Jenny in London

The dietary adventures of an American girl in a metric world

My Profile

  • Name: Jenny*in*London
  • City: London
  • Region: London, City of
  • Country: United Kingdom

My Weight Loss

Height: 167.6cm
Start weight: 165.00lb
Current weight: 154.00lb
Goal weight: 150.00lb
Lost to date: 11.00lb
Remaining: 4.00lb

My Calendar

26
May '12
< May >
S M T W T F S
    1 2 3 4 5
6 7 8 9 10 11 12
13 14 15 16 17 18 19
20 21 22 23 24 25 26
27 28 29 30 31    

My Photos

Before After
Really Simple Syndication
01/02/2011 19:49

Six in six

Well, hello, world.  Hello blog.  It's been a long time.


What.  A.  Year.  Seriously.  The last time I posted was in December 2009.  2010?  That would be the year of (a) grief, (b) growth and (c) goals.  Since I last posted, my father passed away, I have succeeded in losing all physical fitness and I have gained back all the weight I ever lost, and then some.  On the other hand, after a year of working at a job I realized was not for me, I have taken the decision to return to my former job, which pays much better, but isn't necessarily as personally fulfilling as I would like.  I've cemented my relationship with D, and with or without a ring on my finger, am fully confident in Us.

I'm turning 30.  I cannot fathom how I can be turning 30, but there you are.  I've decided that this is The Time.  This is my chance to actually do it, to change myself for good.  The first third of my life has been full of ups and downs and challenges a'plenty.  My goal is to set myself up as the best me I can be for the next two-thirds.

I'm blogging elsewhere now - EP has been good to me, but I've moved myself onto a different platform.  I don't want my journaling to be focused entirely on weight - it's not about that anymore.  It's about rediscovering and recreating myself.  For any of my EP friends still out there, please feel free to follow me on the other side.  I still read you all, even if I haven't been commenting.  It's been a rough year - I'm looking forward to what 2011 will bring.

Signing off (for now),
Jenny*in*London

http://dabblinginadulthood.wordpress.com/

Posted By: Jenny*in*London Add Comment | Comments (2) Top
12/15/2009 10:49

How bizarre!

Let's get one thing clear.  I am not a runner.  I don't get runner's high, I don't enjoy running, I sweat and huff and puff and get red in the face and look like I'm about to die.  But other than spinning, there is no other exercise where I feel like I work as hard, so I slog through.
 
I've started running intervals - run four minutes, walk one.  This morning, I did a 5K using that system.  And you know what?  I felt like I could keep going.  I felt like I didn't necessarily need the walk breaks at the beginning.  I felt like I could up my intervals to five, six or maybe even ten minutes.  I felt okay while I was running, like I was relatively fluid and my my knees weren't aching and my shins weren't hurting and my back wasn't screaming in agony.  I was huffing and puffing and red in the face, but I was running.  And it felt good.

Posted By: Jenny*in*London Add Comment | Comments (8) Top
12/07/2009 11:31

Let's Catch Up

Hi strangers!  Okay, so really, I'm the stranger.  Let's see, what has happened in the past two weeks?
  • D and I cooked Thanksgiving dinner for 35 folks, including a mixture of ex-pats and Europeans for whom it was their first turkey-day.
  • 14.4 kilos of turkey later (that's 32 lbs!), I am thoroughly poultry-ed out, and only eating meat and fish until the new year.  And fruits and vegetables of course.  Hopefully not so many desserts . . .
  • Despite all that gluttony, I've managed to maintain, which is promising.
  • I've been on a plateau for nearly six months now.  That's okay, I'm not too bothered, so long as I keep improving on the fitness front.
  • Confession?  I'm thoroughly lazy.  Given the choice between snuggling on the couch or venturing out into the cold to go work out, I'll take the couch any day.  I'd like to be able to say I enjoy working out for the sake of it, but that would be a blatant lie.
  • I'm working on it.
  • D is helping.  He's become a serious gym-rat due to his relaxed schedule as a freelancer, and as such, he nags me about not working out.  But in a helpful way.  Yesterday, he spotted for me while I bench-pressed, and forced me not to wimp out.  That was nice.
  • It's a little over two weeks until we leave for our holiday.  I can't wait!  I should be a gym rat myself until we go, knowing it will be glorious summer once we hit Australia, and that means tank tops and bathing suits.  Yikes!
  • Tonight is our work Christmas party.  I'm wearing this cool 1950s vintage cocktail dress which is white with strawberries printed on it, with my skyscraper tall red patent leather heels.  I am, however, wearing it with my most-mega-spanx ever.  I would like to be able to wear it spanx free some day . . . although the benefit of the mega-spanx is that I can't actually eat that much in them and still be able to breathe.  Presto!  Built-in portion control.

