Going Camping

We are going camping this weekend! I'm only working half a day tomorrow, so no weigh in until next week.

Nothing too exciting to report - I ran 2 "junk" miles this morning - nothing very memorable about the run other than the fact that I did it. Son had a pizza party at tkd last night. I had 2 pieces of pizza and a diet sprite.

This has been a very "off" week food wise. I had a little bag of Oreos out of the vending machine. I have no idea why - I don't even like them that much. I think it's stress and a vague feeling of a weird kind of dissatisfaction over nothing in particular. Sometimes I think I obsess over my feelings too much.

I have decent food to take camping, which I will purchase and prep tonight to go into the cooler. So, Saturday's eating is fairly regimented since I'll be in the middle of the woods. That just leaves Sunday to worry about.

Tonight I am lifting after work - legs, shoulders, and finish up those bis & tris I started Monday. I have decided to make the Monday night step class part of my routine - I had forgotten that I liked step.

Personal Space

I have personal space issues. Maybe it was those years living behind a wall and riding the subway with the 4 million Germans also crammed behind that wall. Maybe it was living on an island. Maybe it's genetic. I dunno. I don't like strangers hugging me. And I don't like people talking to me while I'm trying to run on the treadmill! I think between my headphones and avidly reading the close captioning on the History Channel, I conveyed the message. I was trying so hard to get into the zone. I was really stressed and desperately needed to unwind, which I failed to achieve at the gym. But hubby bought beer. Which always works, damnit.

I hate my poochy belly. I could live with every other part of my body - thighs, hips, all of it. But I really hate my stomach, which looks like a partially deflated balloon. Yuck.

Awesome Music

I do believe I plugged djajax.com before, but please let me do it again. CDs came - naturally I had to listen to them before giving them to hubby (I wanted to make sure they were good). Oh my God! Fire It Up has got to be the best workout CD ever made!!! Go to his site, listen to the clip, and then order it!!!!!!!!

Exercise Happens

Well, wound up grabbing a quick bite out before taking son to tae kwon do. Did pretty good, but did have soda yesterday :-(

Last night I went to step class, then lifted weights. We did back, chest, and a quick super set of bis & tris. Will do more bis & tris Thursday.

Also, I forgot to mention but I did run Saturday morning. It was a quickie since we were headed out of town, but I did squeeze in a 4 miler.

It is raining hard today. We had a tornado touch down within a couple of miles of our house last night. Hubby is taking the boy to tutoring, so I am going by the gym to run on a "dreadmill" this evening. Better than nothing.

Weekend Disaster #973

Ugh. Some things are getting better. Some things continue to suck. Sunday was bad, but better in that it didn’t start to go down the toilet until 5 pm. So that is better. Of course, I managed to get it pretty far down the toilet.

Friday evening was bad. I got home at 7. I left work at 4. Three hours of running errands people – and I didn’t even finish them all! I was ravenous & bought a burger. Then went home & had beer & some cheese sticks with hubby.

Saturday wasn’t too bad. We went to a medieval thing over in Fuquay-Varina (yes, that is really the name of a town). Would have been fine but hubby insisted we stay, and someone gave us beer. Like a 12 pack! Oh god - well, we shared it around at least. So, a few beers & a decadent meal later, I was on the road home (in the passenger seat of course!)

Lessons learned. If I am running errands on Friday, have a dinner in the crock pot. Gotta do something about Sundays, but I am improving. My husband is a food pusher (like that’s news!).

What time is it?

I guess it's because I've been here since 6:30, but I am so ready to start the weekend, you know? Oh well, 3 more hours. Until then, I have work to do!

TGIF – And Weigh In – Woo Hoo!!!!!

Well, hurray for Friday. Hurray for hubby coming home last night so I could make a yummy supper for my family. And hurray for 1.5 pounds of yuck got from my body after 4 days of doing the Fat Flush Plan.

That may not sound like a lot from one Friday to the next, but believe me, when you have less than 15 pounds to get to goal, the stuff barely moves. It is so hard. But I am now back to my pre-vacation weight, and 1.5 pounds away from “virgin fat territory” – which I fully expect to see next week!

