Some days I can read the blog, other days I can't. Some days I can post, other days I can't. It took me 4 tries today to get the blog to come up with the "New Post" link. I've tested different browsers, different computers, different internet connections...no idea what's up.
But anyways, this weekend was beautiful! We worked in the backyard all weekend and we are officially ready to plant our garden. I can't wait. I am going to set the cold weather plants as soon as the rain stops. We also started the process of killing the grass over at out friend's house for the bigger garden we are putting in there. I am really looking forward to this experiment; I grew up with a huge garden, but this will be my first undertaking of this size on my own.
I am still fighting this upper respiratory death; the cough just won't go away. I've consumed almost two boxes of Mucinex over the past two weeks. I just know if I go to the doctor I'll end up with 3 weeks worth of antibiotics. I think I'd rather cough...
Food wasn't too great this weekend, but I was really active so it did balance out. I can't actually remember what we ate each day; I know one night we had Chick Fil A for dinner, and bagels from the Jewish place in Pikesville for breakfast and lunch yesterday.
Well, I am looking forward to another week. I also added into my grand meal plan that two of my lunches this week will be soup; less calories but still tasty. And the ultimate lazy person's packed lunch. Tonight is supposed to be one of my two planned gym outings for the week, and I hope I maintain my momentum to go. I will check to see if there are any classes that interest me, maybe there is a spinning class. I am a little nervous to take a class given my breathing situation...I always work so hard to keep up even if I am struggling and I'd hate to fall off my bike or something :-) Maybe it is best if I stick to the elliptical or the bike on my own for now...haha.
Monday, March 22, 2010
Friday, March 19, 2010
Chipper
(And not as in chicken.) I have had TONS of energy the last two days, and I'm not sure why. I got two long nights of sleep earlier this week, but then on the third night (the night before last) I went to bed and stared at the ceiling for the better part of two hours, so in the end I had a short night. I should have dragged all day yesterday. But the weather was gorgeous, and I went to the gym (I left it too late to cancel -- I would have LOVED to spend time outside instead -- but I got a better workout anyway) and felt totally turbo-charged during the step class. Even before the gym trip I was motivated; I did some cleanup in the yard and put the sleds and Christmas tree stand away and took down the baby swing and hung up the trapeze bar (the only reason we left the baby swing up until now was that before we moved to Norway our neighbors had a baby, and we thought they'd want it, and then last fall there was too much else to do to worry about it). And I vacuumed and swept and mopped. And when I got home I cooked salmon on the grill and it was perfect. I am superwoman.
Today it is again gorgeous and I am again motivated. I've cleaned out the whole corner cabinet that I've been avoiding all year -- moth bits kept showing up in containers and I knew I needed to scour it in case they were wintering over there. Now I'm taking the kids out to look for Easter clothes and more birdfeeders -- we've had such a good turnout at our all-purpose feeder that we're wanting to get a hummingbird feeder for the summer and we'd like a finch feeder to encourage the purple finches we saw yesterday to come back. Which means more playing outside when we come back with the feeders. Yay! I'm tempted to buy paint while I'm out since I'm so enthused -- I wonder how many rooms I could get done before I burn out? We'd like to put the house on the market (someday...?) and three downstairs rooms and the upstairs/stairs hallway will need doing first, and we might as well enjoy them being done for a while first.
This evening I have a Girl Scout sleepover (at the other leader's house), on the heels of piano lessons for the kids, so from 3:45 on my day is shot. And tomorrow Mary has a piano lesson right after the sleepover, so I can't start tomorrow until after lunchtime. But the weather's supposed to be good again -- maybe that will keep me going.
My eating has been pretty good this week -- I went over on calories on Wednesday (the Murphy's and the Irish soda bread are to blame) but had trouble even getting to my minimum yesterday, so it evens out. My weight dropped again by Wednesday, too; I was just retaining PMS water on Tuesday, I suspect.
Sparks People
Last night I did a search for menu planning tools. My favorite healthy menu planner - glucerna.com has changed their tool so you no longer can edit the menus. The original tool was adopted by another website, but I can't remember who that was, and I really didn't feel like digging through my emails. So I searched for a new menu planning tool. I found several that were blank that YOU could fill in with your menu plans - but I was looking for one that would tell ME what to eat. I ended up on SparksPeople.com. This, I know, is the rival tool to My Plate. It is a whole community, and it is free. It tracks your food and exercise, just like My Plate (although, I think My Plate is better for tracking what you have eaten or the exercise you have done - more precise, I guess) but Sparks People has a GREAT menu planning tool. I am still figuring it out. I haven't figured out a great way to plan menus for farther in advance than one week, but (as Katie said) it doesn't matter what the header says, we can use the days whenever we want.
I know I don't need to do menu planning in conjunction with Katie - but it sure makes it easier. She says it is too much work. It is nice having a kit packed for the day, but she doesn't want to spend an hour every day doing it. I said - however - that we got much faster at packing our lunches each night as long as we had a plan in place. She said it is a lot easier to just pull out a Let's Dish meal and prepare that. I said that we can still DO that, we just need to eat sides along with our entrees. 15 minutes later she said that she was having a "fat year." I said I am having a "fat decade." She has gained weight (says the pot about the kettle, I know) in the past year or so. I notice it most when she is up in front of the church cantoring. SHE needs to put more effort into this than I do because she is not yet a lost cause!
Well, I am off to take a walk. I hope Grace doesn't mind me leaving her alone for a little while.
I know I don't need to do menu planning in conjunction with Katie - but it sure makes it easier. She says it is too much work. It is nice having a kit packed for the day, but she doesn't want to spend an hour every day doing it. I said - however - that we got much faster at packing our lunches each night as long as we had a plan in place. She said it is a lot easier to just pull out a Let's Dish meal and prepare that. I said that we can still DO that, we just need to eat sides along with our entrees. 15 minutes later she said that she was having a "fat year." I said I am having a "fat decade." She has gained weight (says the pot about the kettle, I know) in the past year or so. I notice it most when she is up in front of the church cantoring. SHE needs to put more effort into this than I do because she is not yet a lost cause!
Well, I am off to take a walk. I hope Grace doesn't mind me leaving her alone for a little while.
Four pounds lighter
Gotta love stomach viruses, huh? I mentioned on Wednesday that I wasn't feeling great. By 2 in the afternoon it turned into a full-fledged stomach virus (mortifying--it hit about five minutes before a meeting I was supposed to have, so at the start of the meeting I was huddled on the floor in the bathroom. I dragged myself out to meet this woman and just tell her I'd call her later. Amazing how people stay far away and agree with anything you say when you look that sick!). I spent all Wednesday not eating, then moved up to soup by yesterday noonish, and a tiny real meal last night. Pretty awful.
Of course I got no real exercise in that time--nothing at all on Wednesday. Yesterday I watched through the pose guide of a yoga video I got, but didn't do anything other than watch. I did my back stretching and strengthening last night. Today I'm back to the usual schedule--up at 5:30 and actually DID the yoga (very relaxing, good stretching, but really TOO relaxing to be really exercise--this was a video for raw beginners, though, and was also really short. It was supposed to be an "energizing" routine, but by the end I was ready to go back to bed!). I have to leave early today to get Connor from the bus, so I won't get to the gym, but I should be able to get out for a run or ride tonight.
Have any of you seen in the news the woman who is in the Guinness Book of World Records for being the fattest mother, and now wants to go all out and get up to 1,000 pounds to make it into the book as the fattest woman? She seems to be very happy with herself, and thinks this is a good decision (although later she said the interviewers got it wrong--the 1,000 pound thing is just a fantasy she puts out there for her "fans." She earns her income by running a website where people pay to watch her eat). When I first saw this I thought it must be a hoax, but apparently not. And I can't figure out who is sicker--the woman who wants to be even fatter than she already is, or the people who pay to watch her eat.
Of course I got no real exercise in that time--nothing at all on Wednesday. Yesterday I watched through the pose guide of a yoga video I got, but didn't do anything other than watch. I did my back stretching and strengthening last night. Today I'm back to the usual schedule--up at 5:30 and actually DID the yoga (very relaxing, good stretching, but really TOO relaxing to be really exercise--this was a video for raw beginners, though, and was also really short. It was supposed to be an "energizing" routine, but by the end I was ready to go back to bed!). I have to leave early today to get Connor from the bus, so I won't get to the gym, but I should be able to get out for a run or ride tonight.
Have any of you seen in the news the woman who is in the Guinness Book of World Records for being the fattest mother, and now wants to go all out and get up to 1,000 pounds to make it into the book as the fattest woman? She seems to be very happy with herself, and thinks this is a good decision (although later she said the interviewers got it wrong--the 1,000 pound thing is just a fantasy she puts out there for her "fans." She earns her income by running a website where people pay to watch her eat). When I first saw this I thought it must be a hoax, but apparently not. And I can't figure out who is sicker--the woman who wants to be even fatter than she already is, or the people who pay to watch her eat.
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Like a true Irishman
Well, I guess I did celebrate like a true Irishman - I went to church and had nothing green to drink...
It was kind of funny - I was dressing for the day, I put on a pink shirt, yoga pants and picked out my shamrock socks to wear and thought "who cares if these don't match my pink shirt..." Then I realized I was wearing PINK instead of green. So I changed.
Wednesday is my maintenance day. Have I said this before? I think it is funny. My day is always jam packed. I start with church, go straight to yoga from there, come home for a quick lunch and then usually go to acupuncture, the dentist, the eye doctor, or chiropractor. Recently I have had a string of X-rays, MRIs, Sonograms, etc. Everyone talks about my "day off" but really it is about an hour off extra in the morning... 8-) I like it though.
Yesterday I had a really good acupuncture appointment. I have had this chronic queasy feeling for a while now. I am not sure what it was that she did yesterday, but I felt the needles the whole time (usually you feel when she places them, but not for long afterwards). Then when she came in to take them out she said that they weren't releasing so she would leave them a little longer. She had placed four needles on my belly, and I was having an issue relaxing since I was feeling queasy still. BUT she also had two in the bottom of my feet so I was mildly worried that if I DID need to leap up and make a dash for the bathroom that I would hurt myself on those foot needles (which BTW REALLY hurt going in!). However, by the end of the treatment the queasiness had totally gone away - and hasn't come back yet. YAY!
I was supposed to have EM training at church last night. I called the parish office to confirm the date and time (since I couldn't find my letter). They told me that it was at 7pm. So I dutifully showed up at about 6:45 - JUST IN TIME for the Q&A wrap up. I was so embarrassed! However, I wasn't the only one. About five other people came in after me. I wish I had apologized to Father last night because I totally COULD have been there at 6pm had I been given the correct info. Sigh.
It was kind of funny - I was dressing for the day, I put on a pink shirt, yoga pants and picked out my shamrock socks to wear and thought "who cares if these don't match my pink shirt..." Then I realized I was wearing PINK instead of green. So I changed.
Wednesday is my maintenance day. Have I said this before? I think it is funny. My day is always jam packed. I start with church, go straight to yoga from there, come home for a quick lunch and then usually go to acupuncture, the dentist, the eye doctor, or chiropractor. Recently I have had a string of X-rays, MRIs, Sonograms, etc. Everyone talks about my "day off" but really it is about an hour off extra in the morning... 8-) I like it though.
Yesterday I had a really good acupuncture appointment. I have had this chronic queasy feeling for a while now. I am not sure what it was that she did yesterday, but I felt the needles the whole time (usually you feel when she places them, but not for long afterwards). Then when she came in to take them out she said that they weren't releasing so she would leave them a little longer. She had placed four needles on my belly, and I was having an issue relaxing since I was feeling queasy still. BUT she also had two in the bottom of my feet so I was mildly worried that if I DID need to leap up and make a dash for the bathroom that I would hurt myself on those foot needles (which BTW REALLY hurt going in!). However, by the end of the treatment the queasiness had totally gone away - and hasn't come back yet. YAY!
I was supposed to have EM training at church last night. I called the parish office to confirm the date and time (since I couldn't find my letter). They told me that it was at 7pm. So I dutifully showed up at about 6:45 - JUST IN TIME for the Q&A wrap up. I was so embarrassed! However, I wasn't the only one. About five other people came in after me. I wish I had apologized to Father last night because I totally COULD have been there at 6pm had I been given the correct info. Sigh.
THE plan, day 2
I stuck to my plan pretty well yesterday, but not perfectly. We ate breakfast at home, and I knew Peter wanted to go to Slainte for lunch since it was St. Patrick's Day, so we did. So that checks off my one lunch out this week. Then for dinner, I was feeling lazy, but we still cooked at home. The major deviation from the plan came with exercise--we ran some errands after work that I hadn't been planning to do, so we got home later than I wanted. Instead of going to the gym, I did the Wii Fitness Coach instead. So I did exercise, it just wasn't my original "outside the house" planned exercise. And my arms are killing me today. Wii's upper body workout is really a workout.
Today is my last day of work this week. Woohoo! The School of Pharmacy is closed tomorrow because of a floating holiday we banked I think for Lincoln's or Washington's birthday. I was going to just work and save it for another time, however the weather is supposed to be fabulous so Peter is taking off too and we are going to get a jump start on our yard work. Our backyard (or back garden, as Peter would say) is a TOTAL disaster. But hopefully not after tomorrow. Thank goodness it is so small. I am soo glad we didn't buy more grass to take care of. I am really looking forward to spending the day outside tomorrow, even if it is to do back breaking labor.
