February 2017 - A Weight Loss Adventure

February 20, 2017 No Comments

I have had one of the most productive weeks in a long time. This usually happens when I have WAAAAAAY too much to do before a deadline. I work very well with deadlines but that also means that I am an awful procrastinator.

Since we got the plain tickets for Europe, I have been in “I need to get s..t done” mode. I am sort of impressed that we got all of your plane tickets for just below of $1,300 for the both of us and that was even with one of the dates not being flexible which definitely drove up the price (by roughly $350, if my memory serves me right).

Back to the “I am getting s..t done” mode… When I had the tickets settled it was about time for me to figure out what needed to be done before we could leave and what we would be comfortable with. My husband is not a “let’s just wing it” kind of guy. Things needs to be thoroughly planned out before we leave. Oddly enough, not necessarily where we are staying. We are still looking for places to stay in Porto and Paris but we have a maybe from a couple of couchsurfers, so that is good at least.

My list looked something like this:

Send box (A friend of a friend had a package sent to us that I needed to send to Denmark)
Pay bills
Pay student loan
Activate my new Danish Debit Card
Write Blog
Purchase dress for wedding (the reason we are going to Europe after all)
Create itineraries for London, Porto, Lisbon, Paris and Denmark.
Make a list of what to bring to Europe
Purchase phone/data SIMs (my sister is coming with her family and they need new SIM cards as their phones would not work in the US).
Create New York itinerary for my sister.
Purchase Mike’s Tux
Clean apartment
Hang images (and mirror)
Buy nails and hammer (my friend Claudia actually got me these so that was an easy one to cross of my list)
Wash clothes
Buy board and Atlas for livingroom
Print images of friends (for a picture in the hall way)

My husband is not a “let’s just wing it” kind of guy. Things needs to be thoroughly planned out before we leave.

A bit of a list and I did not get to do all of it but I still have a couple of weeks to go. I sent the box, paid my bills and loan, activated my new debit card, purchased the dress (and tried it on, it fits!), wrote last weeks blog post, hung images and the mirror and I am well into creating the itinerary for Porto, Lisbon, Paris and Denmark. All the while, I was having a big meeting at work that I needed to focus on. So all in all, it was one of my better weeks and I am thinking this week will be no different but with a couple of things added as we will do a restaurant review tomorrow and I will be celebrating my in-laws 49th wedding anniversary. Yeah! 49th.. Crazy, right? It is inspiring to see a couple live their lives together for so long and I am definitely taking notes on how they have made it so far.

Because I have been so busy, it also means that I have been good and too distracted to think about food and sweets in particular. Not that it shows on the scale as I am weighing the same as last week but I know what I did this week and I am completely OK with that.

As I see it. It is always a positive for your diet if you can distract yourself from the routinely thoughts of chocolate, cake, cookies, ice cream or what have you. That is why I love moments like these where I am in a go go go go go mood. I am too busy to even notice my cravings. That is why distracting yourself when you are trying to loose weight is a good tool. Not that I should be using it all the time but sometimes it is nice to get a break from analyzing my “why do I crave chocolate right now? Would it be OK to eat some or should I try and drink some water? Is it that time of day where I crave sugar (usually in the afternoon for me)?” and the list continues.

That is why distracting yourself when you are trying to loose weight is a good tool.

Starting off my week right. I am updating my to-do list and I know that by Thursday morning, my itineraries will be done, final bus tickets purchased and I have the last weekend to clean the apartment and get things settled before we have to take off. For some reason I am so excited about this trip. Even more than usual. I just hope, that I won’t jinx it and set my expectations too high.

Would love to know if anyone has tried staying on track with their weight while traveling or loose weight while on vacation (being sick does not count, lol!)? Any insights, tools or suggestions would be appreciated!

And if you or someone you know are offering a bed, room, couch to crash in Porto or Paris don’t be shy either.