 

Posted By: Jenny*in*London Add Comment | Comments (4) Top
11/23/2009 16:59

A Short List

Two Main Reasons I Am Proud Of Me:
 
(1)  I got up at 6:45 this morning and had my bum firmly planted on a spinning bike at 6:56.  It helps that the gym is around the corner from my flat.  Within an hour of waking up, I had cardio-blasted my way through around 400 or 500 calories.  I've been saying for WEEKS I would go to Monday morning spin.  I finally got off my duff and did it!
 
(2)  Coming back from a meeting this afternoon, I was seriously jonesing for something naughty - both Burger King and chocolate bars were tempting me with their sirens' calls.  Instead, I resisted both, and had one chocolate covered rice cake, satisfying the sweet and salty cravings in one go.  Well, mostly satisfying.
 
It's nice to be proud of myself!

Posted By: Jenny*in*London Add Comment | Comments (6) Top
11/15/2009 14:27

Habitual

I've discovered one other downside about a lot of travel.  Spending so much time in airplanes with recycled air greatly increases the chances of catching some bug and then being down for the count.  I got back from Tbilisi, Georgia on Thursday morning and have had a particularly gross cold since then.  It's pretty awesome to be sitting on the couch hawking up green chunky snot balls.  Thankfully, I think I've gotten over the worst of it, thanks to spending most of yesterday napping, waking intermittently to do umpteen gazillion loads of laundry.  D and I have a deal, you see.  He takes main responsibility for the dishes (which I loathe) and I do most of the laundry.  Unfortunately, as he's had to work most of this weekend, I seem to have gotten stuck with both, in between naps!

Now that the travel is going to slow down for a while, it's time to get serious about getting back into a fitness routine.  Given that we're getting close to the holidays, it seems like there's something nearly every night, which makes going to the gym after work a real challenge.  Last year around this time, I managed to haul my lazy butt to the gym every morning before work.  It helped that D was traveling during the week then, so I didn't have a man-sized electric blanket tempting me to stay in bed!  Nevertheless, I figure if I've done it once, I can do it again.  I've been stuck at the same weight for a long time, and I'd like to shake it up.  Truth be told, I don't care if the numbers move on the scale, but I feel like I'm getting jigglier around the midsection which I don't like.  I have to get beach-body-ready, as we're going to be in lovely summery Australia in six short weeks.

So it's back to tracking on The Daily Plate, it's back to a regular gym routine.  I'm a creature of habit . . . I just need to get the habits going again!

*** Edited to Add ***

In addition to spending the day at home in pajamas loafing about and doing laundry, I have also just made the most delicious (and relatively healthy!) breakfast bars and need to share them with you all.  They're a Nigella Lawson recipe from Nigella Express, which is a great cookbook.  The measurements are in grams, but I'm sure you US folk are smart and can do the conversions - I promise you it's worth it!  D and I have been exclaiming over how good these are for most of the afternoon.

Breakfast Bars

1 x 397g can condensed milk
250g rolled oats (not instant)
75g shredded coconut
100g dried cranberries
125g mixed seeds (pumpkin, sunflower, sesame)
125g natural unsalted peanuts

Preheat the oven to 130C and oil a 23 x 33 x 4 cm baking tin or use a throwaway foil on.

Warm the condensed milk in a large pan.  Meanwhile, mix together all the other ingredients and then add the warmed condensed milk, using a rubber or wooden spatula to fold and distribute.  Spread the mixture into the tin and press down with the spatula or, better still, your hands (wearing disposable vinyl gloves to stop you sticking), to even the surface.

Bake for 1 hour, then remove from the oven and, after 15 minutes, cut into four across and four down to make 16 chunky bars.  Let cool completely.

YUMMY!

Posted By: Jenny*in*London Add Comment | Comments (2) Top
11/03/2009 11:06

Traveling / Cooking

The past few weeks I've been a traveling machine.  First, I was in Lebanon for nearly a week.  Then last week I went to the Philippines for a conference.  On Thursday, I leave for New York for a dear friend's wedding.  Then the following week, I'm going to Georgia (the country, not the state).  Then I'll have about five weeks without travel before heading on our round-the-world trip to Los Angeles, Melbourne, Sydney and Hong Kong.  Phew! 
 
I will say I love the travel.  I will also say traveling makes it harder to keep to a set routine, especially when you are hopping as many time zones as I have been recently.  In Lebanon, I went to the gym every day.  In the Philippines, I didn't go once.  I'm trying to be consistent, but not always having the best luck.
 
Still, I know I'm eating better.  I'm eating fresh foods, despite the oncoming winter, and I've been cooking a lot.  Over the weekend, I experimented with the slow cooking function of my rice cooker and made a lamb stew.  Couldn't be easier!  Toss in some root veggies, lamb, seasonings and stock, and let it go for around 9 hours.  It felt odd chopping garlic at 10 am, but other than that it was delish.  Last night, I made a delicious tomato soup which was the easiest thing in the world.  I roasted tomatoes, garlic and fennel drizzled with olive oil for around two hours in a hot oven.  Then I tossed it into the food processor and wham!  Delicious soup.  Mmmm . . . I'm going to try experimenting with more soups and slow cooker experiments this winter, as they are super easy, and act as proper stick-to-your-ribs food during the cold months.  What are your favorite soup/slow cooker recipes?

Posted By: Jenny*in*London Add Comment | Comments (5) Top
10/23/2009 10:46

The Newest Fad Diet

I've discovered a new miracle diet.  No, seriously.  I think this is the one that will do the trick for me.
 
Medicated mouthwash.
 
Wednesday morning, I had to make that oh-so-painful pilgrimmage to the dentist, where the demon-hygienist-woman proceeded to spend the next forty-five minutes jabbing me in the mouth with sharp, pointy metal instruments, all the while urging me to keep still.  I would have liked to tell her that the reason I couldn't keep still was because she was poking me with her sharp pointy tools and reflexively, I was pulling away from her instruments of torture.  It wasn't that I mentally wanted to escape the pain - oh no! - it was that my body simply couldn't help trying to avoid it.  But I couldn't tell her anything because she had me by the lip and gum, and anything I would have said would have come out completely garbled and accompanied by a healthy dose of slobber.  So I kept my mouth shut, metaphorically speaking.
 
She lectured me about brushing twice a day with an electric toothbrush (which I own, but don't always use), flossing at least once a day (admittedly, a weak point) and then she brought out the big guns.  Medicated mouthwash.  Concerned about the state of my gums, she demanded I purchase said mouthwash and use it twice a day until I used up the bottle.  After I crossed my heart and swore up and down I would do so, then, and only then, would she let me go.
 
Well.
 
Let me tell you something.  In addition to killing any germs that might have the misfortune of being present in my mouth at this particular point in time, this particular form of witch's brew also kills off my taste buds.  Seriously.  Since starting to use it Wednesday night, I have not been able to taste a single thing.  But you know what?  Food becomes surprisingly uninteresting when it's tasteless.
 
I think I should try to market this concept.  I could make a fortune, right??

Posted By: Jenny*in*London Add Comment | Comments (8) Top
10/19/2009 12:28

Back on Track

Thanks so much for all your thoughts and kind wishes - I've been a bit absent these days, due both to work travel and refocusing.
 
I think things are getting on track.  I've been so much better at exercising regularly and I know that's making a difference in my mood.  I often don't want to go to the gym or resent going, but I know how much better I feel afterwards.  One of these days, I would like to get to the point where I look forward to going to the gym.  I was there around this time last year, so I have high hopes I can get back to that point.
 
D and I decided we are going to try and do an around-the-world ticket this year for our annual pilgrimmage to Australia to see his family.  The plan so far is five or six days in Los Angeles with my family, two or three days in Sydney with friends, about ten days in Melbourne with his family and then three or four days in Hong Kong.  I've never been to Hong Kong, and am looking forward to that part a lot!  D knows it really well, and insists we must get suits made.  He claims to know a particularly good tailor, so we shall see about that.
 
