I almost forgot that today was the first day of Lent until checking my blog stats yesterday.

Thank you, random searchers for reminding me. (And Trebek, I’ll take “Distances crazy people run for” for $800 for the “what’s 20 miles.”)

Last year, I gave up Sweet & Low in my coffee for Lent–I actually ended up never adding it back in and still just do milk or cream in my coffee. This year, I’m in the same boat. I’m generally happy with my diet. I’m trying to refine it a bit more to tone up my stomach, but I’m not in the position to make any big dietary changes again, so I’m not going to cut out anything big.

I’ve heard of the idea of adding something in–which sounds like an awesome idea–but once again, I’m going to cut out something small, but that I love.

FRENCH FRIES.

They are absolutely one of my favorite indulgences, and I get them basically any time I’m at some sort of casual restaurant where they’re on the menu. They are one of those indulgences that always make me happy at the time but usually bother my stomach later.

And I’m gonna miss ‘em for the next 39 days.

Mom? French fries at Easter dinner?

Do you give things up for Lent? Are you giving anything up this year?

Lately, I’ve felt like I’ve started over at square one with my fitness.

This isn’t true at all–while my workouts haven’t been anything to write home about, I am still squeezing in a workout of some sort at least 3-4 times per week. Somewhere in the past three years, I became someone who likes to get in a hard workout, so getting in a workout just to get in a workout is boring. (But sometimes life is boring.)

Nothing like a last-minute half-marathon to get me back in gear. I’m obviously not trying to cram extra training into this one last week, just stay on top of my workouts.

I was up to an 8-mile long run two weeks ago, which will serve as my longest long run before this half-marathon Sunday. I’m not running it for time, since I’m sort of on the undertrained side, and I don’t want to injure myself.

Tonight, I had a Junior League meeting after work. Once again, I had a torrid love affair with my snooze button this morning, so my only choice was to go after my Junior League meeting. Usually, when I get to Junior League, I’ll get a glass of wine on my way in and then grab a drink with a friend on the committee after the meeting. It’s a nice way to unwind after a full workday and a nighttime meeting. But tonight, I knew I had to make it to the gym.

To be honest, I usually choose drinks over the gym when given the choice, because I’m usually pretty on track with my workouts and am a social creature, but I’m trying really hard to get myself back in a place where I’m happy with the healthy decisions I’m making, and where my stomach doesn’t feel like Jello.

I remember when I used to take these pics a lot more. Were they ever less creepy or no?

Anyway, after my meeting, I hopped back on the subway with Lacey and got off at my gym for a three-miler and some stretching. Somehow, in the course of three miles, I managed to fling my phone off the treadmill three times. I know how to keep things classy, let me tell you.

Other than the phone flinging, the workout was nothing special, but when I got off, I was actually happy that I hadn’t stuck around Junior League for another drink, gone to meet coworkers or gone to a Mardi Gras party. I feel like I’ve been living my life at warp speed lately, and it was nice to get my workout in and come home and relax and get some cleaning done. (Because I am now 79, not 29, apparently.)

Because I’m currently in between two trips and back in the city for a whopping 3 days in between, my fridge is sort of barren, so I stopped at Chipotle on my way home for a burrito bowl with no cheese and brown rice. And guac. Always guac.

So, what makes you feel like you’re back in the (healthy) saddle? And what’s your favorite Chipotle meal? I’m between the burrito bowl and chicken tacos with corn tortillas. And guac.

While I didn’t mean to be all, SURPRISE! I WENT AWAY…

SURPRISE, I WENT AWAY!

I don’t get any vacation days until I’ve been at my job for 90 days (which is actually next week!), and I was dying for some sort of relaxing getaway. Don’t get me wrong–Mohegan Sun was a ton of fun, but not necessarily relaxing.

My mom and I discussed various warm-weather destinations for this weekend but were ultimately not ready to give my one-day first-born child for airfare, so we decided to go to coastal North Carolina.

