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Monday, March 31, 2008

Monday - Get Back On Track

Normally I kick off my workout week on Saturday & Sunday by getting in good, long workouts. However, I spent most of this weekend on the couch with my laptop. I can't really complain about it, since I did volunteer to help out if extra hands were needed this weekend. Could have been worse - quite a few of my co-workers spent the weekend at the office. At least I was home, snuggled up with the cats.

Anyway, now I feel like I'm "behind" in my workouts. I also did not make it to the Running Room to return/exchange the second pair of sneakers. Didn't get to do anything I had planned on this weekend actually. Ah well, life goes on.

We did cook last night, and we have leftovers for supper tonight which makes for an easy evening (aside from a bit of mess in the kitchen that still needs to be cleaned up). There will be a workout, just not sure yet what it will be. Hopefully some combo of cardio and strength training.

Last week Angie kicked off her Operation Wedding Dress and invited anyone who was interested to join her. I have a friend's wedding to attend this summer, and I'll admit it has been on my mind. I'd love to drop a dress size by then. So I decided to join in. Angie is following the Women's Health Ultimate Fitness Plan 2008. I was hoping to check out the plan over the weekend to see what I might be able to use to tweak my current routine. That's one of those things I didn't get a chance to do this weekend. I hope to give it a look tonight, we'll see how things go.

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Daily Record
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Weight: 142.6

BF: WW English Muffin w/Nutella, Coffee w/cream
Lunch: Raw cauliflower, cheese ravioli with tomato sauce
Supper: Kickin' Chicken, rice, veggies

Planned Workout: ???

Saturday, March 29, 2008

Friday, March 28, 2008

Weigh-In Day

 
Weigh In: 142.2(-0.6 lb)

I think I'm going to cry. Okay, not really. But I'm sooo tired today and I had this post all written and ready to go and somehow I've managed to delete it or something and I can't believe I did that and I'm too tired to do it all over again. Wah!

So, short & sweet. Down 0.6 lb - Good. A whole whack of exercise this week, and excellent mileage on the treadmill. Also good.

Tired from having my sleep interrupted last night. Yuck. Snowed all day. Yuck.

Deer were out today, after we got home from work:

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Thanks to everyone who left comments on my Wednesday post. I appreciate the feedback on the sneaker situation. I will try to get back to The Running Room this weekend to return them. Hopefully they can get me a new pair of the same type of sneakers I have now. At the moment, that seems to be the best bet.

Now I'm going to put on my pajamas and crash.

Thursday, March 27, 2008

My Quiet Rebellion

I've read a few posts this week about Easter Candy. Or, more specifically, getting read of the Easter Candy. Banish the chocolate! Throw it in the trash! Just get rid of it!

I do sort of understand that, even while I wince at the idea of throwing perfectly good chocolate in the trash. Okay, so I'm assuming "good chocolate" here because that's what I would buy. As a matter of fact, there is a Lindt Dark Chocolate Bunny upstairs with my name on it at this very moment. Am I going to throw it in the trash? Not a chance. It may sit around for a while until I decide to eat it, but it will not be thrown in the garbage. If it's bad chocolate...well...you shouldn't have bought it in the first place. I'm just sayin'.

This morning, I was sitting in the living room, looking out the window, eating my breakfast and drinking my coffee as I do most mornings. Want to know what I was eating? A whole wheat English Muffin with Nutella. It dawned on me that not only was I eating chocolate, I was eating it for breakfast.

"So be it!" I said to myself. I absolutely realize that in order to lose weight, one might have to give certain things up. I also realize that eating for health is even more important than eating to lose weight. But. You still need to eat food that leaves you satisfied. I enjoyed every bite of my breakfast, and was indeed quite satisfied...All the way to 1:00 as a matter of fact, at which point I decided it was time to eat the healthy lunch that I had packed for myself.

Yes I am on a diet. Yes I will eat chocolate. For breakfast.

So there.

Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Snow!

It's snowing. Was not impressed to see that when I got up this morning. I think the weather has a lot to do with my general crankiness and lack of motivation. It's been cold this week, and when I walk outside it feels like a slap in the face. Mind you, it is certainly warmer now than it was in the dead of winter. But somehow I'm not prepared for it like I was then. Now I'm just not expecting it, even when I know from looking at the weather page that it is cold. Maybe because we actually did have some warm weather and now it's gone back to being cold.

Today it actually is a bit warmer...and what do we get? Snow.

The Bag Lady suggested that I need a vacation. I think she may be right. Not only do I need some time off, I need to spend that time someplace sunny and warm. Alas, that is not going to happen. So I sit here at my desk and glare at the window where I can see the snow blowing around as if it were the middle of January.