Today is my last day of work this week. Woohoo! The School of Pharmacy is closed tomorrow because of a floating holiday we banked I think for Lincoln's or Washington's birthday. I was going to just work and save it for another time, however the weather is supposed to be fabulous so Peter is taking off too and we are going to get a jump start on our yard work. Our backyard (or back garden, as Peter would say) is a TOTAL disaster. But hopefully not after tomorrow. Thank goodness it is so small. I am soo glad we didn't buy more grass to take care of. I am really looking forward to spending the day outside tomorrow, even if it is to do back breaking labor.
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
My turn!
To be sick, that is. I woke up this morning with a headache and horrible stomach cramps. Nothing else--just painful cramping and no desire to eat anything. I need to drink something, but every time I take a sip the cramping gets worse. I have no idea what's going on, but it's no fun at all. And if I don't start feeling better soon, it'll mess up my exercise plans for the day--yesterday I went out for a run and it was so beautiful out that I actually enjoyed the run, except for the fact that I wasn't dressed for it. I had packed my gym bag to work out indoors on Monday when it was rainy, so I had floppy gym pants instead of running tights or shorts, and an oversized cotton t-shirt (which I don't like to work out in at all, but I really needed to do laundry and didn't have anything else to pack!), and worst of all, I forgot to pack socks. So I was sweaty (shirt), static-y (pants) and got blisters. But it was still a nice run.
I had planned on a repeat this afternoon, only with better clothes and better weather. But right now I just want to curl up in a ball and moan a bit.
I had planned on a repeat this afternoon, only with better clothes and better weather. But right now I just want to curl up in a ball and moan a bit.
Happy St. Patrick's Day
Now celebrate like a true Irishman and go to church. Peter always laughs at the fact St. Patty's is associated with drinking here. His pioneer granny would not approve!
So day 1 of my grand super duper master plan scheme worked out well. I trekked across the city at lunch time, and it worked out mostly like I thought it would. I need to try another route across to the harbor; I took Fayette yesterday and it is way too ghetto for me. (Keep in mind--this is Fayette west of Charles.) It's no fun trying to weave your way through a group of drug addicts at varying levels of highness just to get across the street. I'm going to try Baltimore St tomorrow. I also brought in a pair of sneakers to keep at work. Given my crippled feet I can't afford to have them hurting after a lunch time walk.
My food plan worked out well too. We had a let's dish dinner, and I went to the grocery store and stocked up on decent snacks, etc. I packaged veggies and nuts into the right portions so all I have to do is grab them in the morning.
Today was going to be our lunch out day and Peter wanted to go to Slainte, but now I am not sure if it is going to work out like that. Hopefully. Dinner tonight is going to be another Let's Dish meal. and we had oatmeal for breakfast again.
I am a little worried about getting my scheduled exercise in tonight; I have a ton of grading to do. I think if I go to the gym right when I get home I should be ok.
So day 1 of my grand super duper master plan scheme worked out well. I trekked across the city at lunch time, and it worked out mostly like I thought it would. I need to try another route across to the harbor; I took Fayette yesterday and it is way too ghetto for me. (Keep in mind--this is Fayette west of Charles.) It's no fun trying to weave your way through a group of drug addicts at varying levels of highness just to get across the street. I'm going to try Baltimore St tomorrow. I also brought in a pair of sneakers to keep at work. Given my crippled feet I can't afford to have them hurting after a lunch time walk.
My food plan worked out well too. We had a let's dish dinner, and I went to the grocery store and stocked up on decent snacks, etc. I packaged veggies and nuts into the right portions so all I have to do is grab them in the morning.
Today was going to be our lunch out day and Peter wanted to go to Slainte, but now I am not sure if it is going to work out like that. Hopefully. Dinner tonight is going to be another Let's Dish meal. and we had oatmeal for breakfast again.
I am a little worried about getting my scheduled exercise in tonight; I have a ton of grading to do. I think if I go to the gym right when I get home I should be ok.
Three blind mice ....
See how they run. Well those mice are getting more exercise than I am. I just started a new job last week after doing a temp job for about a month. My schedule has been all over the place and I don't have puking children, a pack of mice or a flock of Girl Scouts invading my home.
What's funny is my new job is primarily blogging, I'm trying to keep up my personal blog and remember to stop by here and put in my tarnished cent.
I'm trying to do a couple of things -- bring my lunch to work everyday. That consists of a salad with yogurt and almonds for a snack later in the day. I've just about got that routine back in full swing. It will get easier when the good veggies come back in spring/summer.
Then next is getting in a workout. I've been trying to get myself into a daily routine but it's still sporadic. So I'm working on it.
I've put on some hibernation weight but I also feel like it's *age* weight across the midsection. Regardless I know I need to pick up my exercise because I feel so much better when I'm regularly exercising. I just have to focus and stick with the routine. Yeah, easier said than done but I've done it before.
The warmer weather will certainly help in spurring me to get outside and get some exercise. I've been riding the Metro and doing a lot of walking and running escalators. But it's still not enough.
OK, I've got to go root out a pack of roaming cats in the house ... not sure how they got in yet. heehee
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
154 -- that's not fair!
So, last week I had a stomach virus, which left me eating maybe 700-800 calories a day -- I was painfully hungry if I ate less, but more nauseated every time I ate anything. My weight went as low as 148 in the middle of the week, but then, inexplicably, it started going back up! I even went to the gym three times during the week (though I just did the bike -- 250ish calories instead of 400ish, and no crunches or pushups, because the one day I did crunches left me feeling much, much worse). Over the weekend I started to feel normal, so for two days I ate freely just for the sheer pleasure of food feeling good again -- but I did NOT eat 7000 calories extra!! I would have been sick all over again -- I can't eat like that, ever. So WHY did my weight go up by two pounds from last Tuesday? Especially when I clearly had 4 pounds of water weight to shed? Sigh.
Today I'm back to counting calories obsessively. (There was no point when I was eating barely a fraction of a serving of anything, and just in dribs and drabs all day.) I have three gym trips planned for this week. I'm thinking that my goal of being under 150 before Easter is looking less and less realistic, though. Back to the daily grind!
Still 149.8
No change from last week, which is a bit frustrating, but I'm happy to hold steady rather than gain. Last week I ended up with three cardio sessions (total time of two hours--last summer I was doing seven hours per week!) and five strengthening/stretching session (including pilates), each about 30 minutes long. I think if the world was fair, we'd all lose a pound every time we exercised for an hour. Shouldn't that be how it works?
And in other news, apparently you catch the stupid mouse on the first night, then the next night the other mice know to avoid the trap. I heard a mouse in our kitchen last night, but there were no new visitors to the trap this morning. I have four more of these traps coming from Amazon today, so I'm going to put them everywhere. I like it that they don't use anything you wouldn't want your kids or pets around so I can put them all over without worrying that Davey's going to get poisoned or Connor is going to get his fingers smashed.
And in other news, apparently you catch the stupid mouse on the first night, then the next night the other mice know to avoid the trap. I heard a mouse in our kitchen last night, but there were no new visitors to the trap this morning. I have four more of these traps coming from Amazon today, so I'm going to put them everywhere. I like it that they don't use anything you wouldn't want your kids or pets around so I can put them all over without worrying that Davey's going to get poisoned or Connor is going to get his fingers smashed.
Me again...this is a bit rambling
I was trying to objectively look back over our posts from the past and in doing so, it got me thinking, especially after reading Sarah's post regarding her weekend. I, like Amy, have had a struggle with losing weight, while Sarah & Emily have had definite periods of great success and even though you guys have fluctuated, I still consider your success sustained since you never went higher than you started or even got back to where you started. And I know that it is still a struggle for you both, but overall you are winning. (And I'll give you a blogger-high-five for that!) So this made me think about how I am different from Sarah & Emily, and it has helped me draw some conclusions.
First, in comparison to Emily & Sarah, I lead a very fluid life. I have some set responsibilities (work, school) but aside from that, how I spend my time is totally up to me and me alone. I eat when I want, I sleep when I want, etc. Emily & Sarah have a much more scheduled life, in part because of keeping up with your little people, but I also think you both have the type of personalities that even if you didn't have families to manage, you'd still run your life in a similar manner. It just wouldn't be as hectic as it sometimes ends up being. You are both much more calculated than I am, whereas some days I feel absolutely all over the place. So I first concluded that I lack rigor when it comes to my own schedule because truthfully, there is no consequence if I get off schedule.
Second, I don't take advantage of the opportunity to schedule activities for myself, nor do I feel compelled to squeeze them into certain time frames that might be less than desirable. For instance--I have a lunch hour just like Sarah. What does Sarah do some days: go to the gym. What do I do: Facebook. My "rationale"--I don't like going back to the office icky, nor do I like carrying any extra clothes, etc to clean up. On the other hand, Emily schedules herself gym time ahead of time, rather than fitting it in during the day ad hoc since that doesn't always work as well. I also have the opportunity to schedule time, and guess what, I don't. My "rationale" there...I am too tired, or too this or too that. I have also been known (maybe not on this forum as much) to whine about my busy schedule...but really it is totally manageable.
Third, I struggle with my relationship with food. Sometimes I eat because I am bored, sometimes because I am sad, and those things happen more than because I am hungry. and when I find myself eating for all those other reasons, I am angry with myself, but I do it anyways. Now, I hate that feeling of being hungry, so the chances of me letting that happen on purpose are slim. I have to find a way to re balance this relationship. I used to be good about planning and packing my lunches and dinners ahead of time, and then I got lazy. I place a tiny bit of blame in this category on Peter; he LOVES to eat out. And since it is easier than cooking in, I go along with it A LOT.
My conclusions: first, I need to take advantage of the time I have and be more resourceful and efficient. On Tuesdays and Thursdays when I have class and get home late, I am going to take a walk at lunch. That will make me more like Sarah. Then on Mondays and Wednesdays when I don't have after work responsibilities, I am going to the gym. That will make me more like Emily. That gives me 4 opportunities for exercise within 4 days. Once I "master" this, I also have a plan for the Friday-Sunday time period.
Now, to deal with the food situation, I am imposing a rule on my lifestyle: I can eat one of each meal out per week. So one breakfast, one lunch and one dinner. For all the rest, I am going to go google some spiffy meal planner situation and plan out my week. And I'm going to plan an extra idea of each meal just in case when I get to a certain day I don't feel like whatever I have planned, I can roll over to Plan B before heading out the door for a restaurant. And this is also good timing because eating at home is SO MUCH EASIER for me when I can use my outside grill. I love my grill. And I always grill a huge serving of veggies--any veggie cut up, placed in a foil packet, sprinkled with Mrs. Dash's garlic and basil seasoning and just a teeny drizzle of olive oil. We go through so much squash and onions and mushrooms during grilling season it is crazy.
So I started this today; I got up this morning a few minutes early and made us oatmeal for breakfast. It was really good. And today will be the perfect day to start my lunch time walk. I just have to map out a path that keeps me safe since I work in the 'hood. I think I'll head south towards the hospital, then east towards the harbor. I'm going to set the timer on my phone so I walk 20 minutes out, then turn around for the 20 minutes back. If I keep a decent pace, that should be around 2 miles given that I'll have to wait for crosswalks, etc.
I also packed a lunch today. It is a 300 calorie mini frozen pizza (the cardboard kind) which isn't a great lunch, but it is a packed lunch. But it could be worse--I could go to Potbellies and eat a sandwich for 500 or 600 or more calories. I'm heading to the grocery store after school tonight and I'll get myself in a better position for healthier lunch for the rest of the week.
So there's my rambling, ranting, plan. LOL. Let's see how it pans out. Is it the epiphany I have been looking for? Who knows. Sometimes those seem so overrated and then you've wasted all that time waiting....
First, in comparison to Emily & Sarah, I lead a very fluid life. I have some set responsibilities (work, school) but aside from that, how I spend my time is totally up to me and me alone. I eat when I want, I sleep when I want, etc. Emily & Sarah have a much more scheduled life, in part because of keeping up with your little people, but I also think you both have the type of personalities that even if you didn't have families to manage, you'd still run your life in a similar manner. It just wouldn't be as hectic as it sometimes ends up being. You are both much more calculated than I am, whereas some days I feel absolutely all over the place. So I first concluded that I lack rigor when it comes to my own schedule because truthfully, there is no consequence if I get off schedule.
Second, I don't take advantage of the opportunity to schedule activities for myself, nor do I feel compelled to squeeze them into certain time frames that might be less than desirable. For instance--I have a lunch hour just like Sarah. What does Sarah do some days: go to the gym. What do I do: Facebook. My "rationale"--I don't like going back to the office icky, nor do I like carrying any extra clothes, etc to clean up. On the other hand, Emily schedules herself gym time ahead of time, rather than fitting it in during the day ad hoc since that doesn't always work as well. I also have the opportunity to schedule time, and guess what, I don't. My "rationale" there...I am too tired, or too this or too that. I have also been known (maybe not on this forum as much) to whine about my busy schedule...but really it is totally manageable.
Third, I struggle with my relationship with food. Sometimes I eat because I am bored, sometimes because I am sad, and those things happen more than because I am hungry. and when I find myself eating for all those other reasons, I am angry with myself, but I do it anyways. Now, I hate that feeling of being hungry, so the chances of me letting that happen on purpose are slim. I have to find a way to re balance this relationship. I used to be good about planning and packing my lunches and dinners ahead of time, and then I got lazy. I place a tiny bit of blame in this category on Peter; he LOVES to eat out. And since it is easier than cooking in, I go along with it A LOT.
