, and will then fly to Utah. I will be in Utah to visit Abby and Trent (even though they're coming to AK also) for a couple days and will then ride on the company buses to Seattle. Then it's only a short 3 hours flying to Skagway!! Woo-who!! 

I did have a bit of bad new today though. My friend Helen was going to come up after she found out she wasn't getting this internship she applied for. So I was all excited, but then she tells me today that she did get the internship after all, and will be doing that instead. Now don't get me wrong, I am super excited for her to have this opportunity (and it's in Germany!) but I was so disappointed to put it mildly. But then I remembered my other friend Amber who is coming up! I've known her for 8 years from middle school. A couple months ago out of the blue, she asked about Alaska and said she'd be interested in coming up this summer. So I sent her a bunch of links to jobs in Skagway and she was hired by one last week! So as much as I'll miss Helen, it'll be fun to hang with Amber (who I also haven't seen in a good 2-3 years).

So right now I'm just working on getting ready to go. I need to start a packing list of stuff to bring, which I think will mostly be clothing. I thought about bringing beauty/personal stuff, but figured I can get most everything in Skagway or have it shipped so why waste the luggage space? OH! And I got a matching rolling duffel bag that goes with this cute plaid duffel I got in AK last summer so now I have matching luggage!! I know that's super dorky, but it's cute and I don't have to tie some stupid ribbon on my suitcases cause they're so individual! 

So if you go back in my blog about a year, you might find a post on weight loss. Well needless to say I caved and quit the diet before I went to Alaska. Well since I've been in New York and have had nothing else to do, I started my own program in February and have since lost 15 pounds! I basically just count calories, nothing fancy. I use the WebMD website for help and reference and it's been going really well! I realized today that my conviction towards being healthy has been helped along by the fact that I don't do much besides babysitting my niece so all my energy goes into this diet. I've been exercising more, and feeling so much better. The only downfall (which is actually a good thing also) is that all my clothing has gotten to big and I've had to buy new stuff. And this leads me into my secret that...

I am going to allot some of my Alaska earnings and go on a shopping spree after I get home in the Fall!! I'm going to need new jeans, and all sorts of things. Plus I would like to buy a little bit of jewelry and want to get a couple things from Tiffanys. Yea I know, I'm splurging lol. My goal right now is to lose about 6-8 more pounds before I leave for AK, and then continue my goal once I get there. So cross your fingers for real this time! Cause I might need it!

This year in AK is going to be so much more fun I think. My friends and I have plans to go camping (among the bears and moose) and I want to go to Whitehorse more often. And my goal this year is to see those elusive Aurora!! Three of my friends are going to have cars, so I think we'll have to make trips up to Dawson City more often. That's where the lights are mostly seen. I really need to see them this year! I'm also toying with the idea to visit Juneau more often. At least go down once. It's a 3-hour ferry ride and they do whale watching there. That's also something I'd like to see one of these days.

So there you go. A basic summary of what's going on. I don't feel like sharing anymore, so go away. Thanks!

What goes wrong?

Sensitive issue....I've tried a lot of diets, well I guess more like I've attempted many times to diet. I've done Weight Watchers, Atkins, South Beach, and kind of a calorie counting thing. I did the best on WW. I lost 30 pounds when I did it in high school. I lost weight with Atkins too, but that whole no sugar thing? not MY thing. And of course just like 90% of people who go on a diet, I gained it all back and then some. So this time, I'm really trying to get 'er done! It's not like I want to have all this extra baggage around my middle. I guess I just like food, which has been a weakness. So here I am spilling my guts, so that hopefully this time I can go all the way!! Maybe I'll write updates every so often to keep myself exposed. But I would like to jot down some ideas I think might help me this time, that I've learned.



1. A lot of people don't diet for themselves. What I mean is that there's something else that's urging you to diet. It may be a friend or family member, in my case it's the "flavor of the month" aka my current crush, that I feel don't notice me because I'm a bit rotund. I've read and I believe it's true, that you have to diet for yourself and because YOU want to. My whole deal was that when I didn't see my crush anymore (moved away or had a different class schedule), or maybe he got a girlfriend, my diet-esteem went down the drain. I felt like, well if this person isn't even going to notice now, why bother? It seems silly, but to me (whose never had an official boyfriend) it was hard to deal with. That's why I've decided right now, to do this for myself. Because I want to be healthy, and strong.



2. Another thing that's helped me along is one simple question, "Would I rather have this cookie, or be thin?". Almost always the answer is, "yea I'd rather be thin" and I put the temptation out of my mind. Yes there were the occasional times when I'd be so down-in-the-dumps or rebellious that I'd tell myself I would rather have the cookie. Which isn't so bad, but then one cookie would turn into two, three, etc. I guess the focus here is that maybe it's ok to have one cookie, but to limit it to only one.



3. Along with that comes the whole, "Oh I totally fell off the band wagon, I've failed my diet forever!". Believe me, I've totally thought this! It's a horrible feeling, and when it happens I usually binge more, doing more damage. As hard as it is for me, it's better to say, "ok so I had more than I should, but tomorrow will be better." I think one big key to dieting is to be optimistic! It's hard not to beat yourself up, but realize that everyone makes mistakes and it's ok.



And while I am not a perfect result of these tips, I've come to see that these are ones that do help! One thing that's hard to face is that the times I started a diet and then thought to myself "ugh, I really don't want to have to do this for 6 months. It's such a long time!", a year later I think, if I had stayed on the diet I would have lost the weight and it would be over and I would be happy. So I don't mean to turn this into a weight loss chronicle, but I'm putting myself out there so I can finally lose weight!!