Hey All,
I just wanted to post what I ate today and make a little announcement then I'm headed to bed.
First off-- I STARTED A NEW BLOG TODAY! Well, tomorrow is the official start. But, whatever... I set it up today. Check it out please.
And now for what I ate today...
Yogurt 2 points
Apple 1 point
Whole wheat wrap and turkey 3 points
Strawberries and blueberries 3 points
Pudding 1 point
Carrot sticks 2 points
Lean cuisine quesadilla 4 points
Blue moon beer 4 points
Popsicle 1 point
TOTAL 21 points
Also, I want to thank Molly for telling me about a yogurt that is 1 point. I usually eat Dannon Light n Fit (my favorites are white chocolate raspberry and lemon chiffon) which is 1 point but sometimes I like another kind. I forget the name but I like the key lime pie flavor, which is 2 points. If anybody else sees any mistakes in my points calculations or has any advice-- PLEASE let me know. I really appreciate that! Thanks!!
Thursday, July 31, 2008
YES! and NO!
NO!:
So I just realized something as a follow up to the post I wrote earlier about the Wrigley's boycott because of their secret song sponsoring of Chris Brown's "Forever".
I said I would participate in the boycott because I don't chew stupid gum choices like Juicy Fruit or Doublemint and that I chew Orbit. Well, stupid me, WRIGLEY'S OWNS ORBIT. Damn conglomerates who own everything. And yes, I'm aware I work for one of those conglomerates.
YES!:
I lost 5 lbs this week!! I was feeling very anxious when I went into the gym this morning to work out/have my first self-inflicted weekly weigh-in, however, it felt AMAZING as I kept sliding that little dial over until it said XX3.5! I'm totally motivated for the next week now! Principessa and I have been encouraging and checking up on each other via e-mail and phone and as I explained to her, I really need the validation of seeing the numbers on the scale go down to stay motivated. Yes, I feel better, and yes, it is nice to know that I am doing something that will not only make me LOOK better but will also improve my health, energy levels, and overall life by just eating healthy and working out. But I really, really need to be able to evaluate myself with hard data and facts and have something to show. And sliding that dial over, totally made this past week's efforts worth and now I'm ready for the next week.
And, just for the record. I know that every week I won't have results like that and that it was my FIRST week so there is water weight and whatnot to factor in, but I was able to lost 5 lbs and still go out and go out to eat with friends. Yesterday I met friends for lunch and we went to a little Italian deli. I got a sandwich on a delicious ciabatta bread with turkey and pesto and it was legit AMAZING.
I love knowing that I can still eat delicious food but that I just need to be smart about what I'm eating and I can still lose weight.
However, this is what I resisted:
yummmmmmmm, it sure looks good but I couldn't be happier that I didn't eat it.
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Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Campaign for Companions: UPDATE
Recent happenings and feelings of mine have given me the kick in the butt to really get going on my networking and "putting myself out there" in this thriving metropolis that is the New York State Capital District. I had a rather successful weekend as I reached out and then spent Friday evening out to dinner and hanging out with work friends for the first time.
That continued through to this week as I had made plans to have lunch on Monday with a co-worker in the cafeteria. This co-worker, I thought was around my age. He started the same day as me and identified himself as an intern. However, turns out he is interning as he finishes up his 5-year PhD program which he started after taking a some years off after finishing his undergraduate degree in India. Although I doubt he'll want to come out to celebrate my 22nd birthday next month, I did have a good time with him at lunch and it was nice to eat WITH someone as opposed to alone at my desk.
Tuesday was an even better networking day for me. I actually had three different events lined up for myself to "meet people" and one turned out to be a great sucess (insert Borat impression here)! The day was a challenge for me on another level because every event I went to had free food attached. Free things = my favorite things. Food = the love of my life. Free food = my ultimate weakness. My first event was a lunchtime intern learning session which turned out to be really unsuccessful in me meeting people as well as in me learning anything. However, I didn't eat any of the free food (although I did take 2 bottles of Diet Pepsi)! So that was a success.
After work from 5:30-7:00 p.m. there was a Chamber of Commerce Women in Business Council meeting. Yeah, sounds corny, right? Well, it was called a "Membertini" which means it is a thumbs up for me since it has an alcohol reference in its name. And it was for non-members to come and experience what they do and learn about the Women in Business Council. I'm all about being a grown up now and was thinking, "Hell yeah I'm a woman in business-- I'm down!" So after work I show up to this thing, I sign in and get this big folder of information and a free drink ticket (cha-ching!). I was told to put on a nametag with "My name and business name on it" which I thought it was a little weird to write down where I worked, but whatever, I did it.
There are tons of ladies all over mingling and some that look relatively young. I just sort of stood around for a little until they divided us into smaller groups based on a number that was attached to our folders. I was in a group of about 8, everybody was old ladies, and as soon as we sit down everyone starts passing around business cards. Yup-- don't have those. So I just didn't.
Then the leader of our group starts us off and tells us to go around the circle and introduce ourselves and tell everyone about our businesses. I'm excited because usually grown ups are impressed that I have a job at a top company right out of college. The first lady starts to talk. She introduces herself and starts to describe the business she owns where she goes around to different companies and consults them on how to retain their employees. She owns her own business... cool. The next lady talks about how she has her own business making her own jewelry. Another who owns her own business... cool. The next lady talks about her own business selling real estate. Umm... another?.... cool. The next lady talks about how she owns her own limo company. What? Fuck.
