Expanding

On Wednesday when I left for Williamsburg, I weighed 130.8--right in the range I've been for a while. Then I didn't weigh myself while I was gone, but I figured that the extra food I ate would cancel out the exercise I got and I'd break even for the week. Wrong-o Keebler! On Saturday morning I was back up to 132.something. Then on Sunday I was 133.4, and today I was 134.8!!!!! What the heck is happening? I've been surviving on a diet of almost entirely fresh summer stuff--tomato sandwiches both Saturday and Sunday for lunch, eggs and tomatoes for breakfast, bruchetta for snack yesterday afternoon, corn on the cob and pasta with pesto and tomatoes (we have a LOT of tomatoes) for dinner yesterday. The only "bad" meal was dinner on Saturday--we ordered pizza, but I only ate one and a half slices of plain cheese pizza. We did have Brian's birthday cake too, both nights, but that's angel food cake with whipped cream and raspberries. I've gotten through MUCH more indulgent periods without gaining four pounds before! And my activity level was high all weekend--tons of yard work, cleaning and rearranging Claire's room (no small task, as you'd know if you've seen her room recently), laundry, etc. I was pretty much on my feet all day yesterday so I can't figure out why I've gained so much weight! And I don't think it's water retention or anything--I can't explain the gain except to assume that it's actual weight. Yuck.

Whew!

Work has been insane. I did my timesheet this morning (seeing how it is the end of the month) and I have worked 60 hours of overtime since July 16th. The paycheck will be nice, but I am so tired and stressed. We interview Wednesday for the next $3 million GIS program management contract with City DPW. I am so nervous. If we win, I keep my job for 3 more years. If we lose, my last day downtown is sometime in March 2007. I have a speaking part in the presentation too. that really freaks me out.

I just realized I forgot to put earrings in this morning.

I think I slept like 4 hours last night. I just couldn't fall asleep. I did exercise yesterday. Actually I have been quite good about exercising even though work is nuts. I only skipped on day last week and that was when Marian & I went to Lets Dish. My weight is down too, 158.7, which is good considering it has been hovering more or less at 160 for a long time now.

Hmm. That's all for now. I doubt I'll post again until after the interview. We'll be rehearsing up until we go in at 1 pm on Wednesday.

Running in Williamsburg....

....is really not that interesting. I got up early both Thursday and today and went for a run. The good thing is that it's flat and easily measurable since that main street is exactly a mile long. But then I had the trek over from the hotel/visitor center and through the Palace Green. When I finally thought to measure that today, I realized that I was doing a four mile round trip in the morning, but only running about three miles of it. I did that four mile trek again on Thursday evening, and a shorter version on Wednesday evening and at noon today (shorter because on Wednesday we took the bus to the historic area and today because I didn't walk the whole length of the street) . But the uninteresting part about running in Williamsburg is that at 6 a.m. you have to dodge the landscaping golf carts, Sysco trucks, piles of horse poop, and a thousand other joggers. I guess the horse poop and thousand other people (joggers are at least a little more aware of their surroundings than tourists) are always there, but the incessant drone of weed whackers was a disappointment.

But at least I got a LOT of exercise, which was good since I ate way too much--they had full meals for lunch both days, we went to one of the historic taverns for dinner one night, I had a sub for dinner another night, and barbeque for lunch today. At least my breakfasts were normal--just cereal, coffee, and juice. Oh, and did I mention dessert at lunch and midafternoon snack? German chocolate cake on Wednesday, really yummy fruit tarts on Thursday, huge cookies and chocolate brownies for snacks--yikes! And I ate it all!

I'll have to weigh myself tomorrow and see what the damage is. I'm hoping all that walking and running made up for the eating, but I think I was out of balance!

Making up for it

Well - I DID drink the whole shake. I knew I would. I drank it all and then was looking for more. Sigh. The strawberry was good - but the Coffee Caramel Lotta was better. I just can't decided if it was 260 calories better. Sigh. Maybe I could periodically justify a small one - but I can't ever think of being able to justify a WHOLE 20oz again!

So - other than that I had cottage cheese, coffee with skim milk and (just now) a summer squash. It is embarassing. The squash is only 20 calories - and it took me almost as long to eat as the shake took to drink.

I also went to the gym. I worked hard - but I think I only burned up about 3 oz of the shake. Sigh. I am hungry again. That is the problem with pure fat - it goes RIGHT through me. I guess that is kind of good too. Of course - vegetables go right through me too. Hummm. OK - No fat, and no vegetables for me. Only protein and bread from now on!!!

Ugh. I feel icky!

Between the heat, humidity and my period I just want to get in bed and not move. My body is achy and my hair is frizzy. I am also cold. Believe it or not right now I am shivering. I think it is because I was so hot all morning - but it is SO AC'd here at work that I am having trouble adjusting.

My weight was up a little this morning - 211.6 - it was 211.4 yesterday and 209.6 on Wednesday. I am hoping my period jump came two days before instead of two days after this month since I really don't want ANOTHER jump in weight (although 4 pounds total is normal for me).

I ate too much pizza last night. I made the California Pesto pizza from Let's dish. It was 1/4 of the total dish (they do 2 12-14" pizzas for 6 people. We made them up as 4 halves). So - 1/2 of the 1/2 would have been not quite a full serving - the whole half was more than one serving. Well - I ate 1/2 of the 1/2. It was darn good - and would have been enough for me. But Katie was babysitting last night - so - I ate her half too - onions and all. Then I was too full. Later - when I wasn't too full - I had a yogurt (which I should have skipped - but I wanted something sweet...). My day food yesterday was pretty good. I had a V-8, Life cereal with skim milk, coffe, cottage cheese and an orange. Even with the too much pizza my total calories for yesterday was 1296 - so that isn't too bad.

We are getting Coldstone milkshakes today. I can't believe I am admitting it. I am having another one of the WHOLE DAY calorie fests. Actually - this is my plan... I am going to get the lowest calorie one (strawberry) and then only drink half of it - so I will actually have only half of a whole day of calories in one cup. We have coupons that expire on Monday - so we want to get them while they are still cheap. You know? Ok - I am not buying it either. Sigh.

Second verse, same as the first

Grrr! I wrote a post this morning - but my computer went wonky and I lost it. So here is my second attempt.

I had the most horrible headache the past couple of days. I think it was mostly dehydration - but I am not sure. I was drinking water like crazy yesterday - but it didn't seem to help. Advil didn't help either. I was miserable! I even considered not coming in to work today! It finally eased up mid morning - at the same time my period started. Weird.

