BODY WARS: A New Start

Here's to a better year that last year! 

2011 Resolutions:

1. To lose at least ten pounds.
2. To start my own business OR find gainful employment (I would prefer the latter).
3. To update my blog at least once a week.

My resolutions are rather modest this year, as I am realizing that I am NOT Superwoman. I am actually quite discouraged when I think about it too much. Fortunately, I am a fighter, not a quitter!


2010 was a year of disappointments, if I may be brutally honest. I am still "underemployed," changes are afoot where I AM employed, and my fitness dreams became a crash and burn when I seriously injured both my shoulder and knee in separate incidents. I am still single, still suffering from gastroparesis, and still looking for a new career. SO what's in  2011 for me?

1. To lose at least ten pounds. This is a much more modest goal than I expected to make. My good doctor at Stanford has told me that people with my medical condition either a) waste away to skeletal proportions or b) blow up like a fat slug (of course, she was much more tactful than that!). I appear to be in the"b" category. My metabolism "looks" normal in my blood work, but the doctor says my metabolism can still be in "starvation mode" without showing up in standard tests. I need to keep eating regularly and make my workouts even more moderate.

The truth is, I have been overweight since I turned 19, even though my food intake and exercise were similar to what they are now...with more fresh fruits and veggies of course! I was actually underweight through my childhood and teens, and got horribly teased about anorexia (I refused to eat the greasy cafeteria food, and instead brought my own healthy lunch to school). This appears to be a family tendency. I once met an actual eugenics professor in Korea, who told me, "The Scandinavian curse is real, young lady. You all look like supermodels in your teens, then PPPTTTHHHH [he puffed out his cheeks and gestured a rapidly expanding waistline] in your twenties."


2. To start my own business OR find gainful employment. There is no work in Silicon Valley for teachers right now; they are getting laid off left and right. Adult ESL AND public school ELD programs are being cut from local school districts... in one of the most ethnically diverse areas of the United States. I have looked into other endeavors of employment, but my skills are very strongly canted towards education and international relations.

I am instead considering starting a non-profit vocational English center in the South Bay to deal with the loss of all of the ESL programs, especially for adults. Of course, I have no income to speak of, no capital, and no connections as of now, but these are areas I could at least begin to work on. I will also take a class on grant-writing.

3. To update my blog at least once a week.
I certainly got off track in this area - got caught up in several life mini-dramas (and they WERE dramas!) and therefore, got momentarily sidetracked. I will sincerely make an effort to continue writing regularly.