Any excuse for me to wear my boat shoes other than walking to work will do.

Don’t mind my mom, she’s just chasing the birds.

I know these pictures make it look all peaceful and idyllic–and it was–but it was also cold. We got down there late Friday night and spent Saturday exploring Southport. The weather was in the high 50s/low 60s on Saturday, which was nice, but the rest of the trip was chilly, which was a bit of a bust.

Let it be known that this is not always a warm-weather scene.

Downtown Southport.

A St. Patrick’s Day Christmas tree…

A random massive checker board.

We returned tonight on a plane so small (Canadair CL-65 for any aviation junkies/those terrified of flying who check the airplane types obsessively) that they had to gate check our bags and bring them to and from the plane on a cart because they couldn’t fit overhead. I know there are planes way smaller than this, but this one is small enough to make me very, very nervous.

I scheduled some posts over the weekend and took few pictures because I really wanted to relax–and we didn’t do anything particularly exciting–so this is just a peek into my weekend.

Time to make the donuts!

When I wrote the other day about starting my random series on losing and maintaining weight (based only on my own experience doing so), one of the questions I got a few times was: how do you stay healthy at the office with so many temptations?

The simple answer: I pretend they’re not there.

While that theory is called delusion when applied on a larger level, it works for me on this micro level. I can’t eat something that’s not there, right?

This is not to say that I never mindlessly grab a bite of something as I walk past the kitchen, but most of the time I don’t, because I know it’s a slippery slope for me to grabbing a bite of whatever’s out every time I walk past the kitchen.

I like Leah’s Here and Now idea–is this something that is a special treat? (Or is my fave thing that I never otherwise have?) Is this something I can have tomorrow? Is this something I actually care about eating? Or am I just eating it because it’s there?

I have these crazy little conversations with myself as I walk by that work food–and most of the time it works.

Not always, because I’m not some crazy willpower robot, and I really like food, but learning that principle has definitely helped me. That and having my own snacks on hand.  (Not as in having my own snacks on hand when there’s an office party and being that girl, but having my own snacks on hand so that I don’t eat some stale cookies out of desperation.)

How do you deal with junk food at the office?

Two years ago, I ran my first half-marathon in Disney World. It was so meaningful to me because I had formed so many happy memories in Disney as a child, so it was the perfect place to begin my obsession with long-distance running.

Next weekend, I’ll be heading back there to run my 10th half marathon–as a guest of Disney!

Well, okay!

Please Join us for The Princess Half Marathon Weekend

February 23-26, 2012

We want to offer you a unique opportunity to both run the race and get a peek into some of the fun that makes a runDisney race weekend one to remember for children of all ages!

As part of your runDisney weekend experience, hotel accommodations, meals and theme park tickets will be taken care of for you. And in addition to running like a Princess, you will take part in a variety of special events throughout the weekend, including the Pasta in the Park Party, our exclusive “Meet Up” event, and pre-race pampering at the runners Race Retreat.

Well, okay! If you insist. I have to thank Kelly Olexa and FitFluential–and Disney!–for hooking this all up. I only had to pay for my airfare–and I was able to cash in some miles–which was more than worth it!

Let’s say you had a fairy godmother who would grant your wish to run whatever race you wanted–what race would it be?

Or which princess would you dress up as?

I’m certainly working out less these days as I settle into a new routine, but I don’t want you to think I’m not working out–my workouts just aren’t very inspiring as I just fit in what I can, where I can.

My nights have been really busy with working late or other commitments (thank god Bailey is in NJ this week), so I’ve been having to squeeze workouts in in the morning.

I had a lovely run the other day just before it started to rain. At my old job in D.C., I remember one of our freelance reporters telling us that he was usually in a worse mood when he didn’t run. My boss, a runner herself, told me that she completely understood what he was talking about. I nodded along, pretending I understood, too, but I really just thought they were both a little crazy.