APPARENTLY, the Women in Business Council is for women who OWN their own businesses, not just any woman in business. Needless to say I looked like a gaint douche bag when it came around to me and I introduced myself then told them that I work for not just any company, but one of the largest, most well known, and most international companies in the world which CLEARLY I don't own. Good one Katie.
So that was an interesting event. After that experience, I headed over to another networking event that was run by my company's Young Leaders group in the area. Now, THAT, was a great experience. I met a lot of cool people who just relocated to the area as well, don't know too many people, are just out of college, and like to go out/have fun (cha-ching! cha-ching!).
Overall the day was a success... and I was proud of myself because I didn't eat any of the free food or have any unneccesary calories at all. I've been doing so well that it is actually making me really really nervous to weigh myself tomorrow because I know that I can't try any harder than I have been trying this week and if the scale hasn't moved at all, I am going to be SO discouraged and I don't know if I will be able to keep this up. But we'll see! Weigh in is tomorrow morning... eek!
That continued through to this week as I had made plans to have lunch on Monday with a co-worker in the cafeteria. This co-worker, I thought was around my age. He started the same day as me and identified himself as an intern. However, turns out he is interning as he finishes up his 5-year PhD program which he started after taking a some years off after finishing his undergraduate degree in India. Although I doubt he'll want to come out to celebrate my 22nd birthday next month, I did have a good time with him at lunch and it was nice to eat WITH someone as opposed to alone at my desk.
Tuesday was an even better networking day for me. I actually had three different events lined up for myself to "meet people" and one turned out to be a great sucess (insert Borat impression here)! The day was a challenge for me on another level because every event I went to had free food attached. Free things = my favorite things. Food = the love of my life. Free food = my ultimate weakness. My first event was a lunchtime intern learning session which turned out to be really unsuccessful in me meeting people as well as in me learning anything. However, I didn't eat any of the free food (although I did take 2 bottles of Diet Pepsi)! So that was a success.
After work from 5:30-7:00 p.m. there was a Chamber of Commerce Women in Business Council meeting. Yeah, sounds corny, right? Well, it was called a "Membertini" which means it is a thumbs up for me since it has an alcohol reference in its name. And it was for non-members to come and experience what they do and learn about the Women in Business Council. I'm all about being a grown up now and was thinking, "Hell yeah I'm a woman in business-- I'm down!" So after work I show up to this thing, I sign in and get this big folder of information and a free drink ticket (cha-ching!). I was told to put on a nametag with "My name and business name on it" which I thought it was a little weird to write down where I worked, but whatever, I did it.
There are tons of ladies all over mingling and some that look relatively young. I just sort of stood around for a little until they divided us into smaller groups based on a number that was attached to our folders. I was in a group of about 8, everybody was old ladies, and as soon as we sit down everyone starts passing around business cards. Yup-- don't have those. So I just didn't.
Then the leader of our group starts us off and tells us to go around the circle and introduce ourselves and tell everyone about our businesses. I'm excited because usually grown ups are impressed that I have a job at a top company right out of college. The first lady starts to talk. She introduces herself and starts to describe the business she owns where she goes around to different companies and consults them on how to retain their employees. She owns her own business... cool. The next lady talks about how she has her own business making her own jewelry. Another who owns her own business... cool. The next lady talks about her own business selling real estate. Umm... another?.... cool. The next lady talks about how she owns her own limo company. What? Fuck.
APPARENTLY, the Women in Business Council is for women who OWN their own businesses, not just any woman in business. Needless to say I looked like a gaint douche bag when it came around to me and I introduced myself then told them that I work for not just any company, but one of the largest, most well known, and most international companies in the world which CLEARLY I don't own. Good one Katie.
So that was an interesting event. After that experience, I headed over to another networking event that was run by my company's Young Leaders group in the area. Now, THAT, was a great experience. I met a lot of cool people who just relocated to the area as well, don't know too many people, are just out of college, and like to go out/have fun (cha-ching! cha-ching!).
Overall the day was a success... and I was proud of myself because I didn't eat any of the free food or have any unneccesary calories at all. I've been doing so well that it is actually making me really really nervous to weigh myself tomorrow because I know that I can't try any harder than I have been trying this week and if the scale hasn't moved at all, I am going to be SO discouraged and I don't know if I will be able to keep this up. But we'll see! Weigh in is tomorrow morning... eek!
Monday, July 28, 2008
Food Diaries
Today's menu (and the menu for most of the week) consisted of:
- apple 1 point
- strawberries and blueberries 3 points
- whole wheat wrap with turkey 5 points
- yogurt 1 point
- carrots 2 points
- 2 rice cakes 2 points
- pudding 1 point
- 2 oz. pasta 4 points
- meat sauce 4 points
TOTAL: 23 points
I also biked for an hour today at the gym. Every 5 minutes I switched the level that I was biking at and varied between easy, medium, and really hard. I already have my food made for tomorrow except for dinner i'm going to have chicken that I have marinating in Italian dressing with steamed brocolli (I still don't know how to spell that).
Yum yum-- see you then!
--
- apple 1 point
- strawberries and blueberries 3 points
- whole wheat wrap with turkey 5 points
- yogurt 1 point
- carrots 2 points
- 2 rice cakes 2 points
- pudding 1 point
- 2 oz. pasta 4 points
- meat sauce 4 points
TOTAL: 23 points
I also biked for an hour today at the gym. Every 5 minutes I switched the level that I was biking at and varied between easy, medium, and really hard. I already have my food made for tomorrow except for dinner i'm going to have chicken that I have marinating in Italian dressing with steamed brocolli (I still don't know how to spell that).