I have a good dinner planned for tonight and I am running all my errands here in this town after work today. (I work one town over from where I live – the distance isn’t a lot, but it’s a pain to come over here for errands). I intend to plan my menu for the weekend before I leave so I can get what I need at least through breakfast Sunday. I plan to stay on this plan all weekend. I’ll let you know how that goes.

Part of me wants to take down yesterday’s post, cause it’s so whiny. But I am leaving it up – because it’s true.

Have a great weekend.

Confession is Good for the Soul

I’m not Catholic, but even I know admitting your wrongdoings is a good step in not repeating them and moving on. So, here goes:

Yesterday, my grandmother went to the hospital (she had passed out). I was worried & upset, so I was feeling a bit “Fragile.” Then, my sister calls just to chat (cause she just started a new job). We discussed the “grandma situation” (i.e. the fact that she cut me & my family & mom out of her life) (the other grandmother) and wound up having the most honest discussion we’ve ever had about why I don’t speak to my dad. It was a good discussion, but it brought a lot of stuff I don’t normally spend a lot of time thinking about to the surface.

So, I was all teary and upset when I left the office (she called right before I left for the day). I tried calling my mom but she didn’t have time to talk because she was visiting a friend. I called my husband, but he was busy working. Well, I lost it. He never has time to talk to me when he’s not here. I know they are working from early in the morning until dark, but he can’t even seem to take 10 minutes to talk to me in the morning! I got mad and told him that.

Went home, fixed dinner, took the boy to tae kwon do, and worked out while he did his thing. Went home & started doing housework. He’s watching a movie and I’m beaten down and he says “Don’t forget to dust.” I totally take it the wrong way and start yelling at him. I felt so bad, I went to my room & cried. He cried & felt bad for being rude. I still feel like crap even though we talked about it & I apologized last night & again this morning. Just nominate me for mom of the year. Geez.

Woke up at 4:30 having a nightmare about an argument with my husband where he accuses me of cheating. No way I was going back to sleep, so I got up and went running. I ran two miles, crying the whole time. I felt all the anger that that little girl felt when her dad treated her crappy (me). After I ran, I sat & looked at the stars and realized I had to find a way to let go of my anger. All I could think of was to visualize myself encircling that little girl inside my family and putting her in the middle of what we call a “family hug.” I stopped crying, and felt at peace – at least for a time.

I talked to my husband this morning – he’d woken up at 4 unable to sleep. He didn’t realize he kept blowing me off. Anyway, he is coming home tonight (although he goes back for the day tomorrow), so everything is okay on that front.

My sister wants me to reach out & try to reconcile with my dad. I am scared to make myself vulnerable to him, but I told her I would try. D&*^ my kumbaya singing, peacnik, Episcopalian priest of a sister.

I Feel Good

I don’t know whether it’s the weather, the food, hormones, my fab new haircut & highlights I got last weekend – I don’t know what, but I feel good! Sometimes a little too good, like, “Hello! Could I be manic?” But mostly just cool with things and excited about stuff. So, in no particular order.

Food: Still sticking to the fat flush plan. Yesterday, I ate the same thing as Monday, except I had stir fry for dinner. It was a little plain with no soy sauce, but not too bad. The strange thing about this diet is the effect of flax oil – it really does keep me feeling “not hungry” for hours, even though I haven’t eaten a lot of food. It’s so odd to eat a small to normal sized portion of food and be satisfied.

Exercise: Had a great 2 mile run yesterday morning. The weather was cool & refreshing! I thought about getting up this morning to run again, but opted for a little extra sleep and getting a couple of things done around the house. I took a nice 30 minute walk at work this morning, and I will do a machine this evening while the boy does tae kwon do. So, not getting frantic about it, but doing a little here and there.