I have one more big work trip this year, then I think things will quiet down. On Sunday, I'm heading to the Philippines for a media law conference.  It's a long flight, but there will be sunshine and warmth, so as far as I'm concerned, they can fly me as far as necessary to catch some vitamin D.  Even if I'll be in conference rooms for most of it, I'll know the sun is out there (amidst the thunderstorms, that is!), and that's enough for me! 

Posted By: Jenny*in*London Add Comment | Comments (7) Top
10/04/2009 16:11

Loss

I'm writing this from my grandparents' dining room table in their house in Los Angeles waiting for the sun to come up so I can go outside and do something physical, maybe a run, maybe just a walk.  I've just driven my sister back to LAX to catch an early flight back to New York.  I'll head back to London tomorrow around 5:30 pm, getting in at noon on Tuesday.

My grandmother died.  It's still surreal.  Of all my grandparents, I was closest to my Bubbie Gene ("Bubbie" being Yiddish from grandmother).  She was an amazing woman - in the fifties, she would be in the thick of "Ban the Bomb" marches with a stroller and three toddlers in tow.  She has been a huge influence on me and I will miss her terribly.

It's really strange being in this house without her.  I keep expecting to see her turn the corner, ready to drink a cup of strong, black coffee with me before heading out to face the day.  She was my last grandparent and it truly feels like an era has ended.

One good thing that has come out of this situation is that my family, generally known as the epitome of dysfunctionality, is starting to reconcile.  For the first time in twenty years, my dad, his three other siblings and all the grandkids, all eleven of us, were in the same place at the same time.  Historically, someone has always not been speaking to someone else, so you could never, ever see everyone all at once.  It was a beautiful moment to have us all together for Friday night dinner and I know my grandmother would have loved to see that more than anything in the world.

I know I haven't really started to process this loss.  Yesterday, I went to the beach with my dad and my sister.  The beach is where I always feel calm, centered, able to focus.  Something about moving water and waves brings me back to a place where I am able to let go.

It's really the end of an era.  My grandmother was the lynchpin holding together the giant tapestry that is our family.  She was my source of information about all my first cousins and everyone else.  It's a massive family and I don't think I've even met all of my second cousins, let alone further out.  Notwithstanding all the California cousins I haven't seen since I was a small child, there are around 150 of us in Mexico City who I haven't seen since I was a baby.  I don't know who in California is going to take on the mantle of keeping the family informed and, inasmuch as possible, intact.  I think we're all going to have to.

In many ways, this has been such a difficult, painful year.  There has been such loss and strife and pain and I know there have been good times as well, but when I think back on 2009 thus far, it is with such mixed emotions.

I'd like to go back to the beach before I go back to London.  I think it would do me some good.

Posted By: Jenny*in*London Add Comment | Comments (7) Top
09/22/2009 10:38

Who's Got the Cure?

I need help.  Urgently.  Who can provide me with a simple yet effective cure for waking-up-on-the-wrong-side-of-the-bed-itis?  Seriously.  It's a problem.  This morning, I woke up at 6:30 as planned to go to the gym.  I went.  I ran.  Sort of.  I decided to ease my knees back into running, I would run 0.5 km, then walk for a minute.  In 32 minutes, I did 4 km.  Next week, I'll up it to 5 km, and slowly start increasing the distance of my intervals until I am running the whole time.
 
So that's all well and good, but I got home and was just the biggest cranktastic person ever.  My shower was too hot then too cold, I was sweating the entire time I was drying my hair, I couldn't find the notebook I needed to take into the office and I felt like the flat was a mess and I didn't have time clean it.  Crank, crank, crank.  Of course I vented on poor D and tried not to and then felt bad for venting which made me even crankier.
 
 
Did I mention I'm PMS'ing?  That's probably the answer right there.  The cure is time.  In a few days I'll be fine but today I'm a fire-breathing, roaring dragon of crankiness.  My advice to all you souls within breathing distance?  Stay far, far away today.

Posted By: Jenny*in*London Add Comment | Comments (6) Top
Tracker