Yum yum-- see you then!
--
Oh hell no!
This is totally fucked up and I totally saw it coming. For those of you who have listened to Chris Brown's new song "Forever" and not realized that it was basically the old Doublemint jingle, shame on you. Even though the song is catchy, I've been changing the radio station every time that "Forever" is played (which is a lot) just because it annoys me because it was basically an old jingle and I felt like I was being advertised to.Well, turns out, the song is an advertisement, as the idea for the song, the studio time to produce it, and the air time was all sponsored by Wrigley's gum-- IN SECRET. Now that the song is a hit, they are making an announcement about the affiliation in a press conference tomorrow. My information comes via Gawker and they're pretty pissed off about it and calling for a boycott of Wrigley's.
Now I have to admit that the PR side of sees why Wrigley would make such a move... they CAN'T be doing too well, because honestly-- who buys Doublemint or Juicy Fruit anymore? I'm an Orbit girl myself (so yeah, Gawker, I'll be participating in the boycott because I never buy that gum anyways). They had to do something big to get themselves more attention and I don't think their old commercials featuring tons of twins all dressed up in matching outfits and running through fields or whatever would have done the trick. It was a bold move but it is also scary as hell to think that this is the direction that more companies could take.
I think that the worst part is that it was done in secret. I remember a little while back when blogs were talking about how Fergie made that deal to sing about Candie's shoes. Although it turns out that situation wasn't even true (I don't think?), everyone was abuzz. The site Fafarazzi said, "It looks like Don McLean was talking out of his ass when he first sang about 'the day the music died,' because it didn't actually die in 1959. The music died last week, when Fergie finished it off by stuffing fistfuls of advertising dollars down its throat and sitting on its face until it stopped twitching." As lame as that whole situation would have been, at least they'd have been clean about the deal. I can't even wait to hear the backlash that comes out of this one.
Oh and the other thing? People were BRUTAL about Fergie when her rumored Candie's deal was going around. And I mean, BRUTAL. What is going to happen to Chris Brown? I think that at this point his credibility as a musician is beyond Fergie's so how are people going to react to his ridiculous sell out? I have to admit I'm disappointed. I don't like the direction that the music industry has been taking lately. I don't like it one bit.
P.S. I just realized in my last post I included that clip from The Bucket List and I was thinking about how John Mayer wrote the song "Say" for the movie. The song wasn't featured in the movie and was solely a promotional partnership between the two. Anybody have any opinions on the differences between John Mayer writing a song to promote the movie The Bucket List (and that is different that writing a movie for a score, because the song NEVER was featured in the movie) and Chris Brown writing a song to promote Wrigley's gum? Somehow they feel different, but I'm not sure why.
P.P.S. I just figured out one good difference. The Chris Brown/Wrigley's thing was a SECRET. But there is still more... any help out there with this one?
--
Newly Obsessed? I think so.
Okay so this blog I found last night:
www.newlycorporate.com
It is making me hard to get things done today because it basically has a ton of advice and articles and posts on EVERYTHING that I've been struggling with lately, things I've been talking about with friends, things I care about, and things that I've never even thought of before. If you go through the backlogs of posts you'll find information about...
- How to dress for work
- When to write thank you notes
- How to succeed in a rotational program
- What to do in your first 100 days of work
- How to make friends in a new city
- Top books to read for new professionals
- How sorority life helps in the real world
and so much more. Seriously. Check this blog out. I'm in love.
--
www.newlycorporate.com
It is making me hard to get things done today because it basically has a ton of advice and articles and posts on EVERYTHING that I've been struggling with lately, things I've been talking about with friends, things I care about, and things that I've never even thought of before. If you go through the backlogs of posts you'll find information about...
- How to dress for work
- When to write thank you notes
- How to succeed in a rotational program
- What to do in your first 100 days of work
- How to make friends in a new city
- Top books to read for new professionals
- How sorority life helps in the real world
and so much more. Seriously. Check this blog out. I'm in love.
--
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Friday, July 25, 2008
I'll take your pennies too!
When people have really great PR campaigns I'm always jealous I didn't think of it. I don't even work for OfficeMax and didn't even know they were selling things for 1 cent, but either way: this is awesome. OfficeMax has had some badass PR/marketing campaigns recently... I wonder how that has translated to sales? Last winter they had the Elf Yourself campaign which I've actually mentioned on this blog before and now they have this series of videos on YouTube (I watched them all):
--
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Thursday, July 24, 2008
If you don't care, don't read this entry.
So, for those of you rooting for me and hoping that I actually get my act in gear, I am going to blog about my progress. It helps me to know that I am publishing what I eat and what I exercise to the Web so that somebody somewhere is checking up on me (I hope...? Anybody out there?). Last night when I got home from work I cooked a meal for 2 and split it in 1/2 and I am going to eat the other 1/2 for dinner tonight.
I tried to recreate a meal that my host mom in Italy used to cook for us. It was LMurph and I's favorite... little hat shaped pastas in a brocolli sauce. Literally it was like blended brocolli or something smothering all the pasta. It was very smooth though and it was delicious. I miss it. What I cooked didn't taste quite like it (at all) but my meal was still delicious... and I figured it to be about 7 points!