My conclusions: first, I need to take advantage of the time I have and be more resourceful and efficient. On Tuesdays and Thursdays when I have class and get home late, I am going to take a walk at lunch. That will make me more like Sarah. Then on Mondays and Wednesdays when I don't have after work responsibilities, I am going to the gym. That will make me more like Emily. That gives me 4 opportunities for exercise within 4 days. Once I "master" this, I also have a plan for the Friday-Sunday time period.
Now, to deal with the food situation, I am imposing a rule on my lifestyle: I can eat one of each meal out per week. So one breakfast, one lunch and one dinner. For all the rest, I am going to go google some spiffy meal planner situation and plan out my week. And I'm going to plan an extra idea of each meal just in case when I get to a certain day I don't feel like whatever I have planned, I can roll over to Plan B before heading out the door for a restaurant. And this is also good timing because eating at home is SO MUCH EASIER for me when I can use my outside grill. I love my grill. And I always grill a huge serving of veggies--any veggie cut up, placed in a foil packet, sprinkled with Mrs. Dash's garlic and basil seasoning and just a teeny drizzle of olive oil. We go through so much squash and onions and mushrooms during grilling season it is crazy.
So I started this today; I got up this morning a few minutes early and made us oatmeal for breakfast. It was really good. And today will be the perfect day to start my lunch time walk. I just have to map out a path that keeps me safe since I work in the 'hood. I think I'll head south towards the hospital, then east towards the harbor. I'm going to set the timer on my phone so I walk 20 minutes out, then turn around for the 20 minutes back. If I keep a decent pace, that should be around 2 miles given that I'll have to wait for crosswalks, etc.
I also packed a lunch today. It is a 300 calorie mini frozen pizza (the cardboard kind) which isn't a great lunch, but it is a packed lunch. But it could be worse--I could go to Potbellies and eat a sandwich for 500 or 600 or more calories. I'm heading to the grocery store after school tonight and I'll get myself in a better position for healthier lunch for the rest of the week.
So there's my rambling, ranting, plan. LOL. Let's see how it pans out. Is it the epiphany I have been looking for? Who knows. Sometimes those seem so overrated and then you've wasted all that time waiting....
Icky sicky sick
I've been MIA because I've been coughing up my lungs for most of the past week. "Up" side--the drugs (pseudoephedrine) caused me to lose 7 lbs since last Tuesday. It's definitely all water weight. I have been eating fairly normally, and drinking insane amounts of any liquid. I am feeling markedly better today, so I look for my weight to creep back to "normal" in the next few days. I haven't been exercising at all; I actually tried to do a 40 minute pilates DVD last Wednesday, but I stopped when the hundreds nearly killed me. I couldn't do the breathing, which I suppose makes total sense given my upper respiratory situation at the time. And holding your breath for the duration of each move seems to defeat the point. I made it about 15 minutes into the DVD, so that is my total activity for the week.
OK - That wasn't so bad
Well, my weight was lower today than I expected. This was after ordering pizza last night - and I didn't even get the thin crust!! So instead of being 40 pounds over my starting weight I am exactly 35 pounds over that point. Ugh.
I couldn't sleep last night at all! I have been shooting to get to bed by 10:30 each night as my Lenten resolution. Last night I was a little bit late. I was in bed by 10:45 and read until about 11:15. Then, I turned off my light, rolled over and COULDN'T sleep! The last I remember checking the clock was at 2:15am. SO frustrating! Remarkably, I don't feel so bad today. I guess four hours is enough for me. I am going to be tired tonight I bet. Anyway, I was dreaming this morning that Williamsburg was flooding. Not dramatically flooding, but the water levels were going up in areas and the interpreters were supposed to be measuring it. I was going around giving the water gauges to people (aparently I worked there...).
I have a weird welt on my cheek where the CPAP mask was resting. This was a spot that was bothering me even at the time, so I wonder if there was a slight crack or someting in the seal that was pinching my skin, or perhaps it stuck their more. Regardless, it is bugging me now.
I just had my reminder pop up telling me to go for a walk, so I think I will do that now...
I couldn't sleep last night at all! I have been shooting to get to bed by 10:30 each night as my Lenten resolution. Last night I was a little bit late. I was in bed by 10:45 and read until about 11:15. Then, I turned off my light, rolled over and COULDN'T sleep! The last I remember checking the clock was at 2:15am. SO frustrating! Remarkably, I don't feel so bad today. I guess four hours is enough for me. I am going to be tired tonight I bet. Anyway, I was dreaming this morning that Williamsburg was flooding. Not dramatically flooding, but the water levels were going up in areas and the interpreters were supposed to be measuring it. I was going around giving the water gauges to people (aparently I worked there...).
I have a weird welt on my cheek where the CPAP mask was resting. This was a spot that was bothering me even at the time, so I wonder if there was a slight crack or someting in the seal that was pinching my skin, or perhaps it stuck their more. Regardless, it is bugging me now.
I just had my reminder pop up telling me to go for a walk, so I think I will do that now...
Monday, March 15, 2010
Did NOT get up at 5:30 this morning
What an insane weekend. 12 loads of laundry (13 if you count the trip Brian made to the laundramat to wash our comforter--Connor's goal on Friday was to destroy as many beds as possible, so he coughed until he threw up on my bed twice and on his bed once. Because he couldn't hit Claire's bed, he instead spent the weekend dismantling the whole bed multiple times), two Girl Scout events, and a crazy amount of house cleaning. I've got a group of scouts coming to my house tonight to work on their Bronze Award and I didn't want them (or their parents) to see what a truly disorganized person I am, so between events and loads of laundry I cleaned and cleaned and cleaned.
I hadn't intended on really cleaning Claire's room, but while putting her box spring back on the frame last night (when I say Connor dismantled the bed, I mean it) I saw the filth under the bed. You know how cleaning tends to escalate? That's what happened at 9:00 last night. I started with under her bed, then branched out the areas around it, then ended up cleaning the whole room. We got rid of a bunch of the toys she no longer plays with so now she has room for a desk, which we've talked about getting her for a while. It looks great in there, but it means I didn't start on the family room until 10:30. When I finished that up at midnight, I went to the kitchen to make lunches. In that process, guess what I found? Mouse droppings on our counter! Bleah!! So then ensued a thorough disinfection of the kitchen and setting a trap for the little bugger. Gross. I finally got to bed at 2:30 and changed the alarm from 5:30 to 6:00. Like that'll make such a huge difference.
But we caught the stupid mouse. I used one of the Mice Cube live traps baited with a piece of Claire's leftover sandwich from Friday that I found in her lunchbox. Poor little critter got all the way in the trap and then decided that he doesn't like soynut butter and jelly sandwiches either. The bait looked untouched and the mouse looked miserable, but I sent him away with Brian for a trip to Linthicum, where I'm told that mice live long and happy lives.
Then while getting Connor into his coat to leave, I spilled his whole bowl of dry cereal all over the family room floor. I left it there for Davey to clean up. Or for the family of now orphaned mice probably living in our walls. They'll have their chance with the Mice Cube tonight.
Speaking of Davey, I must have the stupidest dog in the world. He never let on by his behavior of keen sense of smell that we had mice, and even with the mouse trapped and sitting in my kitchen all night, he never alerted us. But once I moved the mouse in its trap outside onto the porch THEN he saw it out the window and went nuts! He figures anything in our house is o.k. but something (or someone) on the porch is clearly a threat to our well being.
BTW, I realize none of this has anything to do with eating well or with weight loss, except to serve as an overly long explanation for why I didn't exercise this morning. For the record, I had lasagna for dinner last night. It was cheesy and delicious, but certainly not good for my diet. I had yogurt for breakfast to make up for it.
I hadn't intended on really cleaning Claire's room, but while putting her box spring back on the frame last night (when I say Connor dismantled the bed, I mean it) I saw the filth under the bed. You know how cleaning tends to escalate? That's what happened at 9:00 last night. I started with under her bed, then branched out the areas around it, then ended up cleaning the whole room. We got rid of a bunch of the toys she no longer plays with so now she has room for a desk, which we've talked about getting her for a while. It looks great in there, but it means I didn't start on the family room until 10:30. When I finished that up at midnight, I went to the kitchen to make lunches. In that process, guess what I found? Mouse droppings on our counter! Bleah!! So then ensued a thorough disinfection of the kitchen and setting a trap for the little bugger. Gross. I finally got to bed at 2:30 and changed the alarm from 5:30 to 6:00. Like that'll make such a huge difference.
But we caught the stupid mouse. I used one of the Mice Cube live traps baited with a piece of Claire's leftover sandwich from Friday that I found in her lunchbox. Poor little critter got all the way in the trap and then decided that he doesn't like soynut butter and jelly sandwiches either. The bait looked untouched and the mouse looked miserable, but I sent him away with Brian for a trip to Linthicum, where I'm told that mice live long and happy lives.
Then while getting Connor into his coat to leave, I spilled his whole bowl of dry cereal all over the family room floor. I left it there for Davey to clean up. Or for the family of now orphaned mice probably living in our walls. They'll have their chance with the Mice Cube tonight.
Speaking of Davey, I must have the stupidest dog in the world. He never let on by his behavior of keen sense of smell that we had mice, and even with the mouse trapped and sitting in my kitchen all night, he never alerted us. But once I moved the mouse in its trap outside onto the porch THEN he saw it out the window and went nuts! He figures anything in our house is o.k. but something (or someone) on the porch is clearly a threat to our well being.
BTW, I realize none of this has anything to do with eating well or with weight loss, except to serve as an overly long explanation for why I didn't exercise this morning. For the record, I had lasagna for dinner last night. It was cheesy and delicious, but certainly not good for my diet. I had yogurt for breakfast to make up for it.
I'm a-sceerd
I was just sitting here thinking that tomorrow I have to weigh myself and I realized that I am afraid to do it. I don't WANT to know how much I have gained over the past several weeks. Especially since these several weeks include being snowed in, going to Reno and then Vegas and - well, that is about it... Sigh. I will do it though. Tomorrow I will weigh myself.
I need to do something. It seems to me that every few weeks I start off with fresh resolve - I will plan healthy menus, I will increase my exercise, I WILL stick with it. THIS time things will be different and I will lose weight. However, I have gotten to the point that I can't get beyond the resolve. I used to actually MAKE changes in my life. I would plan good menus, I would schedule more exercise - and then I would actually DO these things. Eat right, exercise more. However, never did I see the benefits to these changes. Oh sure, for very short bursts I would see a downward trend, but ALWAYS I would plateau at 12 pounds lost and then immediately gain more than 12 back. Even while doggedly sticking to my plans. The most sustained success I ever had was that year or so where I didn't gain weight. I didn't lose weight, but I wasn't gaining. That ended suddenly last summer when I - over the course of just a few weeks - I jumped up an additional 15-20 pounds (depending on where you start counting).
So I now look at the scale and think "Wow, I am as much OVER my initial starting point now as I needed to lose originally back then." (Or in other words - we started this blog with me needing to lose about 55 pounds, I am now about 40 pounds over my starting point.)
You know what really bothers me? From what I can figure out bariatrics - the branch of medicine that specializes in obesity - really only focuses on surgery and appetite suppression. I mean I know they also look at behavioral modification and diet and exercise, but all of it still with a focus on how to eat less. Seriously? I can go all day - or more - without eating anything and NOT feel hungry. I really don't think my problem is over eating. So what IS my problem? Under exercising clearly is part of it - but I think there is something more. I don't need a recommendation from my doctor to go see a bariatric specialist - but I think I will ask her for one anyway. Maybe what I REALLY need is psychological counselling. Maybe what I need is not a CPAP machine to help me breathe, but sleeping pills to help me fall asleep and then stay asleep.
I need to do something. It seems to me that every few weeks I start off with fresh resolve - I will plan healthy menus, I will increase my exercise, I WILL stick with it. THIS time things will be different and I will lose weight. However, I have gotten to the point that I can't get beyond the resolve. I used to actually MAKE changes in my life. I would plan good menus, I would schedule more exercise - and then I would actually DO these things. Eat right, exercise more. However, never did I see the benefits to these changes. Oh sure, for very short bursts I would see a downward trend, but ALWAYS I would plateau at 12 pounds lost and then immediately gain more than 12 back. Even while doggedly sticking to my plans. The most sustained success I ever had was that year or so where I didn't gain weight. I didn't lose weight, but I wasn't gaining. That ended suddenly last summer when I - over the course of just a few weeks - I jumped up an additional 15-20 pounds (depending on where you start counting).
So I now look at the scale and think "Wow, I am as much OVER my initial starting point now as I needed to lose originally back then." (Or in other words - we started this blog with me needing to lose about 55 pounds, I am now about 40 pounds over my starting point.)
You know what really bothers me? From what I can figure out bariatrics - the branch of medicine that specializes in obesity - really only focuses on surgery and appetite suppression. I mean I know they also look at behavioral modification and diet and exercise, but all of it still with a focus on how to eat less. Seriously? I can go all day - or more - without eating anything and NOT feel hungry. I really don't think my problem is over eating. So what IS my problem? Under exercising clearly is part of it - but I think there is something more. I don't need a recommendation from my doctor to go see a bariatric specialist - but I think I will ask her for one anyway. Maybe what I REALLY need is psychological counselling. Maybe what I need is not a CPAP machine to help me breathe, but sleeping pills to help me fall asleep and then stay asleep.
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Weekend Wrap-up
Nothing much to wrap up actually. I had my sleep study last night. It was horrible! That is pretty much it. I feel like I lost the whole weekend because of it.
I didn't exercise. I ate - not very much - but poorly. The only real food I had was last night - left over veggie stir fry.