Hubby’s work: Still sucks. My mom came over & helped on Monday, taking my son to tae kwon do (I have a great Mom)! I asked hubby if he could come home on Thursday night this week, even though it’s not exactly the middle of the week. Monday and Thursday are my toughest days, so his agreeing to that really helped me out a bunch. Yesterday I planned a very easy dinner, so I got it on the table quick. Tonight all that’s going on is tae kwon do, so I’ll make a quick meal & then we’ll head out. I lift weights on Mondays and Thursdays, and both of us having an activity makes it hectic! And the end is in sight for this job. I’m not normally anxious for a well-paying job to end, but this is getting old.

Shopping: Okay, I don’t like to shop. But I do like to show up for my job looking sort of like I’m a professional person. Last weekend since I had been feeling down I made an appointment for an impromptu haircut. I also asked her to do highlights (new for me). I adore the cut she gave me – it looks like the blond chic on “Andromeda” if you’ve ever seen that. Parted in the middle, kinda sweeping down on one side, and sort “spiky” in the back, but a longer version of that short look. It is maybe 1-2 inches above my shoulders. I have some money to spend on clothes for myself (a rarity) as well as the family. Hubby took his money and he can use it how he sees fit. I bought the boy a bunch of new clothes, and I wanted some new clothes as well. On the way to picking the boy up yesterday, I stopped by Kohl’s. I got 3 pairs of shoes (I am not a shoeholic – I really needed some decent looking, “a little dressy but not too much” shoes for work.) Two pair are sorta like loafers, but with a little heel & a little dressier. One black, one brown. I also got an even dressier pair of black mules. They can easily be worn with slacks also, but they could also go with a skirt. So, I’ve started my quest for some decent work clothes!

Anyway, that’s about it. I hope this weather holds through the weekend because I really want to do a nice long run and a good bike ride!

Food for Pleasure

Eating a fairly regimented food plan is interesting. For example, it is very difficult to use food for pleasure on this plan. I mean, I enjoy the food I’m eating (okay, that protein last night was gross, but besides that) but if you stick with it a lot of your “comfort foods” or “guilty pleasures” are gone. No chips or candy or chocolate. No soda. No “treats”. It’s made me realize that I use food for pleasure all the time. I’m not just talking about binges or obvious stuff like going out for Mexican. I’m talking about every few hours – things like string cheese. Yeah, it’s not a horrible choice, but I didn’t realize how much I looked forward to snack not because I was hungry but because I was craving the taste of the cheese.

The weird thing about this cleanse is that I am full (the flax see oil really helps keep your satiety up for hours), yet I haven’t eaten any “pleasure food”. I’m sitting here right now not hungry, yet feeling like it surely must be time for a treat of something. I can tell this is a huge habit for me. Even my chocolate yogurt in the afternoon. Yes it’s healthy, and yes it’s perfectly normal to select food that you like – but I realize that I’ve been using food to get pleasure from life to a pretty large degree. Losing those options has forced me to look at what I enjoy, if that makes any sense at all. Anyway, just a random afternoon observation.

Day One of the Fat Flush

Well, one day down on the “Fat Flush” diet. I did get a headache yesterday afternoon, which is apparently fairly common in the first 3 days until your body gets used to life without caffeine, sugar, etc. Other than that I felt pretty good. I never got really hungry, which was good.

For the curious, here’s what I ate:

B: smoothie, made with 1 c mixed berries, 1 c diluted cranberry juice water, 1 T flax seed oil, and 1 scoop protein powder.
S: deviled egg (made with flax oil and AP vinegar and spices), and veggie sticks.
L: ground turkey & veggie soup, side salad with flax & lime juice dressing.
S: deviled egg and half a grapefruit.
D: salmon patties, sautéed squash, and a side salad.
S: (after weight lifting) scoop of protein in water.

Exercise: 30 min walk (up and down mild hills), weight training (chest and triceps). The workout was very good – we really worked hard!

I thought I might need the protein after a tough workout, so I had protein in water. I have to say its really nasty that way!

So, I think I did well. The food seems a little boring – but I think its just psychological because I know I’ll be eating this way for 2 – 3 weeks.