Ingredients:
- lots of brocolli (o pts)
- 1 tblsp. extra virgin olive oil (4 pts)
- salt and pepper (0 points)
- italian seasoning (0 points)
- dried basil (0 points)
- 4 oz. (dry) pasta (8 points)
- lots of fresh garlic (0 points)
- sprinkle of parmesean (2 points)
TOTAL: 14 points for 2 meals = 7 points a serving!
I steamed the brocolli, then finely finely chopped it. In a frying pan I added the oil and garlic and cooked the garlic (careful not to burn or else it will taste bitter) for a few minutes. When it was done, I added the brocolli, seasonings, and parmesean cheese. I measured out and cooked my pasta, then drained it and tossed everything together in the frying pan.
And, if anybody cares... the pasta I used was one of those mixed packages of spinach pasta, tomato pasta, etc. or whatever they put in it to make it all different colors. I don't notice a difference in taste and the nutritional ingredients are about the same but it just looks more fun to eat a lot of different colors!
My food yesterday was topped off with a sugar free popsicle (1 point) and in full disclosure I ate some of these red and white striped peppermints that I brought back from NH. I still have 1/2 a bag left and they are so delicious so there is no way I am letting them go to waste (do you expect anything less from the girl who ate 2 bags full of candy 2 summers ago in the middle of a terrible thunderstorm because she thought there was a possibility she'd die and the candy would go to waste). So yeah, I will be finishing off that bag of mints in the next few days, but I don't think that will terribly ruin what I'm doing? I figure this to be a form of easing myself off sweets instead of going cold turkey?
Today's food so far has been pretty much the same as yesterday:
- Ravioli Florentine SmartOnes 5 points
- Banana 2 points
- Yogurt 2 points
- Iced coffee with skim milk 2 points
For later...
- 2 rice cakes 2 points
- Carrots and green beans 2 points
- Dinner from last night 7 points
ANTICIPATED TOTAL: 22 points
For those of you still reading, I also went to the gym this morning and I decided that Thursday mornings are going to be my weigh in mornings. I am not telling you the first two numbers but this morning, as my "start" weight I weighed
xx8.5 lbs.
--
I tried to recreate a meal that my host mom in Italy used to cook for us. It was LMurph and I's favorite... little hat shaped pastas in a brocolli sauce. Literally it was like blended brocolli or something smothering all the pasta. It was very smooth though and it was delicious. I miss it. What I cooked didn't taste quite like it (at all) but my meal was still delicious... and I figured it to be about 7 points!
Ingredients:
- lots of brocolli (o pts)
- 1 tblsp. extra virgin olive oil (4 pts)
- salt and pepper (0 points)
- italian seasoning (0 points)
- dried basil (0 points)
- 4 oz. (dry) pasta (8 points)
- lots of fresh garlic (0 points)
- sprinkle of parmesean (2 points)
TOTAL: 14 points for 2 meals = 7 points a serving!
I steamed the brocolli, then finely finely chopped it. In a frying pan I added the oil and garlic and cooked the garlic (careful not to burn or else it will taste bitter) for a few minutes. When it was done, I added the brocolli, seasonings, and parmesean cheese. I measured out and cooked my pasta, then drained it and tossed everything together in the frying pan.
And, if anybody cares... the pasta I used was one of those mixed packages of spinach pasta, tomato pasta, etc. or whatever they put in it to make it all different colors. I don't notice a difference in taste and the nutritional ingredients are about the same but it just looks more fun to eat a lot of different colors!
My food yesterday was topped off with a sugar free popsicle (1 point) and in full disclosure I ate some of these red and white striped peppermints that I brought back from NH. I still have 1/2 a bag left and they are so delicious so there is no way I am letting them go to waste (do you expect anything less from the girl who ate 2 bags full of candy 2 summers ago in the middle of a terrible thunderstorm because she thought there was a possibility she'd die and the candy would go to waste). So yeah, I will be finishing off that bag of mints in the next few days, but I don't think that will terribly ruin what I'm doing? I figure this to be a form of easing myself off sweets instead of going cold turkey?
Today's food so far has been pretty much the same as yesterday:
- Ravioli Florentine SmartOnes 5 points
- Banana 2 points
- Yogurt 2 points
- Iced coffee with skim milk 2 points
For later...
- 2 rice cakes 2 points
- Carrots and green beans 2 points
- Dinner from last night 7 points
ANTICIPATED TOTAL: 22 points
For those of you still reading, I also went to the gym this morning and I decided that Thursday mornings are going to be my weigh in mornings. I am not telling you the first two numbers but this morning, as my "start" weight I weighed
xx8.5 lbs.
--
Q-of-the-Day: Are you a spontaneous hugger?
In my creed that I wrote earlier, I touched upon how much I believe in the power of touch (I don't know if that would be called a pun or not but the double use of the word touch was intended). And lately I've been missing a lot of touch. When I get comfortable and intimate with people, I like to be able to feel them close to me. I don't mean that in a romantic or sexual way at all. I feel that way about close friends... both male and female, my mom, little kids I am close with, etc. No, I'm not some Michael Jackson type and am not making an excuse for behavior like that but I just feel that there is nothing more therapeutic than a hug and there is nothing that I want more than to just sit and cuddle sometimes and be close to someone and feel their touch.
