So, I’m in Florida.

I also haven’t updated my SparkPage since, like… Friday. Because I haven’t had a computer with me! I’m currently bumming my friend Cola’s computer (a PC! ICK. UNCLEAN. I’m a Mac girl to the core now, but my MacBook’s screen is pretty much unusable, and my iPhone isn’t exactly the best thing to update stuff online. Good for email, games, phone calls and Twitter. Wordpress, not so much.) and checking email, and such things.

I’m also just about to order lunch… or, well. I will soon.

I’ve been fairly bad about the food already, and I’ve only been here since Saturday night. There wasn’t much I could do about the airplane food - I could have NOT EATEN most of what they gave me, but nine hours is a long time to spend on an airplane, you know?

I was also kind of disappointed, because the meal was sausages, turnip, red onions, gravy and mashed potatoes, with Oatcakes, butter, a Twix individual finger and a slice of strawberry cheesecake, which was practically swimming in syrup.

It was all very delicious. I even ate some of the turnip, though I have no doubt in my mind that any nutritional value was removed from it when they cooked it.

Then, for our second meal, it was an egg and cress sandwich and a cherry bakewell cake slice.

All in all, not the healthiest meal.

Then there was Applebee’s when I arrived (though I didn’t get a blondie. Give me time…) and we went to Downtown Disney and one of the pools and I had chicken penne alfredo (OMFG so many calories/calories from fat, I just know it) and then we went to the AMC to see Star Trek and had popcorn WITH BUTTER and. Just.

Yes.

If I come back from this holiday having gained less than 10lbs, I think I’m going to consider it a success, but I’ll try to not gain ANY WEIGHT at all.

So I made the choice today to wear my oft-ignored MBTs.

My ribs and the backs of my ankles hate me right now. I wore footsies, and the backs of the shoes rubbed on my ankle for the whole day, until it got to dinner time and I got home and kicked my shoes off, shrunk two inches because those are some BIIIIG soles on those things, and went, “AAAAH.” and slid my feet into my less-tall and less ankle-rubby flats.

My ribs, on the other hand. Well, it’s not really my ribs. It’s more the muscles in front of my ribs, which spent the whole day in correct posture, and thus are sore because I’m not used to correct posture.

Weather permitting, I should be walking home tomorrow night.

In the MBTs.

With my iPod playing in my ears.

And the knowledge that it’s only 1 more working day (after tomorrow) until I go on holiday.

My MBTs are not invited on holiday with me.

I lost 2lbs this week! It’s not The Biggest Loser kind of numbers, but I was actually watching the Australian version on Sky Real Lives, and somebody PUT ON WEIGHT in their week 2. I was like, “WHAT.”

I swear, when the applications open for the next season of the UK’S Biggest Loser, I’m going for it. If it’s not a daft “Pairs only” kind of thing like this season.

ANYWAY YES. Allusions to the title, and I will admit that yes, I am drinking enough water to drown a friggin’ fish.

Time was I wouldn’t drink anything but fizzy juice - I lived on Diet Pepsi and Pepsi Max for about three years. I’m looking down to my right hand side at the moment, and I have… no bottles of Diet Pepsi, Pepsi Max, Diet Coke or anything like that. I have a 1.5 litre bottle of Volvic (which is my bottled water of choice), 2×2 litre bottles of Evian (because Tesco were out of the 6-pack of Volvic) and a bottle of Robinson’s No Added Sugar Orange & Mango cordial.

Now, it’s not like I’ve given up soda completely. I had two cans yesterday, and one wasn’t even Diet! I bought them with my lunch, and it was nice, but the Diet Coke was, like, tasteless. The Fanta was awesome, though. I think that the sugar content is what kept me going until nearly 9pm in work, otherwise I’d have probably been asleep long before the lead story for the front page came to me to be put on the page.

But I’m amazed at how quickly I’ve given up soda at home. I used to spend about €10 a week on soda for home, and at LEAST €10 for soda in work, and now I’m either buying the six-pack of Volvic for €6 and that does me for at least 4 days IN AND OUT OF WORK, and I’m stealing Mum and Dad’s Scottish bottled water, too.

(Of course, I don’t have a fridge in my room, so I’m always adding the cordial, but since it’s only 4 calories per 250ml serving, I don’t think I’m too bothered by that, really. And it’s No Added Sugar, so there’s no colours or preservatives in there, either.

Oh, and it’s delicious. Room-temperature water is NOT. I like COLD COLD ICE COLD WATER, thankyouverymuch.)

I’ve talked about Simply Be before.

I’m going to talk about it again!

I applied for the Simply Be Curvy Girl competition last year, and did not get through even to the auditions stage, haha. I’m not applying this year, because I actually weigh more and LOOK BIGGER than I did last year, so it’s all about MY confidence in myself, etc.

That said, however, this came into work during the week, and I figured that they’d not mind if I posted it here, given that it’s a press release, and all publicity is good publicity, even if I am just a little rambling blogster.

SIMPLYBE.IE, Ireland’s only dedicated on-line home shopping company for curvy women today launched its nationwide search to find the Irish face of Simply Be for 2010. The competition, which gets hundreds of entrants every year, aims to celebrate the curvy and voluptuous women among us, also giving the winner a fantastic platform to launch a career in modelling or fashion.
 
