Maintenance

I’ve been a little scarce on the postings because things have been so busy! I was in New Orleans last week for work and it was wonderful. Great conference, good people and excellent location. I’ve always loved the French Quarter and its culture. Now it’s even cleaner and less congested than it used to be. Many people still have a false impression that the area is unsafe and devastated by Katrina. Yes, the 9th Ward is a mess and always will be, but the city has rebuilt and is cleaner and better than before. I was there 2 years ago, and was glad to see that the people have come back. A couple of years ago the area was dead – only a hand full of tourists on Bourbon St. at night, hotels were empty, trolleys were down, but the city’s coming back to life now. It may also be because it’s so close to Mardi Gras, but it’s defiantly more populated than before.
Well, flying to New Orleans with the HMR products ended up being a battle Iost. AA has tight restrictions around weight and luggage size now – so frustrating – so I took my two carryons and that was it – bag of clothes and my laptop along with a hand full of bars to snack on when hungry.
We had dinner out most nights, but it consisted of fish and veggies – very healthy and yummy! The thing that came back to haunt me was the drinks. The reception one night was open bar, the attorney’s bought dinner and drinks another – it was a rare experience, but it was nice. I walked a TON. I actually ended up walking around 2 hours each day – just to see the city and get my PA in. I loved it.
When I was there 2 years ago, I could not keep up, it hurt to walk, I was in pain and out of breath the whole trip– it was completely different this trip and I was amazed at how bad I was only a few months ago. This time, everyone around me was struggling to keep up with me – I walked for hours, no pain, never out of breath. I can’t express how exciting that is.
So, with work, needing to cut costs and upcoming law school I’ve decided to transition to 6 months of maintenance. I still have a lot to lose, but am excited to start adding veggies to my routine and feel this is the best move for me. Last night I had green beans with my entrée and then a baked potato. Today, I finished the green beans for lunch and am looking forward to a salad for dinner. I’m trying to get back into the routine of working out and worked 40 minutes on the elliptical last night – I was amazed that it went so easily.
I’ve been wanting to take up running again, but since I still have a large layer of skin that hangs low, no matter what I do, my body makes this embarrassing noise when I run because that skin flops around – so until that part of my body shrinks more, I’m sticking to the elliptical, swimming and stair machine…. Plus my volleyball twice a week is a great workout.