It really is difficult, to go to work, concentrate as hard as I can for 8 hours, then come home and relax as hard as I can until bedtime.
Winter's coming.
This is what happens if you eat like a pig in New York City.
Although, water retention, again, increases for higher salt intake. So, we'll have to see what the effects are in the long run.
Lost 9.6 pounds since 7/25. This is what it looks like.
I'm pretty close to my goal. Another 5 pounds will cut it. Look at the graph though, I'm hitting a weight plateau. I'm already comfortable in size 2's and even 0's. I've saved quite a bit of money on food in doing this (although I guess it's cancelled out by the fact that I buy organic food). We'll see how long I can keep this up. I'm still able to eat pretty well while doing this, but I have to admit, keeping it up is not easy. But, for those of you who are skeptical, it is possible to exercise 40 minutes a day and lose weight. Also note the fluctuations. I weigh myself at about the same time every day and you can see pretty large fluctuations of 1-3 pounds. I notice this is very much correlated with how much salt I'm eating. If I load up on salty snacks/soups, I somehow load up on pounds too. I cut back my salt intake the next day and I see a pretty telling drop. This is all water weight. I've exercised more some days and less others (2 hours was my maximum). I've done some ab workouts too, but moreso towards the beginning of my working out. I've been doing less of them recently, and it seems that because of it my weight loss has slowed. Also note that I gained some weight at first. Each dot, by the way, is one day. I've basically gone from size 3/4 to size 0/2 in a month and a half.
I notice that if I do not get enough sleep, my motivation sinks pretty badly. I can do all the things I need to do - make lunch for the next day, eat well, and work out - but when I get to work, I start nodding off during meetings and I can't feel as engaged as I would be if I was energetic. And when I get home, I spend my time doing unproductive things. I'm still managing to stitch together some songs for a new mix, but my willingness to get out there and get more music is diminishing. I still love the music, but there's a certain joy in being supported for it which I'm lacking here.
I hope I'll find someone who will want to spend time doing something that doesn't involve spending extravagant amounts of money on food or drinks. I understand that going out to eat is fun and all, but is anyone that oblivious of the markup? You're paying for so much service. The fact that I'm not a big fan of TV - i.e. 'watching things' - really doesn't make things better. I'm artistically inclined and so I like creating things. But it is rare to find someone in a city so empty of meaning who is willing to create the meaning I desire. They say I think too much. But I get bored by mundane things like...watching stuff.
It's hard, really, when you're a millenial who isnt stereotypically short-sighted, and living in a city where you can relate to nobody. I can go out with everyone else and drink and do whatever young people do at this age, but I come back with an heart void of meaning and full of regret.
In the far corner of a darling Chinese grocery store I found a beautiful French antique teacup and saucer. I reeled initially, thinking that 99 cents for an antique was a bit...strange. I inspected it closely, but I could tell by its beautiful details and finish - that it could not be China made. This was a porcelain product of Limoges, France. I couldn't believe it. How inspiring it is to find the most unexpected treasures in the most unexpected cities. And at an unxpected price. $2 for both pieces.
More information on Limoges porcelain at this Wiki page.
There are very few things about life that I understand. Sometimes I wish I could be at peace and just be happy with the now and just surf the wave of life. At the same time, I am so fearful of the great unknown, of things never changing and never getting better. It's stupid for me to feel unsatisfied at the prime of my life.
If I spend $40 per week on food, 40/7 days/3 meals = 1.90. I would be spending less than $2 per meal. On the other hand, if I ate out every day, and every meal including coffee, etc. is $10, 10*7*3 = $210 per week by eating out.
Considering many meals are more than $10, by not eating out three meals a day I am saving $170 per week by making my own food.
My friend asked me yesterday if I felt that the "world was passing me by." Being in Buffalo, I really did understand his words. It is easy to lose yourself in a city so full of ruin and void of hopes and dreams.
I said no. I think the world is what you make of it. It's up to you to seek the good in the little things. It's really too easy to look for more than you need.
A glimmer of hope and a little bit of dreaming, though, will go a long way. But the only person who can be proactive about that is you.
I am weird.
I enjoy making a lunch on the stove the night before, stuffing it into a glass box, and then carrying it to work and microwaving it.
I find it amusing to walk around my apartment with the curtains drawn, and with interesting attire on.
I like pumping up my subwoofer and listening to strange music while cooking.
I love oversized and undersized fruits. Including fruit plushies.
I get up at 6:15 every morning to work out, and by work out, I mean play DDR. In doing so, I lift up my carpet, put my DDR pad onto a carpet pad, plug it into my laptop. The screen is small yet I deal and manage to play for about 40 minutes. How funny it is that I'm sick of the music, so much that I mute the DDR music, do the steps, and listen to other music on Winamp.