Anyway - so I didn't exercise yesterday. I did take a nap. I wish I turned on the AC - but instead I lolled around like Blanche.

I went to give blood yesterday and the wouldn't take it!! Aparently Belieze is a malaria risk country and Sarah and I spent a good part of the day in Belieze in March. So I can't give blood until next March. Hummm. This was after I spent a good chunk of the morning trying to find the blood mobile in Owings Mills! I should have given up like my instincts told me.

THEN - I had an ultrasound scheduled for yesterday to check for PCOS (gee! Thanks Em!). So - I had to drive to Westminster with a very full bladder. They ended up doing an internal as well as the external. I wasn't expecting that. At least they let me pee before they stuck the probe up me.

Foodwise yesterday I had yogurt and a cupcake for breakfast, cottage cheese for early lunch, a Ben & Jerry's ice cream bar since I was a good girl at the doctor's (350 calories - it could have been worse!), french bread pizza for late lunch (around 4), then stuffed pork tenderloin for dinner around 9pm. The ice cream pushed me over the 1200 calorie mark. Oh well - it was worth it.

Katie and I did a mini Let's Dish session this morning. It was fun and quick (four dishes). I used my lunch break for that - so no exercise for me. Depending on how I feel (I traded my headache for bad cramps today) I will crank up the AC and do a video tonight.

The new Lia Sophia catalog is on Shelley's website. I am excited. The past catalog was disappointing - but this one really makes up for that one!
www.liasophia.com/shelleysjewels

Trying to get moving

I did actually end up taking a walk with the kids yesterday. Mary rode her bike and the other two were in the stroller, so we were able to book it most of the way, and it wasn't a bad workout. We went probably 2.75 miles total, which isn't fabulous, but it's way better than sitting around doing nothing.

Eating yesterday was better than the day before but I still had two brownies for dessert. Today the brownies will get finished off so with any luck I'll be in better shape dessert-wise. My downfall today is that Cecilia keeps asking for foods -- animal crackers and pretzels and whatnot -- and when I give her something I usually eat a few myself, even though I'm not hungry. I need to stop that. It's not even 11 and my snacking is out of control!

Today I saw that Daniel packed his gym clothes, so I should be able to get him to go to the gym with me, and that should be sufficient motivation for both of us to go. The kids also have French class, so we'll walk there (unless the weather changes -- it's so flaky!), which will be a tiny bit of exercise, anyway.

I keep forgetting it's Tuesday

I've been on the computer half the day (no good reason -- just procrastinating) but I keep forgetting to post. I was 136.5 this morning, which was a bit of a surprise after the 138-139 I've been seeing since Saturday. It will probably go back up tomorrow, especially considering I've had NO exercise since Saturday. I just can't seem to get motivated! Yesterday I did haul a dresser and all its parts up the basement stairs and then I did a layer of varnish on it; then I lugged it into the kitchen (and back out and back in) as rain threatened. I also hung two sets of drapes which the kids had pulled down (one two weeks ago, and one not an hour after I'd rehung the first!) and did a couple of loads of laundry (up and down the basement stairs some more) so it's not like I was a total lump yesterday.

My eating yesterday was terrible. I made s'mores brownies for dessert (very, very yummy) and ate one of those after dinner, and then the other half of Cecilia's, and then a few hours later Daniel offered me a root beer float, and, hey, I'm not made of stone, right? Sigh. Dinner was at least relatively healthy -- a rehash of the previous night's chicken, but corn and applesauce on the side instead of baked beans and baked potatoes. It's the almonds that have been getting to me lately -- I can't seem to stay out of them.

Today I have been a total lump; I've done laundry, again, but nothing else useful. It's too overcast to risk doing the second coat of varnish on the dresser, unless I want to put half-disassembled (what a word) bedroom furniture on our front porch like we're some kind of rednecks. I haven't been to the gym and I've been snacking a lot. Ick. Maybe I can talk the kids into a walk/bike ride.

Yay Me!!!

I finally went to the gym! I didn't realize it - but it had been almost a MONTH!! The week of July 4th I justified not going by our exercise on the holiday and then my trip with Claire to Cunningham Falls. The week after that I did ONE DAY of weeding (oh - and did I paint that week too? - maybe that was the week before...) anyway - so I took a lazy week off. Then - I never went back. I knew it had been two full weeks of a whole lot of nothing - but Dang! No wonder I am fat!!!

So I went today. I feel like a big blob of jelly. I know a lot of it is because I am dehydrated. I drink, and drink and drink (YES! WATER! Duh.) but I still feel thirsty - but my belly feels bloated. I am going to drink my V8 now and eat my applesauce and hope that helps a little bit.

Yup - a little bit. I just drank about 1/2 of my V-8. Maybe I was having low blood sugar too... I don't know.

So food today besides the V-8 so far has been 4oz cottage cheese, a serving of the Let's Dish Stuffed Pork Tenderloin... and that is it. I have a yogurt left - as well as my applesauce... I think we are having Stovetop Chicken Divan tonight. This will go well with my 1950s style circle skirt and beaded cartigan that I am wearing. All I need are some high heeled pumps. Hee hee.

If my weight were an elevator

I would be living at the top of the Sears Tower now. Sigh. I was 210.8 this morning. .2 up from last week. I forgot to exercise last night. Seriously. I did say something when Katie and I were eating dinner - but then by the time I remembered it again it was almost midnight. My room was too cluttered to do anything up there - and Laura was in bed already - so I couldn't use the living room! I HAVE to get back into a good habit.

How many calories do you think the Sacher Torte was per serving? We cut them pretty small (it was supposed to serve 12 - we did 16). I had a slice last night, and a cider. We had porkchops (292 calories) and spinach for dinner. And that was my food for the day (along with what I posted earlier).

I have an interview in 15 minutes - after that I am going to the gym Gol Ding It! if it KILLS me!!!

