Letter to Mah Belly

Dear Belly,

You are one tricksy character. You try to confuse me by slowing, gradually growing bigger over time without me realizing it.

"Have a beer, Christy. You worked hard today and you deserve it!"

or

"Have some more chocolates. I know it's your favorite. It'll make you feel better about the stress in your life."

In the meantime, Belly quietly laughs an evil belly laugh to itself. He gets bigger and bigger and soon he will take over Christy....Muhahahhaha. MuhAHAHA. Haha. Ha. Ah. Ha. Until...

Christy looks at some old pictures of herself and realizes how much bigger Belly has gotten over time. She also realizes that the scale and her BMI are displaying numbers of evil. Although she was aware of this before and tried to conquer the belly on multiple occasions, she didn't know about Belly's many weaknesses.

The one thing that Christy has learned over time about Belly is that it (he/she?) is very quick to adapt. Feed Belly a few less calories a day and slowly, gradually, without Belly realizing it, Belly will get smaller and smaller and require less food. By writing down how many calories she eats and slowly lowering that number, Christy CAN FOOL THE TRICKSY BELLY!

She must also remember that Belly is very sensitive to any addition of calories to her diet. Belly adapts VERY quickly. Scoundrel.

She likes to fool Belly by drinking peppermint tea as a snack to fill Belly up if she doesn't have many calories left for the day.

Also, Christy is weird...and wears tight pants.  On purpose. Yes, she wear pants that are slightly tight on her so that I can be more conscious of Belly. No offense, Belly, but you are not the first thing on Christy's mind.

Finally, she exercises. Not everyday and she isn't able to keep up with Jillian Michaels perfectly, but at least 3-5 days a week no if, ands, or buts.

SideNote: I haven't lost much weight yet but I think I can hear a tiny, screaming, distant voice coming from Belly. It's saying "Helllllllllp me! Christy is trying to control me......and she knows! She KNOWS!!!" *In a low, Gollumish voice in my head*

So Belly, I was looking at some pictures last night and I realized that you could be much, much smaller and I would be much healthier. It was nice having you there to comfort me but I will now be finding new ways to conquer my stress.

Another Sidenote: B found an old DVD with pictures of my last trip to see family in Ohio on it. I was a skinny minnie. Believe it or not.

I've always been a nerd.

Me on the left...always had a slightly stocky lower body but I'm looking thin!

Side view of me with my grandma, aunt, and second cousin. Look, no double chin!

Here you can even see the belly sticking out. That was my favorite pair of jeans. I still have those. Size 8. *Sigh*

See, Belly, you can be thin and healthy. Now make it easier for Christy and stop with the sweets and fast food cravings, K?

Best Regards,

Christy


P.S. We are out of Dove dark chocolates and cookies so don't even think about it.

Quickie Update

I wanted to do a quickie update. We have some severe storm and tornado warnings looming here in Florida and I'm hoping to not lose power. But if I stop posting for awhile, you'll know why. However, after living in Florida through many hurricane/severe weather warnings I'm pretty skeptical. If anything, we'll get some good rain, maybe some lightning and thunder, and spend some time out in our garage enjoying the show.

I had my first interview last week and decided to wear the black suit and blue shirt with my hair up. Thanks for the fashion feedback! I looked spiffy but for the first five minutes of the interview my voice was shaking profusely and so were my hands. I was SO nervous. It was my first choice school after all. I just hope that the interview committee understood that my reaction was because of how badly I wanted to be accepted into their program and not weakness or the inability to cope with stress. After years of volunteer work, post-bac work, finding my way through various jobs, paper writing, long nights up studying, stressing, stressing, stressing and trying to keep some semblance of a social life and a relationship (which has had it's up and downs through post-bac), I hope they can see through my nerves and realize how badly I want to be accepted to PA school.

Next week, I have two more interviews. I'll be traveling all around the state of Florida and I'm so giddy about staying in nice hotels with B. It's one of my favorite things to do. Oh yeah, and possibly going to a couple of nice eateries (is that a word?)..my most favorite thing to do with B.  I really hope I can be relaxed at these next two interviews and really open up to the committees. After all, they are just trying to get to know you and put a face to the stats.

In the mean time, I've been picking up a few jobs for the agency, washing our cars, doing my 30 Day Shred workouts everyday, tracking my calories, and keeping up with housework. Having a break between my first interview, and the next 2 interviews is an amazing blessing.

What is everyone else out there up to?

Well, time to hunker down!

Suit up, lady!

This weekend I found my suit. Actually, two suits...they were on sale. While I like the suits, B took some pics of me and I think I look obese...seriously. It's interview week though, so obese or not, I have to make the best impression that I can and think positively.

Let me just preface this with I'm doing Jillian Micheal's 30 Day Shred and watching my intake but I still have 40+ pounds to lose. THINK POSITIVE...oui.

Suit 1. Hair down.

Suit 1. Hair up.

I will definitely be keeping my suit jacket on no matter how much I sweat...

Suit 2. Hair down.

Suit 2. Hair up.

And keeping suit jacket on because I look like I'm 6 months pregnant.

Now time to go work on what I'm going to say at the interview. Something I have more immediate control over. I think I look much better with my hair up and with as many layers on as possible. Would you let me into your graduate school? Which outfits do you like?

Interview Outfits

This weekend I'm going shopping for a graduate school interview suit. I'm definitely a t-shirt and jeans type of girl so could any fashionistas out there give me some tips? Here is what I've been looking at so far.

Ann Taylor. 

I worry that this might be too brown...I have brown hair and it might end up looking just bland. Thoughts?

Banana Republic.

This might look good with a bright colored dress shirt underneath and some jewelry. 

Because I live in Florida and because the interview is going to be inside I definitely need a very nice dress shirt. This has been so hard for me to find. I'm tall and curvy so I definitely don't want anything from the juniors section. 

JCPenny

Eh...I would prefer 3/4 length sleeve or something a little younger looking. For some reason, I just can't find anything!

Nine West

I love, love, love shoes from Nine West. Shoes are so much easier than clothes for me.

I'm feeling a tad overwhelmed. Suggestions?