As the scale and tracker indicate, my trip to Peru was in fact beneficial to my weight loss goals. Before I left, I wrote a piece outlining the difficulties of dieting while traveling.

And, truth be told, I had my share of difficulties. But, overall, this trip was an exception. My food intake and habits were and are still the same. I still ate carbs (actually a TON of carbs), pastries, ice cream etc. . The biggest difference – the walking. We hiked or walked almost everywhere. And, rarely did we sit around twiddling our thumbs.

Sure, I’ve lost 8 lbs in 7 weeks, but this is also a healthy amount per week. It just seems like a lot since I haven’t been in town. The challenge will be to maintain this weight and to continue losing weight every week. Yes, let’s hope that I don’t suffer the freshman 15 part II.

I’m also pretty sure a lot of the loss is muscle related. Ask me to run more than a mile, and I might die. But I’m only four pounds from my personal goal and with seven weeks left, I better reach that goal. I may not win the challenge, but I’m definitely pleased with the outcome thus far.

With my last week approaching, it’s bittersweet to look back and think how quickly this trip will come to an end.

Part of me is jealous of the other’s we’ve met along the way who still have weeks/months left in their journey. Sometimes it’s a bit lonesome, but then you meet a bloke who has fantastic stories, and it’s easy to envy him.

But, let’s be real. I also can’t wait to come home. Simple things like tofu or heck, lettuce, sound so comforting.

We just spent the later half of this past week in Puerta Maldanado exploring the jungle. Located on the south eastern portion of the Amazon Basin, we were only 3hrs from Brazil! Should’ve made the jump over.

While there, I somehow passed along the stomach bug to Michael, who has paid dearly. Ouch.

It was hot, humid and mosquito ridden. But totally worth it! We saw so many faacinating and odd creatures. From river otters to huge bugs to the stinky birds, it makes you wonder what nature was smoking when it made that.

While at the hostel, we met several groups of researchers from Stanford and A&M. Talk about feeling under accomplished- these guys have been living in the jungle for the past couple of months advising on waste and water management systems, studying the wildlife, or volunteering. One girl even had a fungus growing down her arm – hardcore.

It did however reignite my excitement to get back home and start my work as an academic. Hope my work will make a difference one day.

Our last leg includes a trip to Puno to check out Lake Titicaca at 4k meters. Awesome. The constant altitude and climate changes are taking its toll on both Michael and I. Luckily, antibiotics is antibiotics in Spanish. Or, at least our hand motions transcend language barriers.

As a side note, I’m listening to the Spice Girls at a local pub in Cusco- oh, the odd comfort I find in hearing Baby Spice.

I do love this city though and hope to come back in the very near future.

Still haven’t weighed myself – oddly there are no scales to be found! No wonder people are so happy here

I would say my clothes fit differently, but I definitely only packed sweats and
elastic wastedband clothing. Better for the psyche.

Here are a couple of pics! Enjoy

Hola!

Know it’s been quite some time since my last blog post, but I finally have some down time and a working Internet connection. Yay for hostels.

Apologies up front; but this one might be a longer entry than usual.  I’ve been out of the U.S. for officially 15 days and there’s a lot to catch up on.

Since my last post, I’ve traveled through a good portion of central and southeast Peru. From sandboarding to Machu Picchu to Cusco, I’ve seen and experienced so much. This country is captivating.

If you’ve been following my Facebook or my Twitter feed, you already know that I had the pleasure of  fighting off a cold/stomach bug.

When I arrived at Cusco, I pretty much slept the entire day while my travel bud, Michael, bought me a crap load of antibiotics. Bueno for selling medication over the counter here. Who needs some Riddlin? J/K

In any case, the recovery was a speedy one. Well, sort of – I had no choice. Due to a looming bus strike and tight schedules, we moved our trek up to Machu Picchu by a day.

Like I’ve mentioned before, I’m on the “poor man’s” trip through Peru. So, instead of the usual pleasant train ride to Aguas Calientes, we decided to travel via public transport and our own two feet.

Beginning our trip at 7:30 pm, we reached our first stop (Santa Maria) at 1:00 am and needed to get to Santa Teresa before the bus strike was in full swing. We took a colectivo (a cross between a bus/van) up the mountains. It was like a real life roller coaster. At one point, everyone was asked to get out of the van in order for the driver to make the small hump without falling off the edge.