MWI (Mowing While Intoxicated)

Crazy busy weekend. Sat down yesterday afternoon, only half done with my cooking & cleaning. But I was beat & needed a break. So I sat down & had a couple of beers. I then realized that it was getting late, hubby was still at work, and the grass really needed mowing. So I went to mow. After I did the side yard, the neighbor called me over & offered me a beer. They then offered me a second one (which I declined on the grounds I had to finish mowing). So I finished mowing, then they called me over for another beer. Oh my gosh – I was snockered! But the yard did get mowed.

I got up early this morning and finished my food prep for the week. I never finished cleaning the house though – I will do that this evening. My mom is going to take my son to tae kwon do, so I’ll actually have time to finish the house!

The Detoxing has Begun

I mentioned I was thinking about trying “The Fat Flush” diet. I ordered the book (used) and it came in the mail Friday. Woo hoo! I browsed it enough to figure out what I was doing, and after taking the boy shopping for school clothes and getting my hair done, I went to all the different stores necessary to collect the food & supplmements I needed. I prepped my veggies & stuff yesterday, and began the cleanse today. We’ll see how it goes.

Performance Anxiety

I confess I am concerned about this weekend. I mean, let's face the cold harsh reality of it: my eating has been terrible over the past few weekends. And each failure (to put a not so pc word on it) just increases my anxiety. What if I can't control my eating? What if I keep gaining weight? Will I blow up like the little girl in "Willy Wonka"? And why was a supposed kid's movie so disturbing anyway?

I dunno about running - my son's school closed after a tornado touched down in our county a little while ago. It's supposed to be thunderstorms all weekend. I may wind up in a spinning class or something instead.

That's another thing. My week is so busy that my girlfriend suggested I do more of my workouts during the weekend. You mean the one where I work cleaning house, running errands, & shopping until Sunday afternoon when I'm too tired to see & order pizza & go buy a 6-pack? Right.

I am getting my hair cut tomorrow. I need something to get me out of this funk, and hair I like (at least for a day) might help. While more expensive than beer, I hope it will be less damaging.

Something's Gotta Give

First off, let me say that I am fully aware I should probably change my legal name to "Wendy Whiner". I mean, I'm getting tired to listening to my whiny self.

So, no workout yesterday. My son had a swollen lymph node which was tender, so I left work early to take him to the doctor. Turns out it was infected, so we went to the drug store to get a prescription filled for him. Went home for supper while we waited (it's only a couple of miles from our house). Because of the unexpected doctor trip plus getting his prescription, I called and re-scheduled his appointment with the tutor for Sunday afternoon. I let him watch a movie for an hour while I took a bath. Then homework, then he took a bath. Then bed! I barely made it to 9 pm.

I am exhausted. Not tired - exhausted. This concerns me because I am getting 8 hours of sleep every night. So why am I so tired? I keep telling myself its just because my days are so non-stop, with no time to recharge my batteries. I just hope its not something more serious than that.

So, back to my title. I am concerned because I know I am not getting my workouts in. No weight lifting this week (I was supposed to go yesterday). No runs since last Saturday. Really, the only exercise I've done is that HIIT on the elliptical. And that's not enough, as shown on the scale today. Up half a pound. It's not so much the half a pound (although I admit that bothers me), its the fact that I am not exercising regularly. I count on my exercise not only to help with my weight loss (or at least maintenance), but also for the energy boost regular workouts provide. It feels like a vicious cycle in the wrong direction.

I can't decide whether I should just sleep in tomorrow, or get up for a long run. I guess I should check the weather. Both have their merits, I just can't decide which I need more right now.

One Baby Step at a Time

Well, yesterday was a better day. I ate well and managed to get in a good workout. I got tonight’s dinner cooked, a breakfast casserole made for the couple of days, and the dish washer loaded. The house isn’t perfect, and I didn’t get up and run this morning (so, I have to figure out something to do to work out later today), but my hair is clean. Hee hee hee.

