An update from the Kingdom

Hello my dear friends and family. I hope the holiday season finds you well and keeping warm! I can’t believe how cold it has been in Tacoma…The weather here is gorgeous. Highs in the mid to upper 60s and lows probably in the low 60s. It actually does feel chilly when there is a breeze and mornings and evenings require sweaters. We’ve actually had quite a bit of rain lately. It rained for almost a week straight with some pretty fantastic thunder and lack of drainage thrown in there.

I have survived until winter break! Things at school have been very busy. Some of you I’ve chatted with about the state of the school. There are a lot of ups and downs, some great days and some very stressful. There are a lot of changes being implemented by new administration. The changes are for the good of the school and some of the school staff and students are on board and some of them aren’t. It’s kind of exciting to be a part of but also very frustrating at times. We have been having kind of a rough time with our grade 12 students. My take on it is that they have really never been held accountable for anything and now there are multiple adults at the school holding them accountable for all kinds of things like coming to school, going to class, doing their homework, being polite to teachers, not pulling the fire alarm….you know, the regular stuff. They are getting a lot of “tough love” right now, which they will hopefully appreciate sometime in the future. We’re getting all caught up on college stuff for them which is nice. Now I just need to figure out what to do with them during our advisory time once a week.

The apartment has come along nicely. I have all the necessary furniture. It feels kind of grown up to have furniture that I have bought instead of hand me downs. I really sorta splurged on my TV but it was a pretty good price and it is awesome. I don’t have anything on the walls yet so it still feels kind of bare. The issue is that the walls are cement, so I really have to decide where I want everything before I start hanging stuff. I also need to buy the appropriate tools and supplies.

I will probably start renting a car in January. I’ve decided to rent instead of buy. It’s not that expensive and then I don’t have to worry about maintenance or repair work if something goes wrong. I just give it back and they bring me another car.

The weekends I’ve stayed in Bahrain I’ve managed to go out a few times with friends I’ve made at school. I had no idea there was such a large US military presence here. It is pretty apparent when you go out depending on where you go. No worries though, I went to college in Tacoma! Haha. We found a place called Dublin’s that I really like. They have a great band that plays covers of popular stuff and takes requests. They are really good. Plus if you go on ladies night and order from a certain menu then it’s free!

I’ve been lucky to be able to visit the family pretty regularly. We had a great time over Thanksgiving though we missed my mom who was in the states. It has been a few years since we’ve all been together for Christmas so we are looking forward to that. I’m at my sister’s right now enjoying time with her family. On Tuesday night we’ll head to my parents and be there until Dec. 30. Then we’ll leave the nieces with my parents and the rest of us will head to my place. Heather and Erik will celebrate their anniversary and I’m going to a black tie masquerade with some teachers on New Year’s Eve.

I hope all of you are doing well and have a safe and happy holiday season. I do have some pictures to post and I will get them on the blog over my break. Look for them soon! Miss you all.

P.S. There is now a bed in the guest bedroom. I repeat, there is now a bed in the guest bedroom…

Hello My Friends!

Greetings from Bahrain. I’ve been here 5 days and things are going fairly well. I can’t seem to find where I packed my chord to put my pics from my camera on my computer. Once I get more settled hopefully I will find it and be able to post some pictures. For now you will have to be happy with words =)

At the moment I’m staying in an apartment style hotel. The school is paying for 2 weeks. I also get transportation to and from school for free for these 2 weeks. I have been apartment hunting. I found a 2 bedroom 2 bath, unfurnished apartment in an area other teachers live in. It is called Tubli. It is between the capitol city, Manama, and the area the school is in, West Riffa or even Awali. Unfurnished here means LITERALLY NOTHING. No fridge, stove, cabinets, nothing. The apartment I found has full kitchen cabinets, a stove/oven, ac units in each room and curtains (the bathrooms have all the necessary plumbing). My other option was a fully furnished small studio that felt like a dorm room but had a fabulous pool. I opted for the two bedroom. It’s a lot to furnish but I wanted family and other guests (hint, hint!) to be able to visit me comfortably. As is typical there are a few snags in sealing the deal which is much too confusing and lengthy to go into detail here. As far as a pool goes I can join a “club” with a gym and a pool, hopefully. They are plentiful so it should be too difficult.

The school I’m at is called Shaikha Hessa Girls School, and the website is www.shgs.edu.bh. I have 23 seniors, most of whom are VERY behind in college applications and testing due to many factors. Because of H1N1 (haven’t heard the term swine flu since I got here, but H1N1 is every where) the ministry of education decided that no schools could be in session. When they decided school could start it was then one of the biggest Islamic holidays of the year. So school didn’t even start until mid-October. I’ve managed to get several things under a considerable amount of control in my 2 days at work which feels good and has kept me busy. There is still a lot to do but at least for the moment I feel like I know what I’m doing. Slightly neglecting the 9-11^th grade but I want to get the seniors squared away and on track before winter break. I have 2 more weeks until the next Eid, the next Islamic holiday. Lucky for me this falls over U.S. Thanksgiving so I will get to be with the family. After that there are only 2 weeks until winter break starts.

Right now a lot of things I need to get from the school to sign the apartment lease could be hard to get. I don’t even know if we will have school tomorrow or the next 3 days. The King’s uncle died and he declared all ministries take 3 days off from work. That was the last I heard when I left my carpool. Unfortunately my lack of Arabic skills makes watching the news difficult so I’m scanning the internet for English news which seems to be updated sporadically. Its possible school could go on, or we could have the next 1-3 days off and then it’s our weekend. Surprise! 5 day weekend! If that happens I’ll go to Saudi for a trip to IKEA =) If we have school it will be fairly empty of students. The school was started by the royal family (the 1^st Queen, as in the King’s first wife, I believe). Many, many of our students are in the royal family line and are required to perform certain mourning rituals (mostly paying respect I believe). Ten of our 23 seniors just for example. I’m just hoping somebody thinks to call and let me know…haha. If the carpool van doesn’t show up in the morning I will know for sure =)

So it will be interesting to see what happens in the next few days. This is getting long and it’s bedtime for me so I’m going to wrap it up. Feel free to email me, or download skype and we can set up a phone date. Hopefully a few pictures will be available soon!

Phase One Totals

Phase one, super restricted diet is over! Yay! I wanted to post my total loss for that phase. Below is my weight loss and inches lost.

Pounds: 18
Neck: 0.75 in.
Chest: 2.0 in.
Waist: 3.25 in.
Butt: 2.25 in.
Arm : 0.75 in.
Thigh: 1.25 in.

Phase two has begun. Thankfully I can add more foods in which is fun and refreshing. It is taking some adjusting though and more time since it's new. It's only day two so I haven't figured out how to make things quick yet. I imagine it will mostly entail cooking more servings at a time and freezing or refrigerating for later use. I will start today with some salmon for lunch. and the leftovers will maybe be lunch for work on Sunday with a salad...Today I may also venture to make some lasagna using zucchini for the the noodles. Sounds yummy to me =)

Part of phase two is resetting the hypothalamus. For that reason I'm not supposed to fluctuate more than 2-3 pounds in either direction from my current weight. I am hoping to lose some more weight the old fashioned way once this next phase is over. it is all about learning how to maintain your weight. Which sounds simple, but more and more it is becoming apparent that this takes a lot of will power.

Yesterday I went bra and jean shopping since I didn't have any that fit me. Bra and jean shopping are second and third only to swimsuit shopping in torture levels. Shouldn't it be fun if you are doing it because you lost weight? Well of course the brand of jeans I've been buying and LOVE only had one style out at the moment which I did not love. And I spent forever trying to find the right bra. I think I spent 4 hours and came home with 4 bras, 2 pairs of jeans, one sweater and one top. Tops were almost impossible to find. Everything is all sweaters now with very limited even basic tees. I may venture out again in a few weeks and try my luck.

Pictures to come I promise! I just didn't take a proper "before" picture. So I need to find a good one and take a good after picture.

More soon....

6 days to go!

So I've decided to cut the injection phase of my diet a little bit short. There is a strong possibility I will be going to DisneyWorld at the end of the month which would be much easier with a less restricted diet. I also will then be able to partake in Halloween festivities with no worries.

To date I have lost 15 pounds!!!! I will do another post after my last day of the super restricted diet with my total weight loss and maybe even some before and after pictures. I'm sure the next phase will take some adjusting so I will keep you updated on that!

Ouch! Not all glamorous...

Today my injection hurt for the first time. Just the needle going in but still. I also noticed two bruises from previous injections. This the non-glamorous side of the diet. I think I need to start rotating injection sites to my tummy. Not quite sure the best spot so I will ask about that at my class on Monday. My poor thighs have had 7 injections each! They are rebelling! haha!

On a slightly funnier note...I believe the 9 pounds I've lost to date has come off my thighs, butt, and boobs. Not complaining but I'm hoping that I will also loose 9lbs of my belly fat because right now I look oddly disproportionate! ha!

