Day 219

Quote for Today
"You leave old habits behind by starting out with the thought, 'I release the need for this in my life'." Dr. Wayne W. Dyer

I am completely exhausted. I am going to a conference in Vienna next week and I have spent most of the afternoon shopping. I HATE shopping and will only do it when I have absolutely no choice.

I had no choice today because:
1. I just had nothing suitable to wear that fits well and
2. with the new airline regulations in Britain regarding carry-on luggage, I needed to get with the program.

Each time I have travelled by plane since the new regulations, has been a nightmare, mostly because I always think I can get away with something.... and sometimes I do, but mostly I don't. I had to chuck out a bottle of my best conditioner on my way back from Amsterdam in February because the regulations say no liquids over 100ml. The bottle was 150ml big, but there was only about 50ml of conditioner left. They didn't care and I had to choose between tossing it, checking the bag or shipping the conditioner. Well since my flight was already calling to board I had to chuck the bottle. It is a very pricey conditioner and I was none too pleased.

This time I got a list of the rules and am going to be a model passenger. As a matter of fact I've decided that I am changing the way I travel altogether. Unless I am going away for more than 3 weeks, I am only using my new carry on and everything is going to have to fit into it because you can only take one piece on board. No carry-on as well as a handbag, like you did in the past. One piece of luggage no bigger than 56cm x 45cm x 25cm. i.e. 22 inches x 17.7in x 9.8 inches and that's that. The only exception being for laptops. You can have a laptop bag in addition to your regulation size carry on. They even have a little basket at the boarding gate that they make you put your bag into to make sure you're complying. The buggers! This means I'm going to have to be brutally selective about what I take with me. No more loading up with a ton of crap I never use. A new leaf is being turned over here folks.

So I bought a new trousers suit in a British size 16 if you please ...down from the British size 20 pants I have been wearing that has become really baggy and falls way down on my hips. I also bought a couple of new shirts. I got a regulation size carry on that has a pouch for my laptop and an exterior zip pocket for phone, pens, business cards and files. I've got my regulation size toiletries and regulation size containers to transfer some of my special lotions etc. into. and I have placed all these containers that contain liquids into a little baggie to make sure they will fit into the 20cm x 20cm i.e. 7in x 7 in clear plastic bag that they give you at the checking gate that all your liquids must fit into.

So I am now compliant!!! Probably the first time in my life.

I had a fabulous time at tango today. The worse might be over. We learnt a step called the backwards ocho and I loved it. I got it right away and was terribly excited. We also began to fit together all the steps we've been learning and it felt really good to be dancing confidently. I'm going to miss next week because of the trip but I can't wait to see what we learn next.

The food was a tad strange today. Again, I run into problems when I am out because I don't prepare or have a plan which is dangerous for me. I managed to make some healthy choices and didn't go too wild calorie wise but I'm learning that I need to be aware of the caloric value of foods like dried fruit and nuts and have them in smaller portions.

Anyway, a successful day altogether.

B - 571
1 cup of yogurt - 260
125gs dried apricots - 268
1 tbls of agave - 43

L- 425
70 gs raw nuts - 425

S- 268
125 -gs. dried apricots - 268

D - 110
2 cups soup - 110
Calories - 1375
Exercise - 1/2 hr on the thread mill & 1hr 15 minutes of Tango
4 cups of water