I get it now, too. The short runs before work are never the amazing ones, but I am in a much better mood when I get to work because of them. Especially on days where I’m at the office for 12 hours, it makes me feel like work’s not the only thing in my life.

Yesterday, I got in an awesome workout before work. New Balance is one of my clients, and we had a launch event for trainer Harley Pasternak’s new shoe, the New Balance 997.

It’s a lightweight training shoe meant for boot-camp type classes that involve agility drills and quick movements. Which is what we did yesterday morning.

The event was at Cedar Lake, home to the Cedar Lake Ballet, and a building previously owned by Annie Liebovitz.

I dragged my houseguest with me, which ended up being a poor move on my part. Her Crossfitting, buff self put me to shame in the workout.

We did a few circuits of lower body, upper body and core exercises, all using body weight.

These are the first New Balance shoes I’ve tried out, and I really liked them. I remember hearing in the past that you’re supposed to have different shoes for lifting, etc., but thinking it was all clever marketing to get people to buy more shoes, but feeling closer to the ground for things like jumps and lunges made a huge difference with my balance. We also did these fancy grapevine exercises, where I could really feel how the lower-to-the-ground, flat shoe helped with balance.

We did sprints at the end, and while Tina’s trying to talk a big game up over on her blog…he just high-fived her as a consolation prize to me kicking her butt in the sprints.

I went to the gym to shower and went to work with maybe not the cleanest hair, but it was worth it.

Do you work out in the morning? Do you ever go to work a bit sweaty after doing so? Nope, me neither.

As a twenty-something New Yorker and former journalist (still weird writing that), I’m fairly cynical. I’m usually sarcastic on this blog. I get a lot of awesome opportunities through living in NYC and having this blog that I sometimes take for granted.

But even my hardened heart softens sometimes.

Last night, I went to a truly amazing event–the Woman’s Day Red Dress Awards.

Don’t let the silly pictures of me distract you from the seriousness of this event. Or, fine, let them distract you a bit, because it’s about to get a little serious up in here.

Me, Tina (she’s actually my honorary roomie, in case you didn’t realize that) and some sparkling rosé.

So this is actually the second time I’ve been to the Red Dress Awards–I actually went last year when I worked for Woman’s Day. This year, Campbell’s Soup invited me as their guest, and I was honored to return.

The event’s held at the gorgeous Rose Hall at Lincoln Center and honors work that has been done to fight heart disease in women–which is the number one killer among women.

I only have pictures from before, since cameras weren’t allowed in the actual program, but Star Jones was one of the honorees. A few years ago, she underwent elective open-heart surgery after being told she had the early signs of heart disease–shortness of breath, heart palpitations and fatigue. Since then, she says she’s been making heart disease awareness her “entire life’s work.”

My buddy Dr. Oz was also one of the honorees. He directs the Cardiovascular Institute and Complementary Medicine Program at New York Presbyterian Hospital and focuses his research on heart replacement surgery and minimally invasive cardiac surgery. He told a story last night about doing open-heart surgery on a 25-year-old a few years ago and realizing that if he really did his job–if he really educated his patients on the dangers of heart disease and what they can to prevent it–that he wouldn’t have to perform open-heart surgeries. He wants to be put out of business, he says. Since then, he’s been doing his part to fight heart disease.

We also heard from Regina Benjamin, the U.S. Surgeon General (no bigs…), who was a tireless health advocate when she founded the Bayou La Batre Rural Health Clinic in Alabama. Despite the clinic being wiped out multiple times from hurricanes, she kept rebuilding.

Oh, and Hoda was the emcee. I <3 Hoda. She switches from serious to hilarious deftly, and I really love that in people.