I don't know if I'm just digging myself deeper and deeper here or if people understand what I'm saying, but I'm going to keep going. When I lived in Florence, my "sorellina" (aka my "little sister" or the 6 year old daughter of the family I was staying with for 4 months) and I were really close. I spent as much time with her as possible and loved her like a real sister. We used to watch movies together, play dominoes or as she called it "matching game", color, sing songs, and play with each others hair, etc. I miss the feel of her little fingers trying to gather my hair together to put in a ponytail. I miss her taking my hand to lead me to the kitchen or the playroom. I miss her cuddling next to me on my bed as we watched Finding Nemo on my laptop.
More recently, this past year my bed (or really anybody's bed) was often a popular hangout for our apartment. I miss cuddling with Kimber in the mornings and I miss squeezing Masty M.D. and a ton of people onto my bed and watching YouTube videos. The list could go on and on... not with bed activities really... but just with the ways that I've felt connected with people through touch that I now have felt void of for a little while.
I think touch is really powerful. I've read articles about premature babies gaining strength and getting healthy faster when they are cuddled and held more. I totally believe that. I have a few friends that don't like hugging and get uncomfortable by cuddling and being close with people. We joke with them and say that they weren't hugged enough as a child. I wonder if thats true? This is something I want to learn more about because I am a true believer in the power of touch but I want to find if there is truth or fact behind it. If anybody knows of any books or articles on this topic-- let me know. But for the meantime, my Q-of-the-Day...
Are you a spontaneous hugger?
i.e. If one of your friends were to randomly hug you/cuddle up next to you... how would you react? Do you like that interaction? Do you do it to others?
My answer: Yes, yes, and more yes.
I don't know if I'm just digging myself deeper and deeper here or if people understand what I'm saying, but I'm going to keep going. When I lived in Florence, my "sorellina" (aka my "little sister" or the 6 year old daughter of the family I was staying with for 4 months) and I were really close. I spent as much time with her as possible and loved her like a real sister. We used to watch movies together, play dominoes or as she called it "matching game", color, sing songs, and play with each others hair, etc. I miss the feel of her little fingers trying to gather my hair together to put in a ponytail. I miss her taking my hand to lead me to the kitchen or the playroom. I miss her cuddling next to me on my bed as we watched Finding Nemo on my laptop.
More recently, this past year my bed (or really anybody's bed) was often a popular hangout for our apartment. I miss cuddling with Kimber in the mornings and I miss squeezing Masty M.D. and a ton of people onto my bed and watching YouTube videos. The list could go on and on... not with bed activities really... but just with the ways that I've felt connected with people through touch that I now have felt void of for a little while.
I think touch is really powerful. I've read articles about premature babies gaining strength and getting healthy faster when they are cuddled and held more. I totally believe that. I have a few friends that don't like hugging and get uncomfortable by cuddling and being close with people. We joke with them and say that they weren't hugged enough as a child. I wonder if thats true? This is something I want to learn more about because I am a true believer in the power of touch but I want to find if there is truth or fact behind it. If anybody knows of any books or articles on this topic-- let me know. But for the meantime, my Q-of-the-Day...
Are you a spontaneous hugger?
i.e. If one of your friends were to randomly hug you/cuddle up next to you... how would you react? Do you like that interaction? Do you do it to others?
My answer: Yes, yes, and more yes.
--
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
This is it!
Recent events have made me decide that this is the time to kick my butt in gear. Every once in a while I get motivated like this and make the decision that "this is it." So, who knows how long it will last this time (I'm being honest here). But for real, I am always whining about the things that I don't like it my life and the truth of the matter is, everything is completely up to me to change. I don't like my weight? Eat less and work out more. I don't like not having a large social network? Stop repeating the same patterns I have been and put myself out there. I don't like being tired all the time? Go to bed earlier. I don't like my car? Start putting aside money, start researching, and get a new one. I don't like feeling silly after being drunk? Drink less. I don't like feeling like I suck at work? Stop wasting time while I'm there (oops) and start kicking ass.
All of the things I don't like, I HAVE THE POWER TO CHANGE. And I'm extremely lucky and extremely blessed in that sense. So it is time to get myself into power mode and kick my own butt into shape.
This morning I woke up at 5:00 a.m. (okay... I hit snooze 1 or 2 times) and got to the gym for a 5:45 a.m. work out before I even went to my real job. I did a "Cardio Bar" class that switches up different types of cardio each class. Today was kickboxing and it was tough! However, I pushed myself through it as best I could and then showered and cleaned up at the gym. Since I was at the gym so early, I also got into work early... so yeah, I'm wasting a little time right now, but I was also in 45 minutes earlier than I usually make it! And as for food for the day... I brought a Dannon Light n Fit Yogurt and a banana for breakfast. A Lean Cuisine meal for lunch, and some green beans and rice cakes as a snack. When I want to shape up, I resort back to what I've learned through Weight Watchers and count my points. So the way that I figure (and correct me if anybody knows better):
Yogurt: 2 points
Banana: 2 points
Green beans: 0 points
Iced coffee w. skim milk: 2 points
2 Rice cakes: 2 points
Lean Cuisine: 7 points
TOTAL: 15 points
That then leaves me a good amount for dinner. Routine works well for me, so yesterday I went to the grocery store (after doing a "High/Low" aerobics class at the gym) and bought enough of these foods to eat the same thing every day for the rest of this week (except I also plan to add carrots as a snack). I highly doubt any of you care about what I eat every day but maybe publishing it to the internet will me to stay on track.
Alright, I'm going to work on fixing the part about feeling like I suck at work and get going with something productive.
