PHAT CAMP

okay, it's been a while.  

it's hard to write here when i'm not feeling particularly proud of my accomplishments.  it's hard to write when i'm not even finding things funny.  i was getting really sick of not making forward motion, sick of standing still, sick of feeling stuck in my skin, heavy in my body and i was sick of not getting why i wasn't doing anything about it.  

well, i went to fat camp.  they probably wouldn't be too thrilled with me calling it that, but let's just call it what it is, shall we?  i went to mother fuckin fat camp.  MFFC.  

i went for 2 weeks to hilton head, south carolina-- for me, this is the deep south.  i stayed on a frickin' frackin' plantation complete with golf course, alligators, turtles, tall birds, palm trees, devout christians and republicans-- all equally foreign things to me.  

i rode my bike a mile every morning to the main building where i had my breakfast of oatmeal, strawberries, bananas, flax seed and soy milk.  i am not the oatmeal type of lady and i loved it there.  not bringing that tradition home with me though.  as much as i've liked eating oatmeal, i am not a fan of cooking it.  the hardest labor during breakfast has got to be pouring from boxes. at least on the weekdays.  

then, we had 4 hours of exercise per day (optional) and 2 lectures on topics like meal planning and food and traveling (also optional-- but really, why are we at fat camp if not to learn everything we can?).   so, i was working my ass off-- cardio boxing, eliptical-ing, zumba dancing (amazing), yoga-ing, swimming, weight training, pilates training, biking alllll over the plantation (still can't get over that one), and generally having a ball.  

the meals were delicious and clean and whole grainy and fresh-- so fresh and so clean clean clean.  i left feeling like a million bucks.  a sad pile of a million bucks. 

it's hard to leave camp.  don't you remember?  you make a whole bunch of buddies, you have inside jokes, you get close to people in 2 seconds because you are basically meeting them with your heart stapled onto your sleeve, you skip ahead like dog years, have shared experiences, historical, emotional and fat camp-icle.  i did so much cracking up i think i have a six pack just from laughing.  

some things i learned at fat camp:

when you're in a situation like a party, where there's a big delicious spread, or even out to dinner, there's unwise, better, best-- there's always a choice.  you're not always gonna make the perfect decision but you can be totally unwise, better or best.  it's helpful. 

nutrition is 70% of weight loss-- so don't think you can just work out and it'll melt off.  nutirition is the key, y'all.  

y'all is a really great thing to say (which i already knew because of my friend paige).

if you must have pasta or rice, fill a lot of the space in the bowl with vegetables.  pack that shit in and you can have a large meal, a crowded plate, a full belly.  

also, brown rice pasta is slammin'. 

don't scratch alligators under their chins.  they don't like it. 

that's all for now.  i'll be back.  i've got to be.  i owe it to my country. 

i lost 10lbs in case you're wondering.  challah!

love to love to love ya, 

rach