I should get the results of this current study in a week or two. I don't know what the results will show, but I can tell you the CPAP machine is not for me. I felt like I was being smothered. I also didn't sleep very deeply - and I woke up with bloodshot eyes. I never have bloodshot eyes. I kept dreaming that the study was over, so every time I did wake up I was disappointed that I was still there and still had hours to go. Ugh! Again I say, hope that you will NEVER have to have a sleep study done. OH! and the machine made it impossible to roll over - so I was all stiff and sore this morning. Seriously, how can people sleep with them?
Friday, March 12, 2010
I think I forgot
I don't remember checking the blog yesterday. I have been so good about it - but I have NO memory of it yesterday.
I had to leave work yesterday at 11:30am to make it home by noon to wait for Servpro to show up and dehydrate my house. They got there by 1:15-ish and then were done by, probably 2-ish, but I didn't go back to work. I SHOULD have gone back, but by then I had taken off my shoes and tights and REALLY didn't feel like putting them back on. So, I didn't go back.
My house now has four big fans and three dehumidifiers sucking all of the moisture out of the house. I swear I can't stand being that dry! It seems that no matter how much I drink it does no good. Sigh. I should live in Hawaii. Hopefully they shouldn't be there too long since most of the moisture has dried naturally. They had to cut open the walls above the slider in the living room and then below each of the windows in the bedrooms upstairs.
I made a yummy stir fry yesterday for lunch since I was at home - brown rice, veggies, egg and a little bit of the Soy-vay hoisin sauce Sarah gave me for by birthday. I should have brought that for lunch today - but we were supposed to do a team lunch today. THAT ended up being cancelled. So I ordered a bento box from Greenleaf - which was veggie/shrimp tempura and a California roll. Yummy - but the fat has made me queasy all day. Of course, I have been queasy off and on for a while now. I keep telling April that I am having sympathy pregnancy symptoms. Of course, sometimes I have the symptoms before she does - so I don't know what the story is.
Anyway, I have my part two sleep study tomorrow night. Ugh - again. This means I can't sleep in tomorrow morning because I have to be able to go to bed by 10:30. Sigh.
I had to leave work yesterday at 11:30am to make it home by noon to wait for Servpro to show up and dehydrate my house. They got there by 1:15-ish and then were done by, probably 2-ish, but I didn't go back to work. I SHOULD have gone back, but by then I had taken off my shoes and tights and REALLY didn't feel like putting them back on. So, I didn't go back.
My house now has four big fans and three dehumidifiers sucking all of the moisture out of the house. I swear I can't stand being that dry! It seems that no matter how much I drink it does no good. Sigh. I should live in Hawaii. Hopefully they shouldn't be there too long since most of the moisture has dried naturally. They had to cut open the walls above the slider in the living room and then below each of the windows in the bedrooms upstairs.
I made a yummy stir fry yesterday for lunch since I was at home - brown rice, veggies, egg and a little bit of the Soy-vay hoisin sauce Sarah gave me for by birthday. I should have brought that for lunch today - but we were supposed to do a team lunch today. THAT ended up being cancelled. So I ordered a bento box from Greenleaf - which was veggie/shrimp tempura and a California roll. Yummy - but the fat has made me queasy all day. Of course, I have been queasy off and on for a while now. I keep telling April that I am having sympathy pregnancy symptoms. Of course, sometimes I have the symptoms before she does - so I don't know what the story is.
Anyway, I have my part two sleep study tomorrow night. Ugh - again. This means I can't sleep in tomorrow morning because I have to be able to go to bed by 10:30. Sigh.
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Wish I could keep the reduced appetite without the nausea!
So I started feeling queasy a bit on Saturday and Sunday, and by Monday I was constantly queasy. I kept feeling hungry and thinking I could eat, but then I seriously regretted eating. By yesterday I was down to just a few tiny meals. I woke up today feeling marginally less queasy but completely weak (the consequence of too few calories, I imagine) so I still ate almost nothing. But after lunch (Mary made me grilled cheese! I didn't even ask -- she just was being wonderful!) I started feeling better, so I made it to the gym for the third day in a row, and this time after I finished on the bike the queasiness didn't immediately return. Thank goodness. I'm not 100% yet, but I've eaten a reasonable amount of food over the course of the evening, so I shouldn't be weak tomorrow.
In the meantime, my weight has plummeted! I wish I could cheerfully eat a dinner as small as a half bowl of soup and a half of a smallish quesadilla every night. I wish I had to work to get UP to my level of calories instead of keeping it DOWN to that. Only I believe I hate nausea more than any other symptom -- give me pain over nausea anyday.
My challenge to myself over the next three days is to exercise ONCE. Usually between Friday and Sunday I barely move. I used to get exercise on Fridays walking downtown in the afternoon, but that hasn't worked out in months. So I need to find a way to get moving.
Day off
When setting up my exercise schedule for this week, I took Thursday off so I could sleep "late" (if 6:15 counts as late!) and not worry about fitting in exercise around work and scouts. Girl Scouts was so much fun today--we're getting ready for our Community Event on Saturday so we made our display for Brazil, made carnaval masks and made brigadeiros, a traditional Brazilian candy. The kids seemed to like it, but I thought it was kind of gross. It's just sweetened condensed milk, butter, and cocoa powder cooked until it's gummy, then rolled into balls and rolled in chocolate jimmies or sugar. It was invented in the 1930's when it was too expensive to import sweets from elsewhere (why? Why did Brazil, a huge sugar and cocoa producer, ever have to import sweets?) and Nestle was pushing their new products. I'm glad that Brazil got the brigadeiros and we got key lime pie instead!
So nothing to report really, except that apparently I am capable of being around sugary sweet things without eating them all!
So nothing to report really, except that apparently I am capable of being around sugary sweet things without eating them all!
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
What I like about exercise
It's so easy to remember the things I hate about exercising, and I'm reminded of them, often painfully, every time I'm actually exercising or even just thinking about exercising. So I thought it would be beneficial, or even instructive, to list the things I like about exercising so I can refer back to the list when the "I hate this" feeling comes over me.
I like the clothes. More to the point, I like the idea of the clothes. I love the cool high tech wicking materials and the sleek compression tights and the cute running skirts that are coming into fashion and the colorful cycling jerseys and the precisely engineered jackets for keeping out wind and rain and keeping in warmth. Mind you, I don't own most of this stuff because it's all crazy expensive and I can't really justify most of it when I already have a drawer full of things from Target that do just fine. But people buy clothes based on how they'd LIKE to be seen by others, not how they really ARE, and I'd like people to think of me as one of the uber-cool women from the Title Nine or Athleta catalogs, who spend their days rock climbing or surfing and who have jobs like archeologists and ecologists specializing in dune management. They have rock hard abs and no hips, and I'm sure if I buy a running skirt I could be just like them. I'm thinking of taking up yoga just so I could buy some of the clothes.
I like those occasional moments during exercise when everything feels just right. This doesn't happen very much. Often never, sometimes once or twice in the 45 minutes that I'm sweating. But occasionally I'll realize that after stuggling up that hill, my heart suddenly is not straining to burst out of my chest and my breathing is normal and nothing hurts and I'll feel like I'm flying along and everything is in sync. It only lasts for maybe 15 seconds before my lungs start burning again or my ankle hurts, but it feels good while it lasts. I could see that if some people feel that way a LOT while they are exercising that they might be one of those odd creatures who just loves to run or swim or bike or whatever their sport is. For me, it happens more often while biking where I feel like I could just go on like that forever, but that's probably because we live in a place with rolling hills so when I hit a downhill I feel good.
I like it when it's over. You know that feeling you get when an exam is over or when you file your taxes or when the dentist hits the "chair up" button after you got a filling? That's how it feels to finish exercising. Painful horrible thing accomplished, don't need to dread it again until the next time. That's nice.
I like feeling smug. I may as well just be honest about it, and I think everyone who goes on and on about how great they feel because they exercise needs to admit this too. They don't feel great when they exercise. They feel great because they feel superior to the schlub next to them whose only exercise is walking into and out of McDonald's. We listen to the studies about how lazy Americans are and read the statistics about how little we move compared to our grandparents and we just feel smug because we know they aren't talking about us. This works even if you only exercise once a week. You're still ahead of most people, so you can feel smug. You know what the absolute best smugness was? Remember that super-sprint triathlon I did last year down in Bethesda? It was early in the morning and I got up, drove down, swam a few hundred meters, biked 10 miles, ran 2.5 miles, got back in my car and drove home--and my family was still in bed. I felt awesomely smug that day.
I like the clothes. More to the point, I like the idea of the clothes. I love the cool high tech wicking materials and the sleek compression tights and the cute running skirts that are coming into fashion and the colorful cycling jerseys and the precisely engineered jackets for keeping out wind and rain and keeping in warmth. Mind you, I don't own most of this stuff because it's all crazy expensive and I can't really justify most of it when I already have a drawer full of things from Target that do just fine. But people buy clothes based on how they'd LIKE to be seen by others, not how they really ARE, and I'd like people to think of me as one of the uber-cool women from the Title Nine or Athleta catalogs, who spend their days rock climbing or surfing and who have jobs like archeologists and ecologists specializing in dune management. They have rock hard abs and no hips, and I'm sure if I buy a running skirt I could be just like them. I'm thinking of taking up yoga just so I could buy some of the clothes.
I like those occasional moments during exercise when everything feels just right. This doesn't happen very much. Often never, sometimes once or twice in the 45 minutes that I'm sweating. But occasionally I'll realize that after stuggling up that hill, my heart suddenly is not straining to burst out of my chest and my breathing is normal and nothing hurts and I'll feel like I'm flying along and everything is in sync. It only lasts for maybe 15 seconds before my lungs start burning again or my ankle hurts, but it feels good while it lasts. I could see that if some people feel that way a LOT while they are exercising that they might be one of those odd creatures who just loves to run or swim or bike or whatever their sport is. For me, it happens more often while biking where I feel like I could just go on like that forever, but that's probably because we live in a place with rolling hills so when I hit a downhill I feel good.
I like it when it's over. You know that feeling you get when an exam is over or when you file your taxes or when the dentist hits the "chair up" button after you got a filling? That's how it feels to finish exercising. Painful horrible thing accomplished, don't need to dread it again until the next time. That's nice.
I like feeling smug. I may as well just be honest about it, and I think everyone who goes on and on about how great they feel because they exercise needs to admit this too. They don't feel great when they exercise. They feel great because they feel superior to the schlub next to them whose only exercise is walking into and out of McDonald's. We listen to the studies about how lazy Americans are and read the statistics about how little we move compared to our grandparents and we just feel smug because we know they aren't talking about us. This works even if you only exercise once a week. You're still ahead of most people, so you can feel smug. You know what the absolute best smugness was? Remember that super-sprint triathlon I did last year down in Bethesda? It was early in the morning and I got up, drove down, swam a few hundred meters, biked 10 miles, ran 2.5 miles, got back in my car and drove home--and my family was still in bed. I felt awesomely smug that day.
Tuesday, March 09, 2010
No weigh
It is weird the way one thing off in your routine screws up the WHOLE routine. I forgot to weigh this morning because I had no water. I didn't get to shower this morning - which means I didn't get undressed in the bathroom - which means I didn't weigh in.
I have been eating badly. Not a lot - just badly. Katie hasn't had school (no water) so she hasn't been making me breakfast. I haven't been making coffee (no water) so I have been going to Caribou on my way to work and getting coffee and banana bread for breakfast. I did have a tuna sandwich for lunch yesterday, today I had carrots, yogurt and a banana. Last night I had a leftover birthday Coldstone cupcake for dinner. Tonight I had spinach ravioli. No exercise.
I HAVE been going to bed mostly by my 10:30 pm bedtime, but I have been MORE tired during the day. In fact, today Suzanne told me that I look more tired than usual. I wonder what's that about.
The water is back on - at least for now, and hopefully for good. I need to go take a shower before I go to bed. I don't want to miss my window of opportunity.
152.0
But my body is at war with my stomach at the moment. I started feeling queasy occasionally over the weekend, and by yesterday it was pretty much steady all day. And it's that horrid kind of queasiness that seems like it would be better if you eat, and it is while you're eating, and then it's much worse afterwards. So I spent a good chunk of yesterday eating and wishing I hadn't eaten. Today I felt terrible at 5 am-ish, but hungry when I woke up at 8, so I ate breakfast and then was miserable for the next two and a half hours. Then I was starving and feeling great, so I ate a light snack and am now regretting it again. Ugh. This isn't progressing into a full-blown stomach virus, but it's keeping me semi-incapacitated nonetheless. Bleah.
I had three days of exercise lined up this week (we missed yesterday because Mary had to go to a Brownie meeting to work on her Junior Aide) but I genuinely don't know if I'll make today's, at least. It's frustrating, having such gorgeous weather, which makes me feel like getting moving, yet being unable to move!
A choose-your-own-weight day
When I got up this morning, I was 149.8. After my 25 minutes of pilates and stretching, I was 149.4 (which is kind of odd--it's not like pilates makes me sweat at all, and my heart rate doesn't go much above a resting heart rate since I'm lying down the whole time). Either way, I'm back into the 140's without the benefit of a stomach virus, so I'm happy.
