Another Week, Another 3.6 Pounds Up. Also, Ireland Aventure.

Don't worry, that was an entirely made up figure. I am without a scale for the duration of my stay in the UK, so honestly I can't tell you if I'm up or down or by how much, which is probably all for the better.

I just got back from a weekend trip to Ireland, which was fun, although travelling on student budgets means lots of fast food and sandwiches. On the first day out, we got on a bus (11 hours!) from Oxford to London, then London to Wales, then on a ferry to Dublin, and then a bus from the station to the city centre. And on that day I ate...actually, hmm, what did I eat? Cornish pasty at the bus station in the morning, baggie of pineapple chunks and prepackaged chicken sandwich at lunch break, fish and chips for...second lunch (!!), and chicken kebab + Fanta for dinner. I don't know why I ate that second lunch, except everyone was eating and we were all together and it felt right and social and I am a lardass, is basically it.

The next day I had 1.5 muffins and a glass of OJ before we set out to see Dublin. Grabbed lunch at some pub (half a bland chicken and butter sandwich, half an enourmous bowl of potato and ham soup) and drank the complimentary Guinness at the end of the factory tour, as well as the trial size North Star limited edition--yum for that one! Dinner was some cheap Chinese fast food place, where I had a fairly terrible (to me, but I'm Chinese, so that's unfair) chicken chow mein and then got a raging MSG headache. We walked around the whole day, so I probably burned off some calories, which was probably cancelled out by the fact that I then went to the vending machines at night and had two chocolate bars and half a bag of sour gummies. Also, half a bottle of Fanta.

I don't think it helped that the only other girl on the trip is the tiniest person I have seen in my life, weight to height ratio-wise, and she eats like a 400 lb trucker. Seriously. When we get the same meal, I can finish half and she'll eat the whole thing and want more. Which naturally makes me feel as if I should eat along with her, which means nothing for her but more fat for me!

On Sunday, we got up at the crack of dawn (OK, 7:30) to walk to the bus station for a jaunt to Galway. Stopped by an Insomnia cafe where I had an ice-blended coffee drink (or 3/4 of one anyway) and what I now figure was an entirely meatless Cornish pasty. Seriously. Isn't there supposed to be beef in those things? I also had half a fruit bowl (which contained maybe .5 kg of pineapple, orange, strawberry, and grape) on the bus to Galway. There, we walked around the town for a bit and three of us a shared a scone while waiting for some parade to start before deciding to ditch the parade and just get a proper lunch instead. I had lasagna and salad. The lasagna was American-sized, in my opinion, which means it was probably too much for one person at one meal. Oh well. At least I got some veggies in with the salad.

My one piece of exercise news was this huge (for me) trek we embarked upon in Galway, walking along the coast and up some hills and on to some seaside cliffs. I got thoroughly bored and tired midway, but I was with some hiking/scenery buffs so I soldiered on. All I really got out of it was that, yes, the Irish coast is pretty, and yes, I like seeing greenery, but also, I miss the beach--the real beach--and I am much more a city girl than anything else. The conservative estimate was that we walked about 7-8 miles, give or take some walking in the city. The liberal estimate (ie, mine) was that we walked around the equator roughly four times. Although I was suprisingly not that tired afterward, which means we probably did not walk as much as I assumed. I am monstrously slow on uneven surfaces, so I was way behind on the hills which while seemingly green, are actually composed of lots of oddly shaped rocks and slippery mud. However, once we got on the pavement, I sped the way back, dragging my friends along with me. All I could think was, the faster I walk, the faster I get to civilisation. Food! Seating! Something to look at besides the coastline!

We skipped dinner that night, but to make up for it, I had two muffins and a "tropical" smoothie. Can you tell I've been trying to get my fruits and veggies in whatever way possible? This is more difficult than you imagine here, as apparently the British don't eat vegetables besides potatoes and peas. Well, not really, but it certainly seems like that sometimes, especially in the dining hall.

Breakfast was early today and for me, consisted of half a bowl of fresh grapefruit (yum!), a bowl of frosted flakes + milk, and about half a cappucino with two packets of sugar. Then a bottle of all-natural, fresh-squeezed orange juice for the plane ride. All good so far, until I get back to Oxford, famished, walk down to the Alternative Tuck Shop and buy a Cornish pasty and a chicken and mushroom pasty, both of which were delicious, either one of which would have more than been enough for one meal. I then of course had to follow up with two chocolate bars for dessert--Cadbury's chocolate with creme egg filling, and a TimeOut. I am making the excuse that the chocolate is different here, so if I do not try every single bar out there, I will be failing in my quest to fully enjoy the UK. Also, my quest to apparently gain ten pounds.

It is now 9:12 PM and I am deciding whether or not to go out for more food tonight (I skipped dinner to catch up on much-needed sleep). And if I do go out for more food, should it be a grocery trip to Sainsbury's or a late night kebab run? Only time (and my stomach) will tell...

State of the (Fat) Union

So vacation is progressing along nicely. The weather has cleared up, thank goodness. It was getting a bit depressing waking to gray, rainy skies every day.

The weight situation is both helped and hindered by being here. Let's take this step by step.

Good: Tasteless dining hall food means less eaten at meals.
Bad: Less eaten at meals means more snacks outside mealtime.

Good: No vending machines or fast food restaurants near dormitory.
Bad: Have discovered the grocery market candy aisle with new, untried chocolates. About half the aisle is now sitting in a plastic bag next to me.

Good: Often sleep through eating times.
Bad: Late night hunger means late-night kebab vans.

Good: Fun times with fun people.
Bad: Alcohol has a lot of calories, people.

