Weekend in Memphis!

Hello Everyone!  I pray you are all doing very well!  This weekend an old friend was within a 3-4 hour drive of where I reside and called me out of the blue and asked if I'd come for a weekend visit.  Initially my response was the same ole automatic monotone "I don't have the time, I have to study, and I don't have the money"  His response was...."I'm sure you could use a break knowing your work ethic, you'll be rejuvenated and just get here and I will take care of the rest."  My friends all encouraged me to go (those who are also in med school and those who aren't) so I did something completely out of character and acted spontaneously!  I packed my weekend bag and hopped in the car the very next day!  I'd been saying I need to visit all the nearby cities (Nashville, Atlanta, Memphis) anyway while I am living here, and this was the perfect opportunity.  I had a ball!  My friend is always great company, is the perfect gentleman, and absolutely did take care of everything....including the entertainment plans.  At the risk of setting the feminist movement back a few years....ladies, isn't it nice to have a man (platonic or romantic) take charge and all you have to do is sit back and follow his lead?  Well, I thought it was nice!  We visited Beale Street, drove by Graceland and the Stax Museum, saw the movie Inception (which was incredibly good) and went to the National Civil Rights Museum.  The NCRM was incredible....I think it is definitely something every single person should see at one point in their life.  I admit ignorance when it comes to history:  both American and Black, I'm no where near as knowledgeable as I should be due to lack of emphasis on this subject in high school and lack of requirements while in college.  I learned a great deal and found myself getting extremely emotional by some of the exhibits and documentaries.

Now about the food....I swear living in the south makes you fat.  I've said it ever since I moved here.  We went to Neely's BBQ, as Memphis is known for its BBQ and as I studied the menu I was appalled.  All of the dishes came with the option of 2 sides but not ONE of them was a vegetable!  French fries, potato salad, baked beans, and BBQ spaghetti.  Simply sad.  I should be getting a new phone soon (my current one is a good for nothing PDA phone that doesn't work well at all) and like Ro I will be able to take food pics.  I wish I had it this weekend to SHOW ya'll these plates in Memphis!  I did take somewhat of a "diet-free" weekend, but still....since I've been stressing that this time I'm all about a lifelong change, that's not to say I didn't make any healthy choices or that I didn't want to eat anything healthy for the entire weekend!  I remarked about the menu and lack of vegetables to my friend and he shook his head and said "always the doctor!"  which I thought was an awesome compliment!  I DO want to be a physician who practices what she preaches!  I drank nothing but water all weekend (plain...I didn't even bring my beloved Crystal Light with me) and did some tricep dips with a chair, pushups, situps, and squats in my hotel room on Saturday.  When I got on the scale this morning I was pleasantly surprised that I hadn't gained anything!  I didn't lose...but I didn't gain and that proves it is possible to go on vacation enjoy myself, indulge a little and still stay on track.

My friend always thinks I'm overboard with worrying about managing my weight and he kept saying YOU DON'T HAVE A WEIGHT PROBLEM!  Now...I don't know if he is genuinely confused about why I seems so concerned or if he is just trying to be "polite" and disagree with me, regardless of whether he agrees or not.  I got sick of him acting as if I have self-image issues and showed him a few "before" pics from the beginning of the year and he actually was like "Oh...yeah....you were a little bigger."  Thank you for validation in what I was trying to already tell you!  Seems like guys don't believe me when I stress that I am a woman who has to "watch" what they eat and constantly try to encourage me to make bad choices in effort to show that they are pleased with my body and size as is.  This has happened to me numerous times, and it is quite frustrating.  Appreciating my body and looks is one thing, however sabotaging my efforts to live a healthy lifestyle is another thing completely.  I refuse to allow anyone - friends, family, romantic interests, church members be an enabler or sabotager.  I know what my goals are and what my agenda is and I'm going to stick to it!

I will be posting the results of my 30 day shred next week so be on the lookout for that!