I saved two puppies yesterday and one so far today. It was nice enough yesterday for an outside run at lunchtime, and it felt surprisingly good. I went out intending just to walk so I didn't hurt my back (did I mention I have orders to go back to PT for a tune up? My SI joint has slipped back out of joint. Not really badly, but enough so that the pain is low but constant and sharp when I'm lifting too much or standing for too long.) but running just feels better--I think it warms my muscles up better, which helps the pain, and it loosens the ligaments, which helps even more. Plus, it gets the workout over with faster. I walked several of the uphill sections, but ran a lot more than I thought I'd be able to. I ended up averaging 12 minute miles - more than two minutes slower per mile than I did in the triathlon, but not far off from my speed on this same route last year when I started running it. I just need to work back up to running the whole distance and I should be o.k. for the tri. Except for that pesky swimming thing.
I saved two puppies yesterday and one so far today. It was nice enough yesterday for an outside run at lunchtime, and it felt surprisingly good. I went out intending just to walk so I didn't hurt my back (did I mention I have orders to go back to PT for a tune up? My SI joint has slipped back out of joint. Not really badly, but enough so that the pain is low but constant and sharp when I'm lifting too much or standing for too long.) but running just feels better--I think it warms my muscles up better, which helps the pain, and it loosens the ligaments, which helps even more. Plus, it gets the workout over with faster. I walked several of the uphill sections, but ran a lot more than I thought I'd be able to. I ended up averaging 12 minute miles - more than two minutes slower per mile than I did in the triathlon, but not far off from my speed on this same route last year when I started running it. I just need to work back up to running the whole distance and I should be o.k. for the tri. Except for that pesky swimming thing.
Monday, March 08, 2010
Water back on - sort of
I did probably even less than Sarah did yesterday. On Saturday I managed to lose the whole day. I am not sure how that happened. I did get home very late on Friday night from work (like 10pm - I have no life!). So that put me to bed late. I didn't sleep particularly late Saturday morning - but I didn't have a lot of energy. That was the first day with no water - and so I never made any coffee - and THAT kept me dragging too. I don't even think I got out of my PJs all day - and I know I didn't eat a single meal. I was very thirsty (psychological I think) and drank TWO big glasses of OJ. I snacked on pistachio nuts - and that, honestly, is all I remember for the day. Oh - I had a banana. I then went to bed very late (1:30am or so) and had to get up by 7:30am to get dressed for the Servpro people - who arrived at 9:30am - and I sent away at 9:33am. I wasn't prepared or expecting them to tear out the walls THAT day. I thought they were just going to do an estimate.
But I was dressed.
I then made several trips with buckets of snow to melt to flush the toilets. Katie did several loads too. It takes a fair amount of snow to flush the toilets. And a long time to melt it.
I then went to Mom and Dad's to take a shower. Thank goodness. I was getting ripe.
Church was short since they had no water either. We were home by 5:50pm. This was good because last night was my first official night of going to bed at 10:30pm. I did OK. I was IN bed by 10:27. I read for a little bit - but turned off my light a11:53pm. I will get better - I hope. However, I didn't feel any more rested today than normal. OTOH, I don't remember waking up during the night, and I began my morning waking up at about 6am - as opposed to my normal 5am. So...
But I was dressed.
I then made several trips with buckets of snow to melt to flush the toilets. Katie did several loads too. It takes a fair amount of snow to flush the toilets. And a long time to melt it.
I then went to Mom and Dad's to take a shower. Thank goodness. I was getting ripe.
Church was short since they had no water either. We were home by 5:50pm. This was good because last night was my first official night of going to bed at 10:30pm. I did OK. I was IN bed by 10:27. I read for a little bit - but turned off my light a11:53pm. I will get better - I hope. However, I didn't feel any more rested today than normal. OTOH, I don't remember waking up during the night, and I began my morning waking up at about 6am - as opposed to my normal 5am. So...
New resolve
I can't remember if I posted this or just thought about it, but one thing I noticed while reading through the blog from back when I was first successfully losing weight was that I was usually exercising twice a day back then--going to the gym or walking the dog and doing pilates (sometimes all three!). Of course, back then I wasn't so busy at work since I was new on the job and I didn't have nearly so many things going on in the evenings. But if I'm going to lose the weight I gained, I need to get back to that sort of schedule, so as of this morning I'm adding a morning session three days a week so I can do pilates then. I'm also going to try to do pilates both days on the weekends, so that'll give me five extra exercise sessions per week, even if it means getting up at 5:30 three days a week! My reward for getting up that early is that at least the exercise helps wake me up. And doing pilates in the morning means I don't need to allow time to change--I can just do it in my pajamas!
So, gorgeous day outside yesterday and what did I do? Nothing. Well, not nothing, but I never had a block of time when I could get out to run or ride my bike. It was church all morning, then feed the kids, then finish decorating the basketball cake. At that point we only had an hour and a half until we had to leave for the basketball party. If I had gone out then, I would have come back sweaty and needing a shower and there was no time for that. The party was fun (ate too much, of course) but it was dark when we got home and Connor was in full meltdown mode (he had been up since 3:30) so that was it for the day. At least I was able to get to bed early (Claire requested an early bedtime because of the stupid MSA tests starting today), which made the 5:30 wake up a lot easier.
So, gorgeous day outside yesterday and what did I do? Nothing. Well, not nothing, but I never had a block of time when I could get out to run or ride my bike. It was church all morning, then feed the kids, then finish decorating the basketball cake. At that point we only had an hour and a half until we had to leave for the basketball party. If I had gone out then, I would have come back sweaty and needing a shower and there was no time for that. The party was fun (ate too much, of course) but it was dark when we got home and Connor was in full meltdown mode (he had been up since 3:30) so that was it for the day. At least I was able to get to bed early (Claire requested an early bedtime because of the stupid MSA tests starting today), which made the 5:30 wake up a lot easier.
Back to reality
So we had a fabulous weekend in NYC. I love it up there. I love not driving anywhere, walking everywhere, and just seeing and hearing everything the city has going on. I am always amazed though at how thin New Yorkers are on a whole. I know they walk alot, but I also know they almost never cook their own meals. We have never, in all our trips to NYC to visit Martin an Bonnie, had a home cooked meal. This trip was no exception. We went to A Salt and Battery Saturday afternoon for a late lunch (it's an English chippy) and then had take out Chinese rather late Saturday night. The fish was amazing at the chippy--so fresh, and even though it was fried the batter was really light and peels off very nicely so I could drench it in vinegar. And the chips were actual potatoes. I love when that happens. The Chinese was ok; I didn't eat very much of it because it was really late (like 10 pm) when we got it, and that just seemed like a bad idea. Sunday we went to a French place for breakfast. I had a totally sexy croissant and a bowl of porraige that looked like puffed wheat cereal only solid. It was delicious. Then we cooked Let's Dish at home last night for dinner.
We walked a ton both Saturday and Sunday. Saturday we went to my favorite stores in midtown and walked the entire Highline again. Sunday we went to breakfast near Union Square and then to the NYC Fire Museum. Fun stuff.
Now I have to face reality, and it bores me. I wish Baltimore was as walkable as NYC. It makes me laugh that when I google the distance between places in NYC and see that it is only a mile, I don't even think twice about setting off, but here in Baltimore if I have to go two blocks I'm annoyed. Why is that? Does that even make sense? How to I envoke that mentality on a daily basis?
We walked a ton both Saturday and Sunday. Saturday we went to my favorite stores in midtown and walked the entire Highline again. Sunday we went to breakfast near Union Square and then to the NYC Fire Museum. Fun stuff.
Now I have to face reality, and it bores me. I wish Baltimore was as walkable as NYC. It makes me laugh that when I google the distance between places in NYC and see that it is only a mile, I don't even think twice about setting off, but here in Baltimore if I have to go two blocks I'm annoyed. Why is that? Does that even make sense? How to I envoke that mentality on a daily basis?
Sunday, March 07, 2010
The secret to weight loss...
... is apparently eating a dinner composed mostly of cheese-based appetizers and following it up with three desserts. And exercising not at all. My weight was down two pounds this morning despite having my worst food/exercise day since we got back from the trip. It seems so unfair that on days when I treat my body by the book I don't see any progress, then when I've been horrid I suddenly have some water loss and it jumps down. This is a major reason why people have such a hard time losing weight, I think; if the connection between good behavior and good results was obvious, and bad behavior and bad results as well, we'd all have an easier time being good.
OTOH, I have no reason to complain -- I did see a "new" (by which I mean "new recently", not "new entirely" low), which means the hard work of the other days is paying off a little. I just wish I were more excited about the whole process.
Just checking in...
We have had no water all day. I guess, Julie, you probably have been in the same boat. This is such a flashback to five years ago (or so) when we had no water for a week, no power for most of a week and a hurricane. (So I guess that was more than five years ago.) Anyway - so between the snow melting in, the loss of power for 28 hours on Wednesday/Thursday and now this, I am ready to move into a yurt somewhere where you NEVER have power or water and you always have snow melting in. Sigh.
Sarah, how do you eat so many fruits and veggies. I am proud of myself if I manage to get three in. I may have to focus more on that. Well, it is now four minutes past my weekend bedtime, and Servpro is supposed to be coming tomorrow between 8 am and 11, so I'd better get to bed.
Friday, March 05, 2010
Eating well, not exercising
Since cutting out sweets and insisting on buying *enough* fruit and vegetables to make them into snacks (always a problem with Brian--he does the shopping and isn't a big fruit eater and doesn't think of vegetables as more than a side dish, so he never buys enough of anything) I've been eating really well. I'm having 7 or 8 servings of fruits and vegetables a day, not snacking on junk after work and in the evening, and just generally doing better with my diet than I have in a long time. I haven't counted calories, but don't feel a big need to at the moment since my meals are the same that they always have been and my snacks are lower calorie.
Exercise, however, has been hard to come by. I've been on the go every day early morning until late at night. I've only managed one lunch break this week to get to the gym (I haven't been taking lunch breaks since I'm getting to work between 9 and 9:30 so I can get the kids on the bus, and then have had to leave by 5 two days this week instead of staying until 5:30 or 6). I'll get there again today, but two days at the gym in a week isn't good. I have no evenings either since I've got Brian gone Monday - Wednesday and I'm gone Thursday evening. That'll ease up in the summer, thank goodness. I'm hoping to get out on my bike tomorrow for a short ride, but I have to do a lot of baking tomorrow (basketball/school parties on Sunday and Monday), so can't stay out for long.
As expected, my weight was back up to 151.2 this morning--eating less is fine for maintaining my weight, but I really have to get in that daily exercise if I want to actually LOSE weight.
Exercise, however, has been hard to come by. I've been on the go every day early morning until late at night. I've only managed one lunch break this week to get to the gym (I haven't been taking lunch breaks since I'm getting to work between 9 and 9:30 so I can get the kids on the bus, and then have had to leave by 5 two days this week instead of staying until 5:30 or 6). I'll get there again today, but two days at the gym in a week isn't good. I have no evenings either since I've got Brian gone Monday - Wednesday and I'm gone Thursday evening. That'll ease up in the summer, thank goodness. I'm hoping to get out on my bike tomorrow for a short ride, but I have to do a lot of baking tomorrow (basketball/school parties on Sunday and Monday), so can't stay out for long.
As expected, my weight was back up to 151.2 this morning--eating less is fine for maintaining my weight, but I really have to get in that daily exercise if I want to actually LOSE weight.
You've got to move it, move it.
I, that would be. I've got to move it move it! I need to start running or something. Katie and I have had no power since 2:30am Thursday morning. When it hadn't come back on as of 9pm last night (and the house was getting COLD!!!) I decided I would spend the night with Mom and Dad. I discovered last night that the mirror in Mom's bathroom is WAY less flattering than the mirror in my bathroom. Mostly because I could see MORE of me naked when I went to take a bath.
UGH! I am FAT!! I mean, this isn't a surprise to me - but it was WAY more unpleasant seeing it last night. I need to lose a 100 pounds. I don't know how to do that. The best I have EVER managed to do is lose about 12 pounds - but then I always gain it back with friends. Is sleep really the key? Before, water was supposed to be the key. All the books and articles on weight loss said so. I drink a lot of water. It didn't seem to help me. Maybe that is what I need to do for the rest of Lent. For the rest of Lent I HAVE to go to bed by 10:30pm. Have to. Friday and Saturday night I can stay up until midnight, but for all school nights I HAVE TO go to bed by 10:30pm. That would allow for me to get 8 hours of sleep each night (assuming I pass out as soon as I go to bed... Well, at least I will be IN BED for 8 hours). I wonder if that would actually make a difference? Regardless, it would help to set me up for good habits if the CPAP machine thingy does help me get better quality sleep.
I wish I hadn't taken that trip to Reno. It was fun - but it was expensive. And it would have been more fun to do something MORE FUN (like the folk school, or maybe a cruise or something). I am saying this because I have a hole in my dining room ceiling and I think I have to get a plumber to fix whatever is leaking in the bathroom, a tile guy to TILE the bathroom and then someone to come in and fix the ceiling and paint it. I don't know who to get to do these things. I am feeling like if they are going to be tearing up the rest of my house in the next month or so, I should just get THAT project done too. Does anyone know of a good general contractor?
UGH! I am FAT!! I mean, this isn't a surprise to me - but it was WAY more unpleasant seeing it last night. I need to lose a 100 pounds. I don't know how to do that. The best I have EVER managed to do is lose about 12 pounds - but then I always gain it back with friends. Is sleep really the key? Before, water was supposed to be the key. All the books and articles on weight loss said so. I drink a lot of water. It didn't seem to help me. Maybe that is what I need to do for the rest of Lent. For the rest of Lent I HAVE to go to bed by 10:30pm. Have to. Friday and Saturday night I can stay up until midnight, but for all school nights I HAVE TO go to bed by 10:30pm. That would allow for me to get 8 hours of sleep each night (assuming I pass out as soon as I go to bed... Well, at least I will be IN BED for 8 hours). I wonder if that would actually make a difference? Regardless, it would help to set me up for good habits if the CPAP machine thingy does help me get better quality sleep.