Other honorees of note:

• Dr. Martha Gulati, who is a pioneer in studying heart disease in women, after realizing that the previous standards were based off of men. She was also wearing a pretty sweet Oscar de la Renta dress and Louboutins.
• Katherine Leon, who, with Laura Haywood-Cory, both victims of a spontaneous coronary artery dissection, work as WomenHeart champions to encourage women to take responsibility for their health.
• And Shermane Winters-Wofford, who suffered a stroke on a first date. She had pain in her chest and shortness of breath, but just thought she was nervous. She asked him to take her home so she could lay down, but he wouldn’t listen, and took her to the hospital. Spoiler alert: they’re now married. I cried big, sloppy tears at the end of this story.

Shermane’s story illustrates how women can be guilty of ignoring their symptoms because they don’t want to inconvenience others. You may laugh or roll your eyes at that now, but how many times have you pushed aside symptoms because you’re too busy or don’t think it’s worth worrying about? You are worth it, and sometimes little symptoms can be indicative of much more serious illnesses, so please take care of yourself. The stories I heard last night gave me the chills because they can happen to anyone.

It reminded me that healthy eating and exercise are so much more than looking good in a pair of skinnies–it’s really about taking care of yourself inside and out. #cheesealert

Thanks again to Campbell’s and Woman’s Day for having me!

So, my blog has evolved into more of a running/fitness/fun stuff I do in NYC/and elsewhere blog as of late, but it’s still called Losing Weight in the City.

Because when I named it that, I didn’t think I’d be blogging three years later and that it would become such a big part of my life. I’m totally fine with–and actually love–how it’s evolved, but I’ve been thinking lately about bringing some of the weight loss talk back…on occasion. I know lots of people struggle with weight loss, and good god, I struggled with it for years myself, obviously. I also still get a lot of questions about weight loss.

I’m thinking of talking about food, fitness, body image, and anything else you want to talk about–from my experience and what I’ve learned. (Insert disclaimer here: the only things I can do professionally are write and optimize your Facebook posts. Please contact a health professional for medical advice.)

So, onto the subject of this post–how I’m currently maintaining my weight on relatively little exercise.

I’m being really damn careful with my diet. Here’s what a typical day of food looks like for me these days:

Breakfast: oatmeal with chia seeds (giveaway coming soon), sunflower butter and a banana

Lunch: turkey burger with sweet potato and broccoli on side, Chipotle chicken tacos with pico de gallo, guac and corn tortillas or something like the above–chicken with sweet potato and Brussels sprouts (yeah, you try eating healthy when your stomach doesn’t like salad)

Snack: usually a Luna bar and an apple

Dinner: I’ve been having a lot of late nights at work or late nights at Junior League, so there’s been quite a lot of delivery sushi (with brown rice) in my life lately.

Do you want to hear more about what I learned while losing weight and what I’ve learned while maintaining? Any specific questions? Or do you just want to know the meaning of life? (Not sure I can help you there.)

I like the beach.

I like running.

I like blogger friends.

(I also like Rainbow sandals and cannot wait until summer returns. But I digress.)

So when Tina asked if I wanted to participate in the Reach the Beach relay in Massachusetts, I was obviously in.

It’s a 24-hour, 200-mile relay race that starts in Wachusett, Mass. and ends in Westport, Mass. (Two town names that mean nothing to me, but I’m sure are lovely places where people use the word “wicked” a lot.)

You know you’ve become a runner when you read other bloggers’ posts about running in the middle of the night and sleeping in vans and you’re jealous. I am so freaking excited for this, and I’ve read every single one of these ladies’ recaps from nuun’s Hood to Coast team last year…

For work purposes! New Balance, one of my clients at work, is a sponsor of the race–and our team–which means that I am in the very interesting (and awesome) position of both working on this account and running on this team.

How many bananas can one girl eat in 24 hours?