A few images from my productive week 😀

XOXO

Week 39: Things Are Starting To Come Together

February 13, 2017 2 Comments

I got my extension to my extension! This means that I have an additional 10 months in the US legally, while waiting for my more permanent green card (10 year Green Card, as they are no longer permanent).

I did not want my blog to become too political but it is too hard to ignore the new administration that is completely void of integrity, moral and ethics. As someone who is going through the Green Card process legally, I am telling you, it is not easy. I am one of the fortunate ones. I am Danish, white and married to someone that is American and looks white (although half Venezuelan) and I have the option to legally find a way to stay in the US. Sometimes, I think, what if I was not Danish and white but Muslim and from Iran? What if I was staying in this country illegally because I had nowhere else to call home. Even though I feel the anxiety from waiting to see if I get my permanent Green Card and whether or not Trump is going to change the law/rules while I am out on vacation, I know that is nothing in comparison to what other people in this country is currently going through. My heart weeps for them and I am crossing my fingers that we all will get through these times unscathed and not too much damage to the foundation of what is the US (and quite possibly the world).

Even though I feel the anxiety from waiting to see if I get my permanent Green Card and whether or not Trump is going to change the law/rules while I am out on vacation, I know that is nothing in comparison to what other people in this country is currently going through.

With that said, and all of my anxiety, I am still excited that Mike and I are finally going on trip together. When I got my extension we finally agreed upon the destinations while in Europe. London, Porto, Lisbon, Paris, Denmark and back to London for a family wedding. I love to travel, learn, discover and go on adventures (hence the name of the blog). I know it will be a challenge to not gain too much weight while I am on vacation especially as it will be for 34 days. I will not have my scale with me but I will stay on track with the help of my measuring tape. It should tell me if I am going out of control, staying within my weight or perhaps even loosing weight. The Monday before take off I will make sure to list my dimension before I leave so we can all keep track of my progress while traveling.

I love to travel, learn, discover and go on adventures (hence the name of the blog).

I have never measured or kept track of my weight while traveling for this amount of time so this should be a first and I am sort of excited to see how all the walking, climbing, eating, drinking etc etc will effect my weight. There are definitely lessons to be learned and I can’t wait to see what I can do differently, better or all together stop doing while traveling. I am, also, excited to write about my trip, the adventures, the places and hopefully you will be inspired to go yourselves.

At the moment I have my head buried into several books Mike took out from the library about Portugal, Paris and England. I am trying to figure out my schedule in Denmark and I wanted to plan a few things to do and see there as well. I, usually, have more plans than I can actually do, especially, as I have to work from London and Denmark but the benefit of working New York hours is that there is room for adventure in the morning (before 1PM local time). I was thinking of doing “KattegatCentret” in Grenaa while visiting my dad, Aros when going to Aarhus and something else in or around Viborg, Herning or Holstebro when going there. Then at least Mike will not go insane from boredom. To my Danish readers, I would love some input and ideas of what could be fun to do or see in those areas while there. And for people who have been to Portugal and Paris let me know if there is something that we should check out that would not necessarily be in all the tourist books.

I, usually, have more plans than I can actually do, especially, as I have to work from London and Denmark but the benefit of working New York hours is that there is room for adventure in the morning (before 1PM local time).

I hope you can all help me stay on track and perhaps even drag me out for a workout while in London and Denmark.

About the past week. As you can tell from the image. I actually lost weight! I am super excited about that. Although, only 1.4lb from the past 2 weeks, I have been stuck in the 20’s for a while so it was good to see a 1 for a change. The past 2 weeks I have been staying on track with the gym, went to the Oyster and Beer Festival, played in the snow, took at stroll down the Highline after the show had fallen and baked the most delicous chocolate cake. I know I should not but I tried to make a more healthy version and it paid off. It is the best chocolate cake I have ever made (and that is counting my sisters wedding cake, which was amazing). Luckily, Mike ate most of it which is probably why I managed to loose a bit of weight. Check out the images below from the past week.