Update

First off - let me say sorry I haven't been around since my downer post from last week. I was feeling pretty crappy about it, but you guys are right, I am not a failure. So thank you for all of your sweet comments. I needed them.

Things are better this week, although I did spend pretty much the entire day yesterday answering questions for a potential job opp and if I don't hear from them either I'm sure I will probably be sad. But, I guess if it's meant to be it will be. Maybe I'll just be a lady of leisure for the rest of my life. That's actually not sounding too bad now that the sun has finally come out in Denver and the weather is nice.

I went to yoga tonight and that felt great. Yoga is so weird, I never want to go and even when I get there I'm kind of dreading it the whole time, but when I'm done I'm so happy I went. If only I could force myself to go more often. I think I'm just kind of in my happy place when it comes to working out and I don't like changing up my schedule, even though I know I should because the body gets used to the same moves all the time. I'm just loving kickboxing and the classes change fairly often so I think I'm going to stick to that for a while.

Food has been okay, mostly good, although this weekend was tough as you know weekends can be. Tonight I was going to make a chicken orzo salad but when I took the chicken out of the frig it just smelled a little funny, so I decided to chuck it. Better safe than sorry and I do not want salmonella. Instead I did a quick little search for a zucchini recipe and ended up finding this, which was actually pretty good. We accidentally put a little too much garlic in the dressing, so now the boy and I are doing some Internet searches on how to get rid of garlic breath. I gotta say the mint tea just isn't working.

Alright I am boring even myself so I will end this post and go cringe at America's Got Talent. Wow.

Maybe You Should Just Wear a Garbage Bag

So yeah sore from yoga? Kind of an understatement. I am pretty much half dead. But in different places than I thought I would be. My obliques for one thing, are screaming, and so are my glutes. But it's good because it makes me realize that maybe I'm not working out these muscles quite as well as I should be. So there will be another yoga class in my future, but maybe not right away as I need a little time to heal. I'm totally taking an Epsom salt bath or something. Friday night, woo! I am such a rockstar. 

This morning I did get up and jog on the treadmill for about 45 minutes (with walking interspersed) at the gym, then I did the stepmill for about ten minutes when I was done, because seriously that is all I can handle on that death machine. And of course the girl next to me is wearing a fleece jacket, a hat, and she's been on there for like 90 minutes or something and she's doing like level 1, but she's reading a book and acting like she's lounging about instead of working her ass off. What is it with people like that? They make me so mad. I know I shouldn't waste my energy thinking negative thoughts about other people just trying to get their workout in, but I can tell she's so used to doing the same thing over and over, she never changes it up and she's there because that's what she does. It's her thing and her routine and she thinks maybe if she wears a fleece jacket she'll sweat more or something? Well maybe you would sweat more if you actually tried a little harder, ever thought of that? 

Okay rant over. Sorry.

Yeah. ANYWAY. Husband and I are going out to dinner (post-Epsom salt bath I guess) but we haven't decided where yet. He'll probably want pizza or Italian and I'll probably have to veto that due to my new found resolve, so I'm off to scour Yelp to find a new and exciting place where I can eat a salad. Yay. Peace out! 

Chicken City

Happy Thursday. I am just home from a sorely needed brow wax and chillaxing on the couch because I am pretty knackered from a yoga class I went to this morning. More on that later though. 

First, I'm actually feeling pretty proud of myself because I, along with my grill-master husband, made an awesome dinner last night. We made this Rosemary Mustard chicken, along with grilled artichokes and for dessert, grilled pears! Yum. It ended up being so delicious and pretty much a perfectly healthy meal. After that we settled in to watch the Nuggets obliterate the Mav's (woot!) and I drank a cup of peppermint tea while the boy and his brother had beers. Score for me! I went to bed feeling just a tiny bit hungry, which I really enjoy. I like the idea that my body is burning fat while I'm sleeping, even if biologically that's not really true.

This morning I got up and had some greek yogurt with frozen blueberries for breakfast, went straight to Target to get a new yoga mat, and then hit a Vinyasa class at a studio only about 6 blocks from my gym. I really liked the studio and think I'll be going back - I can't believe how much I've missed doing yoga. I think I get so caught up in going to classes at the gym and what not and I tend to think of yoga as something extra that I don't really need. Well that is changing because I feel great today, totally stretched out and zen. I'm definitely tired though, my body is not used to all of those poses anymore, and I can already tell I'm going to be sore in the shoulders and back. Good sore though!