Annelise

HCG Diet

Here is my post about my diet as promised. I would NEVER had done this diet if I had heard about it anywhere else than from my homeopathic therapist whom I L-O-V-E and trust immensely. She herself was sceptical which resulted in her doing much research on it. I don't know the official name but I call it the HCG diet. As you read on I want you to know that I'm in very close contact with her. We have appointments every week to check in, take measurements (including blood pressure) and she is always available if something doesn't feel right. Along with this diet I'm taking nutrition classes which are actually proving very interesting.

Ok. So here's the deal. The first phase of the diet which I'm currently in is a very low calorie diet combined with a daily injection of HCG. I know the reaction you just had when you read DAILY INJECTION. Believe me I had it too. The needle is teeny and you can't even feel the shot at all. Truly. HCG is produced during pregnancy. It does several things, you can look them up. In the case of the diet it helps to burn fat while I keep my muscle.

So here is my day food wise during this phase.

Breakfast: No breakfast! I love breakfast! Your shot is your breakfast basically. (I often eat half of my fruit from lunch for breakfast or mid-morning).

Lunch and Dinner: 100 grams lean meat (beef or chicken)
1 piece fruit (apple, orange, or small grapefruit). Fruit may be
eaten as snacks before or after meal as well)
2 cups salad greens OR 1 cup (total) of the following vegetables
cucumber, celery, fennel, radish, tomato, asparagus, and
onion. No more than 3 veggies may be combined at one time.
Spices, fresh herbs, and the juice of one lemon daily may be used

The only beverages allowed are water and tea. No oil is allowed (broth is allowed for cooking)


This low-calorie/injection phase lasts 44 days. It's 40 injections plus two more days of the low calorie diet. You don't do the injection the first 2 days of your period, thats where the last two days come from. 44 days. Believe me I'm counting. I usually don't feel hungry, but there are days. Grocery shopping is hard due to all the temptations but so far so good.

Starting October 18 I get to add everything else back in my diet except sugars and starches. You eat regular meals and snacks. This second phase lasts for 3 weeks. I'm really looking forward to cheese, eggs, avocado and other veggies!!! (these are really the only things I miss besides chocolate and booze...)

Starting November 8 I enter stage 3 which is really just maintaining healthy eating habits. Basically you slowly add sugars and starch back into your diet. Yay for chocolate and wine!

The nutrition classes are really helpful and make me more committed to the diet. The over arching goal is to help us learn how to eat using the glycemic index. Here is what I took from the first class session. Many people in the U.S. are carbohydrate sensitive. Our liver turns carbs into sugar for energy. But there is only so much storage in there. Once that storage is full the left overs are converted to fat. Eventually, because the storage never empties, our livers learn to turn carbs and sugars automatically into fat no matter how much we eat of them. This diet is giving the liver time to get rid of all that crap. A liver cleanse if you will. And hopefully it will relearn that carbs can be sugar for energy, not auto-fat. This and this alone keeps me away from all those temptations at the grocery store. Our next class will focus on sugars. Joy.

Is this craziness worth it? Well, I've already lost 8.5 pounds and could lose up to 30 total by October 18...it's worth it for me.

Stay tuned for more! Half way through (next week) I will post a current pic and a pic for the summer and we'll see the difference hopefully!

One would think

After a fun and stress filled summer of family, friends, and the breakup with the boy, I find myself entering fall. A few points here....I'm still jobless. This is discouraging despite my attempt to keep a strong face. There is one small glimmer of hope in the distance. Saudi Arabia. The rest of the family seems to be doin' it. I figure why not join? Now, I would be across the country from them but just a $100 plane ride away. That would make Holidays nice. Currently it is the largest Islamic holiday so I figure I have a few more weeks to sit tight and wait to see if I even get an interview.

So now I'm faced with the conundrum of what to do with all of my free time. One would think my apartment would be spotless. Admittedly it is cleaner than usual but there is still more that could be done. I can't really spend any money because I don't really have any. The money in the bank is being scrupulously saved for a possible trip to Disney World at the end of October to raise my spirits. Next week will be spent getting myself on every possible school counselor substitute list within driving distance. And waiting. I'm so bored with waiting.

On a lighter note I started this new crazy diet. Rereading this that doesn't really sound like a lighter note and there really was no pun intended although I have lost 8.5 pounds in the last 3 weeks. I will be blogging about that. I meant to do it every week, but here I am a third of the way through and nothin. Again with all the free time one would think...

One would think a lot of things.