8 Hour Diet Week 3 update

I lost another lb this week for a total weight loss of 3lbs. I'm really unimpressed with this plan so far.  Nothing else major changed this week so I'm not going to bore anyone with pointless details.

King Lear

The first thing I had to read for my Literature class was Shakespeare's  King Lear ( the class is focused on literary depictions of insanity).  Unlike the majority of the students in my class ( and probably the majority of the people in this world) I consider myself a Shakespeare person and King Lear, although it is  dark and depressing and has a terrible ending, is one of my favorites. I know most people don't really enjoy reading Shakespeare so I won't recommend it to you (unless you like that sort of thing), but I will recommend the Shakespeare in the Park version on youtube.  It stars James Earl Jones as King Lear.  You should also check out the movie Ran.  It's a Kurosawa film and it's a re-telling of King Lear that takes place in Japan. 

Rejoining the online world

At the beginning of the month I shared with you that I had logged off of the majority of my social media websites and had no plans to log back on.  When I first started this I couldn't see it lasting for more than a week. Yet, here we are at the 25th of January and I am just now logging on to Facebook for the first time this month and honestly, I could see myself going the rest of my life without social media.  But here's the deal.  I got this really great gig as an International Studies Abroad Global Ambassador (intern) and a lot of the communication with other ambassadors and the guy in charge of all of us is through Facebook so the boycott had to come to an end.

 

I'm hoping that I'm going to be able to use Facebook just for ISA stuff and crossing my fingers that I won't get sucked back into the habit of creeping on people I'm not really friends with.

 

In ISA related news, this coming week is #blueabroad week here at UK so I should have plenty of cool education abroad activities to keep me entertained.

The Sun Also Rises...eventually

Before I left for Spain (about a year and a half ago) I started reading The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway.  It must have been on some recommended reading list.  I think I probably read about 10 pages before I left and then didn't pick it up again until I was home for winter break.  After restarting at least 3 times I finally finished that darn book.  My opinion of it: ehhhh. 

 

It was interesting just to see how different Hemingway's writing style is from today's authors.  It also had some pretty good information about bull fights.  But really, it was one of the dullest books I've read.  I can't understand how Hemingway wrote this love story between Lady Ashley and Jake but really the only things that happen in the book are they go to bar, drink and watch bull fights. 

 

I'm watching the movie version tonight.  A little fun fact courtesy of IMDb trivia, the film received bad reviews because of the slow pace.

8 hour diet: Week 2 Update

This week, following the lack of success of week one, I decided to change things up this week.  I did still pretty much stick to the whole eat whatever you want in the quantities you want, but I did try eat more fruits and veggies (mangos where 10 for $10 at the Kroger this week!!!). The biggest thing I changed was that instead of restricting my eating to 8hrs a day for only 3 days a week, I did that for everyday of the week.  I also got more exercise this week.  So here are the results.

 

Weight: 151 lbs (Starting Weight: 153.5 lbs)

Waist:  30 ins (Starting: 31 ins)

Bust: 38 ins (Starting: 38 ins)

Hips: 37.5 ins( Starting: 38 ins)

 

 

8 Hour Diet: 1 Week update

I have been on the 8 hour diet for 1 whole week now and this morning I weighed in at....153.5lbs.  That's right, I weigh exactly the same thing I weighed a week ago.  As much as I would love to say I told you so,  I just can't do it, at least not yet.  Honestly, I think I took the whole eat what ever you want thing a little too far.  I ate foods like potato chips and ice cream that I would not have normally eaten. It really is a miracle that I didn't gain weight. 

 

So, this week, I'm sticking to the whole 8 hrs thing but I'm going to try to stick to things that are a little more normal in my diet and see if that makes a difference.

New Semester

Today was the first day of the spring semester.  After having to change a couple classes around my classes this spring are Spanish cinema, Italian language through film, Art History (medieval-modern), Spanish American Civilizations and Introduction to Literature.  At first I thought this was going to be an easier semester, but after going to class today I think I was probably wrong about that.  I will be doing a lot of reading and writing this semester.  It's going to be a tough semester but it is nice to say that I am really interested in every single class I'm taking.  I mean, films, books, art.  What more could I ask for?  Oh yeah, learning foreign languages and cultures!!! I cannot wait to get started watching films and reading.  In fact, the first movie for my Spanish class is on it's way to me through Netflix. I am sure I will be sharing more about what I'm watching and reading very soon.

The Year of Try: The Eight Hour Diet

So, earlier today, I wrote I nice long blog post about  The Eight Hour Diet and how I think it stupid but I going to try it because I think it's stupid and I want to see for myself whether it works or not and then I accidentally deleted that post. Because I have other things going on and I don't want to waste my time, I'm not going to rewrite that whole post so here is the general idea:

 

You eat what you want, how much you want, how often you want during an 8 hour time frame and then you don't eat at all during the other 16 hours of the day.  You are allowed water, coffee and tea (you can use small amounts of milk and sugar) during the sixteen hours that you're not eating.  Exercise is optional, except for 8 minutes of any activity in the morning, and you only have to follow this plan for 3 days a week. Follow this plan 3 days a week for 6 weeks and apparently you could lose up to 20lbs. 

 

Does this sound like hokum to you? Because it sounds like hokum to me.  Do you remember about a week ago when I said that my word of the year was "try"?  Do you remember when I said that if I catch myself saying that something is ridiculous and won't work, that I was going to try it?  Well...I'm starting this plan tomorrow. Here are my starting measurements and a couple of starting pictures:

 

Weight: 153.5 lbs

Waist: 31 inches

Hips: 38 inches

Bust: 38.5 inches

 

 

Most of the examples from the book of people who lost 20lbs in 6 weeks are people who were about 300lbs to begin with.  Seeing as I weigh half of that (and assuming the diet works) I cannot expect to have the same result.  With that said, if I lose 7lbs or more, I will proclaim to the world (or at least the people who read my blog) that I was wrong and that the Eight Hour Diet is not hokum.