131.6

Much better than yesterday's weight, but still a pound up from last week. My exercise yesterday consisted of spending an hour battling the green monsters in our front yard--the two enormous overgrown bushes. The bushes themselves aren't so overgrown (well, one is--it's not even supposed to be there, and was just a little nuisance bush for years until the oak came down and now it has all kinds of light and root space and is going nuts) but they are covered with three or four different species of vines, so my goal was to hack down and pull off the vines, get rid of the poison ivy, and trim back the bushes to a manageable size. I pretty much accomplished that--the nuisance bush didn't cooperate because it is housing a nice bird family who started making distress noises while I was hacking, so I gave that up and just pruned it back so it doesn't block the sidewalk. But the forsythia is either much better or much worse, depending on how you look at it. It's the opposite of overgrown now--I got out almost all of the vines so the bush is looking naked and scrawny, but I couldn't reach the top branches so it's still too tall. Looks very weird. I think we're going to chop it down in the fall and kill it mercilessly if it tries to revive in the spring. Anyway, so, it's not running but it was good exercise nonetheless.

Food yesterday--ate the yogurt and peach I brought with me, then had macaroni and cheese for dinner with no redeeming value at all (Kraft version, made with real butter no less), then later I had whole wheat toast with a sliced tomato--THAT was very yummy.

Same ol', same ol'

I went to record my weight for the weekend and realized I hadn't filled it in since LAST weigh-in day. I remembered my weights for today, Sunday, Saturday and last Wednesday - but I made them up for Thursday and Friday. Of course... I am consistantly between 208 and 211 - so I can't be far off on my guesses.

I have been eating PERFECTLY today. I had cottage cheese and pine apples for breakfast, leftover sushi for lunch (8 pieces), V-8 for an early snack, and strawberry yogurt for a later snack. I have applesauce left and I have been drinking coffee with skim milk all day - and some iced tea (no sugar). I even remembered to take my vitamins today. I am doing this because I KNOW there is Sacher torte in our house and I am going to eat some!!!

I didn't make it to the gym. Again. I am going to do a video or take a walk when I get home - because - again - we have a Sacher torte in our house! I have had a horrible headache all day (probably sugar crashing today from yesterday and Saturday). I didn't actually eat that much - other than the actual torte - but I managed to breate in an awful lot of sugar and chocolate while making the torte on Saturday.

In other foods, I ate so much sushi Saturday night I almost exploded. Then Sunday we decided to have sushi for lunch. I had yogurt for breakfast Sunday morning - and I can't remember much of Saturdays food. Last night we made Mediterrean shrimp and pasta - it was very good.

Katie and I set up our bead making station in the kitchen again. It has been down since we did our scrapbooking in April. I have missed it. I was so stressed when I made my bead last night - and my timing was all off - but it turned out OK.

Gaining weight

On Thursday, I weighed 130.4--pretty much the same as I've been for a while. I woke up Friday morning and was shocked to see my weight had shot up to 131.8!!! But it gets worse--today I was 132.8! What the heck is up? I didn't eat really well this weekend (especially yesterday with Katie's cake, ice cream, cupcake, etc.) but I didn't eat THAT badly. And while I only made it to the gym twice last week, I at least got out over the weekend for a couple of long walks with Davey. But somehow I managed to put on two and a half pounds. Weird. I hope it doesn't last.

I'm trying to remember my food this weekend and except for the cake on Sunday afternoon and vegetarian lasagna for dinner last night, I can't really remember meals. I skipped lunch yesterday because I just wasn't hungry and knew we'd be having goodies, and I had cereal for breakfast. So that was Sunday. Oh, I also had two pieces of fruit and some ice cream in the evening. I have no recollection of Saturday. Can't remember one thing I ate. Wait, no, I take that back--I made eggs, toast, and tomatoes for dinner. Friday is similarly dim, but I remember sharing popcorn with Claire in the evening.

Today so far I've had cereal for breakfast, a graham cracker bar for snack, cheese and crackers for a partial lunch and I still have a peach and yogurt for later. I have my stuff for a gym trip today but may not make it because I have three proposals to finish up and deliver this afternoon. I'm going to be out of town for work Wednesday through Friday this week and I'm very optimistically packing clothes to go running. We're in Williamsburg and I always wanted to run that main street in the early morning (the problem being that GETTING there early in the morning would add a great deal of distance to the run so I'm not sure I'll make it!).

Back at it

I exercised not one bit while I was in Maryland, and I wasn't even as active as I usually am, since it wasn't my house (therefore much less housework) and I was in the car more than usual. I didn't feel that I ate that badly -- aside from allowing myself a beer nearly every night, and Coldstone that one day -- but my weight was back up to 139 when I got home! Phooey. So yesterday I went to the gym in the morning and did 45 minutes on the bike (level 7) and the usual ab and upper body work. It was horrible. I didn't pay especially close attention to my eating yesterday but it wasn't awful, aside from a trip to Ben & Jerry's, though I did get frozen yogurt instead of ice cream. And I only had a few sips of wine instead of having a full glass (or two!). I saw a half pound drop this morning, though nothing is official for a while yet, of course.

Today we had waffles for brunch, and I only ate one officially, with butter and syrup, but I ate most of another one plain. I also had OJ, but no milk (we were out of skim). I've had snacks of almonds (about 16 almonds) and pretzels (a few bits and pieces -- they're almost gone), and I nibbled at the brown sugar (maybe a spoonful) while I was cooking. Tonight we're having barbecue chicken (non-fat sauce) and baked potatoes (I won't eat much) and baked beans (I don't even like those) and salad, so it's relatively healthy. I will have milk with dinner, too. I did get a bit of exercise today -- we walked to Kroger instead of driving. It's not much, but it's better than nothing. Tomorrow I'll get back to the gym, I hope.

Doctor Update

OK - I had my annual today and I am disappointed to report that there was a big FAT NO change in my weight since last year. I brought it up with her again and I told her everything we talked about on Sunday. She won't just out of hand prescribe Metformin to someone - but with everything I told her she thought it was worth persuing further. She took blood for the insulin and testosterone level tests. She DID do them both before and I was within the normal range on both of them. She is sending me for a pelvic ultrasound next week to look for cysts... I told her I already had one, but that was under a different doctor - and she said it was also so long ago that it was worth doing again. I DID tell her that Emily didn't have any of the typical symptoms of PCOS either - but that was the treatment she finally responded to. Emily and I also have similar builds (or we did...) and we both have always had irregular cycles. It didn't hurt that when then asked when my last period was I had NO CLUE - or when my next one was coming either... I said I had one in June, but not yet July.

She is also sending me to an endocrinologist. The first appointment I could get with him was November 1st - but his office is less than a mile from my house! I told Dr. Ball that I wasn't sold on the PCOS theory, and that I think that it is more likly bowel related. SHE said though that if it was my bowels then I may process foods more slowly - but it would affect weight loss or gain in the long run. Something metobolical is more likely. Sigh.

