I'll admit it. I caught Royal Wedding fever. I never caught Bieber-fever, Jersey Shore-itis, or needed an American Idol-ectomy. I was long overdue for a full-on pop culture obsession. The timing couldn't have been more perfect. During my first week of exams, the extensive Today Show coverage was enough to get me out of bed and it was just the distraction I needed Friday morning to get over the anxiety I was feeling about my property exam.
It was beautiful, a real life fairy tale. I'd long been in love with Prince William with the hopes of becoming Princess Andrea and being able to wear a tiara everyday of my life. But I don't think I could have looked as stunning as this:
I mean really. Check out this dress!
She looked like Grace Kelly. The whole thing was wonderfully romantic. I even shed a few tears when William saw her for the first time and said, "You look beautiful." It happened a little before this moment:
I did unfortunately miss the kiss(es) because I had to go take a gigantic test, but thanks to BBC America I got to see the instant replay later in the day.
A lot of people expressed to me (either to my face of via facebook) how silly this whole royal wedding obsession was. And well, I have to say I honestly disagree.
For the little girl inside me, it was so exciting to see a real fairy tale unfold yesterday morning. Princess Catherine was plucked out of obscurity by a handsome prince. They fell in love. He proposed. She wore a beautiful gown and a tiara and now she's a princess. And even though yesterday's ceremony was supposed to be a solemn occasion, every time they looked at each other they were beaming. Silly as it may be, that made me hopeful that just maybe there's someone out there who will look at me like that one day, even if he's not second in line to the British throne.
For the grown up inside me, I was so happy to get to witness happy news. One thing I have been dedicated about doing is keeping up with the news. Everyday I tune in and hear about civil unrest, missing children, earthquakes, genocide, untrustworthy politicians, natural disasters and other reminders about how dark and scary this world really is. That part of me enjoyed witnessing a happy world event. No it doesn't affect my life. And no it doesn't take away from the severity of other world events. But it did remind me and, I believe, billions of other people across the globe that good things happen just every once in a while. And when they do, its perfectly ok to stop for a moment and celebrate them.
And for that reason, I really do wish William and Catherine, a very happily ever after.
I've been skipping this post for the past few weeks.
When I went away to Charleston I gained two pounds and I was kind of disappointed in myself and I was kind of embarrassed to . I had had a great plan to surviving the trip, but I found myself straying from it while I was away. In hindsight, I realized that 2 pounds is the least I've ever gained after being away for a few days.
After a few more weeks of hovering around the same number, I climbed on the scale last week. I was down THREE POUNDS!!!!! I never lose three pounds! I was ecstatic! That brought me to 21 total pounds lost - right where I had been before I started letting the weight creep back on, before I used my last semester of college as an excuse to celebrate every day with anything I wanted to eat. I was thrilled!
After my stunning success, I was pretty sure I was either going to gain or maintain last night at weigh in. I mean, three pounds in one week is a lot at this point in the game. I've gone three months and not lost three pounds (no, I'm not kidding). I expected the gain and prepared for it. I made my peace with my impending gain: I knew I had done a good job following Weight Watchers food-wise and I was getting in tons of exercise, but still, our bodies sometimes have to take a minute after a big loss to catch its breath.
I headed to weigh in last night not expecting anything. I stepped into the social hall of the church where my meeting is held and stripped down to my athletic shorts and a tank top. Off came my flip flops as is my pre-weigh-in routine. I stepped on the scale and waited for Susan, my sweet Weight Watchers receptionist, to quickly and quietly say "Well, you're up just a little bit this week, is everything ok?"
Instead I stepped on the scale, braced myself, and stood in disbelief as Susan looked up at me and nodded with a smile on her face as she said, "Looks like somebody had a great week!" I was down another 1.6! I've had plenty of unexpected gains, but never and unexpected loss!!!
I'm now down 22.6 pounds!!!!
For the first time in a long time, I'm actually pretty happy with my "weight loss journey," as we like to call it in the biz. I'm exercising a lot which I like for a few reasons - mostly because it makes me feel good and more confident, but I also really like how if I work out I have a little (and I mean just a little) wiggle room in what I eat. Like its ok that I had a margarita last week instead of a lite beer when I went out for dinner, I knew I'd burn those extra calories off spinning the next day.
And having a margarita once in a while makes me very, very happy!