Yesterday’s special at the cafeteria was a sale on the salad bar! I got a HUGE vegetable salad with a light soy ginger dressing. Yum! Okay, it did have 6 croutons and what looked to be about 1 and a half tablespoons of seafood salad, which I ate on rye krisps.

Yesterday’s food:
B: bowl of optimum cereal with soy milk and a slice of lean ham
S: sliced tomato and half a grapefruit
L1: Huge veggie salad
L2: Morningstar veggie burger on light whole wheat bun with a slice of 2% cheese, asparagus, and half a grapefruit.
S: Stonyfield yogurt
D1: baked fish fillet, steamed green beans, and a few sweet potato fries
(went to workout, so I didn’t eat all my dinner)
D2: other fish fillet and more green beans.
S: A 22 oz Miller Lite

Okay, I did drive to the convenience store and get a beer after the boy went to bed. I was wrung out but not tired, so I had a beer & watched the end of “Queer Eye”. That did the trick.

Workout:
5 minutes warm-up, then 15 minutes of high intensity interval training, then 5 minutes cool down (on the elliptical). Then I grabbed a cool shower, sat in the hot tub, sat in the sauna, then had another quick cool shower. Awesome!

My Balls Are Falling

You know, all those balls I am trying to keep juggling? I tell you what! Yesterday was a perfect example. I leave work, go home & pick up my son. We take a quick walk around the block (1 mile) since I just couldn’t face an aerobics tape. So, we quizzed on his work for the tutor then off we go. Since she lives 20-25 minutes away, I sit there for the hour while he works with her. Them we’re off to dinner after – we went to a seafood restaurant and had a good and healthy dinner. We get home at 8:30. Then it’s work on homework until 9 – then a quick shower for him, read a chapter of Dr. Doolittle and it’s time for bed. I went to bed too – I was beat!

So, hubby needed me to put a second coat of polyurethane on some wood for a custom railing he is installing this weekend. With my evenings like the above, when is that gonna happen? So, I got up at 5 this morning to finish the wood for him. Amazingly enough, I got it done, got us out the door, and was only 15 minutes late for work. I was planning to run this morning, but that didn’t happen! My plan now is to either run on a treadmill or use the elliptical while the boy is doing tae kwon do this evening. Have I mentioned I can’t wait for hubby’s out of town job to be over?

Food yesterday was pretty good:

B: optimum cereal with soy milk
S: banana
L: Morningstar farm veggie burger on a lite whole wheat bun with a slice of 2% American cheese, side salad, asparagus, and half a grapefruit
S: piece of b-day cake at office party (It was honey bun cake – that should be illegal!)
D: green beans, half a baked potato with a little margarine & sour cream, grilled flounder, a broiled devil crab, and a few fried shrimp off my son’s kids plate. (His plate was small and there weren’t many fried shrimp – so we split his shrimp and he ate one of my deviled crabs and a piece of my fish).

I feel like I am keeping my head above water, but not really making any progress on my eating or on exercise.

Just a Little Product Plug

I am an avid reader of Ron Harris's "Daily Pump" - his blog about his (and his wife's) bodybuilding. I find it inspiring - you can sign up at ronharrismuscle.com. But actually, this isn't really about Ron's blog, its about a link he had on his blog a few days ago for a guy that sells workout music. If you're workout music is getting dull, check it out - long samples and it sounds great!

http://djajax.com/FITNESS.htm

I Love Running

So, Saturday morning I re-learned that I love to run. I was having a hard time sleeping - I woke up and couldn't get back to sleep. So, I got out of bed at 3:45, got dressed, and went for a run. Other than 1 car acting a little weird (my theory: drunk slept at hook-ups house then couldn't figure out how to get out of the neighborhood!) it was awesome. I ran 7 miles and would have kept running but my walkman batteries died. The air felt so good, and it felt so good to move my body.

Then I ate a bunch of crap Sunday and haven't had time to work out since. I know all of this sounds like pure cop-out. I'm just grateful I'm not gaining any weight.