I wish I hadn't taken that trip to Reno. It was fun - but it was expensive. And it would have been more fun to do something MORE FUN (like the folk school, or maybe a cruise or something). I am saying this because I have a hole in my dining room ceiling and I think I have to get a plumber to fix whatever is leaking in the bathroom, a tile guy to TILE the bathroom and then someone to come in and fix the ceiling and paint it. I don't know who to get to do these things. I am feeling like if they are going to be tearing up the rest of my house in the next month or so, I should just get THAT project done too. Does anyone know of a good general contractor?
Thursday, March 04, 2010
No harm done
Well, maybe only a little harm. My eating this week while we were away was really terribly bad, to the point that by the last full day I'd given up entirely on even trying to keep track of what foods were going in, let alone how much. I did all right on the first day or so of the trip, but Outback killed that. Then each day I'd be all right through lunch, and dinner would knock me flat. Yesterday was a little better, with the drive; I was able to choose a light lunch, and then we had pizza at dinner, which I didn't overeat. I also didn't try to record the calories, figuring I'd start fresh today, on a normal day. My activity level was good the first two full days we were there, so I didn't need to exercise, but the third day was busy all day and my step count never got above 4,000 or so. I'm not sure when I could have managed to fit the exercise room in! In any case, my weight was still under 154 today, so I didn't immediately regain the pound or two I'd lost.
Today I'm back to normality. I've eaten light all day (and I'm out of almonds -- those are my healthy snack that I pace through the day, and nothing else seems to appeal to me the same way, so I'm down a few calories from a normal day) and we're having salmon and whole wheat couscous for dinner. I went to the gym and did my step class (couldn't get my usual spot where I can't see the mirror, so I was forced to observe my hips and butt for an hour -- ugh!) so I'm up to 8600 steps already, and I should be able to round that out to 10k before the end of the day.
Tomorrow is a busy Friday -- not much hope for me on exercise, but at least I also won't have time to snack!
First to check or first to post?
First, I want to know if commenting counts as writing on the blog? I have checked in each day, but I have mostly just been commenting.
So, yesterday I had an accupuncture appointment. I told her that I wanted to actively start "dieting" again. I have been steadily gaining weight - in very small increments, but increasing none-the-less. I know my experience with dieting has been very NOT effective, but I have to do something - and I have been pretty bad about eating since this fall. Actually I guess since this summer when Katie stopped making me breakfast. So - that has been the better part of nine months. Anyway, Shea did a really neat treatement for me to support dieting. I don't know if it was at all effective. It didn't stop me from eating junk last night - but the junk was less appealing to me. So, maybe now all I have to do is not eat when the food is not appealing.
I have rescheduled my sleep study part two for next Thursday night. It was supposed to be last night, however, I have this head cold, and my period just started, so I rescheduled. I don't know if treating my sleep apnea will help with my weight management, but it sure as heck can't hurt. As Julie said, getting a good night sleep is top priority for the road to happiness.
So, yesterday I had an accupuncture appointment. I told her that I wanted to actively start "dieting" again. I have been steadily gaining weight - in very small increments, but increasing none-the-less. I know my experience with dieting has been very NOT effective, but I have to do something - and I have been pretty bad about eating since this fall. Actually I guess since this summer when Katie stopped making me breakfast. So - that has been the better part of nine months. Anyway, Shea did a really neat treatement for me to support dieting. I don't know if it was at all effective. It didn't stop me from eating junk last night - but the junk was less appealing to me. So, maybe now all I have to do is not eat when the food is not appealing.
I have rescheduled my sleep study part two for next Thursday night. It was supposed to be last night, however, I have this head cold, and my period just started, so I rescheduled. I don't know if treating my sleep apnea will help with my weight management, but it sure as heck can't hurt. As Julie said, getting a good night sleep is top priority for the road to happiness.
Wednesday, March 03, 2010
More rambling
I don't have a lot to say, but that's not going to keep me from posting!!! LOL.
So I have exercised Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. Pretty good. Food has been ok; we haven't been overeating but we haven't been eating salads and water either. I have also been trying to go to bed when I am sleepy. Getting enough sleep was one of the suggestions in The Happiness Project book, so I am trying to take the author's advice and instead of crashing on the sofa to only have to get up and crawl into bed at midnight, I am trying to go to bed when I am tired. I have slept solidly through each of the last few nights. I can't say it makes me happier, but I am certainly not as exhausted as usual.
Well, I guess that's all. Happy Wednesday!
So I have exercised Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. Pretty good. Food has been ok; we haven't been overeating but we haven't been eating salads and water either. I have also been trying to go to bed when I am sleepy. Getting enough sleep was one of the suggestions in The Happiness Project book, so I am trying to take the author's advice and instead of crashing on the sofa to only have to get up and crawl into bed at midnight, I am trying to go to bed when I am tired. I have slept solidly through each of the last few nights. I can't say it makes me happier, but I am certainly not as exhausted as usual.
Well, I guess that's all. Happy Wednesday!
Tuesday, March 02, 2010
149.8
Nice to be back in this territory, even if I know it's probably from being sick all day yesterday! I'm still not feeling great today, but I'm trying to eat since I was getting shaky by the end of the day yesterday.
Claire was doing some homework last night about the C&O canal and now she's decided she wants to ride the canal. Not sure if she means "hey, let's go down to Great Falls and ride around a bit" or "hey, let's take a week and some camping gear and go the whole 185 miles." Either one sounds good to me. Probably will start with Option A to see how she does and how my bike does (nice touring bike, not exactly designed for the surface of the trail, though) and then move on to Option B maybe next summer. A leisurely pace on the C&O has you finishing up the trail in five or six days, so I could see doing it with an 11 or 12 year old in that time or maybe a bit more. How fun would that be? And I can't imagine a better trail partner than Claire. I generally like riding alone, and Claire is quiet enough that you're pretty much left alone except for when you want company. She's whiny when faced with minor discomfort (bedtime) but good with major discomfort (getting wet, dirty, and having to pee in the woods). Minor discomfort is an imposition. Major discomfort is an adventure.
Claire was doing some homework last night about the C&O canal and now she's decided she wants to ride the canal. Not sure if she means "hey, let's go down to Great Falls and ride around a bit" or "hey, let's take a week and some camping gear and go the whole 185 miles." Either one sounds good to me. Probably will start with Option A to see how she does and how my bike does (nice touring bike, not exactly designed for the surface of the trail, though) and then move on to Option B maybe next summer. A leisurely pace on the C&O has you finishing up the trail in five or six days, so I could see doing it with an 11 or 12 year old in that time or maybe a bit more. How fun would that be? And I can't imagine a better trail partner than Claire. I generally like riding alone, and Claire is quiet enough that you're pretty much left alone except for when you want company. She's whiny when faced with minor discomfort (bedtime) but good with major discomfort (getting wet, dirty, and having to pee in the woods). Minor discomfort is an imposition. Major discomfort is an adventure.
Monday, March 01, 2010
Home sick
I think I got some historically accurate food poisoning yesterday. Last night we went to Medieval Times for the dinner and show, and in the night Brian and I were both not feeling well. And while Brian just had a slightly upset stomach, I had a REALLY upset stomach and ended up staying home from work today. Everything settled down by mid-afternoon, but I'm still not feeling 100%. I'm blaming the potatoes--Claire didn't eat them and she was fine. The sad part was there was a little voice in my head saying "oh, good, now my Tuesday weight will be o.k.!" I haven't weighed myself since last week so I have no idea how I'm trending. I've noticed that since giving up sweets for Lent I'm snacking a lot less--the salty snacks aren't really tempting. I made Brian get some more snacky types of fruits and vegetables so that I can have cucumber slices and grapes when I would normally have Oreos or, well, Oreos. That's really the only sweet thing we normally keep around.
Brian is back to work today! Yay! It's only a three month gig, but at least it's something. We STILL don't know what his hours are going to be--he's in training for two weeks from 9 to 5:30, but we don't know yet if he's going to get a 7 a.m. shift (which would mean we wouldn't really need after school childcare) or a 9 a.m. shift (which would require after-care; Mom and Dad are taking care of it during training, thank goodness, but it bugs me that this company is being so disorganized about staffing--surely we aren't the only ones who have to make other arrangements around the work schedule?). But what this means is that both my exercise and diet are going to be affected--I'm going to have to skip lunch breaks since I'll be going in late every day (to get kids on the bus) and will have to resist the temptation to gorge when getting home from work--I've gotten used to Brian cooking dinner and having it ready right after work. Now he'll be going from work to school Monday - Wednesday, so I'll be the chef those nights. Although, now that I think about it, this may be a good thing--when we started this weight/health process a million years ago, he was gone every evening and I was really good about portion control when I was cooking, and doing the cooking kept me from snacking.
I'm keeping my fingers crossed that in May when his classes are over and this job is over, he's able to find a decent job (well paid would be nice! This current job is anything but that) with normal hours, or even better--back to third shift, which just worked really well for us. I'd be comfortable with Claire being home alone for a little while after school most days, but that'll never happen with Connor and our child care choices are really limited. There's only one place we know of that will take him, and it's really depressing and I'm not even convinced it's entirely safe.
Brian is back to work today! Yay! It's only a three month gig, but at least it's something. We STILL don't know what his hours are going to be--he's in training for two weeks from 9 to 5:30, but we don't know yet if he's going to get a 7 a.m. shift (which would mean we wouldn't really need after school childcare) or a 9 a.m. shift (which would require after-care; Mom and Dad are taking care of it during training, thank goodness, but it bugs me that this company is being so disorganized about staffing--surely we aren't the only ones who have to make other arrangements around the work schedule?). But what this means is that both my exercise and diet are going to be affected--I'm going to have to skip lunch breaks since I'll be going in late every day (to get kids on the bus) and will have to resist the temptation to gorge when getting home from work--I've gotten used to Brian cooking dinner and having it ready right after work. Now he'll be going from work to school Monday - Wednesday, so I'll be the chef those nights. Although, now that I think about it, this may be a good thing--when we started this weight/health process a million years ago, he was gone every evening and I was really good about portion control when I was cooking, and doing the cooking kept me from snacking.
I'm keeping my fingers crossed that in May when his classes are over and this job is over, he's able to find a decent job (well paid would be nice! This current job is anything but that) with normal hours, or even better--back to third shift, which just worked really well for us. I'd be comfortable with Claire being home alone for a little while after school most days, but that'll never happen with Connor and our child care choices are really limited. There's only one place we know of that will take him, and it's really depressing and I'm not even convinced it's entirely safe.
Rambling
This past weekend kicked off a run of very busy weekends for us. Our weeks are no better during the semester; we both work all day every day, then Peter has class Tuesday and Wednesday nights, I teach Tuesday and Thursday nights, and somewhere in there I also have to find time for the online statistics class I am taking. I am out of practice for schoolwork; it took me 4 hours Saturday morning to get my lab assignment done. Sheesh.
Anyways, I spent all Saturday morning doing homework, then we had to get up to Marian's in PA to go to a Hershey Bears hockey game. We got home from that around midnight. Then I sat up reading a book I had just gotten about my friend Amy Mantay's close friends that were murdered back in 2002. It is such a poorly written book, and the whole story just makes me angry, but I couldn't put it down until some time after 2 am. Yesterday we had a slew of chores to tackle, and it was the Festival of Colors in India, so we went to my friend Sharad's house for a traditional meal. Ruchi is going to teach me to make proper curry. She also made this dessert out of carrots that was delicious. It reminded me of rice pudding, but not as creamy. So from Sharad's house we stopped at the grocery store. When we finally did get home around 7:30 pm, I spent 30 minutes on the treadmill while Peter acquired a pizza for dinner. Then I settled down and finished the poorly written book that angered me. I am glad I read it quickly and that it is over with.
I'm going to try to walk for at least 30 minutes each day this week and see how that works. We have a trip to NYC scheduled for this upcoming weekend, so I hope that doesn't destroy the tiny bit of momentum I have going from exercising 2x in 5 days. Totally pathetic, but better than 0x in 5 days.
Anyways, I spent all Saturday morning doing homework, then we had to get up to Marian's in PA to go to a Hershey Bears hockey game. We got home from that around midnight. Then I sat up reading a book I had just gotten about my friend Amy Mantay's close friends that were murdered back in 2002. It is such a poorly written book, and the whole story just makes me angry, but I couldn't put it down until some time after 2 am. Yesterday we had a slew of chores to tackle, and it was the Festival of Colors in India, so we went to my friend Sharad's house for a traditional meal. Ruchi is going to teach me to make proper curry. She also made this dessert out of carrots that was delicious. It reminded me of rice pudding, but not as creamy. So from Sharad's house we stopped at the grocery store. When we finally did get home around 7:30 pm, I spent 30 minutes on the treadmill while Peter acquired a pizza for dinner. Then I settled down and finished the poorly written book that angered me. I am glad I read it quickly and that it is over with.
I'm going to try to walk for at least 30 minutes each day this week and see how that works. We have a trip to NYC scheduled for this upcoming weekend, so I hope that doesn't destroy the tiny bit of momentum I have going from exercising 2x in 5 days. Totally pathetic, but better than 0x in 5 days.
