Posts Slowing Down...Weight Loss Slowing Down

Yes its true, I'm slowing somewhat, although not completely giving up yet. I'm still exercising at least 30 minutes every day (and Saturday ran for an hour). My pace is getting better too. But I still haven't introduced any weight training. And low-carb diet is on semi-hiatus. And some of my bad habits are creeping back in...but I'm still hanging in there.

Eating pumpkin seeds now, but don't get so excited, went to lunch with Hanhua at a nice Shanghainese restaurant: DUMPLINGS!!!! Plus soup with lots of rice. Last night back to Sureno with US visitor, had wagyu steak again...and some cheese & potato fritters. Today Hanhua told me that most people who come to China lose weight because of the healthy Chinese food...hmmm. That's all I can say...hmmm.

A Few Days Off the Plan...

Well the weekend was a whirlwind - Saturday went with another family on an all day adventure with Beijing Kids to a big lunch, then bus ride to the zoo, then Pandas, Dolphin Show, Penguins...pretty fun. They gave the kids treat bags with snacks, so I snuck in a few Snickers, on top of the pizza and pasta for lunch at the venerable Annie's (a Beijing version of Red Robin sort of?). And that night, in celebration of our 7th anniversary, Tony and I went to the awesome Li Qun, hidden in the hutongs, for some very authentic, very delicious Peking Duck:

http://www.pbase.com/towkay/li_qun_roast_duck

Good vegetable sides, but adding to the Giant Carb Counter in the Sky, we split 3 big Yanjing beers (the local brew, IMHO better than Tsing Dao). And then finished up with a quick cocktail at the new Park Hyatt China Bar, on the 65th floor! Park Hyatt has a special place in our heart - we were engaged at the Tokyo Park Hyatt 8.5 years ago, and spent many wonderful nights there when we moved there in 2005, so we had to visit the Beijing version as well.

And for the biggest transgression at all, last night had dinner with Alan Gao at a v. nice French restaurant (Le Pre Prenotre at Sofitel) and ate bread with abandon (but had seafood for meal, not too bad). But wait it gets worse - when I got home last night I was not hungry at all of course, but Tony made Rice Krispie treats and....well, when you're one step off the plan, why not just jump . Ate a few of the damn things, and slept wonderfully :-). This morning, ran my fastest circuit, feeling guilty, but clearly not enough. The ins are now officially much much bigger than the outs, so need to scale back the eats and scale up the running...

My First (very small) Car Accident in China

I obsess sometimes with worry that my demise will happen in Beijing, on the highway going 90 mph with a crazy driver weaving in and out of the other crazy drivers...and then I just take a deep breath and try to think about something else. But I'm clearly on edge just below the surface - which may be understandable when you hear that 10K new cars are on the road in China every day, and that driving schools are fairly lax, and police are non-existent on the highways. Anyway, last night we slowed down to join the queue getting on a ramp to the 4th ring road...it was a somewhat abrupt move, but nothing too severe. As can happen anywhere in the world, the person behind us was not paying attention and...bang he hit. I think he was only going about 20 mph, but I of course jumped out of my skin, convinced for a split second that this was the end. This morning my neck and my knee (oddly) are both sore. But I know it could have been a lot lot worse, and I also probably just met my quota for accidents for awhile, right? Hope so...

And for my friends in India, I know that Beijing is a dream comparatively, so take this with a grain of salt :-).

Leading a Lush Life

From a weight perspective, I'm not making significant progress either way, really, which I am OK with for now. From a nutritional perspective, I've probably evened out with gains & losses, although I have re-ignited a passion for a nice crudite :-). However...last night was poker night with friends (won 150RMB!), and in honor St. Pat's Day (I'll take any excuse), had some Guinness and other notable Irish snack items like pizza, french fries, chicken wings. Oh well. From an exercise perspective, still going 35 minutes a day at 6:00 am. Its actually light out when I walk out of the house now, and for the first time I took off my running jacket mid-run. But the pollution was bad, and then I got depressed wondering if my exercise gains were negated by unhealthy air...but try not to worry about it too much since I like the post-run feel so much.

This morning heard a great interview with Richard Price, I'm a big Clockers fan, and I am dying to get my hands on Lush Life, now on paperback (hint, hint). He also talked about writing for the Wire, which has a very special place in my heart - I became absolutely addicted when Tony and the kids went back to the States 2 weeks early for Christmas: I spent every non-working hour plowing through the entire 5 seasons, was just obsessed. Favorite characters? Bunk and Omar and the Polish cop-turned-teacher who's name I can't recall (and wouldn't be able to spell anyway)...

