It's a good thing that today is a scheduled rest day from working out because some soreness yesterday is significantly more painful this morning. I think I have shin splints. I'm not really sure why since my workouts returning from my "rest" week have gradually increased in intensity and I haven't done much running or hill walking at all.
Today, I'm feeling tired and worn out. Lots of staff complaints that I'm dealing with and trying to emotionally deflect (and instead, just resolve). Lots of work at the end of the semester. I have a supervisee (professional staff) whose attitude is his achilles heel. He's so fantastic in many other ways, but his approach, personality, and tendency to wear his emotions on his sleeve are causing problems. If he doesn't make changes soon, his reputation will be difficult to repair.
Also, my birthday is coming up. I feel the need to revisit my goals,
make some necessary adjustments and come out with some fabulous plan for
the next year. I think it's just habit. And the need to go go GO and do
do DO all the time.
34 is just 10 days away. I ain't
getting any younger. I kinda want to fill the next two years with all of
the things I never did or never thought I could do because I was too
unhealthy or too chunk-ariffic. Things like:
take a cruise
do the sprint triathalon
run more
bike outdoors
be a roller girl
I'm also scared shitless. Tri training starts in 2 and a half weeks,
and I've been nursing shin splints the past day and a half. I still
haven't run a 5k and after taking some time off from running, I'm not
sure I can run 2 miles.
And lets talk about a bit of a personal
problem: bras.
Yesterday, I recognized that my $10 Champion
sports bras from Target weren't doing anyone any favors. So, I get it.
I'll buy more of these even
though I hate to spend $40+ on a freakin' sports bra.
But a few
days earlier, I realized my band size on my regular bras shrunk, so I
went bra shopping. Unfortunately, my cup size has not. So now, because
the difference between my band and the fuller part of my chest
measurement is greater, I need a larger cup size. And you know what?
Said size is hard to find off the rack. 38 (almost a 36) DD/DDD instead of a 40D.
Not having completely
deflated boobs: wonderful.
Not being able to bra shop off the
rack: major suckage.
In the past, I've always been resistant to buddy workouts. I like to zone out, focus on what I'm doing and not have to worry about someone else. But, for the most part, over the past couple months, a former student and I get together Tuesday after work for a 4 mile walk outside and it's just fantastic. We talk about life, work, weight loss, health, running and the hour passes by SOOO quickly. I also tend to walk faster because we're talking and I'm not so bored.
It makes me wish our virtual EP community was not so geographically spread out, so I could walk with some of my EP buddies.
I'm trying to monitor my diet a little better. Even though my protein and carb consumption has been ace, my fat intake has been much lower than usual--ironic, since I just gave Tee suggestions on increasing her fat intake! I guess I've been relying heavily on skim milk, FF Greek yogurt and 1% cottage cheese these days! (The dairy has been a very satisfying protein source--and I've made sure to primarily purchase dairy without hormones and antibiotics.) Time for some nuts and avocado.
I've decided to modify my attempt at Cooking Light's Chicken with Lemons and Olives dish tonight... we'll see what the results are! In the meantime, I'm very excited for spin class tonight! I just hope we don't have another instructor trade-off!
Also, the scales are hovering around 234. Perhaps Friday's WI will be my wish of weighing in the 233 range!
Admittedly, last night, after running errands and doing my workout (in the cold, raw, rainy weather), I was just tired and wanted a hot bubble bath and soup--it didn't help that I stayed up until midnight on Sunday watching Taken on DVD with E.
The soup I ended up throwing together was simple, delicious and had a fair amount of protein. And it's a much healthier alternative to traditional cheesy soups. I got to soak in a hot tub o bubbles, and I was in bed with Cooking Light magazine long before 10pm.
Cheesy Cauliflower Soup
2 cups of cauliflower florets
1/2 oz of herbed goat cheese
1/2 cup of cottage cheese
1 cup of reduced sodium broth (I used beef since that's all I
had--you can use vegetable, mushroom or chicken broth)
pinch of red pepper flakes
freshly ground black pepper
Boil the cauliflower in the broth until fork tender. Add the cheeses
and spices and puree with a stick blender or toss it in a regular
blender.
The soup is pretty filling (I paired it with a toasted Arnold's sandwich thin) and only about 200 calories and has 25g of protein thanks to the cottage cheese, which serves as a thickener and makes it creamy without tasting cottage cheesy.
Use reduced sodium broth OR no salt added cottage cheese. Both are relatively easy to find, but if you use the full-salt version of both ingredients, this soup will likely taste too salty and result in increased scales the following day.
Now... this week's plan (COMPLETE!)
TUESDAY:
Dinner: cheesy cauliflower soup with oven-roasted sweet potato
"fries"
Workout: long outdoor walk with a friend
WEDNESDAY:
Dinner: lemony chicken with olives (a Cooking Light recipe),
served with cauliflower, green beans and some kinda of bean-y side
(lentils, garbanzos or white beans)
I mean no offense in telling this story. It's just a little snapshot on how I lived out this stereotype this weekend.
I bought my car on Saturday, anxious to get rid of the gas guzzling minivan and take advantage of the deals before they expired. Geico had told me what kind of $$ I was getting and confirmed that they mailed out the check Friday. I was also kinda in a rush because I have lots of nighttime work commitments this week and wasn't sure if I'd get to purchase a car and have the keys in hand before needing to return the rental Friday.
One should not be in a rush when making big financial decisions.
My intention was to put the down payment on my credit card, earning my alma mater the bonus points (such a cool program!) and buying time while the Geico check slowly made its way through the US Postal Service.
When I get to the finance part, they tell me they can only take $1500 of the $5500 down payment via credit card.
Uh... okay. Well, what should I go?
They said I could pay by check. No problem! I have the money in savings. As long as they don't process the check until Monday (confirmed) so I can transfer funds, it's all good.
Except I forgot something.
In the interest of being financially wise, I moved a bunch of my savings to a higher-yield CD and also put extra towards retirement (with this year's paycuts, my retirement contributions from me and my employer shrunk by 1%, so I wanted to sock away some extra to make up for that).
I had totally forgotten about it until Saturday evening when I finally got home and attempted to transfer funds.
Ruh-roh!
For the past two days I've been anxious that they'll repossess my car (despite having awesome credit aside from this financial flake-out) or hate me or I'll get charged hundreds of dollars in inconvenience and idiot fees.
I just called the financial dude at Honda. He's checking with his CFO to see whether they can wait until my Geico check comes in and I can either sign that over to them or we'll just redo the loan application to compensate for the down payment I thought I had but didn't. (UPDATE: he just called. I have to go back tonight to redo the loan application.)
The kicker is: I should have just stuck with putting a $1500 down payment on my credit card. With an interest rate of 1.9%, it doesn't really make too much sense to put a larger down payment anyway.
Argh!
In other news, despite making 2 batches of cupcakes and a batch of these amazing beer brownies and despite E's stepfather choosing a Chinese buffet (gag!) for his birthday dinner, the scales are down almost another pound already.
At the Chinese buffet, I had 2 steamed shrimp dumplings, 1 piece of sushi, 1/4 cup of rice, a bunch of steamed shrimp, some fruit, 1 oz of pork, a piece of a chili octopus dish and tons and tons of water. I've eaten 1 brownie and a half of each of the two types of cupcakes. None of the food at the buffet was particularly enjoyable, but it wasn't my birthday party.
This week's plan:
I have NOT had time to plan dinners this week. That's on tonight's agenda. (Tonight's dinner will likely be take-out or a Lean Cuisine that I pick up after going to Honda and the gym.)
Goal: Friday's WI under 234.
Breakfasts: either an egg sandwich made with Arnold's sandwich thins and Egg Beaters (maybe 1/2 a serving of cheese or Laughing Cow cheese wedge) or oatmeal pumped up with protein powder or 1/4 cup of egg whites.
