Hi from Babette!

I came to Gainesville in 2004 for a job at UF and also because my parents live a couple hours away, as do other relatives.  I'm single, and I spend most of my time on the following activities: work (but I try hard to save weeknights and weekends for myself), playing tennis (though right now I'm working on healing tennis elbow so I'm not playing as much -- if I had my way I'd play 5-7 time per week!), cooking (mainly on weekends), traveling, reading, walking (there is a 5.4 mile walk from my house that I love and do as often as possible, though sometimes I run 3.4 miles instead) and socializing with friends and family.  In the recent past I was also into sprint triathlons, and maybe will pick that up again, especially if the tennis elbow doesn't heal.

I've watched my weight since high school, so there are not a lot of tricks that are new to me in that regard. I've never gained a whole lot of weight, but I have fluctuated in a 15-20 lb range, which is a lot since I'm only 5 foot 2.  Most of the reason for that high range has been medication that I've taken since 2004, which has wonderful side effects such as causing diabetes, and for me it effects a double whammy of decreasing my metabolism and increasing my hunger.  Fortunately I've always been on a very small dose, so no real danger of diabetes, and despite the dose that I was on since 2004, I managed to finally lose the 15-20 lbs I'd gained and get back to my youthful weight, as of around 3 years ago.  However, 1.5 years ago I had to double my dose of medication...so now I've gained 8-10 of those lbs back.  I'd be happy with my weight and would fit into most of my clothes and even my bikini if I shed 4-6 lbs from where I am today.  NOTE: I wore yoga pants almost every day of the winter and spring.  But I don't know how possible shedding 4-6 pounds will be.  I've been working on that goal for 1.5 years and I've been stuck where I am on the scale, despite eating fairly healthy and not even eating that many calories.  The only exception was for a few months last year when I tried out halving the dose again, lost 4 pounds, returned (unfortunately) to the doubled dose, then quickly regained the 4 lbs.  My main weaknesses are coffee (which made me hungrier so I cut that out and replaced it with green tea -- actually there were other reasons for that too), chocolate or some other dessert after lunch (to reward myself for eating my 5 servings of veggies at that meal) and wine and beer and the occasional cocktail.  Also I like tortilla chips, especially the spinach and kale ones at Publix -- but despite their healthy appearance, the chips still have a lot of calories.  My proud days require not having any of those things.  This first week I didn't have any desserts except for on Saturday.  And I've only had 3 servings of alcohol this week, which may not impress you but for me this is hard work (I like a glass of wine after work and a beer after tennis or both!).

I just returned from a 3 week vacation in Australia and New Zealand, during which I ate and drank EXCESSIVELY.  It was completely wonderful.  And amazingly, I only gained 1 lb. I can't begin to understand how that happened -- I wish I could eat like that in Gainesville and not wind up looking pregnant! But it was a nice surprise.  This challenge came at a good time, just after the trip, when I needed to get back into the healthy eating habits.  In addition to the healthy habits on the list, I also try consume a lot of fiber, including bran buds several days per week (YUCK!), because my doctor said to increase fiber and also because both of my grandfathers died of colon cancer and my Dad has had polyps.

I go to China June1-10 so I will put this challenge on hold during that time, though due to this challenge, I will probably make healthier choices there than I would otherwise.

3 words to describe me (in the eyes of others): inquisitive, energetic (when I'm not sleeping, as I do 9 hrs per
night), and analytical (sometimes overly so :-)).

Here are two of my favorite photos from the recent trip.
Good luck to everyone with this challenge!