Not a Stellar Weekend

Well, in full disclosure mode, I will quickly identify all of my transgressions recently, its been a 4 day spree really:

• Thursday night: pizza and beer with Amazonians at Hutong Pizza (highly recommend):
  http://www.dianping.com/shop/507765
• Friday night: fantastic dinner with neighbor Beth and two of her friends (including HRD for Intel) at this new favorite place Sureno: http://www.cityweekend.com.cn/beijing/listings/dining/mediterranean/has/sureno/
• Saturday, took the kids to cool Beijing museum, and then in a moment of weakness (kid pressure), stopped by the Golden Arches. Had my first french fries in over a month, umm yummm, but just at kids, didn't order my own :-).
• Saturday evening, went to a friend's house for dinner with Oliver, but not your normal family get together, they had it catered by the chef working at the US embassy! GAZILLION plates of food on buffet, everything from sushi, to beef, to fish, to lasagna, to bruschetta, to veggies, to outrageous deserts...well the list goes on. Had a couple glasses of nice wine. Oliver went nuts with sushi, he's really a sushi-aholic.
• Sunday, Tony went for a hike with friend Eric, I had the kids all day so didn't get out to exercise. Started a gradual return from the madness, ate chicken, strawberries, bananas.
• Monday AM, did not wake up for run!

Alright, well there you go, have to get back on track now...

Feeling Groovy

During my run this morning, remembered that I started this journey more as an exercise in feeling "healthier" rather than as a pure "lose weight" mechanism.

So I'm happy to report that at 8:11 am on Tuesday, March 10th, I am feeling pretty groovy. Looking back, I've been successful at cutting down some of the more egregious indulgences (beers, chips, hamburgers, french fries) and I've also been successful at dragging my tired body outside in the AM on a regular basis for a nice little run.

Sure, more work to do, but hey, this morning I am feeling much much better than I was a month ago. That ain't bad.

Are my Reserves Slipping?

I'm a little over one month into this whole experiment, and I can see resolve slipping at the edges. Interesting to observe myself during this time, I am getting better at justifying transgressions and moving on without a second thought. Case in point, yesterday met with a visitor from Seattle to walk around the art area called 798. Beautiful day, sun is shining, birds are singing and there's some awesome art to see...and I was working up an appetite. We stopped at my favorite cafe long after my hunger pains started, and without a second thought ordered spaghetti with vegetables. I bypassed a few salads and went straight for the carb load. It was delicious, practically ate the bowl when I was finished. Luckily the portion was relatively small, but the pont is I just ordered it and ate it and moved on. And later in the evening (usually the most vulnerable time of day), I felt myself obsessing with the frosted cupcakes sitting in the kitchen. Drawn to the sugar, drawn to the yum...I was successful in abstaining, but the conversation I had with myself, about 100 times, went something like this "who cares, you've been good about exercising, what's the big deal...hmm, you're slipping, why is this so appealing to you now, what is driving this behavior that only a frosted cupcake will make you happy..." blah blah blah. It feels like a month ago I had reserves of steel...now it feels like reserves of play-doh. Just interesting to observe. I am feeling rewarded that I dropped a size in pants, at the same time I wonder if I am destined to plateau here...and does just writing it make it so? We shall see...

Starting to Feel Better

Last two days have been chock full of intense work and stomach issues and bad sleep, all seemingly intertwined. Still managed to drag myself out in the AM for 2 runs in a row, although I am slower than usual, and curtailed the last part a little bit for fear of hurling while whirling through the compound. Just right now I'm feeling a bit better, at 8:37 am. Had a banana so let's see how it goes. Have to tackle sleep issues - I've been waking up 2-3 times a night, sometimes wake enough that I have to pick up a book before I can get back to sleep. On the positive side, this is enabling me to get through some awesome books. Finished Marvin Gaye and now I'm craving a Motown series - Berry Gordy, Diana Ross, moving down to Muddy Waters, Etta James in Chi-town/Chess Records territory...but can't get those books for awhile, so turned to Founding Brothers, which has been on my nightstand for many months (see link on right).

Actually got deeply enthralled in the opening story about Hamilton & Burr's duel in 1804, wow what a great story. This didn't help my sleeping though, cause really its a page turner. But still worth it...

Tired and Crabby

This weekend, again, not so great. Primary culprit was Saturday night going to see Chicago Improv All Stars, eating bad nachos that tasted like butter...drinking beers. I did my exercise bit, but my eating resolve is starting to erode. Had a handful of chips here, a cookie there, a bit of pasta here. And now I've caught the Henry-Tony stomach bug I think; I slept poorly and have been fighting nausea all day. Didn't run. Have to work until 7 in order to catch Hanhua and prep for 8 am meeting.

In short...I'm a whiner today, let's hope I snap out tonight...