So, in general, it's a wash. I did lose a bit of weight during the first two weeks I was here, from a combination of different factors (sleeping through mealtimes because of jet lag, lack of knowledge of where to find food, general unease/excitement, inability to eat a lot with strangers*). However, I have now become comfortable with Oxford and with my companions and am now hungry ALL THE TIME.

This may be PMS talking, but I love, love, love the kebab vans. They're like those Mexican taco trucks in the U.S., except that they serve instead, kebabs in pitas, chips with a variety of toppings, burgers, chicken fingers, hotdogs, and a plethora of other wonderfully greasy fried foods. They are also the only places open for food late at night, so you will see hordes of drunken students walking back into the colleges with containers of kebab late at night, fumbling for the passcode while eating some delicious gooey mess.

My favorite right now is Ahmed's "special chips" with hummus added. That's French fries the English way (thick-cut), topped with cheese, mushrooms, and fried egg. And hummus, because I love hummus, and whatever sauces you want on top. I like chili, ketchup, and mayo, but that's because I really just like sauces in general. Mmm, calories.

I'm still not eating much at meals, but I am snacking away whenever I can. Well, no, I'm actually not too bad with snacking, but I am thinking of snacking all the time. Which is probably worse.

Wow I am so excited for food right now. I think I might have to set my alarm early so I can go out and grab a sandwich once the stores open. Mm, sandwich. I'm still not a fan of British food, but I am a fan of food in general, which is why I don't think this weight loss will continue.

And I know, I should focus less on eating less and more on exercise, but it's vacation and I'm lazy and the gym is expensive and far away. Actually, the gym is fairly reasonable and only a 10 minutes walk away. But I am lazy, so there's that.

I have started drinking less though, which is good for my liver and my gut. I also try to work in a little bit of exercise (just room calisthenics) whenever I can, but it's usually only about 20-30 minutes a day.

I am so hungry right now. Only mind-hungry though, mind you. You know how it is. The stomach is fine, but the brain wants food! Now to look up when that sandwich shop opens...




*Does this happen to anyone else? Whenever I'm with people I don't know well, I eat much less, partially so I can make conversation instead, and partially, subconsciously, so I don't seem like such a fattie.

Will They Let Me Do the Lemonade Diet with Alcohol Instead?

Because that's pretty much been my diet the past few days. I sleep through breakfast every day, sleep through or eat a little at lunch (the food at our cafeteria is atrocious), skip dinner or eat little in order to enjoy conversation, and then drink. A lot.

It doesn't help that our formal dinners include champagne receptions, followed by white wine, red wine, and port. With waiters who continuously refill your glass, whether you want to them to or not. The drinks outside aren't cheap, but there are always some specials on the board for every night. This is a sample of what I have been eating.

Yesterday: Whole packet of chocolate crackers + one packet of Pretz Salad sticks (roughly 500-600 cal). Half a round of steak, 2 fingerling (is that what they're called?) potatoes, salad, more salad, half a piece of some sort of lemony cake. And then most of the alcohol given to me, except the port. Not a fan still.

Then of course we went out to celebrate the our independance from the country we're staying in. Where I then had a jagermeister, a double vodka and soda, a single gin and tonic, and a tequila shot. Suffice it to say it was a fun night. I'm hoping the 2-3 hours of dancing burned off some of the alcohol calories.

Today, so far, I skipped breakfast to finish the reading due for the 11AM class, barely touched lunch (three or four bites of gross fake Asian food, some salad, half a piece of some sort of cake with preserves in it), and then proceeded to sleep through my alarm for dinner.

I know, I should stop skipping/sleeping through meals and instead just plan to eat healthy at all of them. I should also curb my alcohol consumption. Also, sleep less and enjoy the town more.
Futhermore, exercise.

But you know what? I'm on vacation, and I'm enjoying it, and I'm sure I'll be back on my usual eating habits and not drinking everything in front of me soon. Probably.

It's Independance Day and I'm in England. Ironic?

So, school's out. Woohoo. Party on, and all that. I have utterly neglected my healthy eating/dieting goals, instead focusing most of my time on seeing off the graduating seniors and trying not to fail finals. Let's just say I gained back all the weight I loss in the first weight loss sprint of December/January and added a few more pounds. However, after school ended, I was able to concentrate more on this whole being healthy and fit thing, and I'm back to 160.

Which is OK, because at least I'm not weighing more than that, but it also deeply sucks, as this is the weight I generally fall back to once I stop paying attention to my weight. I keep reading about how our bodies have a "comfortable weight" and that if that weight is say 140, there's no way you can easily get to and maintain a 120. Your body just doesn't want to be at that weight. It's a bit depressing to think about, so I'm just going to assume that my comfortable weight is in the 130's, and my body's currently being lazy and uncomfortable. If that makes any sense.

But yes, I'm in England now for a study abroad program. I love travelling. England has such rich history. All the buildings are old and stone and everything looks smaller and more real, somehow, than back home in Los Angeles. Also, everyone walks everywhere or takes public transportation, which is a great help. Maybe I'll be able to use that as exercise?

It also helps that everyone in my study abroad program seems intent on finding a gym and exercising regularly. This is what I get for making friends with student athletes. My exercise on vacation generally consists of shopping and touring. Sometimes dancing.

I think it may actually be easier to lose weight here than in America, as everything is so bloody expensive that I really don't want to overeat or buy unhealthy snacks. Of course, the alcohol calories may add up, as the legal age is 18 here and everyone in the program is over 18. We're American. We have an obnoxious, drunken stereotype to uphold.

Which reminds me: Happy 4th of July! Go have fun at your barbecues and enjoy the fireworks for me. I'll be singing patriotic songs with a bunch of loud countrymen (and women) tonight and then going to a club for "America Night." Yeah. Too bad I forgot to pack patriotic clothing. Although, I'll probably be out in a raincoat tonight. Stupid English weather.