Simply Be.ie are searching for Irish women size 14 and over who love and celebrate their curves and know how to use them! 
 
The competition which is open to entries until mid-July will choose one lucky woman who along with becoming the ‘cover girl’ for Simply Be’s Ireland’s Spring/Summer catalogue in 2010 will also get €1,000 worth of SimplyBe.ie clothing and accessories, a luxury holiday worth €1000 and €500 spending money. 

Speaking about the Simply Be’s search for Ireland’s next Simply Be ‘cover girl’, Brenda O Sullivan, commercial manager said, ‘‘If you’re meant to naturally be a size 14 or more we feel that not alone should you have access to great fashion that fits but also a chance to celebrate that curvy body! - And, that’s what ‘Simply Be Curvy 2010’ is all about.

So, the message today to mums, dads, sisters, brothers, friends and boyfriends is to encourage that fashion conscious, curvy woman in your life to enter – this is a great opportunity to get out there, celebrate your curves and get yourself known!’ Brenda continued.

LAST YEAR’S WINNER

Sarah Doyle from Dublin won the title last year. Working in the motor trade she is currently studying for a degree in PR and marketing.
 
TO ENTER THE COMPETITION

The campaign runs from now until mid-July with regional heats planned for August. To enter you just have to log onto www.simplybe.ie or call freephone 1800 81 8890 for an application form. The final of Simply Be Curvy will take place on 19th September in Dublin where 12 finalists will strut their stuff on the catwalk for the grande finale following a training session by one of Ireland’s top model agents and former model Celia Holman Lee.
 
ABOUT SIMPLY BE

Simply Be.ie, Ireland’s only dedicated on-line home shopping company for curvy women, appreciates how busy today’s modern woman is and offers a no fuss, stress free shopping experience - no communal changing rooms or unflattering lights and mirrors, just the comfort of their very own home!

(Fatso sez: I own the dress that the model on the right is wearing! It is Joe Browns (I think. It is either Joe Browns or Blue Wahoo), and it is fabulous and summery, and I definitely fill it up a “wee” bit more, hahaha. But I have issues with them calling EITHER of the two girls on the left and the right ‘curvaceous’. I’m sure that, yes, as far as models go they are. But they are SKINNY GIRLS. I’m currently wondering how much pinning went on to get the clothes to fit them like they do.)

I set myself a new goal at my Sparkpeople page, partially to get more points every day (1 more point! 1 more point! - I’m addicted to getting more points!) and partially just to get even 5 minutes of exercise when I’m too whatever to leave the house and actually get fresh air and exercise.

The goal was to climb the stairs in our house 3 times in a row. Our staircase has 14 stairs on it between the ground floor and the first floor. That makes a grand total of 42 steps, right?

(I didn’t cheat. I didn’t count the going-down-the-stairs stairs.)

I was fine with the first rep. Sort of semi-jogged up them, anyway.

The second rep was a little harder. I wasn’t quite jogging by the top.

The third rep? My heart was beating, I was breathing harder, and I was pretty much dragging my feet up the last three stairs.

And my heart was beating pretty hard for about TEN MINUTES just now. After climbing the stairs. It’s just STAIRS.

I am so out of shape. I already knew that, but just something like that? I was half tempted, after the second rep, to go into the kitchen and use talking to my Mum as an excuse for putting off climbing the stairs for the third time.

That’s ridiculous! Really ridiculous.

Actually, I was watching The Biggest Loser Australia on Friday night, actually, and their challenge was to climb the Sydney Harbour Bridge. There’s a guy on there (Dave, I think?) who weighs more than I weighed at my heaviest. And he managed to climb all those ruddy steps! (I’d love to do that, but I’m afraid I couldn’t afford the air fare to AUS, and I would probably also DIE halfway up.)

And here I am, having difficulty with 42 stairs.

Augh.

But hey, it’s a start, right? Better than nothing?

I’ll just keep telling myself that for the minute.

I already posted a blog on my SparkPage, but of course I’m going to update here, too! No such thing as talking to much, where I’m concerned.

Today is the official day for final starting-weight weigh-ins on The Biggest Loser Challenge 6 (GO TEAM HAWAI’I!) and obviously I had to weigh myself today, as I’m going to have to weigh myself every Wednesday for the weekly weigh-ins.

(It’s going to be interesting; I’m going to spend three weeks in Florida after week 3. This scares me! I don’t know if Cola or Kathie have scales that go that high! They aren’t as big as me, thank God. Maybe there are scales in the Target or something. Will find that out.)

But anyway! I weighed myself this morning, before I had even properly woken up - the mail man chucked a load of stuff through the door, most of which was mine anyway, and woke me at 11am (I remember, when I lived in Scotland, that the mail used to be delivered before I went to SCHOOL. And then again in the afternoon. AND ON SATURDAYS. And here, it’s sometime in the morning, not on Saturdays EVER, and THAT IS IT.) and I got up, used the toilet, wiped the sleep out of my eyes and tottered on my scales for 20 seconds before I looked down.

-5lbs

I think the numbers really speak for themselves.

So colour me thrilled. I might go back to bed for an hour, now.