Now that I am addressing this I want to get it ALL done now. I am frustrated that I have to wait until November to see the specialist.

Anyway - I had broccoli with cheese sauce for breakfast. And coffee with skim milk. I didn't eat before my appointment this morning just in case they asked (they did). When I went home to change I heated up broccoli to take for lunch. Since it was warm when I got here I decided to eat it. That is when it tastes best.

I won't make it to the gym today. I was at the doctors until 10:30 this morning (3 hours late) and then I will be the one going to Boordy this afternoon. I would make Katie go - except that she is babysitting for Sarah at 5 and Emily and Sarah are taking the girls to a swim party. Dad has an appointment this afternoon at 2 and Mom is not sure if she will be back in time to go out there. Sigh - again.

Of course - now that my living room is a living room again I CAN do the workout videos.

OK, all you would-be triathletes

Here's some motivation (get your tissues ready): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WjPrL3n63yg

And background information about the team: http://www.teamhoyt.com/history.shtml

Can you imagine? And here I am whining about how much I hate to go to the gym and how hard it is to run three miles. I needed that perspective.

Yesterday was Tuesday

I never reported my weight. 159. I ate so much chips and guacamole yesterday. But it was sooo yummy. I love gucamole. I wish I could figure out a healthier guacamole-delivery-mechanism than a tortilla chip. There has to be something. But it has to be crunchy. And I had those tostitos with the lime on them...I love those things plain.

I ran again yesterday. That was good. My knees hurt a little but I think the day off Monday helped that.

Food yesterday: yogurt, nutragrain bar, banana, blueberries, lean cuisine lasagna for lunch, chips & guacamole, string cheese, and A DONUT (evil thing--it was still stuck in my head from all the talk Sunday so I had a chocolate iced twisty with sprinkles.)

No scale

Mom and Dad's scale is broken and it wouldn't match mine anyway. So I have no idea what I weigh today. I haven't exercised in a week and last night I ate what seemed like a LOT of Chinese food for dinner. The good news is that Dad also ate what seemed like a LOT of Chinese food -- he protested mildly when we suggested getting it, because there are leftovers around and he doesn't have any appetite right now anyway, but then he ate way more food than I've seen him eat all week, so it was a good thing we got it!

Not so good for me, though!

Otherwise yesterday wasn't so bad -- I had cereal and OJ for breakfast, yogurt for lunch, and a granola bar snack (Butterfinger flavor, which turned out to not work at all -- who thinks of these things?). I also ate a banana and a very small handful of peanuts, and after dinner I had milk and a brownie. I had two candy orange slices during the day (they're surprisingly caloric -- that's around 65 or 70 calories for the two!) as well. Oh, and I drank a beer with dinner, though Dad drank a tiny bit of that as well. I think that covers it -- there hasn't been much to graze on, and I was busy a lot of the day. But I NEED to get some exercise soon!

Ugh!!! UGH! UGH!!!!

Today I was 210.6. That is probably because last night Katie and I DID have sushi. It was really good and we ate so much that we were in pain! Then later I ate pistachio nuts. More than I meant to, but I was eating out of the bag rather than separating out one serving. I really am like a vacuum if the food is there - but do just fine if I limit myself using snack bags. I am odd.

I was pissed at my weight this morning - but I know it is my fault because I have not been exercising like I should. Sigh.

So far today I have had Life cereal with skim milk and coffee. We are getting pizza for lunch - but I am going to try to stick with my healthy lunch that I packed (turkey sausage with tomatoes and green peppers, etc... It is Let's Dish, without the bread).

I added a new chart to my collection of charts. I added an averages chart. I can tell you that my lowest average month was February - but I think that was because September and October - when I lost the most overall weight - had higher starting points. I remember being QUITE happy when I was within range of 210. That was 10 months ago.

130.8

Still hovering in the 130 zone, which is exactly what I want to be doing, so that's nothing exciting to report.

Food yesterday was pretty normal--cereal for breakfast, almonds for snack, pizza for lunch, applesauce for afternoon snack, and then green beans and potatoes for dinner. I skipped the entree thing again (kids were having fish sticks), then when I was hungry later I had milk and cookies.

I made it to the gym yesterday too--35 minutes on the treadmill, didn't touch the weight equipment!

Do you think I could make my update any more boring?

Interesting

There were a few days last week where I was starving and ate my lunch early. I wonder if it is the weather factoring in. Yesterday I was ok though, but I was also really busy all morning so I suppose I could have just been distracted as well.

Food yesterday was yogurt, a nutragrain bar, healthy choice pizza, oreo 100 calorie pack, some blueberries, a banana, string cheese, a peanut bar, and chili lime chicken with some rice for dinner.

My exercise was a bit ecclectic. I started to run, but my knees have been hurting and I don't want to really hurt myself, so I stopped after 10 minutes. Then I spent 10 minutes on this stair stepper thing which was really quite tiring, and then I did as much of the pilates for dummies dvd that I could remember because it doesn't play well anymore. So all in all it added up to about 40 minutes. I think I have pinpointed why my knees are hurting too--Last week I bought a new pair of black sandels to wear to work and they are a slightly higher heel than my old ones. I think the increased angle is causing me pain in my knees because I wasn't experiencing this before. I'll just have to deal with it until the weekend when I'll have a chance to go somewhere to get new shoes with a lower heel. I usually don't but higher than a 2" heel and I think these are 2 1/4" and I remember thinking--What's a 1/4"???? Well...I think it really does matter!

That was disgusting!!!

Well - I have eaten every crumb in my lunch bag today - including an old mint I found there and all of my vitamins (which often come back home with me). I - like Sarah - was hungry early today (as I was yesterday too now that I think about it). I was determined to NOT hit the vending machines before I filled up on my healthy (free) food. Anyway - so added to my cottage cheese and fruit, yogurt, and Life cereal with skim milk is now a piece of flax bread with applesauce and my zucchini with apricot vinegar. The vinegar was good - and thank goodness it was there - because the zucchini was about three weeks old and BITTER!!!!! It was gross! I choked it all down (and followed it up with the old mint). Sigh. Now I want a candy bar just to get the zucchini taste out of my mouth - but I won't. Yet.

