One More Round

One more round of finals and it is O.V.E.R. Well, at least the law school part anyway. Then it's obviously time to get ready for the bar. And then there is that little matter of finding a job. But whatever. In a week and a half from now, I'll be celebrating finishing the last final of my educational career. I'm seriously never ever ever going back to school unless I somehow come in to a ton of money and can pay just to audit courses. Because while I love learning, I don't love finals. Just saying!

Food Confessional Part II: A Happy Beginning

I've been cleaning up my eating habits and renewing my commitment to health and exercise. I've had a lot of encouragement as I've tried to this. My brother, Zeb, checks in with me weekly about my progress and gives me advice and encouragement. He's a great cheerleader. It helps me feel like I don't have to do this alone. And I've seen a lot of programs lately about the consequences of what we eat. I've give a lot of thought to whole foods...fruit, vegetables, whole grains, unprocessed meats, etc. I'm trying to use that type of food as my main source of energy (i.e., probably should have paid more attention to the "do's" of the word of wisdom). I've even been keeping a food journal, an exercise notebook and have been tracking my progress from week to week.

Some people may say that is extreme. But this is what I realized today. You can't make bad things good. No amount of wishing that I could enjoy peanut butter cups and ice cream and fast food and cupcakes will make any of those things good for me. If I choose to eat them in excess, then I cannot avoid the consequences of weight gain, and other more serious health issues. Just the same, good habits bring good results. Good habits are built by consistent committed effort.

Last time I posted about this, I was discouraged. I felt overwhelmed by what I knew had to change and frankly, I was not quite ready to give up the bad eating habits. Even though I refocused my efforts on exercise, I was eating junk food daily. Funny thing has happened, though, over the past five weeks as I've committed to change. My body feels better. I want to continue to feel good. That motivates me to keep going. So now instead of my daily sugar fix, I'm eating a piece of fruit and some natural almond butter. Instead of coke, water. Instead of burgers and fries, chicken and squash. So even if cupcakes and cookies and ice cream cannot be a part of my daily menu, I feel good anyway. In fact, to be totally honest, I feel better. All that junk food was a crutch. Doing what is right for my body was the real solution all along.

Things I'll Miss about NYC

I suppose I ought to title this things I'll miss about Newark. But, since that amounts to very little (besides the library, which I'll post about later), I thought a more appropriate topic would be New York City. I suppose I've always seen New York as a mythical/romantic mecca, and in some ways it is. It is a very compact place, when you think about it. And yet it is packed with life...so many different people with very very unique and different agendas. It is hard not to be fascinated by such a place, even if one doesn't actually like it very much. But I'm not one of those people. I'm both fascinated by New York and in love with New York. To that end, I thought I should write a few entries about what I'm going to miss about the city. My first entry is dedicated to my dear friend Kamilah...and our favorite place to meet up, Max Brenner, aka, chocolate heaven.

I met Kamilah in Provo where we both had the pleasure of working at Tony Roma's. Our manager, Sharon, found out that I was moving to Washington, D.C. and told me that Kamilah was, too. Once we made our way out East, we bonded over several things, like crazy D.C.ers (I can sing and I can dance, but ONLY if I want to), Macy Grey and Duck Beach. Now it sort of feels like we've followed each other around a bit. She moved to Brooklyn so that she could attend design school (you'll have to look out for her new clothing line, K Grace Designs, coming soon!!!). Then I moved to Newark to go to law school. I must say, thinking about leaving makes me a little sad and nostalgic. She's been a great friend, and saying good-bye is going to bite! I've relied on her in so many ways, including crashing at her place before I started school and couldn't yet move into my apartment. The girl has my back! I love her.

So then she did me another solid. First year of law school we went to lunch. At Max Brenner. And it changed my life forever. If you find yourself in NYC, find your way to Max Brenner. It's in Union Square. On Broadway. Seriously. GO!!!


Kamilah and I enjoying our dessert. (We were going to get two...but it turns out that one was more than enough!)
You have no idea what you are missing out on or how yummy this was...chocolate, peanut butter, and vanilla ice cream coupled with peanut butter fondue on the one hand and a chocolate ganache fondue on the other. WOW!!!!

Isn't Kamilah the cutest?!

Thanks for everything, my dear dear friend! I'm going to miss you!!!

The End of Finals

Well, finals are over and I couldn't be happier. I don't know what it was about this semester, but it seemed like they went on forever and that the last one would never come! I'm looking forward to Christmas next year, when I'm not cramming information into my head for an exam and instead I'm enjoying the holidays! I can't believe it is almost over. The past few years flown by so fast! And here I am with just one more semester to go. Whew!

So, one of my favorite things about Seton Hall is that they decorate the atrium for Christmas. I took a few pictures to share. This is the view from the fourth floor.

This is a view from the fifth floor. You can see the library on the right.