 

The Year of Try: Salmon Jerky

I always seem to find something new and interesting at Trader Joes.  Today I stumbled upon Trader Joes Wild Salmon Jerky and I decided I had to try it.

 



Not surprisingly it is nothing like beef jerky, but still very tasty.  It is very fishy and sweet and it still has that flaky fish texture.  Give it a try some time!

Earning my Sleep

So I got back to Lexington early Wednesday afternoon and then spent the next few days getting 10 hrs of sleep a night only to wake up and sit on my butt, watching tv shows that I've seen a hundred times.  I have not unpacked. I have not cleaned my apartment. I have not left my apartment for any other reason but to get my mail.  I have not taken down my Christmas decorations.  I have been sitting around in my pjs all day because honestly, those are the only clean cloths I have and I'm too lazy to get up and do my laundry. 

 

I've been telling myself that this is an "unusual" situation because it's the last week before classes start and I want to relax so I'm well rested for the new semester.  Truth is, this is not unusual at all.  In fact, this is pretty much what every weekend looks like for me.  Even during the school week, I go to class, come home and do as little as I possibly can.  I never do anything unless it is absolutely necessary.

 

It's time to change that.  I'm sick of going to bed at night, fusing with the sheets and blankets because I didn't make the bed that morning, and laying there thinking that I've done nothing to earn my sleep and feeling like my biggest accomplishment of the day was watching the entire first season of the Big Bang Theory. 

 

My goal for this year is to do at least one thing EVERY day that makes me feel like I've accomplished something.  This could be anything from cleaning my fish bowl to making a great dinner to starting an assignment the day it is assigned instead of the day it is due.  Just one little thing, that is not something I have to do like go to class or buy groceries,  that leaves me fully satisfied with my day.

 

What are your goals for 2013?

New Year, New Crazy

I just did something crazy ya'll.  I just signed off all (or at least the majority) of all my social media sites, deleted them from my favorites bar and my phone and I have no intention of signing on to any other for a long while.  So what brought this on?  Well, for a while now I've felt like social media was losing it's original purpose and gaining a whole new (not so great) purpose.  Here are my real feelings about social media sites, get ready for some ranting.

 

Facebook: Ok, Facebook started out great for me.  I used it to actually talk to people and I reconnected with some old friends from South Carolina.  But I don't use it like that anymore.  When I get on Facebook, I'm not expecting to see a new message from a friend or  notifications.  I'm getting on only to see whats going on in the lives of people I haven't actually talked to in over 4 years. First of all, that's creepy.  Looking in on the lives of people who are not even my friends or relatives is not right. And, of course, if you're doing that to other people, you can pretty much guarantee other people are using Facebook to creep on you.  My second issue with Facebook is that the majority of the stuff people post there are random things that have no significance.  Why do I care who ate a chicken sandwich for lunch or who has a runny nose?  I really don't, but you wouldn't know that by how much time I spend on Facebook everyday. One last thing before I end my rant on Facebook.  Even if someone does actually post some major life moment on Facebook, don't you think that if they really wanted me to know, they would contact me.  I am willing to give my phone number, email address, actual address to anyone who asks for it (as long as I actually know the person).  That way they can send me a text and say "Hey, Bob just asked me to marry him!" and I can respond saying "Wow, that's great! Congrats to you and Bob." Even texting is better than communicating through a change in relationship status. Ok, seriously last thing: people will say "But I use Facebook when I have group work for school and I have to contact the people in my group."  Never once, during high school or college, have I used Facebook to contact group members for school work.

 

Twitter: Ok, Twitter is better than Facebook.  I do follow some news programs so at least every once in a while I'll hear some actual news.  Also, following celebrities is pretty cool too because sometimes bands announce up coming tours on Twitter and it's always fun to witness a celebrity Twitter meltdown.  But for the most part Twitter is even more mundane than Facebook. Twitter is where we read all about what Kim Kardashian had for lunch and how much people drank the night before. I am guilty of boring tweets and every time I tweet something I think to myself "who on earth would be interested in this?" Truth: not many people are.

 

Pinterest:  Pinterest has gone from my favorite to my least favorite social media in a very short amount of time.  I would love Pinterest if the only things on there where recipes, crafts and diy home decor.  The funny pictures can stay too. But people just can't stop at that, can they?  Nothing makes me more mad than the pictures that people pin of women with so much muscle and so little fat that, if they weren't wearing such a small amount of clothing, it would be hard to tell whether they were women or men. And they always say something ridiculous like "Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels" or "Won't stop until I'm perfect".  And then they call it "Pinsperation".  They only thing that inspires me to do is get off Pinterest faster.  I know you can just follow the boards you're interested and that brings me to my second point on Pinterest. It's a huge time suck.  If I only followed boards I liked I would be able to waste entire days on that website.  I keep the crazy things around so I have some motivation to stop pinning.  Even with the things I don't like, I've managed to waste hours at a time pinning recipes and knitting patterns that I've never made. When I think about how much time I've wasted since I first got on Pinterest, I'm seriously mad about it. I could have done so many other things with that time, like knit some socks or read a book, but no, I was too busy looking at pictures of Grumpy Cat.

 

There are a couple social networks I am keeping around.  I'll still use Ravelry because it's a great place to find knitting patterns and talk about knitting and for the most part, that's all people use it for.  I'm also keeping my Instagram because, let's face it, my pictures look better through a filter.  This no social networking thing might not last forever, but for know, I'm done with it.