All Dairy All the Time

I had ice cream for dinner last night. I had cottage cheese for dessert (Hummmm... what is wrong with this picture). I had cereal with skim milk for breakfast and cottage cheese with fruit for lunch. I just ate yogurt for my afternoon snack. I am definitely heavy on the dairy lately. I have zucchini for the other half of my lunch - which I will eat now, so I really will eat it. I put the vinegar Katie brought me from Vienna on it as flavoring. Yum! It is a double helping of veggies - so that is good. I guess the dairy is also not bad for protein and it is all low fat (or fat free). So - where I am short is in the grain department.

Katie wants to have sushi for dinner. So do I - but I will probably make her eat Let's Dish. We need to work down our stash. We have too much - but I want to do the July Menu. Maybe I will send you home with a bunch - Emily. It is good stuff and SO easy. I have pawned it off on Sarah and Mom whenever I get a back log. I have them in packs for two - but it MAY be enough to feed your whole family. Or I will just give you doubles of everything.

I need to start exercising again. I will get the living room back in order by Wednesday night and then I will have NO excuse not to start doing the videos again.

My weight was down yesterday to 207.8 (from 210 on Friday AND Saturday) but then it was back up to 209.4 today. I am actually looking FORWARD to my doctor's appointment on Thursday to see if she can come up with any clever ideas.

I don't know if I can last another 11 minutes

I'm so hungry this morning (same as last week--I'm dying for my snack at 9:30 and my lunch by 10:30!) but I'm absolutely not going to eat lunch until noon, so I have 11 (now 10) minutes to kill, so I figured I may as well post here to pass the time because I sure can't concentrate on work.

First the good news--I was back down to 130.4 today. I was really worried that last week with almost no exercise (only one day at the gym and one longer walk with Davey) followed by a weekend of sloth and goodies (pizza, ice cream, soda) would lead to a gain, and I guess I could still see it go up tomorrow (especially since lunch today is leftover pizza--we're completely out of yogurt and fruit at home!) but I was glad I was down from my Friday weight (which was 131.8 or something) instead of up!

Umm, and I guess there's no bad news except that I have pizza for lunch and I still have six minutes to kill.

I think I'm going to have to get me some of those 100 calorie snack things that Amy brought with her yesterday--the two I had were really good and because they were so crunchy and starchy, they filled me up pretty well.

Still four more minutes. This is awful. Why have I been so hungry recently? And given my weight today, I don't think it's because I'm overeating from boredom--obviously those calories are burning off somehow! Maybe the heat makes me burn more calories or something. The thermometer on my porch this morning registered 110 degrees. Admittedly, that was after having the sun beating on it directly, but believe me it FELT like 110 on the porch--that baking oven feeling you get when you're taking something out of the oven. Like pizza.....mmmmmm. Two more minutes.

It'll take two minutes to heat up, right?

Good or Bad?

I can't decide which I have been ... Well - HORRIBLE in regards to exercise. I have't done ANYTHING since the day at Cunningham Falls. I am off work again tomorrow and I suspect I still won't do anything. Sigh - I MEAN to be good...

Food - that is where I am not sure how I have been. I haven't over eaten my calories...

That is as far as I got on Thursday - but I don't remember what I was saying. Oh well. I will do a current post now.

Yippee! The magic weight!

The scale said 135.0 this morning -- I haven't seen that in some time. This is making it much easier to avoid the snacks this morning -- I don't want to mess it up! I resisted ice cream last night when Daniel suggested it, and we ended up not snacking at all last night (other than the chocolate chips I mentioned here already). He's at a new low this morning, too. :)

Catching Up

I've been reading the blog every day but just haven't had the opportunity to post. Tuesday's weigh in was 159.5. I have been holding very steady there because my eating has been horrible. This week has gotten it a little more under control, but still not ideal. I have been getting up early to go to work just to end up staying late anyways, and when I get home I am SOO tired. But I have still be exercising, just not at 100% of what I would like to be doing. Tonight will be busy because I have a meeting that will run late and then I need to go to York Memorial Hospital to see my friend Sarah because she had her first baby Tuesday night.

Food has been typical EXCEPT I have restarted that TERRIBLE habit of pre-dinner grazing. I just eat everything insight instead of just having a single snack. It is awful.

Finally, a trip to the gym

Daniel and I met at the gym today so I got the first exercise I'd had in a week. We did 40 minutes on the bike (I kept it at level 7 and kept my heart rate down, yay, me) and then three sets of 20 crunches on the hanging thing, and then some guy was on our chest press machine (or *not* on it -- he dumped his towel there then wandered off, then came over and fixed his headphones, then wandered off, then came and did about 3 reps at some ungodly high weight, then took a break and wandered around, etc.) so we did the shoulder press machine. I tried for 40 pounds on that but had to cut it back to 30 after 5 reps, and I only got through 15 total. After that the guy finally cleared off "our" machine so I went back to it and did a set of 20 at 40 and another set of 20 at I think 30 while Daniel stuck to the original machine.

Daniel also played racquetball today and he has been cutting his eating waaayyy back, and he's been exercising more regularly than I have (mostly running), so his weight is down to its lowest in some years. He's lost more than 15 pounds since September, and he's not even officially a Loser. He's about 12 pounds from his goal and 3 pounds from a number that would make him pretty happy.

My eating today wasn't too bad because I was barely home. I had my usual breakfast (no OJ, though) and I had lunch of yogurt and pretzels. I had a morning snack of about 15 almonds. In the afternoon I ate numerous animal crackers -- the cheapo lowfat kind, not the good Barnum ones, so they're not actually that bad of a snack, if nutrtionally valueless -- because that's all I thought to grab on our way out the door when I realized we were going to be gone for 4 hours; I was thinking of the kids, not me. They ate a lot of them, too. ;-) Dinner was Brunswick stew, which is pretty healthy, plus less than a full slice of whole wheat bread in the bread machine with only a little margarine on half. And I've had about a tablespoon of chocolate chips for dessert, spread out over an hour-ish. Not bad, if I can stay out of the junk the rest of the night.

Tomorrow night I have a ladies' night out which involves everybody bringing something to snack on, so I'm in for it. I'm making banana nut bread because the bananas were several days beyond ripe and out the other side. If I were really good I'd bring vegetables, but I know even *I* would be unlikely to eat many, with more tempting offerings on hand! I probably won't get a chance to exercise tomorrow, either, and Friday we're driving. Hmm. Maybe I better find a way to get out of the house tomorrow after all!

Oooh, I'm going to be sore!

