Two days left!

I have two days left in my summer job. All this ridiculous eating and drinking will soon stop! :) I updated my earlier post about all the restaurants I went to this summer. Crazy number of places. Twelve weeks of work and I never paid for my own lunch! The nonsense stops this weekend--I have to get back to exercising more often and eating better.

I accepted the firm's offer to come work full time after I finish school and/or after a clerkship (if I get one). I could start as early as September 2009 or perhaps (if I do a clerkship) September 2010. Crazy how this all works--so far in advance! But I feel really lucky to have an offer from a big firm, with the crazy loan payments I'll have as soon as school starts, it'll be important.

I have lunch with a partner today and then our end-of-the-summer event which will of course involve lots of drinking and eating. Tomorrow (last day) it's "paycheck breakfast" and then lunch. I think we pretty much finish early and then go home.

DBF will be gone this weekend unfortunately to our friend's bachelor party in NY so I'll have the weekend to myself to (hopefully) work on all the clerkship applications.

I'm in the middle of TOM so I'm just trying to stay sane at this point. I was at 140.0 in the scale this morning. TOM always makes me gain a bit during the week. I'm just hoping to maintain on Saturday.

Mental game

I haven't had a full night's sleep in over a month. I've been so stressed and haven't decompressed at all. I know it's affecting me. I also haven't made it to the gym. Which is a vicious cycle I know.

Tomorrow I have a massage. It's not exercise but I'm hoping it will help me relax a little so I can sleep better. I think if I just cut out drinking altogether I would really be able to. Honestly I can't wait till the summer temptations are over so that all of this is easier!

Measure thyself!

Just before going on a short (2.2 miles) run this morning, I measured myself. I usually do it every month, but I hadn't done it since May 15, before the summer program started.

I've gained 5 pounds since May but I've gained SO much more in inches! 1.5" on my waist, 2.5" on my lower waist, 1" on my hips, 1" on my thighs, 1" on my bust, 2" in my chest, 0.25" on my wrist and neck ... everything changes when you gain weight! No wonder I'm having a hard time fitting into my size 4s! I actually can't believe I'm still wearing some of them.

I think I will have to continue this measuring of myself every month even when I'm maintaining. I've put a recurring reminder in my calendar, the 15th of every month. Otherwise it's very unlikely to happen.

The plan today is to eat within my points, or barely over. I am going to dinner with my coordinating lawyer, her husband, my other coordinating lawyer, his wife, and DBF to a gourmet italian restaurant. I want to be good! This week we have two other dinners (not to mention lunch at L'Espalier) so it will be hard to stay within points but I am going to minimize the damage as much as possible by running every morning and making good choices.

Restaurant List

Six weeks into my summer program and I have never paid for my own lunch on a workday (I've also never skipped lunch). There's been a few sandwhich lunches but for the most part, they have been in very nice restaurants downtown. Below is an almost (but not quite) exhaustive list.

Through a lot of running and biking, I've maintained my initial 4 pound gain, so that I've been holding steady at 139 or so. I'm not trying to lose at this point, just stay the same.

The scale is going up!

And I have to stop it. I saw 139.2 this morning. That is completely unacceptable. My thighs also got an inch bigger. that is CRAZY! I've been running more but it is not enough to offset the crazy amounts of food I've been having at all the events, and when I get home.

The excuse I've been using is that my stomach has "expanded" and I'm hungry more often, but that is just not true most of the time. I'm eating out of boredom, stress, or just because. It has got to stop.

Been MIA: Recap and musings on the life of a big firm summer associate

I've been MIA for almost two weeks now (not even sure exactly how long!). Anyone miss me?

I started my summer internship at the big firm last Monday, and on day 3 after much training I had to fly out to Maryland for a client visit. Great opportunity, but also another way to make it much harder to stay on track! (those Maryland crab cakes were so delicious!)

My eating this past few weeks has been horrible. I haven't gone to meetings in two weeks. I weighed at home though. The first meeting I missed I was up 3 pounds from my week before (when I was so close to goal!). This past Saturday when I weighed in at home I'd lost 1.4 pounds, but I'm still battling that 3 pound gain.

With work 8am-9pm and fancy lunches and dinners out, alcohol flowing at every opportunity, and ordering dessert everyday, not to mention coffee runs, it is going to be a very hard summer. I realize I'm complaining about getting paid a whole bunch of money to do interesting work when I can squeeze the time to do it in between trainings and afternoon tea, 2 hour lunches and cocktail receptions at fancy places with views like the one pictured... it's very hard to do all that we're supposed to do to impress people (so that they hire us) and NOT gain 15 pounds.

I'm fixated on the 15 pounds because that is what the first person who spoke to us at our job orientation last week said: that by the end of the 12-week summer program most of us would have gained 15 pounds.

I'm determined to be at goal at the end of this summer program! Immediately after DBF and I are taking a much deserved two week vacation in Budapest and Cyprus, where I will be wearing very skimpy clothing at all times. I want to be below goal goshdarnit. I just need to remember that next time that everyone is ordering individual desserts!