This past week was an insane week in every way. The craziness started on Tuesday morning when I was picked up at work at around 10:30am to catch a Virgin America flight to LA. I got dropped off at a terminal I've never been to which is rare as I've flown all over the world from JFK. It was really quite strange and a little deserted. What was even stranger was there was no curbside check in and I couldn't even find the Virgin counter to check in. There were just rows of closed counters for airlines I've never heard of. My destination ended up being around a corner so I was finally able to get my boarding pass.

I then proceeded down some stairs to some kind of shopping mall but no security line. I aimlessly wandered for a bit inhaled a piece of pizza as I was getting aggravated. Always a bad idea in any situation. With a little investigating you can always find a nice salad. I then proceeded to walk for a while to attempt to find the security line for wherever the gates were as this seemed to be a big mystery consisting of construction and long empty corridors. Finally, voila I had arrived at the empty security line.

I made it through and stopped for an iced Peet's coffee with plenty of skim milk. I've read a lot of research about the relationship between adequate amounts of calcium and weight-loss. I try to include some in my diet whenever possible.

As I boarded the plane the interior was accented with purple lights and there were pink headphones aligned perfectly in front of the seats in my row. I noticed a computer screen which I began to explore. You could order drinks and snacks to be delivered right to your seat as well as foreign films, chat and games. The five hour flight went by pretty quickly. I had some cheese and fruit with a glass of wine to pass the time.

When I arrived in LA I was met by a driver who said we were going to a hotel in Hollywood but that wasn't my intended destination. Stay tuned next week for my LA adventure.

I've read a lot of magazine articles recently that say you can get a decent calorie burn from chores around the house. I decided to test that theory out today.  I cleaned my kitchen for about four hours.  I put some tunes on and got ready.  I emptied all the cabinets and fridge.  I vacuumed out all the cabinets, scrubbed them down and cleaned all the items before putting them back. I followed the same process with the refrigerator. I also threw some old stuff out. I kept the garbage bag on the floor on purpose so that I had to use those core muscles each time I threw an item out. 

Later in the day I went for a walk into town. I was definitely tired and my muscles were even a little sore.  I would say it worked.   I don't think it can replace navy seals or anything to that extent but it is a great feeling to know I got a lot accomplished in my apartment and burned some calories at the same time. 

I fasted this past weekend for Yom Kippur and then proceeded to eat a ton on Saturday night. The next day I did about an hour of cardio at the gym. Did this make up for the extra 1000 calories I consumed?  

I had made a mental note of what I had eaten.  Of course I don't normally just eat with no regard for the calorie count.  As I started to record what I inhaled I realized that it didn't matter that I hadn't eaten in 24 hours. One bagel with cream cheese and smoked salmon was 14 points. So one item was more than I normally eat in two meals.  I definitely ate more than one item too!  Pretty disturbing. What would I do. 

On Sunday I did the only thing I knew. I went to the gym and tried to work some of it off.  Maybe I burned off a quarter of it. That is the thing. You can eat something that is so fattening and it is literally impossible to burn it off in one gym session.  I think that is why it is so important not to eat it in the first place. Also one eat crap it is that much harder to get back on track and stop eating crap. I am definitely waiting a few days to weigh myself. 

L'shana tova to those that celebrated the Jewish New Year last week.

As it's the new year it seems like the perfect time to focus on some recent observations I've made since I've lost my first 38 pounds. If I count down from my heaviest and not just since I've started this blog I've lost a total of 68 pounds. Now that is a lot of weight to lose so there are some differences in my every day life.

During my travels the last few weeks I stayed in three different hotels with three different types of towels and bathrobes. This is very embarrassing but at my heaviest no standard towel or one size fits all bathrobe would fit me. I am happy to report that now they all do with extra room.

Then there were the airplane seats, seat belts and even movie theater seats. I used to be so uncomfortable never getting into quite a good position. The seat belt on the airplane not digging in but it certainly was never loose where I could fit two of me in it like I can now :)

There is also the walking. I could never really walk around. After about 30 minutes my legs and my back would always start to ache. I successfully walked miles and miles all over Chicago and San Francisco without any pain. I realized how much I love to walk. No more taxis for this girl!

It is the little things in life that bring happiness and contentment. I still have a long way to go but in the interim I am just so comfy in my new body.