For your listening/viewing pleasure, I will leave you with the song that is currently stuck in my head and may very well be my anthem for my new attempt to kick my butt in gear... or shall I say, spice up my life?
All of the things I don't like, I HAVE THE POWER TO CHANGE. And I'm extremely lucky and extremely blessed in that sense. So it is time to get myself into power mode and kick my own butt into shape.
This morning I woke up at 5:00 a.m. (okay... I hit snooze 1 or 2 times) and got to the gym for a 5:45 a.m. work out before I even went to my real job. I did a "Cardio Bar" class that switches up different types of cardio each class. Today was kickboxing and it was tough! However, I pushed myself through it as best I could and then showered and cleaned up at the gym. Since I was at the gym so early, I also got into work early... so yeah, I'm wasting a little time right now, but I was also in 45 minutes earlier than I usually make it! And as for food for the day... I brought a Dannon Light n Fit Yogurt and a banana for breakfast. A Lean Cuisine meal for lunch, and some green beans and rice cakes as a snack. When I want to shape up, I resort back to what I've learned through Weight Watchers and count my points. So the way that I figure (and correct me if anybody knows better):
Yogurt: 2 points
Banana: 2 points
Green beans: 0 points
Iced coffee w. skim milk: 2 points
2 Rice cakes: 2 points
Lean Cuisine: 7 points
TOTAL: 15 points
That then leaves me a good amount for dinner. Routine works well for me, so yesterday I went to the grocery store (after doing a "High/Low" aerobics class at the gym) and bought enough of these foods to eat the same thing every day for the rest of this week (except I also plan to add carrots as a snack). I highly doubt any of you care about what I eat every day but maybe publishing it to the internet will me to stay on track.
Alright, I'm going to work on fixing the part about feeling like I suck at work and get going with something productive.
For your listening/viewing pleasure, I will leave you with the song that is currently stuck in my head and may very well be my anthem for my new attempt to kick my butt in gear... or shall I say, spice up my life?
--
Friday, July 18, 2008
Blog Links
I just realized that the list of links to blogs that I have on the side is way old. I've since found plenty of new amazing blogs that I'll have to share once I have time to live my life outside of working, sleeping, and eating.
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Is blogging on your lunch break universal?
Sometimes I think it is really interesting how certain things can be universal to everyone. I recently had a meeting with a leading scientist in the field of sensor detection and he began our get together by pulling an old Starbucks paper cup off of the back shelf of his top filing case. The cup had a quote printed on it by Dave Grusin that said "In my career I've found that 'thinking outside the box' works better if I know what's 'inside the box'. In music (as in life) we need to understand our pertinent history...and moving on is so much easier once we know where we've been." The scientist I was meeting with said that he always keeps this in mind when he is doing his work.
He is a pretty quirky fellow and really interesting to talk to. In the middle of a sentence, he would stop. Get up from his seat. Leave the room. And come back with something in his hands to show me, explain to me, and then we'd go on with the conversation. I can just picture him stopping to get a coffee one day from Starbucks with someone and probably being in the middle of a conversation when he suddenly realized there was a quote written on his cup that he really identified with. Having whatever conversation he was mid suddenly be gone from his head and stutter around in circles for a few moments and wanting to save the cup. I feel like someone else may have suggested he go ask for another one.
But anyways, Dave Grusin is a musician. An Academy Award winning musician! He has composed music, arranged, and played the piano for a number of classic movies… the ones that mean the most to me are Tootsie, The Graduate, The Firm, and who know this, but The Goonies! What struck me as amazing about this quote is that it was presented to me by an analytical chemist in a Chem/Bio Sensors Laboratory as his motto, yet it was written by a musician. Me? I'm not sure what I am but definititely not either of those, yet it resonates with me as well. And someone, somewhere in corporate Starbucks found it appealing as well and chose to print it on coffee cups that circulated perhaps around the world.
I wonder how you get a job like that? The coffee cup quote selector. I think I'd be good at that...
--
p.s. That is not my hand in the picture-- I just found that online somewhere.
--
He is a pretty quirky fellow and really interesting to talk to. In the middle of a sentence, he would stop. Get up from his seat. Leave the room. And come back with something in his hands to show me, explain to me, and then we'd go on with the conversation. I can just picture him stopping to get a coffee one day from Starbucks with someone and probably being in the middle of a conversation when he suddenly realized there was a quote written on his cup that he really identified with. Having whatever conversation he was mid suddenly be gone from his head and stutter around in circles for a few moments and wanting to save the cup. I feel like someone else may have suggested he go ask for another one.
But anyways, Dave Grusin is a musician. An Academy Award winning musician! He has composed music, arranged, and played the piano for a number of classic movies… the ones that mean the most to me are Tootsie, The Graduate, The Firm, and who know this, but The Goonies! What struck me as amazing about this quote is that it was presented to me by an analytical chemist in a Chem/Bio Sensors Laboratory as his motto, yet it was written by a musician. Me? I'm not sure what I am but definititely not either of those, yet it resonates with me as well. And someone, somewhere in corporate Starbucks found it appealing as well and chose to print it on coffee cups that circulated perhaps around the world.
I wonder how you get a job like that? The coffee cup quote selector. I think I'd be good at that...
--
p.s. That is not my hand in the picture-- I just found that online somewhere.
--
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Bad Blogger
I admit it. I've been a bad, bad blogger. I vow to be better. I've just been so physically and mentally exhausted lately. Work is blowing my mind. All of last week I was at my employer's premiere training facility which was really an incredible experience with incredible opportunities around it... however, it was also full of 18 hour days and spirit-crushing feedback from my superiors.
