And we're off!!....
The Challenge has begun and, I must say, I'm off to a rollicking start.  I got back in from the Land of Big Hair and Bush last night (steady...read it again and git yer mind outta the gutter) after another day of market research excitement in Houston.  And - as a testament to the Power of the Challenge, I managed to survive the whole day without a single M&M being consumed.  I will pause there for a moment so that those of you in the industry can marvel at how spectacular and improbable a feat of self-control that represented.












Thank you.  I know.

Fortunately the flight back from Houston didn't involve flying through any lightening storms or tornado weather systems this time - although the amount of static electricity contained in my Simpson-esque bouffant, after 2 days of Texan humidity, was probably enough to have started its own weather system if I'dve shaken my head fast enough.  Obviously the lack of wine during the flight made things hairier in a different way - my work colleague feigned sleep so as to avoid the bitching.

A tall Pole.
This is for my readers from Pole-land

Anyway, am back and - with the exception of Yosemite tomorrow - I have no more travel booked for a little while, so I can focus on the task at hand!  WINNING!!!  (or at least avoiding Loopy's forfeits!).    So, to remind you - this week is Walk Week and we're off to a flying start!  Despite sitting on my arse for most of yesterday, somehow I managed to get my requisite 8000 steps in (I think it was during lunch hour when my client and I were in the HUGE shopping mall trying to find the food court and then trying to find something healthy on sale in it).  Today, in keeping with the spirit of Walk Week, I got up at 7am and went for a 30min walk in and around the Embarcadero.  It was just a little chilly, but nothing too drastic and it was just lovely, power walking along the marina and the bay, and again thinking how damned lucky I am to live here.  I took a couple of piccies - one is of the marina behind the ball park, opposite where I live; the other is of a tall constructiony-thing that (apparently) is eventually going to be turned into a recreational pier with a grassy area, shops, restaurants, the whole nine yards.  Sounds very similar to what they did with the piers on the West Side Highway back in NYC - should be lovely and will help to keep sending my property value skyward!!!

View of the Marina with the ball park in the background

Anyway, the scores on the doors at the end of Day 2 - i am NAILING my calorie deficit target, exceeded my 8,000 step target by doing 14,000 steps today (and that's even with taking the MUNI for just 2 stops to go meet my mate for her birthday drinks cos I was running late) and I refrained from any naughty food bits during drinks.  So - a strong start.

As I'd hoped, this Challenge has really kicked my naturally competitive nature into gear.  Once that's engaged and I'm focused, there's no stopping me.  I try and convince people (OK - my folks) that I'm not as competitive as I used to be - or that I don't really mind losing at cards - its just a game, right?   But I'm fooling precisely no-one!  I do try and keep it in check but, as an example of how crazily competitive I can get, tonight - after I'd got back from drinks (no wine) and was preparing a salad to go with dinner, I found myself competing with my microwave as it was defrosting my Kashi Black Bean and Mango entree to see if I could finish chopping the salad up before it pinged!  I was mildly irritated as I was still dicing up the red pepper as it finished its first 2 mins, so after stirring it, consulting the box as to how long it needed to go back in for ("3 minutes or until product is hot") and carefully assessing the amount of green gear I still had to slice, dice and chop, back into the microwave it went for a full 4 mins.  I was trying to convince myself that I wanted to be sure it was piping hot - just to be on the safe side - but who was I kidding?  After some frenzied knife work and mis en place skills that would not place well in a Top Chef Quickfire Challenge, it was all over.

The microwave pinged for the final time.

I had won.