Another shot from the fourth floor.

I also got to spend Thanksgiving in Virginia with my brother and his family and in-laws. I loved it. I played with my new niece and adorable nephew. My sister-in-law Meredith and I went to see New Moon :)! We ate delicious food. My favorite... the traditional Thanksgiving egg rolls, just like the Native Americans used to prepare! We even went to an old plantation and I got to go jogging outside. I seriously love getting outside!
Howe cute are they? My brother Chey (or Abe, take your pick)
and my little nephew Ethan. He adores his daddy!

Meredith's sister, McKaylan (spelling?) and my niece, Taylor.

Chey mugging for the camera! I was having trouble getting a smile out of
him. Go figure. A Fish boy who won't smile!

And one more of Ethan. I adore his hair and everything about him!
He cracks me up. I love it when you ask him if he wants to do
something and he says "Sure!" in this really cheerful voice.

I didn't get a picture of Meredith :(! Boo for me! But I didn't forget her. She was just off taking care of Taylor most of the trip to the plantation. Thanks for having me guys! I miss you already!

A Note To My Dear Friends and Family

I don't have children so I live through you vicariously. So you better start posting pictures of your little ones in their costumes or else!!! And thanks to those of you who already have (Meredith, Amanda and Camille). The rest of you better get to it!!! And Leah, I'm still waiting for pictures of that new house of yours!!! I'm dying to see it!

Thanks! (And a Little Update)

First of all, thanks to all of you for your support and advice. I needed it this week. I can say that things have definitely been better, and the cravings are not so bad anymore. I did have sugar during the week - just in moderation. Mostly in the form of hot chocolate, something I crave in the fall. I also found this tasty treat - chocolate granola. I love bear naked granola because it is low in sugar, is all natural, and it tastes yummy. I think this is a great way to curb/satisfy my need for chocolate without going over board. I bought some dark chocolate squares to help ward off the cravings as well.

Now for the real splurge. I bought an incline trainer/treadmill. I've been looking at these for the last few months. NordicTrack makes them, and I kept going to their website hoping for a sale. No such luck. So I checked Craig's List several times. Still no luck. Then, on a whim, I decided I'd look on ebay. I found one for about 700-800 dollars less than the retail price! And it was new...I think it might have been a floor model. But what really makes me proud? I put it together all by myself - no easy feat - I can tell you!!! This thing is HEAVY!!! The day it arrived, it took me over an hour just to get it out of the box. Then I had to go to class. I just figured I'd have to call a friend to come over to help. And then I realized that I didn't want to wait, that I wanted to get to using it. And so I put it together.
And of course I've been using it ever since. I ran three and a half miles today. I was shocked at both the length of the speed of my run. I chalk that up to doing stairs. So before this came, my workouts were in the stairwell of my building. I honestly believe that if you want to build up some stamina, start doing stairs!

I'm still looking for advice and support...any ideas you throw my way will be much appreciated!

HELP!!! (Or Two Bags of Peanut Butter Cups...in Three Days!)

Why am I posting a picture of a Coke bottle filled with sugar? Keep in mind that this is seventeen teaspoons of sugar, the amount in one twenty-ounce soda, and read the following...

So last January/February, I made a goal to go off of sugar for a month. I even went over my goal, 32 days, to be exact, without having sugar. But lately, my need for the stuff has been little on the fiendish side. Or perhaps a lot on the fiendish side! I'll go into a little more detail in a moment.

So what am I needing help with? I need to eat better and exercise more. I want to lose weight and get myself back into healthier habits. I feel frustrated, though, because I don't have a support system. That's my fault. I think one of the hardest things for anyone to do is to ask for help. I do not like asking people to do things for me. I would rather do it on my own. But lately it occurs to me that this is NOT something I can do on my own. And I am tired of trying to do it on my own. I need a cheer squad! I'm asking my friends and family to be my cheer squad.

So the sugar problem...consider the following. I ate three candy bars, three Klondike bars and polished off some left over frozen cookie dough in three days. I had two twenty ounce Cokes and some hot chocolate this week. Then later in the week, I was really craving Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. In a matter of ONLY three days, I ate two bags. This is no joke people! That might be the most embarrassing thing I've ever admitted. Seriously. Who does that? I want to be honest, however. I think telling the truth to others might help me be a little more honest with myself. I've been struggling up and down with my weight for about six years now, and I am tired. After a week like this, I realized I couldn't let it go on.

Realistically, I'm not going to quit eating sugar forever. I really need to figure out a balance that works for me. And if shame helps me to get started, then shame it is! Because that is how I feel about what I ate - ASHAMED. I didn't intend my blog to become a food confessional. However, for the next few months, I'm going to be posting about my progress and asking for advice. For now, I just ask that you give me some of your ideas about how you have learned to control sugar intake. That and please be my cheerleader! I need it!!!