I'm such an idiot. When I got to the gym today, all of the treadmills were in use, so I got on an elliptical machine, but only did 25 minutes because I hate those machines. So for the remaining time, I decided to use the weight machines, which I *never* do--all of my strength training is done at home with pilates and free weights, and that's all about toning, not building muscle. So I hopped on the lateral pull-down machine, set the weights up one notch (because the person who had been using it before me was a kinda floppy middle aged woman going through a routine with a printed out checklist, so I figured she was new to this) and got going. After about 8 reps, I realized that this was a higher weight than was really comfortable for me, but I finished up 12 reps, switched to a rowing thingummy, did another 12 reps (same weight) then the whole 12 of each over again--I didn't want to move the weight down because I didn't want to admit my mistake! So then I moved to free weights, which I'm more confident with, but wouldn't you know that in the free weight area the lowest free weight they had was 12 pounds? The lower ones may have been around (I use five and three pounds at home for bicep and tricep exercises) but were not where they belonged. So I did two different tricep exercises, hammer curls, and bicep curls all with 12 pound weights. There were all these really toned college guys there and I didn't want to look stupid and weak!

One guy tried to pick me up--he came up and said "I know you; what school do you go to?" Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately) he was one of the guys with the afternoon fitness program for adults with developmental disabilities. After establishing that I don't go to school, he started insisting that he knows my sister. What school does she go to? This is why Brian and I have a problem with social skills training that involves rote memory of conversational lines--the "what school do you go to?" was probably fine when this guy learned his conversational speech back in middle school, but it doesn't always translate well to real-life situations.

Sorry, that's completely off topic! So I got to the gym today (yay me!) and haven't eaten one bit of junk yet today (yay me!) but the afternoon is still young, and I know there are cookies and milk at home. Last night we had Mari and Keith and kids and Amy over for dinner and we actually didn't do too bad--grilled chicken (with butter, but still, not horrible), saffron rice, grilled zucchini, steamed broccoli, and Amy brought the absolute best fruit tart for dessert. Probably too much food, but at least none of it truly bad for us.

Maybe I'll reward myself for good behavior tonight by only allowing myself to read my new library book if I stay out of the junk food. If I eat junk, I have to go empty out the kiddie pool (currently full of rainwater and probably 10,000,000 mosquito eggs).

135.5

This is where I was stuck for a month or so (it seemed) when I was trying to get to my official goal of 135.0. But I'm glad to see it again because I've been higher than that lately. Of course, I exercised all of once during the last week -- what is it about having one's period that kills all enthusiasm for activity? Last week I exercised like mad but my weight was higher. It's very frustrating to feel like I've been rewarded for laziness, and received no reward for effort.

Right now I'm trying to stay away from major junk (like alcohol and ice cream) during the weekdays and eat with restraint on the weekends. The first week of that only went so-so, because we had July 4th in the middle of it, and then there were cookies around -- but I kept the cookie-eating under control most of the time. I was good yesterday; the only sweets I had were some ginger snaps in the morning and some marshmallows in the evening, and not a huge number of either.

I need to kick-start my exercise again. I am just so unenthused about going to the gym these days!

131.0

Up from last week as well as the previous couple of weeks, but just a small amount and within an acceptable range. I haven't been exercising nearly enough. Last week was messed up because of the Independence Day weekend, then yesterday I didn't get to the gym because I worked a half day (no daycare this week). I brought my stuff with me for today, though. But I'm heading into a period of massive deadlines--I have five applications due in the next two weeks, then two federal proposals due in August so I can foresee an unpredictable gym schedule in the next six weeks. Urgh.

Food has been so-so. I haven't been very hungry at night, and I never feel like cooking, so I've been doing a lot of kid-friendly food and all I eat is the vegetables and starch. I definitely need more protein, but at least I'm keeping my calories down. I need to go back to drinking a ton of water too--I haven't been keeping up with that, which is just stupid in the summer.

208.4

That is down 1.6 from last week - and the same as my HIGH point for June. Hummmm. How did I manage that. Well - I have 20 days in July to get my low point lower than June's low of 205.8. Since that isn't particularly low I think I can do it. Besides - I don't look at highs and lows only on weigh in day. As far as weigh in day weights go I have been holding fairly steady for the past eight months. Sigh.

Cabbage soup. That is what I have been eating. That and yogurt. I had cabbage soup for lunch yesterday and yogurt for dinner last night. I also broke down and hit the vending machine at 6pm last night - I got a ritz mix. I brought popcorn today just in case. They sell 100 calorie bags of microwave popcorn - which are just about the same size as the old snack size bags. I think they just renamed them.

I didn't make it to the gym yesterday. I bought tires instead. I can't remember if I reported that last week a guy from work came up and told me my tires were bald and I was probably going to have a blow out soon if I didn't replace the. So - I dropped my car off at Sears yesterday - then went and picked it up - and then went to the bank. That was my exciting lunch break yesterday. I am absolutely determined to go today. EARLY!

I was thinking today as I was driving in that Katie being gone has been good and bad. The good is that I haven't been to a bar or had a drink in weeks. Literally. The bad is that I just don't cook dinner for me alone. This really worries me because Katie won't live with me forever. How am I going to maintain healthy eating once she grows up and gets married? It is not that I don't want healthy food at night - I just totally lack the motivation to make anything. Thus the yogurt for dinner.

Up and Down

After my weight plunged two and a half pounds on Friday it went down further on Saturday to 208.4. It was back up a bit yesterday - 209 and today - 209.4. I don't know what is going on... Too bad it doesn't go WAY down - like below 200!!!

I am regrouping AGAIN this week. I made cabbage soup yesterday - and I am sure I will get sick of it quickly - but I figure it is a good source of vegetables for lunch. So - that is my lunch today. I also bought 20 yogurts on Saturday. They were on sale - 20 for $10 - so I stocked up. This is good because I like yogurt for a snack. Almost as much as I like ice cream (which isn't one of my favorite desserts). Now - I really have to focus on eating ON TIME and small amounts. That is what I did last September and October when I dropped 5 pounds each month. It has been long enough since I lost that weight (and gained most of it back) that I think my body should be able to do it again...

Exercise... Sigh. My legs aren't hurting anymore (they were most of last week after 4th and AA Day) so I really HAVE to go to the gym. I need to get my living room cleared out so I can exercise in there again on the days I don't go to the gym. I need to get myself re-motivated. I really WANT to lose weight. So - I am going to the gym THIS MORNING!!!!!

Holding steady

I stepped up my exercise again yesterday BUT my eating has been atrocious so it is just going to be holding me steady instead of allowing me to see a loss. I also added some resistence exercises, but I only went through those once last night to try them out. They are meant to be done in addition to cardio instead of doing alternate days. I think I'll do 2 sets of those tonight. They are some basic exercises with pilates spin offs mixed in.