Time for a Regime Change

Well, actually part of the problem around here is LACK of regime. I have been wallowing. Yes, my husband working out of town has seriously limited both my energy and my workout time. My stress level is high, and I am using food cause I don't have a Prozac prescription.

I know, acceptance blah blah blah. The fact is I am very frustrated and just a little bit disgusted with myself right now. I am thinking of signing up for WW online and trying out their Core program.

In the meantime, I may try 2 weeks of the "The Fat Flush" program. I'm not typically one to try a short term "diet", but this I may actually try. I like the idea of committing to something for 2 weeks, and then having a moderate plan (like WW) to follow after. I ordered the book (used) off of Amazon and have checked out some info regarding the program on ivillage. I'll keep you posted.

Moo.

That expresses how I feel right now. The following story perfectly illustrates my frustration.

Yesterday, I left work and headed for the gym. Sonja and I were both tired, but neither considered giving up. We did back, biceps, and shoulders (okay, we did cut shoulders a bit short). After the gym, I had to stop by the grocery to pick up a small can of tomato sauce to put in the casserole for dinner. While I was there, I also purchased a 6 pack of Miller Lite and a box of frozen stuffed jalepeno poppers. When I got home, I put a couple of beers in the freezer to get nice & cold, and heated half the box of poppers. While reading a book, I ate half the box & drank a beer. I then heated the other half, and had it with a beer. Then I had a few taco chips with a THIRD beer! WTF!?!?!

This is exactly why I still need to lose 15 – 20 pounds.

Yesterday

That post was from yesterday - blogger was acting weird. Yesterday it rained incredibly hard here, so I did not exercise AT ALL. I guess that was a break day :-)

Food wasn't too bad, although the cafeteria is having "customer appreciation month" - yesterday's special was a free cookie. You know, the sugar cookies to which I am addicted? Yes, I had one - it was free! Sheesh. Luckily, there is only 1 other free cookie day. I figure if I know I can get one that day, I won't be tempted the other days of the month.

I am smart enough to realize all these little indulgences add up.

I Eat Weird Food

Just an observation, but I've noticed I sometimes make weird choices in food - especially if I have choices and its early in the morning. Like bbq sauce twice in a 2 hour span is too much!

Observations from yesterday:

Breakfast was a pancake "sandwich" - a large pancake heated with some peanut butter. I make my pancakes from scratch, substituting oatmeal I've pulsed in the food processor for most of the flour. This has a very hearty texture, and is my own version of an oatmeal breakfast bar "quickie breakfast" sort of thing. It's very good.

Morning snack was plain sardines with bbq sauce. I prefer to buy them with sauce, especially the hot sauce ones. I think these make a good snack and they are loaded in protein.

For lunch, I had green beans, lima beans, and turnip greens (they had the turnip greens in the cafeteria and I couldn't resist). I also had the Gardenburger brand "riblets" - these are very good, but they are really rich and a lot of food. Both the flavor and the texture are excellent.

I had grapefruit with breakfast & lunch, yum. I needed to talk to my son, so we rode to Sonic (this is the place we go to talk once every 2-3 months, we have our best conversations in the car). We split an order of mozzarella sticks - cheese has got to be the most perfect food ever invented. The diet limeade was good.

Dinner was matzo ball soup and salad. I had 2 beers after dinner, I should have skipped the second, it was enough to make me feel lethargic this morning.

That's my recap of my weird food. :-)

One Tough Run

Oh my gosh. As Bill the Cat would say, “Ack!” My 3 miles this morning was so tough. I ran at 5:15 – it was nearly 70 degrees and humid. The weird thing was it didn’t feel humid at first, but the air was heavy and very still. Part of me wanted to stop after 2, but I kept going. I totally couldn’t get into it at all – I know my form was terrible. If you put some forty-something never run before woman in spandex and told her to take a lap, well, that’s what I probably looked like. But I decided a bad run was better than the feeling of having done nothing, so there.

