#118 Just Doin' My Thing (197.2)

Oh what a week I've had! The places I've been, the things I've seen, the bars I've single handedly drank. I've been readjusting, getting caught up (well, sort of) in school, and spending time with family and friends. My mother is on a mission currently to become a contestant on Deal or no Deal so I've been helping her with the application and audition video. The picture is of a cake she made for the tape - it's a Deal or No Deal case! It's amazing in person and also very delicious, because yes, I had a bite of that case and it tasted like a million bucks.

Despite the cake - and copious amounts of beer - I weighed in this week at 197.2! Holy crap! Even away for a week on vacation and then another week of just trying to function after my vacation I managed to shed another 4.6 pounds. This lands me solidly in the 100s! A 200 pound girl I shall never again be.

I guess it goes without saying that things are going well with the weight-loss fitness stuff. I didn't get to work out as much as I wanted last week but I tried not to let that discourage me. I feel more confident than ever that food just might not be a problem for me anymore. Somewhere, somehow, I think I made my peace with food and decided that it isn't evil, that we can work together, that I can have a little and it's not a bad thing. I've learned how to make 1200 calories go a very long way and I've never been happier with the way I'm eating. I feel, for the first time in my life, like I get to make the decisions - not my food. This is huge.

As far as the challenge goes... I could be doing better. The forty day challenge has been easy as can be, getting up at 8 isn't a problem anymore and I really enjoy having that extra couple of hours in the morning to do whatever. Eat my breakfast, watch the news, pick up around the house, just be generally productive.

My other challenge, to keep up the Couch to 5K and to use Paul the Ball daily hasn't gone so well. I have been using Paul but not as often as I had hoped and I've all but stopped the Cto5K program. I didn't run at all over vacation and it's like I lost my running mojo somewhere over the ocean. I'm still chipping away at my running times though, progressing very slowly every time I hop on the treadmill. I guess I just lost my enthusiasm for it, so I'm taking it easy on the running. I'm sure, when I get the bug again, I'll get right back on track. I'm still getting in a full hour workout as often as possible (ideally 5 to 6 days a week) so it's not like I'm slacking, just switching it up.

I'm also really behind on reading blogs. I have a test to take tonight, but then, if I don't get sidetracked, I'm going to do my very best to make the rounds. I've been a horrible partner to Carrie this month, for which I apologize. March is whizzing right by me and I feel like there isn't enough time in the day to do what I want!

Also, before I forget, Jeannie, I got a letter in the mail today from the USPS that said the envelope I sent your present in was found empty. I'm not sure if the present ever reached you, so let me know and if that's the case I'll see what I can do to rectify the situation. I've never had this happen before! I'll be so sad if it never got to you.

#112 Pardon My Bipolar

My apologies for yesterday's sobfest. I think I was just having a moment. I'm feeling much better today, strong, confident, ass-kickin' good. I really appreciate the comments that were left for me, it really chilled me out to know that I wasn't completely insane for being a little freaked out about what's going on with me. I remember reading somewhere that weight loss can mess with your hormones, so I'm going to chalk yesterday up to a wonky hormone day.

Did I mention I got my bathing suit in the mail the other day? I had ordered two size, a 20 and an 18, to be safe, and the smaller of the two fit the best (woo!) so that's the one I'll be bringing with me to Spain. I ordered a black cover-up as well, which looks so cute I can hardly stand it. I'm actually beginning to entertain the idea that I might not be totally appalled to wear a bathing suit in front of my friends!

A pretty average day around here. I spent the morning at my parents finishing up my taxes (need that return money to pay for tequila shots!) and then went to my digital imaging class for a few hours. When I got home I hopped right on the elliptical to get my exercise in for the day. My new routine for days that I don't go to the gym is to use the elliptical for 50 minutes (increasing the resistance every 5 minutes until I reach level 6, and then working my way back to 1) and then doing a whole mess of crunches on my stability ball which I have named Paul. Paul the Ball.

For my march challenge I've decided to use Paul every single day. I'm not saying I'm going to do anything crazy, but it would be cool to be able to do these by the end of the month. For the week that I'm in Spain my goal is to stick to the Couch to 5K program. There's a gym at the resort so I'm going to do my very best to get to it three times to stay on track. That week I'll be doing 25 minute runs. Holy crap.

Good luck to everyone on the March challenges! I'm thrilled to see so many of us sticking with this and I can't wait to see where we all are when this challenge comes to a close (or gears up for year two, who knows!). You're all amazing.

#110 Challenge Update

It's been awhile since I addressed how I'm doing on the two challenges going on over at 12 Months of Health, Fitness, and Fun. I think that finding the challenge back in late December was probably the best thing that could have happened to me at the time. Knowing I've got other people to check in on and other people popping by to see how I'm doing is a different kind of motivation. The challenge has made me feel accountable for my actions, but not in a scary "Don't mess up!" sort of way, in a comforting "if you fall the landing will be mostly soft" kind of way.

My challenge for February was to get less than 50% of my calories from carbs each day.I looked back through my FitDay log and it appears I've gone over 50% seven times, but never by more then 5%. I'm calling this good. It's incredibly hard to eat fruits without kicking your carbs up and basically impossible to eat a sandwich unless you buy that super expensive (and super stingy) law-carb bread. The only reason I chose this as my challenge for February was to make my self more aware of how my calories broke down. I'm really good about keeping my calories low, so targeting a specific part of my calories was just another way to refine my eating.

On a sort of related note, this afternoon I tried those fancy Fiber One bars that everyone is crazy over. While I'll agree that it is completely tasty, I felt like I was eating a rice crispie square, I don't think it's hearty enough to actually curb any kind of hunger I'm feeling. If you've got a craving for chocolate or something chewy this bar is definitely the way to go, but certainly not if you're looking for some hunger satisfaction.

Anyways, back to challenge stuff. The second challenge, starting just a few days ago was to start getting up at 8 AM in order to better utilize my time during the day. The first morning was really rough, but I got through it because I had an eye doctor's appointment and an oil change scheduled. The second day was a little easier, and because I had no errands I was able to get to the gym around 9:00 and o my run surrounded by the kind, unpretentious senior citizens that populate the treadmills in the mid-morning. This morning I decided that since it was Sunday I would give myself a little break and get up at nine. Sadly, my attempt at cheating was foiled as Chandler (my cat) apparently was under the impression that we get up at 8:00 now and was jumping all over my head.

So the challenges are going well in that they're both serving their purpose of keeping my aware and active. With February just a few days away from being over I've got my mind working on what I want to do for the month of March. I have to keep in mind that I've got a trip coming up, so that'll have to play into it somehow. It seems like I'm cheating myself of a good challenge if I make my mission to just keep on doing what I'm doing so I'll have to think of a way to step it up a notch.

#108 Group Challenge

Michelle has posed a new group challenge to give up something for 40 days in hopes of turning a bad habit into a good one. After reading the posed challenge I was dumb-founded. What can I possibly give up? I feel like I dedicate so much of myself to being healthy already that I was at a loss for something worth giving up.

I don't mean to toot my own horn, but I don't have too many horrible habits. Sure, I drink an occasional diet soda, once a week I have an alcoholic drink or two and occasionally I eat frozen yogurt. These are hardly things that it would be hard to give up for forty days because, well, they are the normal things in life that keep me from feeling like I'm on some insane diet.

So what am I going to give up? After thinking about it for awhile I realized the only thing right now that I really want to work harder at is getting more done in the day. I've decided for the next forty days I'll get up at 8:00 every morning. No more sleeping in until 10 every day, no more eating breakfast at 11:00 AM. I think this is totally doable and I'm actually kind of excited to see how I do. I used to be an early riser but my current schedule allows for copious amounts of lazy. Maybe with the extra time I'll even be able to step up my workouts!

The trouble I had thinking of something to change got me thinking about how much I've already given up. There's a conversation going on at sparkpeople about people's worst food confessions. Reading through them I could relate to almost every single one. My worst food was always starchy things like pizza and chips. Near the end of this past summer I would buy a bag of sour cream and onion ruffle chips (the big bag, you know, for a whole family)and eat the whole bag. Or buy an entire frozen pizza and challenge myself to eat the whole thing - really! It was like a contest with myself to see if I could eat it all and usually I'd get about 3/4 of the way through before I had to slow down for a bit to make some room. I always finished the whole thing. In the pizza eating contest, I was always the winner.

What are your worst food confessions? If you've given them up, do you miss them? What have you substituted for that food, if anything?

#106 The Doomed Run

The cosmos were working against me today as I tried to run my last workout of week three of Cto5K. The magazine I was distracting myself with went flying down the treadmill and I had to hop to avoid slipping on it as I ran. Then my jacket, which I was using to cover the clock, slipped off and revealed the seconds ticking away, begging me to count them when I knew it would only make the run harder. And then My headphones kept popping out of my ears and swinging all over the place, whacking me in the face while I'm trying to do work.

I was furious when I finished my run, huffing and puffing, pissed that so much had gone wrong. Then I gained some perspective and thought about how I'd finished another week of the program and maybe these instances were just meant to be obstacles to challenge my will. You know, or something less deep and introspective. Regardless, I was annoyed, but finished the workout and am pumped to start week four.

But! On a much happier note, I received my January Challenge surprise from Jeannie. A power water bottle and a couple of mix CDs, one for working hard and one for cooling down afterwards. I gave them a little test run yesterday and kept cracking up when certain songs came on. So, thank you so much to Jeannie! I love them and the water bottle definitely rocks! (I have your gift but the weather kept me from mailing it so it's going out on Monday! I know I'm wicked late...I'm so sorry!)

Tonight I'm going out for a drink with my sister and then meeting up with a friend for wine and movies. Layin' low and enjoying the weekend. I think that after this weekend I'm going to dig my heels in and throw everything into the next three weeks before my trip. I think the vacation will be that much more relazing if I know I worked hard to get there.

Hope everyone has an enjoyable weekend!

Daily Post #91-92

Calories in: 2308
Calories out: 6765
Difference: 4457

I haven't been sleeping very well lately, and it's really starting to get on my nerves. Part of it is my own fault - drinking caffeine so late at night -- and other parts aren't. For example, my cat has this bad habit of getting very rowdy around 3 AM and then pouncing on my head. Also, it's freakishly cold in my apartment, only about 20 degrees warmer than it is outside and February in Maine is basically as cold as it gets around here. I'm not sure what I'm going to do to remedy this problem, short of drinking some liquor and passing out (not the best idea). Hopefully I'll get some good sleep soon though, because it's starting to effect my will to workout. And we can't have that can we!?

- - -

I went to the gym yesterday to do the second workout of Cto5K and found myself in an uncomfortable situation. I wasn't feeling very well (I think I have a cold coming on), and felt a little nauseous, but decided to work out anyway. So I'm sniffling a little, getting ready to start jogging and these two girls come into the gym. Now, I try not to make judgements about people that I don't know, but I couldn't help chuckling at these girls. They were maybe 17 years old, blond hair, super-tanned, and...were wearing matching outfits. Yea.

So these girls walk in and head towards the treadmills. I take a quick look and see that there are only 2 treadmills available, and they are located on the other side of me. I knew what was coming. I was about to be the filling in a Barbie sandwich.

The girls proceeded to help each other stretch out and hop on the two machines on each side of me, giggling like fools the whole time. That's when the worst part of this whole scene hit me: They both smelled strongly of vanilla frosting. I'm not kidding, it was like being enveloped in a giant cupcake. And not in a good way. I was already feeling ill and the combination of gym smell, vanilla frosting, and my achey tummy was just too much.

I finished my workout and sucked in some big gulps of fresh air the second I got outside, glad to be free from that vanilla scented hell. I guess it goes without saying that if I see them at the gym again I'm going to alter my workout to avoid the cupcake girls.

- - -

Today marks the first day of the February Challenge, and I'm glad to be done with January. I don't think I'm built to take in that much water. That's not to say I won't keep on with the hydration, I just won't be guzzling to the extreme I was in January. For February I'd like to keep a better eye on my carbohydrate intake. The last week in January I noticed that I was getting a little out of hand when it came to how my calories broke down. In February I'd like to keep it at about 50% or less, just to assure myself that I'm getting enough protein and fats. We'll see how it goes.

Also, much love to Jeannie, my personal cheerleader for January. Thanks so much for sticking by me!

Daily Post #71

Calories in: 1200
Calories out: 3629
Difference: 2429

Challenge Day 9: 92/64 oz.

I haven't been sore from working out in a really long time, but today I'm definitely feeling it. My legs ache when I climb the stairs to my apartment and my arms feel like noodles. It's sort of nice to know I'm working hard enough to feel the effects, but at the same time I just feel tired. This makes me wonder about over training, which I know nothing about. Is there a way to tell when you've reached a point where you just need to rest?

Everyone in the challenge seems to being doing so well! You all are so inspiring and helpful and I'm so glad I joined. It's definitely motivating to know that other people are doing what you're doing and you have that support. You guys rock!

The 'Fridge Challenge

The folks over at the challenge are all posting pictures of the insides of their refrigerators, and I finally got around to snapping some shots of mine. There isn't ever much in my fridge since I live alone and don't work. I only buy what I need and I only shop when I'm completely out of things to eat. It's the college student way!


The Sad Insides

On the top shelf we've got my tiny jug of milk. I'm not a big milk drinker, but I do have some with my cereal in the morning. Next to that, some margarine and fat free cottage cheese. Next we have some fresh veggies made into a salad, some carrots, a bag of green grapes, low fat cheese, and some celery.

Second shelf is my party shelf! Light cranberry juice, a bottle of Midori, a lot of really bad beer, and some super cheap vodka (all stuff left over from a New Years party). I hardly ever drink so that stuff will be there forever. I have some soy eggnog left over from the holidays (I've only had one glass of it. It probably isn't good anymore.) and an orange juice container that I use to keep cold water on hand.

The bottom shelf has more salad and a sad little sweet potato, just waiting to be eaten. No picture of what's in the bottom drawer since it's empty.


Door O' Condiments

In the door I have your general condiments; mustard, ketchup, bbq sauce, and a few different salad dressings. The top shelf also has a big jar of sour pickles - my secret weapon for killing cravings.

The bottom shelf has salsa, pepperoncinis, more salad dressing, an open can of soup, and a huge bottle of aloe for all my cuts and burns. I'm sickeningly white so I sizzle like bacon in the summer, so yes, all that aloe is neccesary :)


Freezer of a Single Girl

In the freezer I have very little. Next to the (empty) ice cube trays is some frozen yogurt (B&J's Cherry Garcia - I don't really like it), and chicken from the meat counter. Next to that are bags of frozen veggies (broccoli, mixed, and butternut squash). To the far right is a whole chicken that was on sale at the store for two dollars (score!) that I'll use to make soup or add to a salad, and about a bajillion freeze pops left over from this summer. No picture of the door, since there's nothing in it.

I just realized the alcohol to food ratio in my fridge is kind of whacked. I swear it's not always like that!

Make Yourself A Priority in 2007

I am so excited to say that I've joined the 12 Months of Health, Fitness, and Fun Challenge.

Everyone should check it out! I have a feeling it's going to be a blast!