getting ready

Tomorrow we leave for Amsterdam.

Today was filled with getting money, trading it for Euros, packing, buying electrical converters, and then staying up until midnight playing Wii golf (wasn't actually on the list)...

four eyes

Out with the old (glasses)...

in with the new!

and I got the sunglasses I wanted, except since the wayfarers were a little extreme for my face, I opted for a slightly modern version:

material girl

Three of my favorite things I own are in this picture:

1 - the cutest car in the entire universe.

2 - my favorite bag. It's big enough to use as a second carry-on when traveling, but not too big to be an everyday purse.  I've taken it to get repaired twice, and will keep on until it completely falls apart.

3 - my impulse-buy geometric trapeze dress. Its tent is enormous! If I were ever to be pregnant, I could easily wear it the the entire time. Needless to say, it's the most comfortable dress I own.

shoes!

New shoes!

Actually, I got them a few weeks ago... they look like sandals, but feel like high heels. Definitely not the best to wear walking around the mall, which is exactly what I did today. Gave me a good excuse to buy the Steve Madden sandals that I wanted. The Aldo's went into the bag and I wore the new ones for the rest of the day:

iphone love

Why I Love My iPhone, Part 1: The iPhone Diet

This little, free, app has changed my life. Seriously, I may be obsessed with it. It is a calorie counter, but you simply search for whatever foods you are eating and it does all the work. And if it's not in there, it's easy enough to use the iPhone to search the web for the calories and add a custom food to the database. Exercise, too.

You add a profile, with your weight, age, goals and it tells you how many calories you needs each day. A log shows where you are, and if you are under or over calories for the day. Simple, right? I've lost about 5 pounds using this since March 19th. This is what I've learned/changed: 

+ I can eat pretty much anything I want and stay on point with calories. I just adjust the portion sizes. It's almost comical the way I measure things now, instead of just dumping the food in:

Fruit and yogurt for breakfast, in my trusty 1-cup bowl. 

+ Fast food is mostly horrible. And since we are on the road so much, it's hard to avoid. So I have to be diligent in making choices. Fortunately, most restaurants publish the nutrition information online. My frequents all have .pdfs with the information (linked here, and bookmarked on my iPhone!): Subway, McDonalds, Long John Silvers, Dennys, Wendys. I think I'm boycotting IHOP because I can't find one on their website...

+ Small changes can really add up. My morning coffee routine used to take almost 350 calories and now takes under 80. Seriously - look at the screenshots:

  

And that's a half-and-half day, I used to use heavy whipping cream sometimes too!

+ If you exercise, you can eat more for free. Plus, I actually do feel better after I exercise. Sweaty, but better. I like using dvds because then I can exercise by myself at home whenever I feel like it. I have the first two tapes already and they are pretty good, and I just ordered the others for variety: