Weekend Recap

Friday: Ate my chi ghee and watched “Pumping Iron” in blissful solitude.

Saturday: aka “Angst Day.” Spent my 7 mile run (should have been 8) thinking I should really hurry to the grocery store b/c it was going to the crowded due to impending snow and I really had to hurry home b/c the boy was getting dropped of from a birthday sleepover at 10:45…. I could stand the anguish no longer, thus cutting short my run. My worst fears were realized, as I got to the grocery and half the town was milling about (the other half were randomly driving around) and the shelves looked like locusts had been there. Think the busiest shopping day of the year, and you’ve got a southern grocery store right before snow.

Got home, went to pick up the boy (the mom was going to let the kids stay later but we had things to do), we went to my mom’s & then we all went to CostCo. Bought a couple of things I needed and had lunch, then dropped the boy and mom back at her place and headed to the salon to get my hair cut (love the new style BTW). On the way there it started snowing, so of course everyone slowed down to 10 and began crashing into each other. I got home safely, and spent the rest of the day cleaning, watching some stuff on tivo and dvd, and trying to un-stress from the morning.

Sunday: Got up early to finish the house and cooking. Which I did, but by the time I was finished I was very tired and ticked because the Bess was in full-blown CMD mode (Chihuahua of mass destruction), destroying 2 throw pillows in the living room and peeing on the rug 3 times. So yes, the afternoon ended with a beer & food binge (not good!).

The husband came home from his weekend away to a clean house, hot meal, and very stressed wife!

Going Down

The scale was down 1.5 pounds this week - woo hoo! So, I am making progress in getting that holiday weight off - only 2.5 pounds to "virgin fat territory." I feel good about what I am doing.

What I am having a tough time with is fitting weight training into a marathon training program that doesn't think you are lifting any weights other than maybe upper body once a week. So, gonna skip legs this week (big baby cry here cause I love doing legs) so that I can move them to Monday night - the max farthest from my long run on the weekend.

Busy day, gotta fly.

My hubby loves me

Yes, he does. How do I know? Because he brought me my watch and wedding ring, which I forgot in my haste to get out of the house this morning. Also, because he is working in Fayetteville today, which means he is stopping to bring me bulgogi and kim chee from a yummy Korean restaurant. YUM! I wouldn’t be averse to a nice steaming bowl of chi gae, but I suspect that wouldn’t travel as well as the others. I could happily live on Korean food, and pretty much did when I lived in Hawaii. Well, with plenty of fresh seafood & veggies & sushi….

I slept in yesterday, recovering from the effects of “forgotten purse syndrome”. I never did get in any cardio, but I got a fantastic workout at the gym. I did back, biceps, & low back I did lat pulldowns, db rows, db curls (full motion), and hammer curls. Then did the cybex low back machine – 3 sets of everything. The biceps were a “drop superset”. I did one exercise then the other, both to failure, the decreased my weight and did that again. No resting. Whew! It’s a quick way to kill your arms!

Then I went down the hall to get my son from tae kwon do. The instructor makes the kids do push-ups if they are late. Since it was my fault we were late last night, I offered to do the push-ups. He said “drop and give me fifty” (been a few years since I heard that!). I dropped to the floor & started knocking them out. He couldn’t believe I could do 50 push-ups. The kids were amazed! Hee hee hee. Sometimes it’s the little things that make me glad I’m in decent shape.

Food was also good – I treated myself a Miller Lite as I read the new “Cooking Light” weight loss book – most of the info wasn’t new to a veteran dieter & avid reader like me, but the recipe section is terrific. I will definitely be trying some of those!

I slept in again today (if you call 6 sleeping in, which I do), but that’s cool because my plan was to run this afternoon when it is a little bit warmer. I prefer to run in the morning, but afternoon is okay too in the wintertime. I can’t run well in the heat.

Well, about all I know today.

A terrific lady writes a wonderful blog, but she is taking a break, basically because she has gotten some very hurtful e-mail concerning her blog. I'm always glad when people leave me positive little plugs, and I'm grateful no one has done that to me. Mean people suck.

I’ll laugh about it some-day, just not to-day!

So, I get home last night and realized I left my purse at work. How is this possible? Because I usually put it in my huge-ass work bag, but couldn’t because my 5 year anniversary gift from the company (I chose the binoculars because I thought my son would like them) was in the bag where my purse goes.

So, I drive back to work, grab the purse, take son to the tutor (you know it’s in the opposite direction, right?). We finally get there, and I realize it is now dark and we have left the dogs outside. So, I drop him, drive home, put dogs in warmth, drive back, then drive to the restaurant of his choice, then drive home. To recap: west to get boy, east to get purse, we go west again to tutor, south to go to dinner, northeast to get back home. I drove for 4 hours. How was your evening?

Despite all this, I didn’t do too bad at the restaurant. Yes, I ate some of the chips (it was our favorite Mexican place). But I would have eaten a basket of cardboard at that point, so surely they don’t count. I then had 2.5 of the best homemade steamed chicken tamales ever created, and half of my son’s refried beans. And 1 Miller Lite, strictly for medicinal purposes.

I think we wound up tying each other for the “captain cranky-pants” award, and we both agreed we would laugh about someday, but yesterday wasn’t gonna be that day!

Food:
B: sexed up oatmeal
S: 1 lowfat string cheese and raw veggies with some homemade baba ganoush dip (1 tiny but of olive oil, no tahini)
L: 1/3 of a large sweet potato with cinnamon & splenda, a can of tuna with more raw veggies and 2 T of vinegarette (homemade)
S: 1 lowfat string cheese, 1 orange, 2 dove dark chocolate bites and a cup of my veggie soup (0 pt for you weight watchers out there)
L: 2.5 tamales, half an order of refried beans, uncounted chips, and 1 miller lite

Exercise:
Ran 2 miles – gosh, 22 is so much warmer than 9!

This morning it was a balmy 37, but you do understand why my carcass stayed in the bed until 6 am, right???

Sexed Up Oatmeal

This is what I call my oatmeal. I never liked oatmeal (I can chow down on some grits though). But because I am stubborn and everyone I know kept telling me that oatmeal is the most perfect food on the planet, I kept at it until I figured out a way I like it. Here Goes:

Neca’s “Sexed Up” Oatmeal

Make up a batch of oat groats on the weekend. These suckers take an hour or more to cook, so don’t leave this for Monday morning!

During the week: Make up ½ a serving of old fashioned oats (I do mine in the microwave) – then stir in a half a serving of the oat groats. I can’t eat the groats alone yet – the texture is still a little odd for me. But they are even healthier, so I like to use them. Steel cut oats are a good in between.

Add any or all of the following:
A dash of skim milk
Sugar free pancake syrup
Chopped nuts
Ground flax seed
Wheat germ
Frozen mixed berries (my favorite), raisins, craisins, or dried fruit
A little bit of granola (I buy this in bulk so I can try different flavors and I don’t add a lot because this can be pretty high in calories. So I buy small quantities).

By the time you’ve added that much stuff, you can’t really taste the oatmeal at all! And it winds up coming in around 300 calories a bowl. I try to keep breakfast between 250 and 300 calories so it will hold me until my mid morning snack, but leaves enough calories for the rest of the day.

That's pretty sexed up, IMO. :-)

Good morning!!!!!


Good morning everyone. I am in a very good mood today! For one, I had a great workout at the gym last night. I lifted weights (chest & triceps). I saw a guy doing an unusual chest exercise & I went over & asked him about it. Turns out he is a personal trainer (also retired form the army) - not only did he show me the exercise, but he was very encouraging and told me he's really noticed the changes in my body over the past couple of years. That made me feel good! And the exercise he showed me really added an extra punch to my workout.

For two, this morning I got up to run and my walkman was working! (It wouldn't work when I walked yesterday morning). Either 9 degrees is too cold for it to work, or its slowly dying but it took pity on me this morning and worked anyway. :-) It was a balmy 22 this morning, so both me & the walkman were working better, although I was a little tired from the gym still.

And for three, I ate really well yesterday, which makes me feel much better physically and emotionally. Here's the menu from yesterday:

B: "sexed up" oatmeal, a small cup of diet pepsi, and a glass of cranwater.
S: 1 lowfat string cheese and a bag of raw veggies: carrots, celery, and baby bell peppers.
L : More raw veggies & a can of tuna "marinated" with 2 T of a really great homemade vinegarette, a side of mashed potatoes (I needed some carbs to balance the meal & that's what looked good in the cafeteria!) and a diet pepsi.
S: 1 lowfat string cheese, 1.5 oranges, and a cup of my 0 pt veggie soup.
D: Baked pork chop (YUM!), half a small sweet potato, and braised cabbage.

Hope you all have a great day!

Is this thing still on???

Feel like I’ve been gone forever. Here’s the update on life, the universe, and everything.

1) Exercise. Last Sunday (the 16th) I ran 6 miles, proving I could be on track to do the June marathon. Yesterday was the next time I exercised, needing to run 7 miles to stay on track. I did it, but the week between was clearly not conducive to my physical fitness. I figure I could maybe make the 10 mile mark on sheer willpower, 12 if Freddy Krueger were chasing me with a chain saw.

The run yesterday felt good, despite the cold. This morning’s 2 mile walk did not. Why? When I got home I checked the thermometer and it read 9 degrees. I didn’t know that was a real temperature unless you lived in Canada.

Also, my walkman died. This is very sad because you can no longer purchase a walkman that plays tapes unless it also gets all tv channels and homelinks to your garage door opener and doubles as a dog groomer. This is how they change you a stupid amount of money for what used to be cheap. I guess everybody but us luddites is buying iPods.

2) Thank the gods that the diet Pepsi, pizza, and Miller Lite diet is over. I was seriously beginning to feel like crap. Gee, I wonder why????? I took a page out of Dave Draper’s book (literally) and I am eating much cleaner, although not the tuna and water he swears by.

3) Everything else. Attending a funeral last Monday for a woman my age was hard. Especially a nice and funny woman, who fought breast cancer tooth and nail for 5 years. Add to that the stress of the hubster having to go to a job 6 hours away, picking up the new car (a Kia Sedona – I can’t believe I drive a minivan!), blah blah blah, and it is was just on sucky week. But, life goes on for the living, and I’m getting back to where I want to be.

4) Annual physical. My doctor said I looked great, keep it up, and accept that I may not lose that extra 15 pounds. While I’m relieved it isn’t harming my health, I hate how it makes me feel. I really hate being overweight.

Here

I'm here. Feeling a little better, a little less overwhelmed. I plan on using Dave Draper's tuna diet for 3 days to clean the crap out of my system. No exercise has happened since Sunday. I plan to remedy that this weekend, despite the forecast for snow.

Still Here

Wow.

Saturday I bought a car.
Sunday I spent the day at the hospital with my grandmother.
Monday I went to a funeral in Maryland.

I am wiped.

How to Lose Weight and Eat Crap

Thank God for TOM and dropping water weight. Despite myself, I managed to drop half a pound this week. This has been a truly abysmal week, and I am grateful it is over.

Carmen is home, although she is a little shaky on her feet. She’s doing pretty well, but she obviously doesn’t understand what has happened to her. I hope she continues to improve.

Hubby and I are going to look at minivans tonight – the boy and I went Wednesday night.

I hope this is a nice weekend. I deserve it.

I just want to look good in a pair of jeans

Really. That's all. Is that too much to ask? Oh, to weigh what I weighed when I thought I was fat. Ugh.

Still worried about my dog, but hopefully she will be coming home today.

Not Much to Say

I don't really have a lot to say. I took my dog to the vet this morning - she has basically had the doggie equivalent of a stroke. She is 11 years old. She has been through all kinds of things with me, and has been with me longer than my husband. She has been such a loyal companion and friend. I hope she is better - she is staying overnight at the vet. He says they can bounce back from these things, but I know her age will be a factor in her recovery. 11 is pretty old for a german shephard.

The second time around

Who says the third time is a charm? I think it’s the second time around. I have found my goal. Last year, I tried to run a marathon, but foot trouble messed up my planning. Not this year. I have found the perfect race. Click here: http://web.infoave.net/~runrbike/bhmbform.htm

And be sure to read the waiver here: http://web.infoave.net/~runrbike/BHMB_Entry.htm

All over the page

Lord, my moods are moving quicker than a ball on a racquetball court. First feeling good about something, then the next 10 minutes are spent turning said accomplishment into nothing. But hey, that kind of thinking made my 3 mile run/walk fly by this morning!

I hate PMS. Like last night, I felt like the Michelin Man. I felt like my stomach was so huge (yes, I am bloated) that I was embarrassed to go to the gym. That is just sad. When my son said, “I’d sorta like to just hang out & watch a movie tonight”, I nearly turned the car around. Lynn’s post from yesterday was the only thing that kept me driving to the gym.

I got to the gym and worked out – biceps and triceps and 20 minutes (hard minutes!) on the elliptical. I went heavy on the weights, finishing my tricep overhead press with the 40 pound dumbbell. Woo hoo. I had also done my usual 30 minute walk at lunch.

But I still felt crappy because I had pizza for dinner. Son & I went out, I ordered a medium anchovy pizza, thin crust, light cheese. This was better than the buffet, but still…. I ate 3 pieces and took the rest home. I had one more piece when I got home from the gym, and then packaged the last 2 up for his lunch today. What I really wanted to do was scarf down the remainder of the pizza, washed down with a couple of cold ones. At least I didn’t do that!

I got up this morning and went out for a run/walk. I made it 3 miles, running at a pretty good clip for the running parts. I ran all the segments I was running this summer, and even ran to the top of the last hill before cooling down, rather than stopping at the bottom and walking the rest of the way. So then I spent my cool down thinking about the fact that even though I finished a tri last year, I don’t feel like a “triathlete”, and even though I got up to 18 miles, I don’t really think I’m a runner since I make pretty liberal use of Jeff Galloway’s walk breaks – my runs sometimes feel more like walks with run breaks. In other words, my athletic effort is not serious and I’m no athlete. (Thanks dad for ruining my self esteem as a child. It’s real difficult to re-build). I hate feeling fat.

Realistic Resolutions

I find myself guilty of jumping on other people’s bandwagons, in an attempt to get to my goal, preferably by yesterday. Amazingly enough, adopting a plan not your own doesn’t work. What has worked for me for the past three years (of admittedly slow weight loss) has been to limit potions, putting nothing off limits, and exercising as much as I can fit in without going insane.

I lost a pound last week, eating chocolate and drinking beer. By not doing too much of either, but enough so that I didn’t need to binge on anything. And exercising a lot! Seven hours of exercise, plus a couple of doggie walks thrown in there. I don’t write down what I eat, but I do plan out my meals and I know what calorie range they fall in. I have a little “wiggle room” so that if I want a skinny cow or a couple of dark chocolate chunks from the freezer, I can have them.

I am feeling good, glad to be back in a routine.

Still Hanging in There

Not much new. Eating is better since a run-in with an additional 600 calories Tuesday night! I am not sure what to expect on my weigh-in, but I need to get a baseline. That will happen tomorrow morning.

I have exercised an average of 1.5 hours a day for the past 4 days. Granted, that has been spaced out, generally in 30 minute blocks, but still, that’s pretty good!

I showed a new guy at the gym how to use some of the equipment. Me, doling out weight training advice. Amazing.

Next week I’m going back to the breakfast smoothies from the Fat Flush Plan (cranberry juice, fozen berries, flax oil). I plan to do a big pot of ‘0 point’ soup again – I’m thinking a version of borscht. Not sure about lunches. I am also thinking about doing a gall bladder cleanse.

Nothing too exciting here. My son helped me wash dishes & do laundry. A plus side of hubby out of town is that my son is taking more responsibility with helping out. He also announced that we are beyond kissing. Sigh.

A Stepford Wife Checks In

Let’s take yesterday as an example. You know that Walgreen’s commercial about the fictional town called “Perfect”? Well, yesterday was a “perfect” day. I was productive at work. I worked out (walked, elliptical, and weights) and ate no more than 1300 calories. I flossed my teeth and washed my face with real face cleanser stuff. I unloaded and re-loaded my dishwasher. I read to my son. You see? Perfect!

Unfortunately, I felt like some weird Stepford wife had inhabited my body. Isn’t Sylvia Plath more interesting than June Cleaver? Where’s the drama, the edge to a day like yesterday? Come on, is that boring chick really me? Isn’t getting a little soused & eating a pint of Ben & Jerry’s more fun??? I don’t think I’m hooked on the food – I think I’m hooked on that stupid platitude “Only boring women have clean houses.” What is wrong with a clean house? What’s wrong with routine? Why can’t June have as much fun as Sylvia? Why can’t I be a content woman somewhere between the extremes?

I Will not Call this “The First Day of…”

Because it isn’t. I’ve been doing this a long time. I am starting the new year with a clean house, organized jewelry (so I may actually wear some!), and a refreshed attitude. I wish I could say I stuck to my plans this weekend, but I didn’t. Done can’t be undone, all I can do is move forward and make today a little better on the ol’ fitness front. I have my gym bag, I have my food planned through Friday night, and hubby and I made a pact to only eat out once a month until we have paid off our AmEx. I doubt we’ll make it, but maybe setting that goal will get us to eat out less often anyway! I’ve been slacking on the “cooking on the weekend” front. I cook all week and by the weekend I am tired.