Food yesterday was good, although my dinner was a poor choice – but I didn’t overeat. Never go to the grocery hungry. You come home with stuff like Chef Boyardee mini ravioli for dinner – is that weird or what? That’s what happens when I eat alone and feel lazy I guess. Glad that doesn’t happen often! But the rest of the day was healthy and low in calories, so oh well.

Yesterday I mowed the front and back yards (half an acre lot) and went to the gym. While I waited for Sonja, I wrote us up a kicking workout – we did chest, tri, and low back. I warmed up with push-ups and then started benching. I stopped at 130 – I could tell I was a little tired from just having mowed. So I felt pretty good about that. Next bench press competition is in November and I want to be ready! Overall, an excellent workout – one to be proud of. I am making progress on the chin-up front too, I’m down to offsetting 60 pounds (I did 10 reps at that level).

BTW, this is my 100th post. I may not be the best writer in blogdom, but I do try to be consistent.

Out of Touch with Reality

The past few weekends, Sunday afternoon has been really rough for me - that's when I've been doing the bulk of my over-eating. This weekend was no exception but I finally figured out why: I'm depressed on Sunday afternoon. Every weekend, we run around doing all this stuff that has piled up while hubby is working out of town. And its been especially bad trying to get stuff packed back up after vacation. So, by Sunday afternoon we've worked like dogs the whole weekend and spend zero time together, and then I get depressed because I know he's leaving in the morning.

So, yesterday instead of mowing the grass & me cooking, we sat and watched movies. Yes, I still ate too much because I was sad, but we also talked about things we could DO about it. Like, taking a day off and doing something fun together. Like, doing our chores Friday night & Saturday morning next weekend, so we can ride down for a quick overnight camping trip. There's nothing like sitting around in the woods together with no distractions. He could take his jewelry making stuff (my husband is cherokee & makes really cool native jewelry), and I could take something and we could hike and little and sit a little.

Hopefully, that will make me feel better. This whole working out of town thing really sucks.

Please, sir, may I have another? (Cookie that is).

Well, 2 of those 3 vacation pounds are gone, although I am still feeling a bit “fluffy.” So that’s good.

I did the elliptical for 20 minutes yesterday (didn’t have time to run in the morning), and then lifted weights (biceps, triceps, & abs). So, a good workout. Oh, and I had a yummy dinner last night – I have a terrific recipe for a pumpkin & black bean soup that is super nutritious and really great. Yum!

But, I have been craving sugar cookies! What is up with that!?!?! This is rarely in my food repertoire. Weird. I’ve eaten 2 from the cafeteria in 2 weeks now, and would love another! So, my solution? I am going to make a small batch of home made sugar cookies (using some splenda and some sugar), and make the cookies little. Then have one a day in my lunch box next week. Maybe knowing I have one, and can have one again tomorrow, will stop me from going upstairs and getting a cookie roughly the size of New York! We’ll see how that goes.

Tomorrow is a long run. How long? I dunno. Until I get tired or bored or die I guess. God, it feels so free just to say that! Woo hoo!

Food this week has been pretty darn good. Did okay eating out Tuesday – no snacking after dinner. Will keep that up.

Exercise has been more problematic. With it being just me while hubby works out of town during the week, I’ve been tired. So getting up to run has been tough. And because its just me looking out for the boy, I can’t just cruise by the gym to hit a class or use a machine to make it up. So, my plan is to bust out my step and my tapes, and use them as needed. Son can work on homework with minimal assistance while I do a tape. Myabe I can even get up in time to do it in the morning. But at least I hope that next week I won’t miss a workout. That’s my goal: no missed days working out. Always have a back-up plan.

Yay for the weekend!

The Core - it's not just a sci-fi movie

So, I keep reading & hearing about the new WW "Core" program. I firmly believe in eating whole foods. Actually, one reason I eventually quit WW was that I found I was eating too much low point crap and skipping stuff like bananas. Maybe I'll give this Core program a try. My exercise isn't too far off the mark, but my eating needs help! The sad thing is, I know what to do. I know how to "eat like a body builder." So why do I look like a marshmallow instead?