Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Weigh In

Down .2 again this week. For a grand total of 2.8 in my first three weeks back on track. I'm not gonna lie - I'm kind of bummed. I've really been working hard and to see these tiny losses these past two weeks is sort of disheartening. I've been working my butt off in the gym and I've been diligent about counting everything I put in my mouth.

Now I haven't been perfect, my dad was in town over the weekend and we went to the mountains, meaning we ate out pretty much every single meal over the weekend. But I made relatively good choices, and I counted everything, so I thought I would be okay. AND - we went snowshoeing for a good chunk of the day on Saturday, which was pretty tough and burned a ton of calories.

Anyway, I'm hopeful that maybe I'll get a whoosh next week, and I'm going to keep at it, but it's just sort of disappointing when I've been working so hard. I actually had a mini Milky Way today and I think it was sort of just to spite myself. How stupid is that?

In other news, I went to my first kickboxing class last night, and it was hardcore! I was sweating my ass off and I have absolutely coordination, so my roundhouse kicks were pretty lame looking, but I had a great time. It was nice to change it up a bit, and my muscles are definitely feeling it. And it's fun to imagine kicking someone's ass - sort of gets the aggression out. Not that I need that or anything. ;)

It's going to be tough for me to make the class because of the time it starts and my work obligations, but I'm going to try to do it once a week or so moving forward. Here's hoping next week the scale shows more of a loss. :)

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Weigh In

Down .2 lbs today. Not exactly what I was hoping for this week but at least it's in the right direction. Did not want to go to the gym after work because I'm still sore from Monday, work sucked and I'm tired, but I powered through and did my workout. Glad it's out of the way.

Food was rough today - went out for lunch with some coworkers and got a half a caprese sandwich and a small salad, then I went back and logged on to count my points and realized it was a 17 point lunch. Um yah.

I've done this about a million times over the years and could tell you the points of pretty much half of the food on the planet without even thinking twice, yet I can't figure out that I probably shouldn't eat so much for lunch. I guess it's called denial.

Also had some interesting conversations about body image with my coworkers and we pretty much came to the consensus that almost every woman we know (in her late 20's, early 30's at least) would like to be one to two dress/pant sizes smaller.

How sad is that? And we work in Boulder, CO, one of the fittest cities in the entire nation. I mean everywhere I look I only see beautiful people. Still, nobody is happy. Sucks.

For me, I'm just trying to remain positive while doing something to improve my health/lose weight/become all around fitter. Some days the positive thing is really effing hard, but I guess all I can do is try. And not let the stupid scale get me down.

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

Cardio?

Hello! Hope everyone is well. I am doing great - am under flex points for the week and worked out six out of seven days this past week. I peeked at the scale yesterday and I was actually up a pound. WTF? I'm sure it's my muscles holding water and blah blah blah but I'm still motivated by numbers at this stage. We'll see what the official weigh in tomorrow says though, so who knows.

Anyway, I met with the trainer last night and he worked my ass hard! I am majorly sore tonight. And I'm sure I'll be worse tomorrow. We were talking about cardio though and I'm not sure what to think. I know there are sort of two schools of cardio - interval and steady state. Interval seems to be the new thinking lately from everything I've read, and he agrees with that as well, but he also wants me to do lots of steady state too in order to improve my baseline fitness level.

Even though I ran that half marathon in October, my fitness level when it comes to cardio could be a lot better. So he wants me to aim for 200 minutes of cardio a week, and that will include both interval and cardio work. 200 minutes is a lot though, especially when I'm also doing an hour of weight training 3x/week. Basically, that is 380 minutes of exercise a week.

So just over six hours of exercise a week. Writing it out doesn't seem like all that much, but actually making it happen seems like quite a lot. I mean I like it and I know I can do it, especially if weekend cardio is like snowshoeing or other fun stuff like that, but I'm sort of scared about my ability to commit to this.

So what do you guys think? How much do you exercise in any given week. Am I being a baby?