Moving on.

If you've been wondering what's up with my Couch-to-5K training, it's gone slightly off the rails. Here's what happened:

Two Saturdays ago: exchanged the first pair of sneakers I had bought for a different pair. That afternoon, did my first Week 4 session in the new sneakers. Thought it went ok. These sneakers seemed better, though still not fantastic. It seemed like my heel was way lower than the front of my foot, and there was a weird feeling of friction under the pad of my forefoot, so I still ended up with that slightly numb feeling in my feet by the end. But I thought maybe I just needed to get used to the sneakers. Aside from that, I found the session tough but doable.

Two days later, I go to do my second session. Now, I may have made a mistake here but, it made sense to me at the time. I still was not positive about the new sneakers, so I didn't want to wear them any more than necessary until I was sure I was going to keep them. I wanted to do an upper body weight workout before my run, so I wore my "non-running sneakers" (yes, I have a pair that I use for weight training, exercise DVDs, etc) to do my weight routine, then changed to the new sneakers and hopped on the treadmill to do my C25K session. Within 10 minutes I felt like my calf muscles were completely seized up and I had to stop. I changed sneakers and slowly walked the rest of my cardio session.

I was then afraid to try the new sneakers again, and I didn't get in another C25K session that week.

This past Saturday, I hop on the treadmill and somehow the memory of that one Week 4 session I did is putting me off from doing it again. In my mind it has now become some sort of terrible ordeal and I feel like I'm not up to it. But, I don't want to give up altogether, so I decide to do my own thing. I did my 5 minute walk to warm up, then I alternated 3 minute runs with 90 seconds of walking (the week 4 schedule has you running 3 min, walking 90 sec, running 5 min, walking 3 min, then repeat sequence). That went well and I felt pretty good after.

My next session should have been Monday, but I had a bit of an upset tummy and was not feeling like running was a good plan, so I just did a walk.

Got on the treadmill last night and ended up alternating 5 minute runs with 3 minutes of walking, and that felt pretty good too. So now I'm not sure why I was remembering week 4 being so difficult - maybe it was the sneakers. Those last two runs, I was wearing my trusty old Mizuno Wave Riders. I hate to return another pair of sneakers, but I'm thinking I may have to, and ask them if they can order a pair of Wave Riders for me; they do have them in the store, just not in my size. They actually have a very limited selection in my size, which may be why I'm having so much trouble.

Anyway, that's where things stand with the C25K running at the moment. I'm still picking away at it, but doing it at my own pace. Which is fine. It's not like I'm on a deadline, I'm doing this for myself and I'm not in any rush.

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Last Tuesday of March

Time flies.

Thanks to everyone for the kind comments on my last post. I love my cats. I say that a lot, but it's true. They make me happy. Okay, sometimes they do a fine imitation of being a pain in the ass, but mostly, they just make me happy.

I did try to post last night, but my computer at home was acting weird, so I rebooted it and I did not have the patience to sit there and wait for it to boot up and then log on, etc. I was tired. I felt tired all day yesterday for some reason. Much better today (I say as I sit here yawning at my desk).

I don't feel like I have a lot to say. Though, being me, I'll use a lot of words to say that. For a quiet person I do tend to use a lot of words to spit out what little I do have to say. Basically, I've been feeling very discouraged and tired but I feel like you guys have listened to quite enough of my whining so I don't want to do it again. I want the scale to move, I think I need to make some changes, and I'm thinking things over to try and come up with a plan.

Last night was leftovers for supper (turkey breast with stuffing and veggies, and yes, one last piece of apple pie). I did lower body weights and a walk on the treadmill. Racking up the mileage for this week, so that's good.

Sunday, March 23, 2008

Weekend winding down

It's been a good weekend. I wouldn't mind another day or two of weekend, but unfortunately I won't get it. Back to work tomorrow! The weather was not very spring-like; it's been cold, snowy and windy. But, we didn't really have any place to be, so we stayed snug inside.

I spent a satisfying amount of time like this:

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That would be me, on the couch, with both cats. See my feet sticking up under the blanket?

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Thinking about waking up...

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But, no, we are much too comfortable right where we are...

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I didn't spend the whole weekend sitting around though. I got in a couple of good exercise sessions:

Friday's workout - Crunch Burn & Firm Pilates DVD followed by 45 minutes on the treadmill.

Saturday's workout - C25K session on the treadmill, followed by Crunch Pilates-Yoga Blend DVD.

Today, I had intended to do weights, but decided to do some cleaning instead. Lately I've been so concerned with getting in workouts that I exercise first and then somehow things come up and I never get to the cleaning. So, I spent the afternoon cleaning. Which felt like a bit of a workout anyway.

I didn't get the kitchen finished, but Moon has the day off tomorrow, so he said he will tackle that. The house is in much better shape which means I am feeling better. I'm caught up on laundry. The bathroom is clean (including the floor). The living room floor and furniture have been vacuumed. The stairs have been vacuumed. The downstairs bathroom has been cleaned. We're not 100% caught up, but we are getting there.

Now I think it's time to take myself off to bed and read for a bit. Tomorrow, back to work.

Friday, March 21, 2008

Good Friday!

Weigh In: 142.8 (+ 1.0 lb)

Happy Good Friday everyone! Ok, so as a general rule, I tend to think all Fridays are good...but holiday Fridays are even better. I had a nice sleep in. Moon made breakfast for me. Now I am sitting in my recliner chair (the cat stole my normal spot on the couch, but luckily I have a comfy chair to fall back on), drinking my coffee.

The not so good...it's weigh-in day and I have indeed gained the pound that I lost last week. So frustrating.

However, I have to admit that I didn't do great this week. I had a really hard time feeling motivated for some reason. I started out counting my points, then lost it part way through the week. I only got in 4 workouts for 240 minutes of exercise, and didn't hit my mileage target on the treadmill. I don't know where my motivation went, but I hope to find it again and hang onto it.

It's snowing. Not a lot, but more than I want to see. Quite windy too, from the way the trees are swaying. You think Easter and you picture bunnies and chicks and flowers and grass....Certainly not what I'm seeing when I look out my window.

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Reasons to Lose Weight - #9

I really wanted to write up an interesting, in-depth post on this, but I can't seem to get it together at the moment. All of my brain power is being expended on other things. So...here we go...

I have wondered in the past whether I really need to lose weight, or whether it's just vanity. Yes, according to the height-weight charts & BMI chart I am overweight. But there is some question in my mind as to how well those things work - can you really apply those measures to everyone? For example, they do not take muscle mass into account. Not that I'm a body builder or anything, but I do work out and I definitely have muscles. Also, when I gain weight, it tends to be fairly well distributed - I don't put it on all in one spot. Most people are surprised when I say that I am technically overweight, it seems that I don't really look it.

Enter the Waist-Hip Ratio. This has been around for a while. As a matter of fact, shortly after we were married Moon went to the doctor, and the doctor pulled out a measuring tape, calculated his Waist-Hip Ratio, and told him to lose 50 lb (which he didn't do, by the way). That was at least 5 years ago. Change takes time I guess, because it is still being referred to as "new".

Here are a couple of links that I'm sure explain it all better than I could:

Waist-hip ratio best predictor of heart risk

Bye-bye BMI? Tape may measure obesity better

To sum it up though, the idea is that belly fat is dangerous so a comparison of a person's waist and hip circumference is a better indicator of whether they are overweight. For women, when you divide your waist measurement by your hip measurement, it should come out to no more that 0.8, for men the magic number is 0.95.

So, being unable to resist all these little tests and calculations that tell me how unhealthy I am, I had to try it out. My only reservation here is they say to measure your waist at your navel which is the smallest part of your waist, and for me I don't find that is the narrowest spot. So I compromised and measured right above my navel and came up with: 0.829.

So there you have it - I am still officially overweight, according to the WHR calculation, and that is this week's reason to lose weight.

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Daily Record
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Weight: 142.6

BF: Kashi Granola Bar, coffee w/cream
Lunch: Not sure, meeting a friend for lunch
Supper: Kickin' Chicken, rice, stir-fried veggies

Planned Workout: Lower Body strength & 45 min walk on treadmill

Tuesday, March 18, 2008

I confess...

I have to confess that I did not do my workout last night. I ended up with a headache yesterday afternoon, which was still hanging on by the end of the day. I knew I didn't feel up to the C25K session, but I thought I would at least get in a walk on the treadmill...But there I was, sitting on the couch, cuddled up with both cats...And I stayed there.

Confession #2 - I had dessert last night. I grilled some pineapple slices in the grill pan, topped with a little bit of Nutella and some frozen yogurt. So I really should have exercised.

I'm a little disappointed in myself, but I just didn't seem to have it in me last night to get up and do it. But, missing one workout shouldn't be a disaster. I think I've done pretty well at sticking to my exercise schedule over the past few months. I'll just have to make up for it tonight.

I had recorded Paul McKenna's I Can Make You Thin on Sunday night, so I watched it last night while snuggled up with the cats. So far, it's not anything ground-breaking as far as I can see. Very common sense advice. There were four golden rules:

1. When you're hungry, eat.
2. Eat what you want, not what you think you should.
3. Eat consciously.
4. When you think you're full, stop eating.

So, let's road test all of this in JavaChick-land.

When you're hungry, eat
The idea here is not to starve yourself. Starving yourself does not accomplish anything. It can cause you to binge, it can slow down your metabolism, and let's face it - you won't be happy if you're starving.

I think I do pretty much follow this rule. I bring lunch and snacks with me to work so that I will have good, healthy options available to me. I know that if I get too hungry, I am likely to make poor choices.

The caveat with this one is that you need to recognize whether what you are feeling is true hunger, or something else.


Eat what you want, not what you think you should
I'm sort of iffy on this one...I do agree, but I think some boundaries are needed here.

The idea is that you should eat the foods that you enjoy, in proper amounts. Again, you're not going to be happy if you're eating foods you don't enjoy, denying yourself the things that you really want. I do agree with this, however, I do think a person needs to think about eating healthfully.

For me, this means that I try to build meals around healthy foods that I enjoy. Let's face it, no matter how much I might like brownies, they don't make a healthy meal, even if I am exercising portion control. There needs to be some awareness, some education about what it means to eat a healthy diet. It doesn't have to mean eating food you don't like, but it will probably take effort and planning.

I also find there are some foods I just have to stay away from, because if those foods are there in my kitchen I can't seem to exercise any kind of control. And let's face it - those foods are usually things that are not good for me.


Eat consciously
The idea here is to pay attention to your food. Focus on what you are eating. Don't watch TV, read, work while you are eating. Experience and enjoy what you are eating. Put your fork and knife down in between each bite and chew slowly.

This is something that I have to admit I don't really do. I tend to eat in front of the TV, while reading, while working. But. I don't really think that eating too fast is my problem. I've always been a slow eater, and I'm usually still finishing off my meal long after everyone else is finished. I've always been that way. I remember when I started high school, we were supposed to be able to finish our lunch in 15 minutes, and then go outside. That was really hard for me.

Still, I suppose I could give it a try and see if it makes any difference.


When you think you're full, stop eating
I think I do okay with this one as well. When we eat out at a restaurant, I rarely finish everything on my plate. I am pretty good at knowing when I've had enough food. At home, I usually do eat everything on my plate, but then, at home, I've usually served myself. We refer to JavaChick-sized servings and Moon-sized servings, because there tends to be quite a difference in our serving sizes.

Honestly, for me I don't really think meals are the issue. I think it's more the grazing and snacking that happens in between meals. And my chocolate addiction.

Anyway, I will be interested to see what Mr. McKenna has to say in upcoming shows about emotional eating and how to deal with cravings.

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Daily Record
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Weight: 143.9

BF: Kashi Seven Whole Grain & Almond Granola Bar, coffee w/cream, grapes
Lunch: raw cauliflower, ww pita, hummus
Snack: yogurt & berries
Supper: Chili

Monday, March 17, 2008

Another Monday...

The weekend flew by, as usual.

Saturday I finally got out and exchanged my sneakers at The Running Room; they had some new stock so there were a couple more pairs in my size to try. I did a couple of other errands, picked up groceries and headed home.

In the afternoon I did my first Couch-to-5K Week 4 session...I have to say I didn't enjoy it much, but I got through it. Then I did a 20 minute yoga DVD.

Yesterday I was extremely lazy. Crawled out of bed around 9 am, made myself breakfast and a pot of coffee, sat myself down on the couch with Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Piccoult. I stayed there for most of the day. I did get up and do my Crunch Cardio Sculpt DVD and a short walk on the treadmill. I also got a few things ready for the work week. But mostly I sat on the couch and read. That makes two weekends in a row. Enjoyable, but I end up not getting much of anything done around the house.

Just as dusk started to fall yesterday, I saw our herd of deer up on the hill. I watched them for quite a while (instead of washing dishes, which is what I should have been doing). The started to move around behind the house, so I went out on our deck, as quietly as I could, and ended up having a really good view of them for quite a while. Eventually I went back in because I was getting cold, but they were still there on the hill, watching me watching them. A few times now I've seen them go running up or down the hill - it's quite something to see those white tails flashing.

Going to try to get back to tracking my points this week, even though I didn't over the weekend. Really hoping to have another good week.

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Daily Record
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Weight: 143 lb

BF: 1 egg, scrambled with bean sprouts
Lunch: raw cauliflower, hummus, whole wheat pita
Snack: 1/2 cup raspberries & 1/2 cup vanilla yogurt
Supper: PC Curry sauce with chicken, bell peppers, cauliflower and PC Naan.

Planned workout: C25K 4.2

Friday, March 14, 2008

JavaChick's Gym

 
Weight: 141.8 (-1 lb)

Do you see that? I actually lost a whole pound! It's been ages since that has happened. To be honest, I'm afraid that it's some kind of fluke and by next week it will all come back. Weight loss is a roller coaster ride I tell you, just not a very fun one.

Anyway, to recap the week: I did not track points. For some reason, I just couldn't be bothered. I did try to be mindful of what I was eating, to watch my portions and so on. Do you think maybe I'm on to something? Too soon to tell. I like the concept of "mindful eating", I've just never felt that I was quite able to get it right.

On the exercise front, I spent 335 minutes working out; 270 minutes of that was cardio. I walked/ran 11.27 miles on the treadmill and completed Week 3 of Couch-to-5K. I checked out Week 4 and I'm a little scared, but we shall see.

Continuing with picture week, I thought maybe I'd post pictures of my workout space. I'm pretty happy with my little "home gym" area, and I'm glad that I held my ground when we were partitioning off rooms in our basement. I'm generally a pretty easy-going person, but I was adamant that I wanted space. I got it, and I'm grateful to have it.

Here is the TV on the new stand that we got so that I can see the TV while on the treadmill. There is space to store my workout DVDs in the cabinet. Off to the side, there is space for the treadmill when it needs to be folded up and out of the way.
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The old TV stand now stores exercise equipment. I have a little stereo so I can listen to music on the treadmill, or I can watch DVDs. I like to watch TV shows on DVD while on the treadmill. No commercials!
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Here is the treadmill, set up and ready to go. It's right by the fireplace, but I will usually open the window while on the treadmill. Then I am also entertained by the cats zooming in and out through their cat door (see photo above). We have an enclosure in the yard for them so they can go out and get some fresh air.
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Now you've seen where I'm spending all of those exercise minutes every week. When the weather warms up, I'm sure I'll take some of the walking/running outdoors, but for now this is my hangout.

Thursday, March 13, 2008

Fitness equipment the whole family can use!

Since it seems to be picture week here on the JavaChick blog, and exercise has been my focus more than food this week, I'm dragging out some older photos. Here are my Fabulous Felines, around 4 - 5 months old, demonstrating the usefulness of exercise mats...

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***I do so adore my boys!***

So, last night was good. Leftovers for supper, my final C25K session for the week. I made it through the Week 3 training schedule. Might repeat it, but I'll decide once I review the Week 4 schedule and see what that looks like.

I did brave the scale this morning and was pleasantly surprised to see 142 lb. That made me very happy. I will weigh in tomorrow morning as well, since that is technically my official weigh-in day, but I am reserving the right to take today's weight as my weigh-in for the week.

Tonight I won't get in a workout. We are out to dinner at our favourite restaurant for a friend's birthday. It's Thai food, my favourite thing being curry. Not diet-friendly, but oh-so-good.

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Wednesday Wildlife

I can't help myself - whenever I see deer, I drop everything and run for the camera. This was yesterday afternoon.

Here we come, over the hill
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Let's go see what's over here!
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Guess the road stops here...
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The cats also set my shutter finger to twitching.

Ya gots ta wait yo turn!
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Last nights supper was a what can I find in the fridge/freezer/cupboard deal. What I found was chicken breasts, homemade marinara sauce (freezer), onions & yellow bell pepper (fridge), penne pasta (cupboard). So, I sauteed thinly sliced onions & bell pepper in olive oil, cut the chicken into bite sized pieces, tossed in a bit of lemon juice, red pepper flakes, basil, then threw that in the pan with the onions & peppers. Gave that a few minutes, then added the marinara sauce. Cooked some penne, tossed it all together and served it with a side of raw veggies. It was quite tasty, and even better, there are leftovers to reheat for tonight!

Workout was lower body (squats, lunges, etc) and 2 miles on the treadmill.

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

Tuesday - sunny & cold

I have to confess - I have not been tracking points this week. I did on Friday, and started to on Saturday...then I just sorta got behind and couldn't be bothered. Have not stepped on the scale either. Guess I'm having a week off. Still trying to be sensible about eating (except I keep having chocolate-attacks) and doing my workouts.

Last night, did the upper body portion of this DVD:

   Kathy Smith: Timesaver - Lift Weights to Lose Weight 2


Then did another C25K session, plus extra walking for 45 minutes of cardio.

Then I got ready for bed, snuggled in with the cats and started reading:

   The Mermaid Chair


Turned out the light around 11 pm and passed out. Morning felt like it came too early, as usual. I was cold this morning, so I'm all dressed for winter again - was hoping I was finished with that, but I guess I was getting ahead of myself. Wearing my fancy boots though, so that makes me happy.

