What A Week I'm Having!!! (Part One)

Quick!!! What movie is it from? (insert Final Jeopardy music here...) Ok, it's 'Splash,' but anyway... It was finally my turn (it felt like they got to everyone before me- NOT true!) to be interviewed for the From Fat to Finish Line documentary and did Angela from Media Meld Studios and Jen, from both MMS and our Ragnar team, have a whirlwind trip in store for me!!

On Monday, I took the Long Island Railroad into New York City and met up with Angela, Jen and stylist Amy Acton to head over to the iconic Macy's Herald Square. You know, 'Miracle on 34th Street?' It was a dream come true to shop in that store. I mean, I've visited at Christmas time, rode the ancient wooden escalator up to the 9th floor to see Santa with the kids, but I have NEVER shopped at Macy's. Browsing through the racks, picking out things that caught my eye, realizing the entire time that I didn't have to search for my size FIRST. If an item caught my attention, then I would find my size, because it WOULD be on the rack. Anything Amy picked for me pretty much fit. I think the first thing I tried on was a pair of cute green shorts in a size 6. Now, it wasn't a perfect fit, but they went on. That is a HUGE deal. FYI: My credit card and I are in BIG trouble!

Angela filmed us shopping the store, then me revealing each outfit and doing a very sad impersonation of a fashion model's twirl coming out of the dressing room. The funniest thing was when a random shopper came right up to Amy and asked her what the new discounted price would be on a sweater she was holding! Amy patiently tried to do the math and then directed her to the register where the clerk could just scan it for her. She could've just said "I DON'T WORK HERE!!!" but she didn't. She's a great gal and a true professional.

After Amy found the perfect look, the girls took me to DSW for a pair of shoes. I warned Amy I couldn't walk in heels, but I haven't actually attempted them since losing weight. It seems maybe being a bit (understatement) lighter and maybe a little more athletic helped? Maybe I'm exaggerating since I picked a cute tan strappy sandal with maybe a 2" heel? They did go perfect with the flowy, gauzy Bohemian top and the cuffed green shorts.

Before we knew it, it was time to head downtown to Circuit of Change, a beautiful yoga studio on 16th Street, for my "insane" workout with Gene Snisky who has been busy as an actor, WWF wrestler and personal trainer. I was a little intimidated by his size. He's 6'8", roughly 280 lbs. I'm NOT. He knew I had been doing Insanity, but I was off for a couple of weeks due to my bust schedule. Thankfully there were no free weights involved, and although he brought a jumrope, I didn't have to make an ass out of myself trying to use it on film. It would've only been worse if he made me hula hoop. He started me out with a warm-up of jumping jacks, push-ups and squats, 20 each, 2 circuits. I lived through it. Then he made me do all sorts of lunges and squats using a medicine ball. I didn't pop or break anything, so we can call it a successful workout.

He must've drank his Ovaltine!

That was the first time I've ever worked with a personal trainer and I have to say I liked it. Even though he's extremely large and therefore scary-looking, his training style is NOTHING like Jillian Michaels. He cheered me on and got me to finish most exercises strong without ever getting in my face. Gene must have known I would have broke down and cried (one of the reasons I would have never survived the military!) if he came at me like that.

After my workout the rest of the day was appointment-free. We checked into the hotel, The Jewel Facing Rockefeller Center. We ate a delicious lunch at The Terrace Club which overlooks St. Patrick's Cathedral and Radio City Music Hall. (Great shoe-string fries.) That night we walked through Times Square and enjoyed some people watching. We found a little place called Baked by Melissa with the most adorable bite-sized cupcakes, but we all resisted the temptation. Walking back to the hotel we stopped at Duane Reade and got some snacks for the night and found our teammate Katie's article in Fitness magazine!

Less than 50 calories per cupcake!

Jen and I pleased as punch to find Katie in Fitness Magazine!

Everyone was exhausted. Poor Angela had taken the red-eye in that morning, so I don't know HOW she was capable of doing anything by 9pm. We enjoyed our snacks, got to see some footage from the day, talked and shared stories and fell asleep doing one of our favorite things- watching reality tv! I'm still wondering how the episode of 'Monster-In-Laws' ended.