Hey, everyone!

Just wanted to introduce myself before jumping into this forum. I was around here a year or so ago but only for short time. I just recently moved 3,000 miles away and have been drinking lots of wine and doing a lot of baking to help myself "adjust"... Not surprisingly, it's not helping. I'm heading back toward my heaviest recorded weight ever with warp speed, so here I am – almost back to square one.

A little about myself:

I'm 26, an East Coast girl living on the West Coast. I'm a freelancer that works at home (which makes it REALLY hard to not gain weight, let alone lose it!). I have an awesome boyfriend, I'm the caretaker of a completely insane cat. I drink way too much coffee, play classical piano, travel often and I have a secret obsession with Marilyn Monroe. I eat a mainly vegan diet and am currently trying to incorporate more raw foods into my life. And in perfect irony of my healthy diet, I'm always trying to quit smoking!

Do any of you work at home? Have any of you moved really far away? I'd love to hear thoughts on anything or everything.

Thanks for reading!

HI!

I recently moved back home. I can't say it's "far" in distance compared to the distances in the States, you can't drive for 3 hours straight and not hit a border in this country. Hihi. But it's far for me nonetheless. My friends live an hour and a half away. I have a tight budget while I focus on graduating. So my life is just WEIRD. Oh, and I am 26 also!

Welcome to these boards. I hope you enjoy it and that you can achieve some goals! I really LOVE this place. It's people of all sorts and all places. And with different goals and different routes to get there.

Thanks, philana!

I'm not sure where in the Netherlands you live, but I've traveled through there on the train and stopped in Amsterdam. What an absolutely gorgeous city! In the states it's notorious for it's "progressive" views, but it should really be known for it's beautiful architecture and so. much. charm!

Hey Missy Gordon!
Welcome baaaack! You have to stick around this time, no question.

I can totally sympathize with the freelancing from home thing. I don't do it full time, but what's worse... I work a 9-5 in an office on my ***, then come home and freelance design for 4-5 hours a night a few times a week. It's a pretty damn sedentary lifestyle. :/

I also moved to Ireland for a summer, and just being away for a few months took it's toll on my weight. Good god, can the pounds ever pack on fast when you settle into a new (unhealthy) routine!

Oooh, you love Marilyn Monroe, eh? Are you looking forward to that new TV show, Smash? I know very little about miss monroe (except that in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes she was chowing down on a bag of chips, and I was like, if Marilyn can....), but regardless, the show looks awesome.



...I wanna go to Amsterdam!!!
My company's head office is there, and we just had an "innovation challenge" across 80 countries with my work. I submitted (along with a small team) an elaborate innovation entry, and if we get in the top 3, I get to go to Amsterdam. We'll seeeee... I have to beat the other 35 entrants from Canada first...

Thanks jem, I'm adjusting pretty well but it's snowing on the East Coast today and I'm SO homesick for it!

Jelbb - lucky you with your long visit to Ireland! I hope I make it there someday! I hadn't heard of Smash yet but just looked it up and it seems cool! I just saw My Week With Marilyn with Michelle Williams - it was really good.

I hope you make the top 3 on your innovation challenge!

Jelbb! If you make the top 3 then we should have coffee!

Oh, I work from home too. When I am not at my actual job-job. I am graduating and don't have a lot of classes. I really am not productive at home but for me it's much better on the diet. When I work in the library or a coffee shop I just go and buy stuffs for lunch or from the snack machine. Kills me.

Welcome back!

I used to do graphic and web design freelancing for a number of years. I totally understand how sitting at home can cause you to want to eat!

I've slowly moved away from that though because I couldn't stand it. Now I'm teaching full-time and looking to tutor in the afternoons/weekends. It's nice to be out of the house and up and around all the time!

Good luck!

Welcome back!

I've never had to work from home, but when I had online classes I got to stay at home and it worked wonderfully on my figure. I had to block out that the kitchen was just a few steps away, but it made working out so much easier.

I had to move away for the winter from school and the end was harder for me than the beginning. In the beginning I focused on going to the gym everyday and eating right but then I got home sick and decided if my roommate could eat nachos for dinner and be a twig why couldn't I... oops.

I did quit smoking though! Actually I couldn't even tell you when since I paid so little attention to it. Over 2 years ago I'd say. I loved smoking, and it was a great time killer at my boring job, and in traffic, and well.. every other time. But I was going to the gym, and still smoking. I'd come out after a wicked workout then light one up in the car and I decided I had to chose one or the other and I didn't like the road that choosing smoking would take me down so I chose my health. Which is probably why it was relatively easy for me to quit, and I never really looked back. I went cold turkey, and I did miss it, and got jealous when people would say that they were quitting but be smoking in 2 days. But I knew I had made the choice for me, and it got easier day after day and now I think it's pretty gross. If I can do it, so can you!!

torito, glad to hear you successfully quit smoking. I know exactly what you mean about the hypocrisy of going to the gym and lighting up a cigarette. It's so ridiculous!

And yes, that's one of the nice thing about working at home – I can whip out the yoga mat or my free weights whenever I feel like it. I try to keep the kitchen stocked with only healthy stuff, but calories are calories – even if they are coming from a desperate amount of bananas.

My boyfriend and I share a car and he works a couple miles away, so a few times a week I will walk to his work to get the car. Although, I always feel odd because it seems like no one walks in LA... Luckily, my neighborhood is gorgeous and has lots of insane hills, so I love to explore. There are secret stairways, lots of fruit trees, and some spots high enough to see the ocean.