Monday, March 10, 2008

Monday ramblings....

 

This was my weekend:

   Love in the Time of Cholera

   I Heard That Song Before

   Remember Me?

Yeah. So finally finished Love in the Time of Cholera, then knocked off a couple of light reads. Also, gave in to monthly chocolate cravings.

Could have been worse though; I did get in my workouts. Did a C25K session on Saturday (back to week 3 again, went much better this time while wearing my old sneakers; guess I made the right call and that new pair has to go back) plus extra walking for a total of 60 minutes of cardio, and then did a 20 min yoga workout. Kinda felt like I overdid it just a wee bit though. Yesterday did my Pilates-Yoga blend DVD, plus 30 mins easy walking on the treadmill.

Not saying that makes up for all the chocolate I ate, but at least it's something.

This week - have dinner out at our favourite restaurant on Thursday. It's Thai food, and I can never manage to go there and not stuff myself. So I may do my weigh in on Thursday morning instead of Friday. Also means I won't get in a workout Thursday evening.

One good thing - with the time change, when George starts poking at me to wake up, it's now around 7 am instead of 6 am...Though as it starts to get light earlier and earlier, the morning wakeup call will adjust accordingly.

Oh, and funny - crawled into bed to read last night and Fred was already snoozing there. He snuggled with me for a while, eventually decided it was time to move to my clothes hamper (which is no longer a hamper, it's a kitty napping spot, the lid is always up so he can jump in any time), then I woke up at some point during the night because he had moved to the pillow above my head and was insistently tapping on my head so I would wake up and give him some attention. When we left for work this morning, one cat was on each bed - it's like the get their own rooms during the day while we're gone.

If my life is not revolving around what I'm eating and when I'm exercising, it's revolving around my cats. :)

Friday, March 7, 2008

Moonlighting

 
Weight: 142.8 (-0.3)

I keep thinking this whole weight loss thing feels like a second job. It seems to use up a good portion of my spare time and energy. Meal planning, shopping, cooking, exercising...I'm tracking stats on what I eat, how much exercise I get, how many points are left over at the end of my Weight Watchers week and, now, how many miles I'm walking on the treadmill. All of this in the hope that I will discover the key that will unlock the magical, mystical secret of what I need to do to lose weight.

So how did I do this week? Well the eating was not quite up to par due to a few things that should never have made their way into the house - namely: Pringle's (Moon) and Cadbury Chocolate Eggs (me, all me). The points tracker is telling me I have 7.5 unused Flex Points, but there was a lot of estimating going on so I should probably just consider those to be gone.

As for exercise, 6 out of 7 days were workout days. I spent 380 minutes exercising, including 11.1 miles on the treadmill and 3 non-treadmill workouts. I'm feeling like that's plenty for one week.

Beautiful sunny day today, but the forecast for the weekend is nasty - rain, freezing rain, and snow. I was planning to do some shopping tomorrow, including taking my sneakers back to the Running Room and hopefully exchanging for a new pair. Now I'm wishing I had brought them to work with me so I could do it today at lunch time. Oh well, hopefully if I get out and get things done fairly early tomorrow it won't be too bad. Ugh. Early & Saturday just do not go together. I like my Saturday mornings to be leisurely.

And by the way - Anyone watch Jericho? I had this week's episode recorded and just watched it last night. Bonnie! Nooooooo!

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Daily Record
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BF: Toast w/PB, coffee w/cream
Lunch: Sagrati's Greek Fest on WW Wrap
Supper: Takeout from Thai Hut

Planned workout: Rest day!

Thursday, March 6, 2008

Tapped out

 
I don't have much to say today; must have used all my words yesterday. And really, it was an uneventful day: work, eat, sit on couch, walk on treadmill, shower, bed, book, sleep. That was pretty much it.

Sunny day today though! I may be stuck behind a desk, but I'd still rather see sun shining through the window than the nasty, wind-blown freezing-rain we were getting last night.

Like doing quizzes to find out how healthy you are? Take the heart age quiz at: loveyourheart.ca

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Daily Record
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Weight: 142.7

BF: toast w/PB, coffee w/cream
Lunch: raw cauliflower, ww pita, hummus
Snack: vanilla yogurt & raspberries
Supper: ??

Planned Workout:
   Fat Burning Fusion

Wednesday, March 5, 2008

Reasons to Lose Weight - #8

 
I knew it: Don't Stop!

If you are too lazy to follow the link, the gist of it is: some guy (Paul Williams of the University of California at Berkeley) did a study which showed that "interrupting an exercise program can cause you to gain weight that won't come off easily even after you resume training." In order to lose that weight, you will likely have to exercise more than you did in your previous routine. Some handy numbers: People who started running again after a break didn't lose weight until their mileage "exceeded 20 miles per week in men, and 10 miles per week in women."

