June 2009

May I just say that orange-fleshed honeydew melon is absolutely delicious!!?? It doesn’t taste like regular honeydew (which I personally don’t like). It almost tastes like cantaloupe, but a bit different… hard to explain but it is so amazingly yummy.

Anyway, the plan is still to leave tomorrow for Cali. I have a million and one things to do today but it’s all written down on a list, which is keeping it manageable.

Fruit is not allowed to be taken into California, (and yes they stop you at the border to make sure you don’t have any) so whatever I bring with me needs to be eaten before I leave Arizona Thursday morning.

Speaking of which, I am going 100% raw fruitarian starting today. As shallow as it sounds, I want to be as slim as possible before I see my family and friends on Thursday/Friday… so I have about 4 or 5 days to lose an additional inch or two. It’s going to be well over 100 degrees throughout much of my road trip, which means all I’ll really want is fresh fruit anyway. I’m bringing a couple of awesome raw nut and dried fruit combos with me as well – pistachio/golden Himalayan raisins and dried mulberries/macadamias. Mmmm. I think for fruit, I’m going to bring bananas and melons for Tuesday, Wed and Thurs. morning, because they are pretty easy to deal with. (Mangos are a little too messy to bring, as I learned in Branson). Maybe some berries and a couple of apples as well.

Anyway, I’ll update more later… time to go get my car serviced and hit the Sprint store for a replacement wireless headset for my cell phone!

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Sunday Update

I’ve been exercising, exercising, and exercising some more! I’ve finally found an outlet for all of the intense energy I get on a daily basis now.

I’ve been taking the stairs a lot. Yesterday I walked up (and down) a total of 18 flights. Keep in mind that my building has generally high ceilings so there are 16 good-sized steps per floor. I also did 20 minutes on the Airdyne. That thing gave me a fantastic full-body workout as usual.

Today my fitness goal is to not take the elevator once… so far I’ve walked up and down 14 flights (once down to my car, once up, once down to the lobby, once up). I’m also going to do the bike for about 15 minutes as soon as my late lunch digests.

Speaking of food, I’ve cheated a couple times on cheese-items in the past few days. Earlier this week I got a bad craving and I decided to just give in, but had a small amount. And a couple of days ago the same happened. Unfortunately my appetite has increased quite a bit due to all the intense exercise (and maybe PMS), so I’ve been eating a bit more. I’ve added veggie sandwiches in twice this week. But everything else is staying the same: fruit, greens, nuts, seeds and potato slices here and there.

I haven’t gotten on the scale because I already know intense exercise always makes me gain in the beginning. However, there have been further body changes that I and others can see. One is my face, which is slimming down even more. (Plus right now my facial complexion looks amazing!) Another is that my arms are already tighter and look/feel slimmer, as well as my thighs and legs. The Airdyne actually works out the stomach too (which I found out yesterday). There is a pair of capris that 1 week ago, I wasn’t able to zip. Now I can zip them. Still can’t button them, however, I will be able to if I lose another half inch or so around my waist. (So close!) So I’m not weighing or measuring myself these days but using clothing and vision to judge my progress. For now.

Wisteria Lane & My Upcoming Cali Trip

I’m leaving for So Cal this coming week… I need to get out there ASAP or I won’t be able to visit Wisteria Lane. Sounds silly but I’m a huge Desperate Housewives fan, and my ex-boyfriend P (now a good friend) has promised to take me on a walking tour down there. He works in the back lots there at Universal Studios/City and took me on a walking tour 2 years ago, but they were shooting Season 4 so I couldn’t get onto the lane. However, I did get a photo of one of the houses at the entrance. This house has been used in a few episodes:

So anyway, they haven’t started shooting Season 6 yet – but they are starting any day now – so I need to hurry. My friend is worried that by the time I get out there they will have begun shooting, at which case I’ll be out of luck. So I am going to TRY to leave by Tuesday or Wednesday this week. My trip will be either two days where I’ll stop simply in Albuquerque, NM the first night, then get to Cali the next night, or three days, where I’ll stop in Albuquerque the first night, then Kingman, AZ the second night, then CA the following afternoon. The two-day option is extremely tiring though and requires 9-12 hours of driving each day so I’ll probably settle on the 3-day option. If I leave Tuesday I can be there by Thursday afternoon.

The only problem is that I’m not quite ready to leave yet and don’t know if I will be that soon! Argh.

Once I’m in Cali, I’ll be staying for the first few nights in the city my sister lives in – La Mirada (not my favorite area, but oh well). Then a few nights in Hollywood or Beverly Hills. (More on that later). I’ll definitely be checking out some of the places celebs go, now that I know where they go!

There are many health and organic produce stores in So Cal so I am NOT worried about my diet at all. The first place I’m staying has a full kitchenette, too.

So anyway, I’ve got a busy week ahead of me. Tomorrow I need to see my mechanic, get my car cleared for another road trip, stock up on a couple books-on-CD’s for the trip, straighten my apartment, do laundry, plan my food, etc etc…

I am hoping that upon my return from Cali, I’ll be down another few pounds. We shall see…!

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Whew is it hot out again! Heat index 102. Earlier when it was the same temperature on the heat index, I took a 25-minute power walk. Way too hot out but I really needed some sun (for Vitamin D). 25 minutes in the blazing sun thankfully wasn’t enough to get sick or have a heatstroke. I had ice-water with me and rubbed some on my face/forehead and sipped from the bottle.

Then I came home and did an amazing workout on my new Schwinn Airdyne. Yep – I traded M my elliptical for the Airdyne, which is a MUCH MUCH better workout. When I got off that thing I felt like I got a total body workout. (My arms are going to look amazing!) Then I did a few yoga poses that M had taught me. M will probably have me walk the stairs again later tonight. He also has a Total-Gym thing in his apartment that I might work out on.

All in all, about an hour of working out. To the point where my leg/arm muscles are a little sore. I swear I am noticing new changes in my body every day now. I think it’s from stepping up the exercise and being a strict vegan.

The amazing thing is that I actually want to work out a lot now. My body feels so amazing that I want to constantly ‘go go go’!

I haven’t done another 100% raw day since earlier this week, but that’s OK. I’ll do another one soon. Perhaps tomorrow. I’m going to slowly increase the days each week until I’m 100% all the time. Today I’ve had lots of pineapple, mango and some potato slices. Dinner is definitely going to be lots of melon. I have canary melon (which we tried this week and is delicious!), watermelon, and orange-flesh honeydew. I also have some romaine lettuce, tomatoes, English cucumbers and sunflower seeds to eat later.

I don’t know how I lucked out in getting such an amazing fitness/diet buddy who lives in my building, but I am so extremely grateful. This is really hard to do on your own!!! Especially when everyone around you eats nothing but mostly crap. M and I are spending a lot of time together now but it won’t always be that way, since I’m leaving on a road trip soon and he’s got some upcoming obligations.

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