Had leftover grilled chicken with a salad for lunch, and come to find out we're grilling chicken with our BFFs tonight, so I guess that's kind of a lot of chicken for one day, but oh well. I'm just happy we're doing something healthy instead of ordering pizza. It's going to take enough willpower to show up with a bottle of Perrier instead of a bottle of wine, but I'm going to do it anyway! And probably get some shit for it but oh well. The weekend is fast approaching, and with it my first test of my newfound resolve. I feel great though so it's all good. Hope you all are feeling good too. 

Day 1 and 2. Hanging In

I had a good day yesterday. I mean, I finally felt like I was in control of my impulses and I was able to make good choices. And I was rewarded with a three pound loss this morning, which I know of course is all the water weight and bloat I was experiencing. I ate vegetables. I ate lean protein and healthy fats. I went to kickboxing and I drank tea after dinner instead of eating ice cream. 

And today, even though it's my sister's birthday and I ate out for lunch and will eat out again for dinner, I'm still in control. I had a salad at lunch and skipped the chips. I have a plan for dinner even though we're eating Italian, which I know will be difficult for me. I do love the pasta. But I know that's not what I need right now. We're eating at a "family-style" place, meaning HUGE HUGE portions of food and we all have to figure out something to agree on, but I'm just going to make sure I fill up on as much salad as I can, and then watch my portion of anything else we choose. I will be mindful of my fullness level and I'll stop when I'm full, not when I'm stuffed. 

I think these early days are both so easy and so hard. On the one hand I feel great because I've recommitted to getting some weight off. I have goals in mind and I know what I need to do to achieve them. But the sugar cravings are there. My stomach is clearly stretched out because I'm hungry, neigh starving, even though I know I'm eating plenty. I have to constantly remind myself not to open up the pantry and grab some chips or some crackers or what have you. 

So yeah, I'm doing well right now, but I know the road is going to be hard. My first big test will be this weekend. On Saturday I'm hosting my sister's engagement party, and there will be lots of stress, but lots of merriment and lots of friends eating and drinking copious amounts. So there's that. And that will be hard. BUT I'm just going to do the best I can and try to think about WHY I'm making the choices I'm making and know that in the end, although sometimes it sucks to eat broccoli and drink water instead of wine, this is worth it for me right now. 

In other news, I also found a yoga studio in my neighborhood and called them this morning about classes. I was doing yoga quite a bit in Singapore and haven't done it at all since I've been back, and I'm really missing it. My hips are bothering me, probably from all the kickboxing I've been doing, and I know getting back into yoga will help that. I was also listening to Jillian Michael's radio show the other day and she was talking about the benefits of investing in massage, and I decided I'm going to take that to heart and schedule an appointment. Yes it's expensive and it feels like an indulgence with the crappy economy, but it's an investment in my health and I think I deserve it. 

I guess that's it for today. Gotta go get ready for dinner. Thanks for listening to my whining all the time. :) 

Chocolate Hangover

I have a headache. Didn't sleep well last night at all. Most likely because I tried so hard to be good at dinner last night and I don't think I ate enough. That combined with drinking a few beers and then a few (or five) dark chocolate squares when I got home just made me feel kind of gross. These are all small things, but lately my body has been running really well on all the healthy food and exercise I've been giving it, so I think any variation from routine causes problems.

The dark chocolate thing is hard. I keep a big bar in the apartment and just have a few squares every now and then. I think it's good in a way, they say nothing can substitute for a chocolate craving and I am buying the good stuff with antioxidants and all that. And it's not like I eat much at one time. But it probably shouldn't be an every day thing and I'm sort of turning that way. So today, no dark chocolate snacks. 

The boy is still sleeping blissfully but when he gets up we'll head to a little French cafe down the street for some breakfast. I love this place because I can get yummy scrambled eggs and a nice cappuccino and he can get his beloved Eggs Benedict. It's a relatively healthy protein packed meal for me and it makes for a nice Sunday morning routine. 