I've had this fear in the back of my mind for a while now. For a long time, I blamed the fact that I couldn't lose weight on my less-than-regular exercise schedule. Eventually, when I got into a regular schedule I was a little disappointed to find out that it didn't have all that much effect on the scale. But I kept with it, still hoping that eventually the magical-mysterious weight-loss-effect would kick in. Plus, I felt good. It felt like an accomplishment to see my strength and stamina increase, to try out new things. I felt strong. I felt energized. I was hooked.

At some point after this I came across a small article in some magazine or other that talked about getting into the fitness habit for life. Many people struggle with getting into a regular routine, stopping and starting many times. But, according to this article, if you manage to stick to a regular workout schedule for 2 years, you are likely to continue. They called those people "Terminators". At that point, I qualified for that "terminator" status, and I felt proud.

Edit: I did a search on the "terminator" thing and found this: Workout motivation: will you be back?. It's an interesting little article, take a peek.

But the question of weight loss remained. If I hadn't really lost weight when I finally started exercising on a regular basis, what would happen if for some reason I were to stop exercising? Would I suddenly gain all kinds of weight? It was scary to contemplate.

Not that I planned on stopping of course, but you never know what life has in store. For example - the past couple of years I've had. The office I'd worked at for seven years being closed, having to find and start a new job. Suddenly there is a new routine to adjust to, and I had to figure out how to fit in my workouts.

I had been going to the gym on my lunch hour, but that was no longer feasible. So I decided to try exercising when I got home from work. But somehow I just couldn't get into a routine and I was missing too many workouts. So, I started getting up early in the morning. Anyone who knows me would see this as being so far out of character it isn't funny. I do not get out of bed one second earlier than i have to. Just doesn't happen. When I told my Mom what I was doing she said: Wow! You must really be addicted to exercise. I didn't say it, but I was thinking: I'm afraid if I stop I'll gain 50 pounds.

I have since switched to evening workouts. After a while the early mornings started to make me cranky and resentful. As a result, I've been doing longer workouts because I'm not in a rush. I hoped maybe this would finally be the missing piece of the puzzle to start dropping those pounds - more exercise!

Now I wonder if I'm just digging a deeper hole for myself.

Where would I be if for some reason I had to stop exercising? I once managed to injure myself by slipping and coming down on the side of my rib cage against the edge of the bath tub. I had soft tissue damage and probably a cracked rib. Anything other than staying still hurt. It took me a couple of months before I could start easing into activity again.

You never know what's going to happen. I would hate to see my current weight as a starting place to gaining more pounds. 145 is the highest number I've ever seen on the scale in my life - I don't want it to ever go any higher. So, by a twisted and convoluted route, we have reached this week's reason to lose weight: I don't ever want to add more pounds to my current weight. If at some point I were to end up in a position where I could not exercise, and I were to gain pounds that are going to be even harder to lose, I'd like to be starting out at a lower number, thank you very much.

I will take a recommendation from the study. I will try to consistently get in at least 10 miles of walking/running every week, in addition to my strength training (and yoga and/or Pilates when I can fit it in). I am curious to see if it will make a difference.

I just hope that once I lose the weight I can maybe reduce the amount of time I spend working out and still maintain. Cause I just don't know if I can keep up the amount of time I'm putting in for the rest of my life.

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Daily Record
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Weight: 142.2

BF: WW Toast w/PB, cofee w/cream
Lunch: Tortellini Stew
Snack: Yogurt w/raspberries
Supper: ??

Planned Workout: C25K session

Tuesday, March 4, 2008

Wonders never cease

So, after Moon's first experience with the treadmill (on Feb 24), he managed to avoid a return engagement. Every so often I would gently inquire if he was going to use the treadmill today, but somehow there was always a reason not to.

Today, driving home from work, out of the blue he says when we get home he's going to grab a snack and run down to the treadmill. Shock. Shocked, I tell you. Could have knocked me over with a feather. However, I decided that perhaps shock was not the appropriate reaction to respond with, so instead I said that was a good idea.

That changed my plans around a bit. I tend to prefer any attempt at running to be on a nearly empty stomach, so I was planning to do my C25K thing before supper, but I figured Moon would be hungry after the whole exercise thing, so I made supper instead.

The downside to that is: I was already kinda hungry and I ended up munching on this and that while I puttered around in the kitchen. The Flex Points are disappearing at a rapid pace this week.

