Well, its been a while. Yes it has been more than a week since I last blogged. I guess I've been...occupied ;-)

My conscience is back from Europe! Yay!!!!!!!!!!!!! After 5 weeks a part I have dropped at least 5 lbs (sorry, I didn't get a chance to weigh in this Monday) and successfully cooked 3 tasty meals. Although I fell short of my overall weight loss goal, I still feel pretty good. I didn't fall short b/c I slipped up on my diet or didn't work out. I consistently ate healthy and worked out at least 5 days out of the week. I realize that I could lose weight more quickly if I had a more extreme/strict diet (i.e. significantly restricting portion size and calories rather than simply eating healthy foods). However, what I like about my current diet is that it is very doable. Oatmeal w/brown sugar and raisins for breakfast, grilled chicken Caesar salad for lunch, and grilled shrimp, steamed veggies and rice for dinner is definitely something that I can live with long term. Remember this is a lifestyle change, not just a diet.

Sooooo what have I been up to? Well I left a gym and joined another one. Previously I was a member of Curves, International. For those of you not too familiar with their clubs learn a little more here: http://www.curves.com/. Basically its a full body 30 min work out. However the catch is that you rotate between 8 - 12 different machines every 30 seconds, AND THAT'S IT! No classes, no treadmills, no weights just the designated 'circuit'. Now I can't complain too much about Curves. Truthfully I did lose 12 lbs there during my 1st year of joining. However, it is simply too restrictive for me now. Not only do many of the locations close by 7 or 8 pm (making it more ideal for a stay-at-home mom than a working woman), but after a while I simply got bored. I was to be able to do something different sometime.

Since I haven't been using curves for the last several months that I've been traveling, and I'm pretty sure that I won't be returning them when I stop, then I went ahead and faxed over my termination letter yesterday. Ironically, my conscience up and decides that he wants to head over to 24 Hour Fitness to learn more about their offerings. http://www.24hourfitness.com/. They are a traditional gym, and definitely more of what I was looking for. The only issue is that they have no locations in my home city. That kinda sucks b/c I'd love to work out there on a regular basis. However, when I 1st started traveling 7 months ago, I didn't join b/c I thought I'd only be on the road for 3 months. Now that I am slated to stop traveling in 3 months I am faced with the same dilemma. Learning from my original mistake, I decided to go ahead and join on a month to month basis. I'll just cancel it when I return home.

Here's what's really fun. My conscience joined as well. As a matter of fact, right now he's kinda paying for it, so I gotta remember to pay him back for my membership. So as we're getting info on the membership they offer us an opportunity to get 5 - 30 minute personal training sessions for $50. About $10 per session isn't bad. I was hesitant to sign up, but my conscience offered to pay for them for me. YAY! Of course, I won't continue after the 5 sessions, but I can at least get some moves and techniques to incorporate into my personal routine. Plus they do a fitness and diet analysis and give you a pedometer. Ok, I know that I'm a geek, but I'm really excited about the pedometer. They are going to give me a call to schedule the sessions, so I'll let you know when I have my 1st one.

Overall, I'm really pleased with where I am. I'll give myself a weigh in next time that I'm at the gym. I'll also report back on the exercise classes that I want to take, my personal training sessions, and of course the healthy meals that I am beginning to cook. I'll bet you can't wait.