This afternoon I'm going to try to find some new running shoes since I didn't get to that yesterday and mine have been pounded into the ground, then I'm hoping to get in a long cardio workout. Lately I've been doing 20 minute intervals on the treadmill, with one minute running fast and one minute walking recovery. After that 20 is up I'll switch to walking, gradually increasing the incline every 30 seconds until I hit 10, then going back down. I do that until I've done an hour total. It's a great workout that gets my interval training in, but adds that extra calorie burning time as well. 

Oh yeah in regard to that hardcore yoga I mentioned yesterday, okay maybe I was exaggerating a little. :) I have been going to yoga every Friday here though and it is a tough class. We do handstands on the wall and backbends and everything, which is something I had never done in yoga before but I like a lot. I come home feeling like I actually worked my body, which is something I had never really gotten from yoga in the past. Maybe I just wasn't going to the right classes. I hope I can find a class this good when I get back to the U.S. 

Okay time to wake the boy up and get some grub. Ciao! 

South Beach Saturday

I realize I have so much to talk about. But I'm not going to just word vomit all over the screen, I'm going to try to space some things out. 

So let's see. I mentioned yesterday that I got back into actively trying to get some weight off in October. That's when I started doing the South Beach thing. I did the first two weeks, which is hardcore no sugar and pretty low carb, and I ended up taking off about seven lbs. I have to say at least four of that was probably water weight. Once I started adding back some carbs though, my losses slowed pretty dramatically and then I went to Thailand for a week. While I was there I pretty much let myself eat/drink whatever, but I didn't go crazy and binge or anything like that. Anyway, when I got back I had gained a few lbs, but I took them right back off the next week, and now I'm on the downward trend again.

In total though, since I started doing South Beach, I've lost about 11 pounds. I'm definitely happy with that. I hate hate hate this, but I know that limiting carbs is important for me if I'm going to lose weight. I'm clearly sensitive to them, and it does help when I reduce them. I wouldn't say I'm following South Beach to the letter of the law right now, I'm more just limiting sugar and sticking to a lower carb diet. I emphasize lower because it's still not all that low, given I'm eating tons of veggies and tons of beans still. I am just not a big meat person, never have been. I still don't eat red meat or pork at all. I used to eat turkey quite a bit, but turkey is just not common in Singapore. The only place I've found it is at Subway. Now I'm eating a lot of chicken, tuna, salmon, etc. Oh and peanut butter. My god I practically support the entire peanut industry all by myself. 

The other thing I've dramatically reduced is my alcohol intake. One reason for this is that alcohol is ridiculously expensive in Singapore. A six pack of beer, local Tiger beer that is brewed here, costs around $18 Singapore dollars. That is about $12 US. Seems kind of ridiculous when I know I can buy a sixer of Bud Light for $5.99. And you don't even want to know what it costs to get alcohol in restaurants. 

The other thing that's reduced my alcohol intake is my social life. In Denver we have a huge social circle and a big part of daily life is drinking. Not binge drinking or anything, but happy hour after work, apres ski beers, wine and cheese with the girls, that sort of thing. And don't get me wrong, I love that part of my social life and I'm excited to get back to it, but it isn't always conducive to weight loss. So being in Singapore, without a big group of friends to socialize with on the weekends means we just aren't drinking as much. We have met a few good friends here and we do still have drinks with them from time to time, it just isn't as often as I'd be doing it in the U.S. It's one thing I'm nervous about going back and facing honestly. But for now, as Martha would say, it's a good thing. 

So yeah, clearly lower carbs and lower alcohol intake helps with weight loss. No shit Sherlock right? I am a genius. Maybe I should write a book on this. 

Today is hard, as are all Saturdays. I think weekends in general are just rough on me. We eat out more often, and I often get frustrated with my options here. I miss having fast casual options where I know I can just pick up an easy salad. You'd be amazed at how hard it is to find salad here. Sometimes we go to the Hard Rock Cafe just to get semi-decent salads. Sad. 

Tonight we're going to a fun Euro-American brewery place that has an outdoor grill. They have a ton of different skewer options, so I'll probably go with shrimp and get some veggies on the side. I'll also probably have some beer or a glass of wine, but nothing too crazy. I took the day off of working out because I worked out every day this week and I'm extremely sore from a hardcore yoga class yesterday (more on that soon) but I'll be back in my little apartment gym tomorrow.  Hope everyone has a great weekend.