The plus side is that I met a lot of really incredible people who I can already tell are going to beome a network, a community, and a family for me throughout these next 2 years and further into my career. After only knowing them for a few days, I've already come to rely on them to cry to, to laugh with, to get drinks with, to seek help from, to get peptalks from, to give peptalks to, and basically just support each other completely and totally in this voyage from college life to working for a major corporation. A major corporation that is providing us with a great salary, health benefits, career advancement opportunities, global travel, training, leadership development, and support... but.... by being associated with this organization it is also asking us to conform, to fit the corporate mold, to ignore some of their questionable behavior, and basically I feel a little like a sell out sometimes. However, I think that the organization does great things in the world. I don't know if it is possible for a company of its size to be perfect. We don't ask individuals in life to be perfect, yet I want this from an employer? Maybe it is not possible.
And honestly, I'd rather be here than elsewhere. I am proud of where I work and proud of what they do. Unfortunately, I'm not proud of myself yet.... and I don't really know why.
The plus side is that I met a lot of really incredible people who I can already tell are going to beome a network, a community, and a family for me throughout these next 2 years and further into my career. After only knowing them for a few days, I've already come to rely on them to cry to, to laugh with, to get drinks with, to seek help from, to get peptalks from, to give peptalks to, and basically just support each other completely and totally in this voyage from college life to working for a major corporation. A major corporation that is providing us with a great salary, health benefits, career advancement opportunities, global travel, training, leadership development, and support... but.... by being associated with this organization it is also asking us to conform, to fit the corporate mold, to ignore some of their questionable behavior, and basically I feel a little like a sell out sometimes. However, I think that the organization does great things in the world. I don't know if it is possible for a company of its size to be perfect. We don't ask individuals in life to be perfect, yet I want this from an employer? Maybe it is not possible.
And honestly, I'd rather be here than elsewhere. I am proud of where I work and proud of what they do. Unfortunately, I'm not proud of myself yet.... and I don't really know why.
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Greatest E-Mail Ever.
From: Matthys M.D. [mailto:youwishyouknew@gmail.com]
Sent: Tuesday, July 01, 2008 6:43 AM
To: Katie B.
Subject: Re: I'm going home!
So freshman year me and Brian used to have this funny saying when we were feeling kinda shitty: "When you think things are bad, just look on the other side of the room." It worked with everything from crappy homework to a messy side of the room (which was almost always me), a majority of the time we could just look at what the other person was doing and go "well at least I dont have THAT going for me." It was a really fun way to spin both major and minor obstacles into something we could both laugh at. I bring this up for a couple of reasons. On friday I got really sad all of a sudden because I had just made dinner for myself (steak and japanese noodles) and declared aloud "Wow! This is the best steak I've ever made! This is the highlight of my day!" (it truly was, it was perfectly medium rare and it tasted superb). I then realized that while I was impresssed with how well the steak came out, my Friday nights back at school were almost always more exciting than a perfect steak. It was in that moment that I recognized how much I missed my friends and everything we did together. Since I was by myself, it really hung over my head.
When I'm sad/angry/upset/stressed I almost always turn to a playlist I have on my iPod called "acoustic" (it used to be called "miserable and loving it" but then I thought that was wayyyyy too emo lol). It really helps me feel better because they're all really sad songs. I always go through this sequence when I'm listening to it where I have my original feelings of shittiness, then I feel even worse during the middle of my playlist, but I eventually snap back and feel really good. Not gonna lie, I listened to that playlist a LOT this year (due to girl trouble, fighting with my parents, girl trouble, jealousy, stress about grad school, being rejected from grad school, frustration, stress, drama and of course girl trouble). I was just thinking earlier last week how I hadn't had to listen to that playlist in a long time... that is until Friday. I was listening to "acoustic" in the kitchen, and I kinda was just standing there feeling miserable, but then I was like "I'm over this, I'm tired of feeling sad." To make myself feel better I started thinking about how exciting it was going to be to make new friends in a new environment. While the moments I shared with the people are unique, it doesnt mean I won't be able to make similar memories with my future friends.
So I completely understand what you're going through, but at the same time I wouldn't be too worried about it. While you don't have many friends now, you have to realize you've basically only been there for a month and you've already made a few friends. Think of what it's gonna be like in a couple of months where you'll make way more friends. I think we kind of get spoiled by the whole college situation because as soon as we arrive we are immersed in a social setting where we are surrounded by dozens of strangers, some we will barely remember, some we will despise, and others we will have long lasting memories of. The workplace isn't really designed like that at all. There are already a bunch of people there who have established themselves as well as their relationships, and I doubt you're situation is like this but where I work, I am easily the youngest person in the office (there are 2 people who are in their early to mid 30s, and they're really good friends). Therefore I have very few people to interact with (there are only about 8 people in the office, one is my mom, the other is my supervisor, then a married couple who are the accountants, the 2 friends, and a marketing manager). While you've only made a handful of friends, you are still way ahead of me.