I’ll be running with the lovely:

1. Anne of Fannetastic Food
2. Sarah of SarahFit
3. Patricia of Run Foodie Run
4. Elizabeth of On Tap for Today
5. Ashley of A Healthy, Happier Bear
6. Bridget of Yogurt and Berries
7. Tina of Carrots ‘n’ Cake
8. Gretchen of Honey, I Shrunk the Gretchen!
9. Monica of Run Eat Repeat
10. Ali of Food Fitness Fashion
11. Melissa of Fitness NYC

Together, the 12 of us will be Team Off Balance. Which I think suits us very well.

My birthday was ridiculous in all the right ways.

Starting with trying Rent the Runway. I technically joined the site a few years ago, but I’d never tried it. The other day, I got an email with a $50 birthday credit and figured, why not? (You can get an invite here, by the way.) I have my Winter Ball coming up and am considering trying out a rental for it, rather than spending a lot of money on a dress I’ll likely only wear once. I wanted to give the whole process a test run before such a big event, and it worked out well.

The experience was awesome. I picked out a dress late Friday afternoon and it was delivered yesterday morning. I ended up going with this Robert Rodriguez dress, and the fit notes and reviews were right on target. I’m usually a 6 or an 8 in nicer dresses, depending on how tight the chest is, and all the reviews said that this dress was pretty snug, so I ordered both the 6 and 8. The 6 zipped but I sort of wanted to breathe on my birthday (weird, I know), so I wore the 8.

My mom came over in the late afternoon, and we popped this bottle of bubbly that my friend Lindsay sent me after the marathon. I’d been saving it for a special occasion and a birthday totally qualifies as that. Also, I got a new lens for my birthday, and I love it.

Continuing with the ridiculousness, we went for blowouts before dinner. I’d asked Shannon last week if she was good with a curling iron and could help me do those cute big curls at the bottom of my hair, and she suggested we get blowouts instead. Well, okay!

So, that’s what I asked for–straight but with loose curls at the very end, and the hair dude totally misinterpreted me and did these huge curls instead. When he was done, I thought I looked like a cross between a hot mess and Miss Piggy.

My friends tried to convince me otherwise, but I still see the resemblance.

The blowouts took far longer than we thought, and we ended up being 15 minutes late for dinner. Between the hair and being late, I was not too much fun to be around for about 20 minutes. Sorry.

We went to Stanton Social for dinner. I need to give them some props, too–I totally messed up and booked a table for Tuesday night instead of last night, and they squeezed us into the lounge area when we figured out what had happened.

I started off with the Brooklyn Lemonade (it had gin, ginger beer, cucumber…and other stuff)…

…but quickly got drink envy and switched to the basil gimlet. YUM! The drinks were so good.

We ordered a bunch of small plates for the table. Edamame.

Chicken and cashew spring rolls.

Crab cake corn dogs.

Salt and pepper shrimp.

Red snapper tacos.

Pierogies. (Pretty sure they were my mom’s idea.)

Ribs.

And mac and cheese.

All of the food was so amazing.

They even had a gluten-free menu for Shannon!

After dinner, we went to Jadis for drinks and to meet up with a bigger crowd. Dinner was just a ladies’ thing, because, really, 364 days of the year, I tag along as a single lady with other couples–and am fine with that…usually–but I didn’t want to feel like that for my own birthday.

I love Gia. I’ve mentioned that before, right? On New Year’s, I mentioned to her that my 29th was coming up and that I wanted to have a big party for 29 and then do something quieter when I turn 30 next year. She asked if I wanted her to help plan it, and I was clearly all about it. The girl knows how to throw a good party. I hope we are still friends when I get married one day, because I’m pretty sure she’d have some ideas for an epic wedding.

She talked with the people at Jadis, and they reserved the back part of the bar for us, and had a lovely spread of wine, champagne, cheese and some passed hors d’oeuvres.

She even had disposable cameras for everyone to take fun pictures with. I can’t wait to see those pictures…

This photo is cropped for decency. My dress was really short.

I have 364 days left in my twenties (omg), and I hope they’re all as awesome as last night was. Also, I still want to learn to curl my hair like Emily’s.