Pounds come off...and they come back on....

Well, I've lost up to 22 lbs on the South Beach Diet. At one point I was doing REALLY good and losing on a regular basis. And then - THE TRAVEL STARTED UP AGAIN. Man, it's tough to stay good when you're traveling b/c it's harder to plan for your week of meals. And there is always the comfort food when you miss home.... Also, it's hard to keep sugar free popsicles in a hotel room. I have a 10 day stretch of travel coming up in August - perhaps I can ask for a fridge in my room.

At this point, I've still in the loss column with 12 lbs to date. I went to my Dr. on Tuesday and she was concerned that I had lost too much weight in one month. It was interesting b/c as you lose weight, your skin that had expanded to hold in the weight does not necessarily go away - it just bunches up. I now see why folks have that plastic surgery after losing weight so that they look fit and taut.

Now, for those who may read this and not know me or what I look like (other than the profile photo - which is a pretty good one, I might add), my goal is to be healthy, eat healthy, shrink my waist/tummy and then fit into some items of clothing that I have not been able to get in for about 2 years now. It's actually funny - my legs, hips look good (to me). It's just the tummy (like a small beer belly - and I don't even drink beer - HOW RUDE) that protrudes out a bit and causes me to wear the larger sizes. So my waist fits fine (you're suppose to fit the largest part of you) but then the legs and the tushy area of my pants are all big and roomy.

Oh well, I continue my trials and tribulations of sticking to the South Beach Diet. It's not that hard to follow. I LOVE not having to count points, etc. You just have to stick with foods that don't have a high glycemic index (little to no sugar or will break down into sugar). In addition to falling off the good carbs bandwagon, I had also slacked up on the exercise as my hotels have not had decent work out facilities nor did I feel comfortable walking around by myself at night in a different neighborhood. It's tough to come home and go back to the gym to see my trainer b/c I know that first visit is going to be difficult and painful when it's done b/c I was out of practice. I got in my first good walk in about 2 weeks in last night - it was great to stretch the legs. I'm getting in another one today. Have to take full advantage of the beautiful weather in Chicago!

OK - off to enjoy another beautiful day! Enjoy yours too!

I-Pod woes.....

I love my I-Pod. As far as I am concerned, Apple hit it out of the ballpark when they created I-Pod and marketed it to the mass consumer market (of which I am a major part). However, tonight has been a LONG night of HARD LESSONS LEARNED.

Here's the story: this week I bought an external hard drive as my computer's hard drive was getting full and I was having some performance problems. My personal computer technician and friend J came over to assist me in showing me how it works and all that. Well, he inadvertently not only transferred the actual files of the CD but he also transferred over the .wav files that the I-Pod reads in I-Tunes and then synchronizes with my little gadget. So tonight when I go to update my library and my personal play lists, my I-Tunes gives me this huge error message that none of my tunes can be played because the original files cannot be located. Of course, they are on the external hard drive, which the I-Tunes driver does not read. UGH!!!!!!!

Ok, so after calling my computer tech in a panic and he's not available (so he has a life that includes social activities on a Friday night - unlike his client here - lucky him), I start to tinker around to see if I can figure this out on my own. VERY SCARY NOTION - Cherai tinkering in her computer. Well, I find the file that has all the .wav files (or .aac files - whatever) and import that file back into my I-Tunes. SUCCESS! I now have all my files again and the songs will play again.

Then I look at my library again and figure out "OH NO - NOW I HAVE DOUBLED THE SIZE IN MY I-TUNES LIBRARY AND EVERY SONG IS DUPLICATED!!!" I've sent messages to I-Tunes support help and urgent emails to my computer technician. Alas, I'm stuck out here on my own. It would appear that I now have to go in and manually delete every extra song. HOURS of work.

And on top of that, I have to re-do all my customized playlists (about 15 different ones like work out list and a chill-out list, etc). Ho-hum - I see hours of work in my future. This is so sad. And there is NO WAY I'm synching my I-Pod to my I-Tunes until I know if my I-Tunes is correct and fixed properly. What a PAIN IN THE REAR!!!!!!

HMMMM, I wonder if I delete every song listed in the I-Tunes directly but the files are in the hard drive and then let my I-pod put the songs back on the I-Tunes list when it synchs again. I'll have to go to the Apple Store to see if we they recommend. That could be my exercise tomorrow - walking to the I-Pod store on Michigan Avenue. I did some serious walking tonight but that's another topic for another post on my blog.

Say a prayer for me as I manually reconfigure my I-Tunes. This is so sad....

Oh, the good old summertime...

The best part of summer is that it's warm outside and the days are longer. For the most part, the weather cooperates and it's beautiful outside. I love working from my dining room table and take a look outside and it's sunny and stuff. When one lives in Chi-Town where it's only summertime-hot for about 3 months out of 12 (and I'm being generous), you have to take the sunshine when you can.

Now, the bummer part of summer is that usually it's my busiest time to travel. This summer has made up for a travel-less spring as this week I was in Jessup, MD at our corporate headquarters for a sales meeting. I'm home for another 10 days and then I'm on a whirlwind tour that will basically last from July 26th - August 16th. I get to come home for 2 days to wash clothes and pack and then I head back out again. The destinations are cool, though. First Milwaukee for the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Midwest Regional Conference - where one of my dear friends and sorors is running for Regional Director. Please send positive thoughts and prayers her way (Octavia) that she is able to achieve her goal as Octavia will make a fabulous Regional Director.

After Milwaukee, I head to Montreal for an industry trade show. I'm totally looking forward to that as I've never been to Montreal. I'm working on getting my digital camera in working order again so that I can take great photos and you guys get to see them sooner than later. I'm still waiting for my pics to be developed from vacation in Asheville, NC and the family reunion. Hopefully soon that will happen....

After Montreal, I get to come home and wash clothes and then head to San Francisco for work. We're doing the American Bar Association convention in Moscone and I get to go out and support the operations team as we go do that so that's pretty exciting. Should be a lot of work but fun, as well.

It's a challenge to keep all the balls juggling in synch but we seem to be doing it with minimal dropped balls. We'll see what happens from here.

OH - and my parents just finished a wonderful Caribbean cruise so I can't wait to see their pics and hear about their relaxation adventures. Dad was determined to relax and enjoy himself and so was Mom. From what they have texted me during their trip, they achieved their goals. I'm just trying to be like them when I grow up.

OK - hopefully the next post will have some pics. Drop a note of what you're up to when time allows.