I did get in my walk/run session though and I tried the new sneakers again. This time I went back to the week 2 session and I slowed the pace and the sneakers were still very uncomfortable. Actually, my feet went numb. Not nice at all. I forced myself to do 2 miles, but it wasn't fun. So, much as I hate returning things, they'll have to go back. Hopefully they can find something else for me.

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Daily Record
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Weight: 143.4

BF: yogurt & berries, coffee w/cream
Lunch: WW Pita, spicy hummus, raw cauliflower
Snack: grapes
Supper: Chili

Planned workout: Burn & Firm Pilates DVD

Monday, March 3, 2008

Monday...back to normal I think

Here is is Monday again. Put a bit of a dent in my Flex Points this weekend, so I'll have to behave for the rest of the week. I did get in two good workouts, but I am thinking at some point I need to take a weekend off from exercising and do a major house cleaning. I feel like it's closing in on me.

Sun is shining this morning, the snow is all sparkly and pretty. According to the forecast it is supposed to warm up today and stay warm for the rest of the week. We are also supposed to get a couple days of rain, which should make a nice mess. Hope we don't end up with another Boil Water Order.

I think that I am finally feeling better. I'm guessing the problem was anti-histamine withdrawal, if there is such a thing. I have seasonal allergies, dust mite allergies, asthma, extremely dry skin that is prone to eczema. In the past, the eczema would come and go, but a couple of years ago it came and stayed. I went to the doctor and got a prescription which helped until I used it all. The doctor didn't give me a refill on it and I couldn't be bothered to go back and sit around in a waiting room for 2 hours for another prescription. So I used hydro-cortisone cream, I took evening primrose oil capules, I moisturized, and finally, after reading that it might help, I started taking allergy pills.

Not that I never take allergy pills mind you, but I haven't had to take them for an extended period of time for quite a few years now. When I moved to Saint John, I found that my allergies didn't trouble me as much, so I would only need to take allergy pills at certain times.

Any-who, I'm not quite sure how long I have been taking them this time, but I know it's been quite a while. I'm not sure whether it was actually doing me any good or not, and I thought maybe it was time to take a break from the pills. So part way through last week, when I ran out, I stopped taking them. And started feeling sniffly, asthmatic, itchy and head-achey. It was not pleasant. I ended up buying more allergy pills on Saturday, just in case, but I think I have finally normalized. I hope.

Just wait, as soon as I post this, I'll be struck down by the Headache Monster and start sneezing again...

Does my life sound like fun or what?

Completely off topic - celebrity news heard on the radio this morning: Simon Cowell does not believe in marriage because after a year, the person you married will take you for everything you've got. Now first off: why exactly is this news-worthy? I'm sure Simon is not the first person to express this sentiment. Does anyone really care whether Simon Cowell wants to get married or not? And, while I generally think it's a pretty sad kind of attitude to have, maybe in Simon's case it's just as well. From what I have seen and heard of him (which, admittedly is not all that much) he seems like a bit of a jerk and I can't imagine why anyone would want to be married to him anyway. Just my two cents on a completely ridiculous news item.

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Daily Record
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Forgot to weigh myself

BF: yogurt w/berries, coffee w/cream
Lunch: Tortellini Stew
Snack: Grapes
Supper: Kickin' Chicken

Planned workout: C25K - not sure which version

Sunday, March 2, 2008

Weekend update...

Sad to say, Friday's enthusiasm faded away as I developed a headache in the morning that would not go away. I took Advil at lunch time. Still had the headache. Had hoped to do either a workout or some housecleaning on Friday night, but ended up sitting on the couch with my headache, then finally taking more Advil and going to bed.

The weather on Saturday was snowy...

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It wasn't too bad in the morning though, so I was able to get out and get my hair cut...
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...and get a new pair of sneakers.
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Not sure about the sneakers though. They only had 2 pairs in my size. I went with the Mizunos because that's what my last pair was and I really liked them. Tried them out on Saturday afternoon with my C25K Week 3 session and I was actually not very comfortable with them. Good thing about The Running Room though, I have 30 days to try them out indoors, and if I don't like them I can take them back.

The week 3 session was pretty challenging, honestly; I'm thinking of maybe alternating week 2 and week 3 for a couple of weeks to build up to it. Or maybe I was just trying to go to fast and I need to slow it down. The pace that was comfortable for a 60 or 90 second run may be too much for a 3 minute run until I get used to it. I'm not sure what to do there.

Anyway, I will give the sneakers another try tomorrow, taking it a bit easier one way or the other, and see how it goes.

Other than that, and my workout today, I got very little done this weekend. Feeling tired. Can't believe the weekend is pretty much over already.

Leaving you with one more picture of feeding time at the zoo...

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...and off to bed I go!