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Vacation eating
My calorie totals for today are scary. We ate brunch in the hotel dining room and I ate WAY too much -- I can't say "no" to breakfast foods! We didn't do lunch, though I snacked on pretzels and almonds. And we went to Outback for dinner (not our choice; we went with friends -- when you're in a town that's full of restaurants, why pick a chain you could find anywhere?) which meant too much food again. I did manage a step count of close to 9000 -- the kids and I walked around on the beach for a while, and I walked in circles while they hung out in the hot tub this morning -- but I find myself doing exactly what I wanted to avoid, i.e., eating more than enough extra calories to make up for the good I did last week. Sigh.
We stopped at a grocery store and got our own mini-Continental buffet for tomorrow (cereal, fruit, and pastries) so the kids won't be too upset when we don't go to the hotel breakfast again. Breakfast is not included with the room (expensive hotel, too) and I hate paying ridiculous amounts for only a little bit of food. Eating in should help me cut calories a bit tomorrow. We're going to walk down to the lighthouse on the island tomorrow, too, and the real walking (as opposed to in-room walking) will do me good. I'll try to be good at dinner and lunch, but it's SO hard when the menu options are so appealing!
Saturday, February 27, 2010
I almost forgot to check in!
But it's Saturday and apparently nobody else visited, either, or at least nobody else posted, which would violate the challenge. I drove with the kids to the south end of Georgia today to join Daniel at his conference, so I spent 8 hours in the car. Rah. But we stopped at McDonald's for lunch and I only had the fruit 'n' yogurt parfait (it's on the dessert menu, I believe, but it's relatively healthy) plus about six French fries. And I ate fairly healthy on my snacks in the car, too -- I resisted the Girl Scout cookies and over the course of the drive ate a handful of pretzels, 1/2 serving of almonds, a banana, and a couple of grapes. I didn't do so well at dinner; Daniel had a conference banquet to go to, so the kids and I were on our own and we didn't feel like going out when we'd just arrived, so we ordered pizza. If I'd stuck to only two slices I would have been fine. Or if I'd left Daniel's bag of Doritos alone I'd just have come in under the limit for my calories for the day. But I didn't and I didn't, so I'm slightly over. But I also paced around the room while the kids were settling down to bed and managed to get my step count up to 7700, from about half that, so surely that had to help, and all told I didn't do THAT badly. I so don't want to get home from this trip and find I've completely undone the work I started this week. I was just getting enthused about the diet. This is a terrible time for a trip!
Friday, February 26, 2010
Spicy tofu
In honor of Brian's impending employment, and our consequent impending non-relationship (both at work all day, he in class Monday - Wednesday evenings until 10 or 11, me in scouts Thursday evenings and often Friday/Saturday as well = we don't see each other again until June!) we decided to go out for lunch today. We should have done this yesterday or any other day than today, because eating out on Fridays in Lent is just no fun if you don't like seafood. We ended up at P.F. Changs because their vegetarian choices are better than most, and I ordered a spicy tofu and broccoli dish. The good thing about tofu is that it's good for you and relatively low calorie. The other good thing about it when you're dieting is that it is kind of like eating flavorless jello, so you're not tempted to overeat. Add to that a really spicy sauce that had me sweating by the third bite, and the end result is that in spite of eating out for lunch today, I probably took in no more calories than I usually do (nutritional info on their website says I ate about 400 calories).
OTOH, going out for lunch means NOT going to the gym today, which means I only got to the gym once this week. OTOOH (on the other OTHER hand, or should that be OTFH - on the first hand), I was down a little over a pound this week, to 151 even. It's not great, but at least it's going the right direction.
OTOH, going out for lunch means NOT going to the gym today, which means I only got to the gym once this week. OTOOH (on the other OTHER hand, or should that be OTFH - on the first hand), I was down a little over a pound this week, to 151 even. It's not great, but at least it's going the right direction.
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Nothing to say.....
but I'm posting, anyway. We went to the dentist this morning for our annual cleanings and I finally took delivery of my crown that I have been waiting for since November. I may not be any lighter, but my bank account is!
Then we dropped in to see Kirsten. She was half awake but lying pretty much on her stomach. We bent down and she was able to see us and we each had a big smile from her before she decided to go to sleep. At first I thought she was snoring, but it was her roommate.
Now off to do some vacuuming!
Then we dropped in to see Kirsten. She was half awake but lying pretty much on her stomach. We bent down and she was able to see us and we each had a big smile from her before she decided to go to sleep. At first I thought she was snoring, but it was her roommate.
Now off to do some vacuuming!
Oh the Humidity!
Or lack there of in this case. I AM DYING! I can't stand the way I feel. I drink and drink and drink (WATER! Yes! Duh!) and I still feel dehydrated. I run back and forth to the bathroom (I have to count the steps... it is far away) and I still have such a sore throat! I got up twice again last night - and I was SNORING all night - which means my quality of sleep was very poor. The snoring is because the dry air dries out my sinuses too - so I feel like I have a VERY bad cold (achy from lack of sleep, sore throat from dry air and mouth breathing and a sinus headache). Sigh.
No Emily, I didn't exercise. I should have I know I should have. I took Ginger out to dinner last night. We did a buffet (her choice not mine, I am not a buffet fan). I ate all seafood and desserts and so was overly full by the time we were done (I drank two big glasses of water and one of decaf coffee). Anyway, afterwards we played the slots. Or I played and Ginger watched - which she says she loves to do, but I can't imagine it would be fun for her. But - I WON! I mean, I generally WIN because I usually try to quit while I am ahead, and you usually manage to get ahead at least once. But this time I REALLY won. I won $110 on a $2 bet. Hee hee. It was quite fun. I lost back down to $100 and then cashed out. Yippee! I don't THINK I would be a compulsive gambler, but it is probably a good thing I don't live near a casino. 8-)
Tomorrow we leave for our drive to Vegas. Sarah, everyone assures me that the drive is NOT a pretty one - but it is part of the country that I have not explored before. They also say that there are several towns we don't want to stop in. I am sure it will be fine. It sounds like everyone has done it at least once. I will need to convince Ginger to take me to a grocery store tonight so I can stock up on healthy snacks for the road.
No Emily, I didn't exercise. I should have I know I should have. I took Ginger out to dinner last night. We did a buffet (her choice not mine, I am not a buffet fan). I ate all seafood and desserts and so was overly full by the time we were done (I drank two big glasses of water and one of decaf coffee). Anyway, afterwards we played the slots. Or I played and Ginger watched - which she says she loves to do, but I can't imagine it would be fun for her. But - I WON! I mean, I generally WIN because I usually try to quit while I am ahead, and you usually manage to get ahead at least once. But this time I REALLY won. I won $110 on a $2 bet. Hee hee. It was quite fun. I lost back down to $100 and then cashed out. Yippee! I don't THINK I would be a compulsive gambler, but it is probably a good thing I don't live near a casino. 8-)
Tomorrow we leave for our drive to Vegas. Sarah, everyone assures me that the drive is NOT a pretty one - but it is part of the country that I have not explored before. They also say that there are several towns we don't want to stop in. I am sure it will be fine. It sounds like everyone has done it at least once. I will need to convince Ginger to take me to a grocery store tonight so I can stock up on healthy snacks for the road.
A lower number!
I know I shouldn't care about individual fluctuations, but my weight dipped downward on the scale today. I've been in such a rut on my weight since New Year's that it's nice to know that the scale is capable of showing any other number.
I counted calories yesterday and struggled to stay close to my limit. The day before I should have been counting but didn't, and I know it would have been bad (I retroactively started putting the foods in yesterday and discovered that the ice cream alone was 2/3 of my calories for the day. Ouch). Getting that number on the scale today provides a nice motivation, when I haven't been excited about dieting in months.
Despite my car refusing to take me to the gym yesterday (it decided it wanted a new battery instead), I did get a little exercise; since I was already in my clothes and feeling a bit silly for being in them but not being sweaty, I did the 15-minute Walk Away the Pounds with-weights video. (I also paced around a lot while watching the Olympics so that I could get my step count up some more -- I hit 8400 by the end of the day.) Since I'd just done Nautilus for my upper body on Tuesday that meant I wound up with very sore arms today, which is bad because Thursday is my BodyStep day and we use our arms a lot. OTOH, the last time I went in there with an injured arm (actually an annoyance in my right shoulder blade) it shook out the last of the awkwardness, so maybe the class will work out the stiffness from the exercise, and then I'll just take it easy on the push-ups at the end so as not to cause muscle strain.
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Craving Carbage
I was STARVING when I got home from work tonight, and I didn't want ANY of the decent snacks we had in the house. I eventually made some popcorn, had a few cubes of cheddar cheese and a single Hershey's kiss, but what I really wanted was a huge stack of pancakes. I love pancakes, and Peter hates pancakes (and waffles and French Toast THE HORROR) so I never have them. Even now I am sitting here fantasizing about IHOP and what I would pick off the menu. Sheesh--I got home from work 2 1/2 hours ago and I am STILL thinking about pancakes.
I didn't weigh myself this week; the scale is a depressing tool. I just made a list of all the chores and tasks (I differentiate based on whether something is repetitive or not) and I have enough to do until mid next week if I work straight through. Some one please tell me that it is ok to leave this list and go exercise!!! I have a significant problem with this.
I did finally buy 2010 calendar pages for my planner today, so I am hoping having that tool again will help (force??) me to schedule time for the gym. I was also contemplating a personal trainer for a few sessions to help establish an actual routine. When I lived a million miles from work, I would come home and immediately hit the treadmill. Why doesn't that work for me now that I live close to work? I am also going to try to take the train downtown more frequently. My office is 4 blocks away from the station, uphill both ways. Not even joking on that; there is a hill in between the Lexington Market stop and my office on Arch St. It crests at Eutaw. I usually get a ride to work because, honestly, the train is totally ghetto, and sometimes it is downright scary. I try to keep an open mind, but it just doesn't always work because some people just really do seem to be total losers.
Well, I think I may get up from this table, leaving all my work spread out across it, walk past the mess in the kitchen, up the stairs and into the exercise room and use that giant dust catcher we have that is also known as a treadmill. After all, I did make those poor Russian boys I hired to move us carry the darn thing upstairs, so I should make some use of it.
I didn't weigh myself this week; the scale is a depressing tool. I just made a list of all the chores and tasks (I differentiate based on whether something is repetitive or not) and I have enough to do until mid next week if I work straight through. Some one please tell me that it is ok to leave this list and go exercise!!! I have a significant problem with this.
I did finally buy 2010 calendar pages for my planner today, so I am hoping having that tool again will help (force??) me to schedule time for the gym. I was also contemplating a personal trainer for a few sessions to help establish an actual routine. When I lived a million miles from work, I would come home and immediately hit the treadmill. Why doesn't that work for me now that I live close to work? I am also going to try to take the train downtown more frequently. My office is 4 blocks away from the station, uphill both ways. Not even joking on that; there is a hill in between the Lexington Market stop and my office on Arch St. It crests at Eutaw. I usually get a ride to work because, honestly, the train is totally ghetto, and sometimes it is downright scary. I try to keep an open mind, but it just doesn't always work because some people just really do seem to be total losers.
Well, I think I may get up from this table, leaving all my work spread out across it, walk past the mess in the kitchen, up the stairs and into the exercise room and use that giant dust catcher we have that is also known as a treadmill. After all, I did make those poor Russian boys I hired to move us carry the darn thing upstairs, so I should make some use of it.
Hello!
I just had an e-mail from Emily suggesting I start checking the blog if I want to hear anything from my daughters, and over the weekend either Amy or Katie asked me if I'd been checking the blog. I haven't. I'd pretty much forgotten about it. But I have been wishing I could take off some of this blubber I have accumulated lately. Usually my holiday weight drops off pretty quickly, but not this year. I have to see my doctor for a blood pressure check on Friday, and I wish I could just get back to where I was the last time I saw him. Trouble is I can't remember what it was!
I am avoiding sweets and not eating between meals during Lent. I guess that's a diet, because I do check the scale regularly. My OLLI classes start Monday, and I will not pay a dollar for coffee and snacks, so that should help, too.
I lost a couple of pounds after Ash Wednesday, but the birthday part Sunday put them back on
again. Of course I am not exercising at all! Does knitting count?
I am avoiding sweets and not eating between meals during Lent. I guess that's a diet, because I do check the scale regularly. My OLLI classes start Monday, and I will not pay a dollar for coffee and snacks, so that should help, too.
I lost a couple of pounds after Ash Wednesday, but the birthday part Sunday put them back on
again. Of course I am not exercising at all! Does knitting count?
I'm not good at not fasting
It's not that I'm inclined not to eat -- it's that if I don't go cold-turkey I don't have good restraint. WHY is it so hard to listen to my body and feed it only when it's hungry? I didn't count calories yesterday (good thing, too, because we went to ColdStone to use Alexander's coupon and I did NOT take the "sinless raspberry sorbet" or any other such nonsense) but today I am, and I'm not loving the numbers -- I'm going to have to show a lot more restraint this evening than I did this morning if I want to keep my calorie intake at the right level. I've always thought it would be so much easier if I could give up food entirely. I don't like how I feel when I don't eat when I need to, but I can eat nothing at all much more easily than I can eat just a SMALL serving of something. Today the pretzels came out at about 11 am -- the kids were hungry but it wasn't lunch time -- and instead of eating the half serving I planned to, I ate a whole serving (and didn't count very carefully -- it could have been more) and then ate a whole serving of almonds as well (I usually eat three one-third servings throughout the day instead of all at once) when I wasn't hungry at all.
I bought salmon for dinner tonight. I love salmon because even if I eat a fair amount it's very low in calorie and extremely healthy. So maybe I have a chance of surviving dinner with my diet somewhat intact.