I read an article in August's Health magazine about this genetic analysis you can get done to help personalize your diet. It was quite interesting, although the lady who wrote it admitted at several places in the article that what it told her was nothing new and that it basically confirmed things she had known in a very matter-of-fact way. You order some kit for $250 and then swab your mouth and send it off to this lab who checks for certain gene variations. it confirmed she was insulin resistant, which makes it tough to lose weight, but more importantly is an indicator for Type 2 diabetes. There were a few other interesting facts in there as well that I can't recall offhand. She had to limit her refined sugars to less than 20 g a day. There was also a good article in there about foods to eat to keep your eyes healthly longer.

Well, I need to get working. My boss is back after a week off and I'm sure he'll be a pain in the butt this week :)

Surprise!!

So - yesterday I went BACK to the gelato factory after work - and the girl felt so bad that she forgot my gelato the first time around that she gave me a size upgrade. I ended up combining the hazelnut with tiramisu gelato. YUM! Actually - I decided that gelato is probably not as bad as ice cream. There were tiny bits of ice in it - which indicates to me that it may be less fat than icecream. Their brochure SAYS it has less fat - and less air, which makes it a richer dessert. Hummm.

Anyway - so today my weight was down to 209.2. That is a lot down from yesterday. I am making up for it however... So far today I have had cottage cheese and fruit, coffee with skim milk, and Coldstone cake (it was another birthday today). I also ran into a woman I met at Bonefish the other night. She is a recruiter and we swapped business cards. She was here meeting with OUR recruiters. Anyway - she handed me a candy bar that she uses as advertizing. I haven't eaten it yet though.

I don't think I am going to the gym today. My legs got more and more sore yesterday and this morning they were very stiff. And my back is now achy. And I have a blister on one foot. I am such a fallin apart old lady!!! I will get back on track tomorrow. Or Monday. I want to clean this weekend. Katie is coming home next week and I want to make the house look nicer. If I get the tables back into their correct locations I can even do exercise videos again on the days I blow off the gym. I need to start doing SOMETHING again.

I have been incredibly head achy the past week. I think I am dehydrated though because everyday I wake up with pillow creases on my arms and legs - and that is a sign of dehydration. I am going to chug some water now.

Still full

I ate so much on Wednesday (see Amy's post, only I also ate some of Connor's french fries and two leftover deviled eggs before going out to dinner) that I've barely been hungry since, although that didn't stop me from eating two pieces of peach crisp yesterday! At least I got my fruit in for the day yesterday--an apple at work, peach crisp, and a large slice of watermelon. It's rare that I eat more than one or two servings of fruit! Come to think of it, yesterday's food was really not bad--my usual cereal, yogurt, cheese, pretzles, almonds, and apple for breakfast, lunch, and snack, then when I got home I had the first piece of peach crisp and then only ate green beans for dinner (the kids were having chicken nuggets, which I can't stand, and potato chips because that's the kind of mother I am--I wanted to foist the unhealthy food off on my kids so I wouldn't be tempted to eat it!), then watermelon after dinner and more peach crisp before bed. I also got to the gym yesterday for the first time this week (and only--I didn't bring my stuff with me today).

But the damage has been done--with all the goodies I've been eating all week, it's no surprise that my weight was up to 131.6 yesterday and today. Yesterday I thought it was just because I was so full of ice cream and crepes, but today I don't have that excuse. I'll have to be super-good all weekend if I hope to be back in the 130 zone for weigh-in day!

Thursday update

Food yesterday: mini cinnamon bagel with light cream cheese, a nectarine, a salad at lunch, a nutragrain bar, a macaroon, string cheese, LD chicken quesadilla with salsa for dinner and a scoop of Breyers light for dessert.

I really enjoy the Breyers light ice cream--only 100 calories for a 1/2 cup and it is really creamy.

Exercise yesterday was 30 minutes on the treadmill for 330 calories. I upped the incline slightly to burn more calories. I am almost done the first 2 weeks of my walk to run program, and it is amazing how much easier it gets each day. I have actually been enjoying it. Only 1 day was it a chore, and that was also the day my period started so I felt like garbage anyways. I still did it, but I was really miserable by the end. Sunday I will start running longer--2 minutes of walking with 5 minutes of running (instead of the 4 I do right now) and repeat that 5 times for 35 minutes total. I really want to try it outside, but 2 things worry me. First, everything is uphill in Glen Rock, especially where I live. I think I would do better if I drove to the NCR trail in town and ran there. And second, I am worry about my speed since I won't have the treadmill to regulate that. My walk is 1 mph less than my run. I really doubt I could judge that very well on my own.

Serves me right!

We just did this whole thing where we said "Oh - I could go for Starbucks" and I said..."I don't want the calories" That became - "well, what about snowballs?" THAT turned into a conversation about Rita's ices - which became gelato... SO - we did a run to the Gelato Factory. I ordered a Nutella crepe. BUT - and this is what serves me right - they neglected to put my hazelnut gelato on my nutella crepe!!!!!!!! HUH! I called them to complain and they said - well, are you in the area? What I should of said is - yes, you can deliver it to me. Sigh. So it ended up being a banana wrapped in a crepe with a squirt of Nutella on top. It would have been good with the hazelnut gelato.

My turn

OK - Bad bad bad... I was 210 on weigh in day. I decided that if my weight on Wednesday was better I would use that. I was 210.8 yesterday. Then today I was 211.8. UGH!

I am sore today. I was sore yesterday too. I didn't carry Connor around. I did push Lex's stroller for a little bit on Tuesday (over the rocky driveway too!). Charles had a gig on Tuesday afternoon so I said I would watch Lex. She wasn't feeling well - so we cut out of the parade early. I then jumped on the trampoline for a short time with Lex and Claire. I also swept the trampoline off. It must have been a pretty good workout - because - did I mention - I was sore on Wednesday. Then yesterday Claire and I went up to Cunningham Falls. I don't think I would hate exercise so much if it always involved pretty woods and lakes and stuff. The walk out to the falls is only about a half a mile - but it was over some pretty steep hills. Then we played in the falls for about 45 minutes. That didn't get my heart rate up (except through sheer terror! I was worried that Claire would slip and crack her head open...) but it was lots of stretching, straining, balancing and stuff. Then we played for about another hour or so on the beach at the lake. It was alot of fun. Emily - the next time you are up with your family we should plan a day trip out there. I kept thinking how much MORE fun it would be with more people there and other kids for Claire to play with.