At 3:00 am, we arrived in Santa Theresa; no bed and me feeling awful. Bus rides plus nausea plus fever plus stomach pains equals a pretty bitchy Kristine. Michael found us bed – and that’s the nice way of putting it.

The next day, we stopped by the hot springs after a 30minute hike down to the river. Then, finally at 3:45pm we started the real trek to Aguas Calientes. According to the Internet, it would take two hours to walk from the hydroelectric plant. We had 2.5 hours until the sunset. Cutting it close. Yeah, that’s us.

We followed the train tracks. It was great to walk through the mountains and really enjoy the scenery. Plus, the conversations were always entertaining between the four of us. Nearing the third hour of walking (with our 25-30lb backpacks on), we still had not reached our destination. It was dark and the mosquitos were out for blood (I have 62 bites to prove it).

Finally, we saw the Pepsi sign and moved off the train tracks – great! 30 more minutes to go. When we finally reached the hostel, my body was in complete pain. I think we clocked over 12 miles of hiking that afternoon.

The following morning at 4:00 am, we awoke to begin our walk up Machu Pichhu. The goal: to beat the tourist buses, see sun rise and get a ticket to WaynuPicchu. It should take 30minutes – NOT. It was pretty much a 1.5 hour sprint up the steep mountain steps of Machu Picchu. A stairmaster has nothing on that mountain.

We hung out for about six hours at the top and then finally made the trek back down. It was a beautiful site, and I can’t even begin to explain it. I’ll let the pictures do that.

I highly recommend the entire experience to anyone who’s a bit loco too

Since then, I’ve treked through the entire Sacred Valley visiting sites in Ollaytatambo, Urrabamba, Pisac  (six hours of hiking in one day) etc.  If my shoes could talk, they’d probably say: you’re killing us.

Not sure if all the walking is actually helping on the @fatroll mission. I’ve been eating pretty much fruits, chicken, potatos, rice and quinoa! The food here is great, but I’m making a conscious effort to watch everything I eat. It’s still a competition after all. IN IT TO WIN IT.

With less than two weeks left, we’ve got a pretty packed itinerary. First, to the Amazon! I can’t wait to see crazy animals, fight off yellow fever and be on a boat (sans the flippy-floppies).

I miss everyone like crazy and am so proud of the continued fat ass kicking! (not very PC I realize).

Til next time!

Ciao

Hola!

It has been a good three days since we arrived in Peru, and boy has it been a whirlwind thus far.

I’d have to say that despite what I had imagined to be a fail-safe weightloss program, I forgot to take into account the relative cheapness and conversion rate. Thus, putting me in a position to afford and eat almost anything.

But, I think we’re just getting it all out of our system. I’m still hedging my bets on a massive bacterial infection in my intestines. My new friend who also flew in from SF definitely got it and was on IV fluids for his second day. Yay! Jk

The food here is absolutely amazing. And, no it’s not like Mexican food. I, actually have not had a quesadilla or anything drenched in queso. Tons of beans (frijoles), potatoes (papas) y chicken (pollo). Average meal costs about $2 US (6 nuevo sole). Cheap eateries called “chifas” serve two courses for nothing.

The trap is in the pasteries and rice! So much goodness. A gigantic empanada is 1 sole or 30 cents US.

Yesterday, we splurged a bit and tried the tres leches cake, guinea pig (picante cuy) and cebiche (yes, spelled with a “b”).

The general warning is to avoid street food; but our Peruvian friend (Julius Cesar-who was our waiter and later tour guide), helped us navigate the most local areas to try the cuisine. Mmm maze y queso.

On the beverage front, the national drink -Pisco- is made of grapes and taste somewhat like tequila. Pisco sour is like a Peruvian margarita with egg whites. Not sure about the calorie count, but there’s protein!

Also, there are several fruit drinks like papaya, mango, pineapple (pinas) etc..

I also gave Inca Kola a shot. It’s a bright neon yellow and tastes like bubble gum. Uh not my cup of tea. But, the beer is good and obviously so is the bottle of water.

My only saving grace is that we walk for 4-6hours straight a day exploring the city. We’ve seen a ton and ventured up a small mountain already.

We’re leaving Lima today to begin our real journey around the country. Hoping the increase in activity will be good!

Luckily, I have a grace period this week- thanks @fatroll! I needed it.

Good luck today ladies

Now, it’s off to Huachachina for some totally rad sandboarding!!