Also you have to realize that your friends may seem far away, but not really cause you're able to drive to them on the weekends and hang out. You obviously can't do this every weekend, but at least you know that they're only a few hours away. My closest friend is a 6 hour plane ride away, and my even better, closer friends (that I miss wayyyyyy more) are a 13 hour plane ride away. It also doesn't help that I can only talk to a couple of them because of the time difference and the fact that when I get home from work, everyones asleep. the one thing that keeps me going though is the fact that I am fully confident I will make friends wherever I go. I'm a really shy person when you first meet me (unless I'm with people I know) but eventually I loosen up and make friends. Ross, Marc, Kristina, Kim and Lisa all lived on our floor freshman year with me and Brian and I barely knew Brian after 2 weeks, which goes to show you what a month will do.
It's natural to be sad when you're thinking of all fun stuff we did (I saw pictures of when we went bowling, and that was honestly one of my funnest nights of college) cause honestly we were basically a family, at least thats how I saw it and my parents made the same observation. Almost everything I do reminds me of you guys which makes it even worse, and at the same time I love that we have made such strong connections that will surely last a lifetime.
So I hope this helps, it took a while to write (I had to stop in the middle of it cuz I got really itchy for like 10 straight minutes). So hang in there, don't fret about not making a bajillion friends in the first month because they'll surely come. Well I'm going to sleep and I'm sure you're just about to get to work. So just remember, when you think things are bad, just look on the other side of the room ;-)
Sent: Tuesday, July 01, 2008 6:43 AM
To: Katie B.
Subject: Re: I'm going home!
So freshman year me and Brian used to have this funny saying when we were feeling kinda shitty: "When you think things are bad, just look on the other side of the room." It worked with everything from crappy homework to a messy side of the room (which was almost always me), a majority of the time we could just look at what the other person was doing and go "well at least I dont have THAT going for me." It was a really fun way to spin both major and minor obstacles into something we could both laugh at. I bring this up for a couple of reasons. On friday I got really sad all of a sudden because I had just made dinner for myself (steak and japanese noodles) and declared aloud "Wow! This is the best steak I've ever made! This is the highlight of my day!" (it truly was, it was perfectly medium rare and it tasted superb). I then realized that while I was impresssed with how well the steak came out, my Friday nights back at school were almost always more exciting than a perfect steak. It was in that moment that I recognized how much I missed my friends and everything we did together. Since I was by myself, it really hung over my head.
When I'm sad/angry/upset/stressed I almost always turn to a playlist I have on my iPod called "acoustic" (it used to be called "miserable and loving it" but then I thought that was wayyyyy too emo lol). It really helps me feel better because they're all really sad songs. I always go through this sequence when I'm listening to it where I have my original feelings of shittiness, then I feel even worse during the middle of my playlist, but I eventually snap back and feel really good. Not gonna lie, I listened to that playlist a LOT this year (due to girl trouble, fighting with my parents, girl trouble, jealousy, stress about grad school, being rejected from grad school, frustration, stress, drama and of course girl trouble). I was just thinking earlier last week how I hadn't had to listen to that playlist in a long time... that is until Friday. I was listening to "acoustic" in the kitchen, and I kinda was just standing there feeling miserable, but then I was like "I'm over this, I'm tired of feeling sad." To make myself feel better I started thinking about how exciting it was going to be to make new friends in a new environment. While the moments I shared with the people are unique, it doesnt mean I won't be able to make similar memories with my future friends.
So I completely understand what you're going through, but at the same time I wouldn't be too worried about it. While you don't have many friends now, you have to realize you've basically only been there for a month and you've already made a few friends. Think of what it's gonna be like in a couple of months where you'll make way more friends. I think we kind of get spoiled by the whole college situation because as soon as we arrive we are immersed in a social setting where we are surrounded by dozens of strangers, some we will barely remember, some we will despise, and others we will have long lasting memories of. The workplace isn't really designed like that at all. There are already a bunch of people there who have established themselves as well as their relationships, and I doubt you're situation is like this but where I work, I am easily the youngest person in the office (there are 2 people who are in their early to mid 30s, and they're really good friends). Therefore I have very few people to interact with (there are only about 8 people in the office, one is my mom, the other is my supervisor, then a married couple who are the accountants, the 2 friends, and a marketing manager). While you've only made a handful of friends, you are still way ahead of me.
Also you have to realize that your friends may seem far away, but not really cause you're able to drive to them on the weekends and hang out. You obviously can't do this every weekend, but at least you know that they're only a few hours away. My closest friend is a 6 hour plane ride away, and my even better, closer friends (that I miss wayyyyyy more) are a 13 hour plane ride away. It also doesn't help that I can only talk to a couple of them because of the time difference and the fact that when I get home from work, everyones asleep. the one thing that keeps me going though is the fact that I am fully confident I will make friends wherever I go. I'm a really shy person when you first meet me (unless I'm with people I know) but eventually I loosen up and make friends. Ross, Marc, Kristina, Kim and Lisa all lived on our floor freshman year with me and Brian and I barely knew Brian after 2 weeks, which goes to show you what a month will do.
It's natural to be sad when you're thinking of all fun stuff we did (I saw pictures of when we went bowling, and that was honestly one of my funnest nights of college) cause honestly we were basically a family, at least thats how I saw it and my parents made the same observation. Almost everything I do reminds me of you guys which makes it even worse, and at the same time I love that we have made such strong connections that will surely last a lifetime.
So I hope this helps, it took a while to write (I had to stop in the middle of it cuz I got really itchy for like 10 straight minutes). So hang in there, don't fret about not making a bajillion friends in the first month because they'll surely come. Well I'm going to sleep and I'm sure you're just about to get to work. So just remember, when you think things are bad, just look on the other side of the room ;-)
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