My eating was not great - but it could have been worse. Tuesday I was very good - considering it was a holiday. I ate less than a whole hot dog, potato salad, two deviled eggs and peach crisp for dessert. I did have a soda also - which is not normal for me... but I also had no alcohol. Yesterday Claire and I had scrambled eggs and toast for breakfast, then yogurt, applesauce, cottage cheese, and fat free pringles for lunch. Then we had Fruit by the Foot (yuck!) and Oreos for a snack. For dinner we met up with Sarah at Poulet - which is a peanut free deli/grill that also has homemade icecream. Sarah and I each had a savory crepe - which was huge! Mine had roasted chicken, sweet pepper pesto and cheese. It was very good and I was stuffed after I ate the whole thing. Then we got icecream. You have to get two scoops to get a waffel cone - so I got two scoops. I ate almost all of it. I threw away probably the bottom three inched of cone and icecream - and I was about to explode. I didn't eat anything else all night - and I still feel full today.

OK - NOW I am determined to get back to being good. I packed flax seed bread, applesauce, yogurt, cottage cheese, mixed fruit, fresh zucchini, and V8 in my lunch bag. That is all I get to eat today. (Oh - coffee with skim milk too.) I WILL go to the gym today - although, I also have a blister on my foot - so I am not sure how I will manage today.

So it's Thursday, not Tuesday...

And my weight hasn't changed since last week. That can be thanks to AWFUL eating over the holiday. I kept exercising though, so it would have meant a gain otherwise.

We got new patio furniture Sunday. That was very exciting. And I finally bought some of those cute glorified Christmas lights to hang under the deck. They are little bamboo-ish lanterns. It was all 30% off at Target.

I did a lot of gardening this weekend too. Weeding was really easy given all the rain lately, so I took advantage of that.

But now I have to work. Ugh. There is so much to be done and all I want to do is take a nap.

Weigh-in day

I completely forgot to weigh myself yesterday. I was even thinking about it on Monday, knowing I might forget because of the holiday, but I always weigh myself when I first get up so I figured I would at least get my weight for the day, even if I might forget to post it. But Connor had other ideas--he woke me up by sticking a bottle of juice in my face and saying "juice?" Then when I went to get his cup from his room, I discovered that he had a blow-out diaper that messed up his sheets, which meant he was in my room, getting ready to climb into MY bed, with poop all over his leg. So dealing with that situation took precedence and by the time I got into my normal morning routine it was today! Yesterday never settled into anything like a normal routine.

Today my weight was 130.4, exactly what it's been since the middle of last week. So I think it's safe to say I have the whole maintenance thing going pretty well. I haven't officially exercised since last Wednesday; my Friday gym trip was disrupted by work, and on Monday I wasn't at work so obviously I didn't get to the gym then either. But I've stayed pretty active most of the weekend--lots of time in the garden and yesterday I think I worked harder than I have in a long time. We went to the parade and later to the fireworks and I had Connor on my back most of that time. I'm so sore today! And I realized last night that I didn't really overeat yesterday, at least not as much as I could have--missed breakfast, sandwich for lunch, hot dog, chips, deviled egg, cole slaw, and peach crisp for dinner and not too much of any of those things. And somehow I missed drinking beer entirely--I stuck to diet soda all evening.

I just realized I'm not going to get to the gym today either--I forgot to pack my gym bag! Doh!

Has Tuesday been moved to Wednesday?

I realized this evening I'd totally forgotten to post my weight today, but I see that no one else has, either, unless blogger is just being wonky on the update. Mine was 137 this morning, I think. Might have been 137.5. Basically the same numbers I've been seeing -- actually it was lower throughout the week but it got away from me over the weekend, so, like Amy, I'd sworn to be good this week, only I forgot there was a holiday. Holidays, of course, are diet-free, so today I ate a fair number of cookies, and I had cheese on my burger, and I ate some chips. Otherwise things went pretty well today.

Today we walked to downtown and back -- I pushed Alexander and Cecilia in the stroller and Mary rode her bike, only one of the training wheels got messed up so we weren't able to go very quickly -- she doesn't quite realize that going faster actually works better. But I got about a 3 mile walk in total, maybe slightly less. And it rained on our parade, so half of that was in muggy, drippy heat. Ugh.

Yesterday we went to the gym and did 40 minutes on the bike. I discovered if I keep my RPM lower on the bike by 15-20 points I get a really good workout for my legs and my heart rate doesn't go up as much, so I can put the bike at a higher level. I did level 7 and my heart never got over 161, and most of the time I was in the 140s. In the past I've been up around 180 at the peaks on level 7! We also did three sets of 20 crunches on the hanging thing, and I did two sets of 18 and one of 15 on the upper body machine, all at 40 pounds -- I used to only manage the first set at 40 but I've been able to work up to all of them. It will be a year before I graduate past this, though, I suspect.

Sunday I did no exercise to speak of, but Saturday I took Mary on a looonnng bike ride. It was actually only 5 miles and I was on a bike, too, so it wasn't a huge workout, but I'm really impressed that she was able to do it. She needed a lot of boosts on the hills; even when she gets her speed up going into it, she doesn't have the leg strength (or the bike gears!) to get all the way up the long ones, especially on the fifth mile.

I don't remember the rest of my exercise history, but I went for two 2.5-mile walks last week and went to the gym one day, I think Thursday, so I've been getting some kind of movement in almost every day.

Happy 4th! Back to eating normally tomorrow. Sigh.

Popcorn is a vegetable, right?

OK - Yesterday - movies = popcorn, junior mints (Claire ate a lot of them!) and lemonade. No exercise to boot.

Today - I was determined that this week I would be VERY VERY good, but then I remember that Tuesday is July Fourth and Wednesday is AA Day... so hummmm. I am eating a small order of Mac and Cheese from Noodles & Company. A small has a lot in it. I did bring flax seed bread and applesauce for breakfast, and fresh zucchini and V8 for snacks. I got a grapefruit soda from Noodles also... Is that a fruit?

I don't know if I will make it to the gym today. There aren't many people here today - which means that those of us that ARE here can't leave our desks for any extended length of time (I snuck to Noodles when I went to the other building to pick up our mail). However, I am hoping that we will all be able to leave early today since there is NOBODY here!!!! (Both of my bosses ARE here!)