Reno loves it's deep fried foods!
I don't know if it is just that I am hanging out with Ginger, but I seem to be confronted with a lot of high fat foods - which is making my stomach rebell! OTOH, being in the desert makes me drink a LOT of water. I was up twice during the night the last two nights - and in neither case was my night particularly long. My room has a scale in it. I was thinking about weighing myself, but decided I really didn't want to know. I haven't weighed myself at home in a long while, why would I do it when I am on "vacation?"
I didn't bring a bathing suit with me - but I am kind of wishing I had. I see the pool from the elevator when I am going up and down to my room. It looks very soothing. I should explore the spa/gym area. I DID bring exercise clothes with me. I usually do when I travel. I don't usually use them. Sometimes, but not usually.
I didn't bring a bathing suit with me - but I am kind of wishing I had. I see the pool from the elevator when I am going up and down to my room. It looks very soothing. I should explore the spa/gym area. I DID bring exercise clothes with me. I usually do when I travel. I don't usually use them. Sometimes, but not usually.
Regaining weight
I heard this on NPR a couple of days ago and meant to post it then, but forgot. They are running a series about weight loss/gain and aging that has been interesting in the way that NPR stories are always interesting even when they have no relation to your life. But when you've lost 30 pounds and regained 20 of that in spite of regular exercise and what I *thought* was careful attention to my diet, it's even more interesting.
The story covered research on how your brain responds to food after you've lost weight and it turns out that under normal circumstances you respond to food using the logical/rational part of your brain, but after weight loss you respond with the emotional part of your brain, so you make stupid choices. It has to do with the depletion of leptin, which is associated with reward-seeking behavior. When your leptin is low, you eat Oreos even if logically you know you won't starve in the 45 minutes before dinner and you really shouldn't be eating these things.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=123894109&ps=cprs
The story covered research on how your brain responds to food after you've lost weight and it turns out that under normal circumstances you respond to food using the logical/rational part of your brain, but after weight loss you respond with the emotional part of your brain, so you make stupid choices. It has to do with the depletion of leptin, which is associated with reward-seeking behavior. When your leptin is low, you eat Oreos even if logically you know you won't starve in the 45 minutes before dinner and you really shouldn't be eating these things.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=123894109&ps=cprs
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
My trip so far
I felt AWFUL! yesterday. I was flying Southwest - and while they give juice and crackers and stuff they don't serve meals. I left my office at 1:30ish and arrived in Reno at 10pm local time - 1am East Coast time. I ate two packs of Ritz crackers, airplane peanuts, a snickers, and a bag of cheese curls and I was feeling it. Oh - and a pack of baby carrots - the only thing I actually really savored! My stomach didn't feel empty, but I was craving protein like you would not believe. Unfortunately, by the time I checked in the only food place at the hotel/casino that was still open was the bakery. NOT what I needed.
Anyway, I slept HORRIBLY last night. Ginger and I sat at the bar and gambled (I made $5, Ginger lost $3) and drank - for free, the nice thing about casinos) for about another hour or so. By the time I went to bed it was 3am your time! I was overly tired and so couldn't sleep, and then kept waking up needing to go potty. I then had a whole series of weird dreams. Sigh. I woke up desparately wanting to do some yoga - and did a few stretches, but not enough... I ordered room service (I love room service) for breakfast and made it a standing order for the week. I very originally ordered two poached eggs, orange juice and whole wheat toast. It is much cheaper to eat at home!
I am STARVING now. It is 3:23 East Coast time - which I think my body is feeling - but only 12:23 here. Ginger is on the phone. I need to harass her to get me fed!
Anyway, I slept HORRIBLY last night. Ginger and I sat at the bar and gambled (I made $5, Ginger lost $3) and drank - for free, the nice thing about casinos) for about another hour or so. By the time I went to bed it was 3am your time! I was overly tired and so couldn't sleep, and then kept waking up needing to go potty. I then had a whole series of weird dreams. Sigh. I woke up desparately wanting to do some yoga - and did a few stretches, but not enough... I ordered room service (I love room service) for breakfast and made it a standing order for the week. I very originally ordered two poached eggs, orange juice and whole wheat toast. It is much cheaper to eat at home!
I am STARVING now. It is 3:23 East Coast time - which I think my body is feeling - but only 12:23 here. Ginger is on the phone. I need to harass her to get me fed!
No more fasting for me
So last night the headache started in again, and by this morning two hours after breakfast it was coming back. I haven't had a hint of caffeine in almost a week, so I can rule that out. At this point I'm having to wonder if I'm clinically hypoglycemic! (My midwife (I saw her in September for my annual) wasn't surprised that I had had lowish blood sugar during one test I had a decade ago -- she said even though PCOS is often tied to diabetes it's really entangled with any blood sugar irregularities.) Whether I am or not, I couldn't even make it through a week of fasting except at mealtimes -- how did people do it pre-Vatican II?
I weighed in at 154 today (it's Tuesday, so I feel like I should say) which is still in the same range as before this weeklong experiment, so I can't tell that the fasting is making any difference in my weight, either. Looks like it's back to counting calories for me.
I'm having fun finding so many posts on here every day! Yesterday I didn't post at all -- I had nothing new to say, and there were SO many others! Hooray!
Hibernation station
Ugh. If this could be a one word post "ugh" would do it.
I had a pretty good December. I made it a point to exercise daily up until Christmas and then my routine turned intermittent.
Right now I'm loaded with a pack of excuses and I'm not happy about it. My brother moved up in early January then the bad weather hit and hit and hit. I have been freelancing and working several little jobs. I started my food blog and continued to job hunt. I simply have had trouble establishing a routine and working within what I was doing. Granted it was a chaotic couple of months but I could've been more aggressive with my scheduling.
I've managed a few workouts here and there and I use my time commuting running my Metro escalators and enjoying the walk from whatever parking space I find near the train.
But mostly I've been hibernating. I know that should mean I eat and eat and store up fat to sleep all winter instead of just eat and eat and eat all winter. Actually though I didn't overdo it during the snow --- I cooked relatively healthy food but really wasn't getting in any exercise.
It seems I'll be starting a new job soon and I hope to get rooted in a schedule that will provide me the opportunity to exercise. I will ensure that it will.
So bring on the sunshine and warm temperatures that I hope will motivate me as we move into spring ... one day soon.
Monday, February 22, 2010
Good to see everyone back!
I like Emily's challenge of checking the blog every day and posting something if no one else has yet. If I had been doing that in December, there would have been a lot of posts from me--after my orthopedist visit I kept waiting for someone else to post so I wouldn't be talking to myself! Then I gave up checking the blog at all for the most part.
Here's a quick rundown of what's happened to me in the past couple of months: went to PT for my SI joint problem. Spent six weeks doing PT. Got better. It was amazing, actually--I was in a lot of pain at the start and was thinking this would never get better and I'd have to get surgery or something, but then over the course of a week or so, it just improved daily until the pain was gone and I could do all of my normal activities again. I "graduated" from PT the last week of January and went back to my normal routine of three to four days at the gym each week, and keeping up my PT strengthening and stretching exercises at home.
And two weeks later I was in pain again. Aaarrgggh! It's not as bad as before, and I've been telling myself for the past week that I just need to redouble my strengthening and stretching. Cycling is still fine--I don't have any pain doing that. Running hurts, so I stopped doing that. And on Saturday I tried swimming again, and that was awful. It hurt as soon as I hit the water (I'm guessing from the cold) and when I tried swimming, the pain was unbelieveable--kicking at all caused so much pain that eventually I just stopped kicking and made it back to the ladder using just my upper body. I was glad that the pool I was in never got deeper than five feet.
So while I was worried about getting myself back in shape for the triathlon this summer, now I'm worried about being able to do it at all. There's no way I'm getting in open water feeling this way. I'm back at the orthopedist in one week, so we'll see what he has to say, and in the meantime I'll stick with the stationary bike at the gym.
As for food, I managed in one week to undo all the good I did throughout January. I had dropped about four pounds in January, then when it snowed I spent the whole time baking and eating. I actually haven't weighed myself since then - too scared to look - but I'm back to eating well, and I've given up sweets for Lent, so that'll help with overeating. All of my clothes are tight, and like Emily I have no spring and summer clothes left in my bigger size (if you all remember I started working at the college a month or so after we started dieting. When I started here I bought some new fall clothes in the size I was at the time, but by spring I had lost so much weight that my new spring clothes are all based on me being 135 pounds. Those don't fit me anymore!), so I have no choice but to lose weight before the weather warms up!
Here's a quick rundown of what's happened to me in the past couple of months: went to PT for my SI joint problem. Spent six weeks doing PT. Got better. It was amazing, actually--I was in a lot of pain at the start and was thinking this would never get better and I'd have to get surgery or something, but then over the course of a week or so, it just improved daily until the pain was gone and I could do all of my normal activities again. I "graduated" from PT the last week of January and went back to my normal routine of three to four days at the gym each week, and keeping up my PT strengthening and stretching exercises at home.
And two weeks later I was in pain again. Aaarrgggh! It's not as bad as before, and I've been telling myself for the past week that I just need to redouble my strengthening and stretching. Cycling is still fine--I don't have any pain doing that. Running hurts, so I stopped doing that. And on Saturday I tried swimming again, and that was awful. It hurt as soon as I hit the water (I'm guessing from the cold) and when I tried swimming, the pain was unbelieveable--kicking at all caused so much pain that eventually I just stopped kicking and made it back to the ladder using just my upper body. I was glad that the pool I was in never got deeper than five feet.
So while I was worried about getting myself back in shape for the triathlon this summer, now I'm worried about being able to do it at all. There's no way I'm getting in open water feeling this way. I'm back at the orthopedist in one week, so we'll see what he has to say, and in the meantime I'll stick with the stationary bike at the gym.
As for food, I managed in one week to undo all the good I did throughout January. I had dropped about four pounds in January, then when it snowed I spent the whole time baking and eating. I actually haven't weighed myself since then - too scared to look - but I'm back to eating well, and I've given up sweets for Lent, so that'll help with overeating. All of my clothes are tight, and like Emily I have no spring and summer clothes left in my bigger size (if you all remember I started working at the college a month or so after we started dieting. When I started here I bought some new fall clothes in the size I was at the time, but by spring I had lost so much weight that my new spring clothes are all based on me being 135 pounds. Those don't fit me anymore!), so I have no choice but to lose weight before the weather warms up!
Monday, Monday
I am actually looking forward to today after having an incredibly grumpy weekend. I felt like my entire weekend was just a giant to-do list of chores, and it made me very unhappy, more so than usual for some reason. So, new week, new mind set.
I spent yesterday afternoon concocting a recipe for Cajun Jambalaya Pasta like you can get at Cheesecake Factory. I found a copy cat online, but it didn't seem quite right so I kept adjusting. Plus there were ingredients in the how-to steps that were not listed in the ingredients list. that annoys me :-) It turned out really well. As far as healthiness, I need to assess more formally, but I don't think it was totally awesome or totally awful--I loaded it with peppers, onions, tomatoes, then added some chicken, shrimp and spicy sausage, chicken bouillon, about a table spoon of olive oil, the Cajun spices, and then linguine. The online recipe called for an entire bottle of clam juice; I just can't bring myself to buy that stuff or use it. It just seems really gross to me. I substituted the chicken bouillon instead, and added some tomato juice. I think the healthy factor probably comes down to portion size given the pasta, but that is a guess. It definitely didn't have a lot of fat.
My exercise "schedule" is still off. I was planning to go tonight after work, but then Peter reminded me this morning that we are supposed to have dinner with friends tonight. Sheesh. I have class tomorrow night, so if I am going to get to the gym it will be nearly 8 pm.
I'm reading this book called The Happiness Project--any one else picked it up? I really enjoy it, and the author puts into words things I have felt for a long time but just couldn't verbalize well. for instance, I feel like just yesterday we were celebrating Christmas, but in reality it was nearly 2 months ago and we are almost at the end of February. One of the author's Four Splendid Truths is "The days are long, but the years are short. " I am really feeling this one right now.
I spent yesterday afternoon concocting a recipe for Cajun Jambalaya Pasta like you can get at Cheesecake Factory. I found a copy cat online, but it didn't seem quite right so I kept adjusting. Plus there were ingredients in the how-to steps that were not listed in the ingredients list. that annoys me :-) It turned out really well. As far as healthiness, I need to assess more formally, but I don't think it was totally awesome or totally awful--I loaded it with peppers, onions, tomatoes, then added some chicken, shrimp and spicy sausage, chicken bouillon, about a table spoon of olive oil, the Cajun spices, and then linguine. The online recipe called for an entire bottle of clam juice; I just can't bring myself to buy that stuff or use it. It just seems really gross to me. I substituted the chicken bouillon instead, and added some tomato juice. I think the healthy factor probably comes down to portion size given the pasta, but that is a guess. It definitely didn't have a lot of fat.
My exercise "schedule" is still off. I was planning to go tonight after work, but then Peter reminded me this morning that we are supposed to have dinner with friends tonight. Sheesh. I have class tomorrow night, so if I am going to get to the gym it will be nearly 8 pm.
I'm reading this book called The Happiness Project--any one else picked it up? I really enjoy it, and the author puts into words things I have felt for a long time but just couldn't verbalize well. for instance, I feel like just yesterday we were celebrating Christmas, but in reality it was nearly 2 months ago and we are almost at the end of February. One of the author's Four Splendid Truths is "The days are long, but the years are short. " I am really feeling this one right now.
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