I'm living alone, and life is fascinatingly strange. When you are confined to a cubicle and discovering funny things on your laptop, you often forget that there is a whole world out there.
And for some weird reason, it doesn't really care what you're up to. Life goes on.
I hope that somehow...I'll have done something right by the end of this, because right now, nobody will tell me if I am =/
Cheap thrills, happy hours, and shallow desires. I will not fall into this category of people.
Getting up at 6-6:30, workout, shower, breakfast, work. Get home, make dinner, play online board games and/or clean and/or deco. Shower. Sleep at 11. Rinse and repeat.
These past few days have been just shopping shopping shopping for my apartment and my daily needs. I managed to haul a $49 10' diameter circular oriental rug from Lowe's back to my place. I took it from the store to the bus stop (the hardest part), onto the bus, off the bus, onto the subway, off the subway and back to my room. The amount of heavy lifting I've been doing is a little crazy. But I love the way the circular rug looks in my rectangular room. I had some misgivings about it, but because the price was so good it was hard to resist.
I spoke to a friendly woman at Lowe's about the city and she reiterated much of what I already knew. Do not go east of Main Street, Cheektowaga is the clubbing district, lots of festivals in the summer (there happens to be an Italian festival which ends tomorrow, hopefully I can get to it). She also told me tidbits of information that surprised me. Such as the fact that the only thing you can do during the winter is go drinking. Or the fact that people get stabbed at Cheektowaga.
From taking public transportation it is easy for me to see the difference between those who are well off and those who are poor. Living less than a mile from the divide I feel tension whenever I walk to the metro station (which is on the other side of Main Street). Uneducated, poor, and unable to recognize and follow social norms, they also look highly medicated. I am adamant about not taking too many drugs, and the face of Buffalo was this, it's hard not to be disappointed. I sympathize with them greatly and quite honestly I don't want to know what goes on on the other side of Main Street. Their obnoxiousness is terrifying.
What's interesting is that downtown is a ghost town. There is quite literally nothing to do there. The only buildings that have actual activity are the office buildings. Elmwood Village, historically known to be a cultural and historical magnet, is more run-down than I had imagined. The people walking the streets had stained clothes, many appeared to be incredibly obese (eating a lot of junk food, evidently), and most of them had this heart-wrenching look of depression on their faces. I would guess that a significant number of people here are unemployed. I cannot tell you how many times I was cat-called while doing my shopping. It made me feel frightened and uneasy. I was pretty sad about the whole thing, but then I also remembered that I was not here to really experience the city, I was here to work and make a living. And I can count on myself to make trips back home and to New York City if I would like to. It is fortunate that I would have a normal workday so that my evenings are free for me to relax and I can do whatever I wish on weekdays.
Eventually I do want to make myself a routine. If I can sleep early I can wake early and get my exercise in (I have not been highly disciplined in my eating habits during the school year), eat a nice breakfast, go to work. It's refreshing to know that I have control over what I want to do in my free time and I don't have looming exams and homework to stress me out.
"There is no better way to shout out to the world that you hate your race than surgically changing your eyes and nose." From an commenter on this site.
The strongest men are those who can sacrifice their pride, acknowledge their weaknesses, and make an effort to remedy them.
I got an A on my thesis!! Today was really great. Friday the 13th is apparently a lucky day for me. I bought a pair of shoes to celebrate, but I wanted to get a pair that I would wear frequently to work, i.e. daily. I have a couple of work-worthy shoes - gray flats and 3 inch patent heels. I think I need to get a champagne colored heel as well, but black is more versatile for now. And so, I got the perfect kitten heels.
Literally.
I also had the option of getting the perfect pump, but I don't really want to suffer back pain in the future by wearing high heels all the time and the perfect pump heels were just too high for me. I was really happy to enjoy a 30% discount because of being a student (20%) and because the saleslady was kind (additional 10%).
Also enjoyed a great lunch and dinner. I love mushroom barley soup. I also had a delicious salad, determined that my lunch was too healthy, and ate two mini croissants. Dinner was awesome Soul Food night - irresistably delicious macaroni n cheese by T.
Varnished some of my clay creations and then went out for bubble tea with roomies. I have just finished printing the last of my photo paper which means I don't have to spend any more time in the darkroom. Awesome!!
Welcome to my new website! Here I will blog about my music, my sweets deco adventures, fashion/makeup, and of course, life. Each entry will be labeled and categorized under each ice cream scoop on the right.