Chicago Update No. 1

Ok, let's see where to begin...
My first flight had so many screaming and pooping kiddos on it... The parents of the screamer in front of me were young and had a great sense of humor, but it didn't mask the child who made noises louder than my high school percussionists. I wished I had my earplugs...
The overall travel experience was good until I got to Chicago. The L was difficult to manage when it was time to change from one color line to another - the stations were not well marked and I had to ask for help. My room is at IIT and my roommie never showed. Dinner at a college caf was less than nostalgic. They have some great vegetarian and vegan offerings that will help keep the WW struggle in check, but I did help myself to a slice of pizza. Oh, and an Auntie Annie's pretzil yesterday at the airport. What, I had 5 minutes between getting off a flight and boarding the next one and it was the closest lunch in sight...
I fell asleep feeling a little alone and at a loss for resources. Maybe it was just overload that had me down. At least I saw a great sunset over the city:

This morning I woke up and missed my morning coffee so much that I had to download the app for Starbucks. I'm a block away, so I walked over. On my way in, a dude said, "good morning" to me and I just ignored him because I couldn't tell if he was being friendly or had a maliscious intent. The barista told me where the nearest supermarket was, and also explained that the stadium I saw along the way was the home of the White Sox. Along my walk to the store, every single person I saw said, "good morning" and I realized: Everybody out here is just super friendly! Score one for Chicago.
I was able to get what I needed and get back to the dorm, and now I feel so adventurous that I might go find my room for class tomorrow, eat at Gino's East for dinner, and see the fireworks. Maybe Chicago is not half bad.

Horoscope

“The passion to explore is at the heart of being human,” said Carl Sagan. “This impulse — to go, to see, to know — has found expression in every culture.” But Steven Dutch, a professor at the University of Wisconsin, disagrees. He says there’ve been lots of societies that have had little interest in exploration. Africans never discovered Madagascar or the Cape Verde archipelago, for example. Few Asian cultures probed far and wide. During a thousand years of history, ancient Romans ignored Russia, Scandinavia, and the Baltic, and made only minimal forays to India and China. Where do you personally fit on the scale of the human exploratory urge, Virgo? Regardless of what you’ve done in the past, I bet you’ll be on the move in the coming months. Your hunger for novelty and unfamiliarity should be waxing."
-Free Will Astrology

On another note, the trip to San Antonio didn't interfere with WW that much - I stayed the same for the week. I'm hoping that the trip to Chicago for 2 weeks and being on a college meal plan will make salads more accessible.

Week 1

After being back on ww for a week, I lost 5.6 lbs! That is an amazing feat in one week. And to think I had a burger (umm... no bun and salad instead of fries) and a creemee! This is why I like the program so much - as long as I track everything and meet nutritional guidelines... it works! This time around, I have a partner who is cognizant of what I'm doing. Mike has said, "I'll eat whatever you need to eat" and "Are you allowed to go to that restaurant"! It's nice to have the support. Last time around I had a partner who was a great cook, who had the motto "fat equals flavor". While he was mostly right about that... it was tough to have somebody eating differently from me at home.
Last time around I was also not into sharing this much with the people I know. This time, I think it'll keep me accountable. Plus, I'm not embarrassed this time. Life happens.

WW

So for those of you who do NOT know me... I joined weight watchers a few years back, started running, and lost 65lbs. Then I let it slip, stopped going to meetings, and just let life happen without taking care of myself. I still ran every now and then, and even did a 5K as I was gaining.
People around me don't eat very well, and it hasn't mattered much to me. I went back to a meeting yesterday, and was astounded at the difference the second time around. The first time I joined, the emotions were high. I was ashamed, embarrassed that I had to be there, hesitant, and didn't think it was something that was going to last. Yesterday, I sat in the meeting with a room full of supportive people. I felt proud that I had made the choice to take care of myself, excited to start the journey. It's so funny too... I hadn't even started to program, but I immediately had a shift in thought and felt better about myself.