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My First Free Day By Myself In London

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Since having kids it has been rare that I have not had to get up to do anything. With that in mind and the fact that I was up really early most days this past week I slept till almost 10 today. To pack light I didn’t bring my small messenger bag to carry my iPad. I didn’t want to carry my big laptop bag with me for just my iPad so I was happy to find out that my iPad Mini fits perfectly in the pocket of my North Face Jacket. With my book/research tool/all around time waster in hand I headed out for the day. I had breakfast at an Italian coffee house near the hotel while I planned my day. I had lots of ideas but generally I was going to wing it.

I started off by hopped the tube for Westminster to do a walk from the Rick Steve guide book. I saw Big Ben, London eye, Westminster, Downing Street and then off to Trafalgar Square. It was interesting and a great day for a walk.

After that I headed over to Baker Street to see Sherlock Holmes’ place but didn’t go into the museum since the line was huge. I may try again tomorrow but I am not sure. I was a bit disappointed by not getting in but i really didn’t want to waste what looked like at least an hour or more waiting on line. While on line I got a FaceTime call from MC and Teagan. I was happy to talk to them, and impressed that the video call worked pretty well over 3G.

Instead I headed over to Fortnum and Mason. I wanted to do afternoon Tea. MC and several others suggested it as the best place to go for Tea. I didn’t have a reservation and they couldn’t seat me. My backup location Brown’s Hotel was only a 5 minute walk so I headed over to there. They were able to seat me after a short wait. I like the fact that they brought seconds of the sandwiches. Otherwise I had a good time but was generally underwealmed by the pastry and the service. I don’t regret going but would try to find a new location or get reservations at Fortnum & Mason’s if I ever did Tea in London again.

After tea I walked around all the shops near Piccadilly Circus. I got the girls cuddly gifts at at Hamley’s Toy Store. Was able to do another FaceTime with MC to confer about what to get. I am pretty pleased with what I got!

After walking and shopping I headed back to the hotel to relax a bit before heading out for dinner. At my friend Tony’s suggestion I went to a burger place called Meat Liquor. It was very loud, but I got a seat right away. The drinks were good and the food was also good. I was in the mood for a greasy burger and this place delivered. After dinner I headed back to the hotel hoping to find a desert place nearby. The desk clerk had some ideas so I walked over to Covent Garden. It is about a train station away or 5 minute walk. I checked out the square there. There were tons of shops and restaurants and live entertainment. It was fun, but all the live events just made me a bit home sick since i thought how cool it would have been to have MC and Teagan there. Amelia is of course too young to appreciate it. I didn’t find anywhere i wanted to stop at so i walked back to around my hotel and ended up at the same cafe I started the day off in to have a piece of cake and a cappuccino. Now i am unwinding at the hotel writing and thinking about plans for tomorrow. It was a very active day for me. My Jawbone UP is saying I did 252% of my activity target or 20,161 steps. Not a record. That goes to the day my friend Jenn and I walked around Manhattan. This takes 2nd place for most active day since I started tracking my activity!

Rain Day at Home

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Its a rainy day at home today. MC tried to take Teagan out to the park but it was all wet and Teagan went back to the stroller and wanted to get back in it. I on the other hand did laundry. Laundry went from an annoyance (I haven’t liked doing it since i was a kid) to a workout chasing Teagan around. She was generally good but had a good time exploring the basement and the laundry room.

3 Million Steps

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Today my Jawbone UP told me I had walked 3 million steps since I got my first UP. So first thanks UP for pointing that out, and second way to go me!

I do need to not there was a 10 month break on accruing steps when my first up broke and Jawbone recalled the first gen to when I got the new 2nd gen one so here is to hoping the next 3 million is achieved much sooner.

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3 Months and Counting

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Today marks 3 Months after I hit my weight loss target.   So far I not only kept the weight off I am slightly down from my target.

I am watching what I eat but generally I am not hungry and when I splurge bad I bounce back rather quickly so I am very pleased.  I have 9 months to beat the odds since apparently 80% of people who lose weight gain it back within a year.

The Past 7 Months Have Lead to Today

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Today I reached my weight loss target.  When I started in May I didn’t even have this target in mind.  I was thinking I wanted to lose 10-15lbs.  When I was well on my way to that target I adjusted it and was targeting 20-25lbs.  That quickly turned into a target that when complete would be 33.7lbs loss.  I have a few other posts that outline what I did and how i achieved this goal.  What is funny is after I got started I wasn’t afraid of the process of losing the weight.  I am concerned I will gain it back eventually.

Suiting Up For a Fund Raising Dinner

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Yesterday MC’S friend called asking if we wanted tickets to a free fundraising dinner since her husband had extra tickets. We hadn’t had a night out in a while and our babysitter was able to stay late so we said yes. it was cool to dress up and goto a $500 a plate fund raiser. Added bonus it was for an cause that if i had money to give I would donate to.

MC and I also got a chance to hang out with two of her friends who we hadn’t seen since our wedding.

Ordered a Jawbone UP24

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I keep waffling on what fitness device I am using.  After lots of replacement units of the Jawbone UP I got a Fitbit Flex in September. I used both devices for most of October to see how they compared.  Then I dropped the UP in favor of the Flex.  Part of the reason I did that was that the UP was too big on my wrist after my weight loss in recent months.  The Flex didn’t have the inactivity monitor that I liked with the UP.  it also seems to record about 2,000 more steps a day for me than the up does.

Just as I was getting used to using the Flex Jawbone comes out with the UP24.  It offered me the bluetooth sync that the Flex has and all the features that the original UP had.  I took the risk and ordered one in Medium hoping it fits and i can go back to using the UP.  I will write more once I get it and see how it works.