Wednesday, January 09, 2008

Weigh In

Woo to the hoo! Lost 2.4 this week. Not as much as my sister's 6. effing 5, but a good loss nonetheless.

I've also worked out every day this week and I get to sleep in tomorrow because I have a doctor's appointment at 9:30, so I'm a happy camper all around. Although I think I am slightly addicted to my new popcorn popper. As I told my husband though, it's better than being addicted to bon bons.

Does anyone even eat bon bons?

Tuesday, January 08, 2008

Argh. Day six and I've kind of had a meltdown. Okay not really a meltdown but this was the first day I really struggled. Mentally I freaking struggled.

I got a good night's sleep, had a good breakfast and lunch but then afternoon hit and of course it was the work birthday celebration and my HR Director got effing German Chocolate Cheesecake from the Factory of Cheesecake. Devil Woman.

I caved and split a piece with our marketing coordinator. Then I had a mini Milky Way. WTF? This was after I declined pizza for lunch in favor of a veggie sandwich. I think there were just too many temptations and I was missing sugar and I just lost it. I guess I could have had some tea or taken a walk or done any of those things they tell you to do when a craving hits. But I didn't. I ate the cheesecake.

After that, I was tempted to just say fuck it and go home and crack a bottle of wine, especially when my new trainer called and asked why I missed our appointment last night (I thought it was tonight). Dammit.

But, I persevered, forced myself to go to the gym and do my workout and now I'm home watching the Biggest Loser. I had a frozen meal for dinner, which may cause me to retain some water for my weigh in tomorrow, but I'm pretty sure I'm going to see a loss even with the stupid cheesecake. I really need to see the scale move right now. I'm not completely relying on it as a barometer of my success, but I have got to get out of the decade I'm in. Got to.

This is when it starts to get hard. When the shiny newness of my routine wears off and now I just have to slog through it every day. But this is when these little changes start to make a difference, and when these new routines start to become habits. I can do this. Even when it sucks and I screw up, I can do it.

Sunday, January 06, 2008

The Kitchen is Closed!

I have spent the better part of the day surrounded by food. In a good way though, not in the diving head-first into a vat of Oreos way that has marked the previous month or so.

This morning the boy and I got up and make breakfast sandwiches using some of the only remaining items in our refrigerator - eggs, mozzarella cheese, spinach and whole wheat english muffins. Delicious and a yummy protein-packed way to start the day.

After brekkie, I sat down and planned out meals for the week and headed to the grocery (where I saw the man who cut my hair when I was a kid - WEIRD - I totally avoided him And yes I am totally anti-social.)

After a very successful and fairly easy shopping trip (I only had to peruse the pages of UsWeekly for about 3 minutes in line), I came home and made chicken salad (shredded chicken breasts, grapes, celery, walnuts and low fat mayo) to put in whole wheat wraps for lunches, helped the boy take down Christmas decorations and declutter the house, and then started in making this month's Cooking Light's version of Salmon Croquettes, which turned out to be fantastic. And I feel so virtuous with my Omega Fatty Acids doin' their thang inside of me now.

Overall the weekend was a good one - I got relaxed, got some exercise, ate well and planned for the week. If only we had one more day to go see movies (saw Juno yesterday, fantastic for those of you who haven't seen it yet).

Tonight I'm going to veg in front of the TV, make some tea and catch up on blogs. If you're so inclined, here's the salmon croquette recipe.

1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill (they were out at the store so I used what I had in my spice drawer)
3 tablespoons light mayonnaise
1/2 teaspoon grated lemon rind
1/2 teaspoon black pepper (I like more)
1 (15-ounce) can salmon
1 egg white
5 tablespoons dry breadcrumbs
Cooking spray

To prepare croquettes, combine flour and the next 6 ingredients (through egg white) and 3 tablespoons breadcrumbs. Divide mixture into 4 equal portions, shaping each into a 1/2 inch thick patty. Refrigerate for 1 hour. Place remaining breadcrumbs on a plate; dredge patties in breadcrumbs.

Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add patties to pan; cook 9 minutes on each side or until golden (it only took me about 7 minutes each side). Serve with tartar sauce.

Yield: 4 servings (about 4 points or 200 calories per patty if you're interested).

This came with a tartar sauce recipe too, but I just made my own with a little lowfat mayo, some dill relish, lemon juice and black pepper. Served with fresh green beans, this was a yummy, healthy dinner.

Looking back on the day, I realize it sounds like I had a lot of contact with lowfat mayo today, but I'm okay with it. Better that than the aforementioned vat of oreos.

:)

Thursday, January 03, 2008

Two..

Hello! Whew. I made it through this day. Not without some crying, but ultimately I made it through.

This morning I had to literally drag myself out of bed, I was so tired. I think I'm still recovering from the holidays to some extent, but I also remember this super tired feeling that I get when I'm on the healthy eating train. I know it takes a good night's sleep to help promote weight loss, but for some reason I feel like I need even more when I'm living a more healthy lifestyle. I swear I could sleep nine hours a night if I had the time.

Anywho, I had to go out to lunch with a colleague, but I persevered and got the soup and salad. BORING. But it was actually pretty good and I felt good about my decision afterward. I also did 45 min on the dreadmill and had the rest of my veggie chili from last night for dinner.

The crying part we'll just skip over because I'm trying to focus on the positive right now, so that's another story for another time.

Tomorrow the weekend comes, and that will be a test for sure. I'd like to lay low and watch movies, but some social engagement or another always seems to come up. I just need to keep repeating positive statements and reaffirming why I want to do this, and I know I'll be okay. 21 days to a habit right?

Wednesday, January 02, 2008

Crawling Back

Tail between legs.

Bleh. So I know I haven't been around in a while. Looks like a really long while. And I feel bad about it. Scratch that - I felt bad about it. But I'm done with the guilt and and just going to crawl my way back on the wagon kicking and screaming. If not now, when?

The bad news is - I'm not at a happy weight. At all. And it's not just the number on the scale. It's the way my clothes fit and the way I'm not as strong as I was and the way I don't have the stamina for exercise I once did.

The good news is - I think I'm ready to do something about it. I could come up with a bazillion excuses about why December was so hard for me - work stress, best friend's wedding, travel, holidays, etc. (okay so I just did) but I'm trying to just set that shit free right now.

Like lots of others today, I decided to hit the WW web site and get back to the basics. I know there are tons of debates going on right now about what's a diet and what's not a diet and the best way to approach weight loss and getting fit and all of that, but for me I know tracking through WW online is a powerful tool. I don't let it rule my life, but I do let it guide me. So I'm going to go back to tracking every day. My first goal is to try Core for one week. ONE WEEK. If I can't handle it or don't like it, I will go back to Flex. Either way, I will track my food and make good choices, including eating at least five servings of fruits and veggies a day.

I also took the step of meeting with a new trainer last week, and I had my second session with him today. Working out with a trainer really helped me the last time I lost a good chunk of weight, so I'm excited to get going with that again. Working out has never been hard for me because I love doing it, but I need to get in a consistent, positive routine. So my goal for working out is to hit the gym at least four times a week, and go snowboarding at least 7 more times this season, and go snowshoeing at least 5 more times this season.

The last thing I'm going to work on is posting here to make myself more accountable. I'd like to post meals every day like some bloggers do, but I also don't know if that's realistic given my previous attempts, and I'm not big on setting goals I know I can't achieve.

I've written some private goals, and I've posted these here, so I think I'm off to a good start. Today was a painful sugar withdrawal, and I'm sure tomorrow will be hard too, but I know I will easily fall back into good habits if I can just get through these first couple of days.

Meals were:

B - shredded wheat cereal, green tea
L - spinach salad w/ olive oil/balsamic, strawberries, sweet potato
S - banana and nonfat latte
D - Amy's veggie chili
S - popcorn

Thanks so much to you all for keeping up with your blogs and continuing to write - knowing you're all out there doing a great job really helps strengthen my resolve. Here's to a happy and healthy 2008!