Snacks: one of the following
raw veggies and 2 TBS hummus
apple
pear
1/2 cup berries with 1/2 cup FF Greek yogurt
sugar free Jello with berries and FF Reddi Whip
sugar free pudding with berries and FF Reddi Whip
FF Greek yogurt with unsweetened cocoa powder and Splenda
1/2 cup 1% cottage cheese
Smoothie made with cottage cheese, frozen fruit and skim milk (great pre-workout snack)
Lunches: one of the following
egg white omelet with lots of veggies and ham, with a side salad (or steamed veggies) and 1 slice of multigrain toast
turkey on light wheat bread with side salad or steamed veggies
large mixed green salad w/carrots, cuke, tomatoes, grilled chicken, olives, chickpeas (or kidney beans) and balsamic (or salsa)
whatever the "balanced plate" option is at the campus dining hall
MONDAY:
Dinner:
Workout: run & weights
PM plans: go to Honda with my tail between my legs
TUESDAY:
Dinner:
Workout: long outdoor walk with friend
PM plans: program at work
WEDNESDAY:
Dinner:
Workout: spin & abs class, if E doesn't come over (if he does come over, morning run and weights)
Ha! Down to 235.2 despite indulging in a skinny piece of triple chocolate layer cake at last night's banquet. As a result, I skipped the evening snack and was a tad bit hungry as I drifted off to sleep, but I convinced myself it was the extra weight burning off and soon drifted off and slept like a baby.
Actually... where'd that phrase come from? Have you ever really seen a baby sleep peacefully through this night? Toddler maybe. Baby no.
Anyway, once I get a chance to crop and post it, there will be a pic of me in my gloriously inexpensive Target party dress. For now, off to spin and then car shopping. Maybe a shower and snack in the middle of all of that...
I didn't WI this morning. I'm saving it for tomorrow. Why? Because I know the turkey sandwich I had at lunch and the Chicken Ensalata from Baja Fresh that I had at dinner put my sodium through the roof and resulted in water retention. Until then, I was on mark to meet my goal for the week by losing 1.6 lbs, be at 235-even and down a total of 60lbs from my highest weight. So, I'm drinking lots of water today and weighing in tomorrow. I still may not hit that goal, but--in my head at least--it will be a more fair and accurate WI.
Yesterday was a perfect example of being able to indulge a bit and still meet my calorie goal. I consumed 1262 calories yesterday. They were from:
BREAKFAST (225 calories):
Cordon Blue Breakfast Wrap (1 low carb tortilla, 1/4 cup of Egg Beaters, 1 TBS Blue Cheese crumbles, 1 TBS reduced fat cheddar, 1 slice of lean ham) and decaf coffee with half and half
SNACK 1 (102 calories):
1/2 cup of FF Greek Yogurt with 1/2 cup of canned peaches in Splenda (the peaches were 35 calories instead of the typical 50+)
LUNCH (385 calories):
4 oz turkey with mustard, lettuce, tomato and pickles on Healthy Life Wheat Bread (nice, light, fluffy bread with tons of fiber and only 70 calories for 2 slices), 1.5 cups of steamed cauliflower, half a slice of cake for a colleague's birthday
SNACK 2 (185 calories)
smoothie made with 4 oz skim milk, 1/2 cup of FF Greek yogurt, 1/2 cup of fresh strawberries, 1 scoop of Aria Vanilla Protein Powder and tons of ice.
DINNER (365 calories):
3/4 of Baja Fresh's Chicken Ensalata with salsa instead of dressing, 1/2 an order of the complimentary chips and 1/2 an order of guac (E and I split it)
I didn't finish the salad because I was full--it wasn't an attempt to save calories!
Sadly, it also resulted in consuming about 4000mg of sodium! Even drinking 10 glasses of water throughout the day yesterday couldn't stop that damage!
Yesterday was the first day that I realized that I may very well find myself down at least 75lbs. For some reason, I haven't been able to wrap my head around a 100lb loss yet (even though my goal is at least 120lbs), but 75 certainly seems doable and also feels like a huge accomplishment. People are noticing again too... I had two colleagues comment on my weight loss yesterday. And tonight, I have an awards ceremony for our student staff and will be wearing a new dress from Target in size 16. Typically, Target sizes run small, so I have to buy a size bigger than what I am. This time, I got to purchase a size smaller!
I am trying to use this focus, determination and commitment when navigating some challenging food & social situations this weekend. They are:
awards banquet dinner with student staff tonight
running tons of errands and attempting to buy a car tomorrow means eating on the run
E & I have a DQ date planned for Saturday night--our first of the season
Birthday celebration for E's stepdad: I'm making cupcakes or beer brownies
I may postpone the DQ date and save it as a birthday splurge due to all of the other challenges.
More good news: E's mom said that I should go to the other dealer, because it seemed like a really good deal and more convenient for me. She was quite nice about it, but the subtext seemed to be: I won't make much commission off of that anyway!
great workout yesterday (45 minute brisk walk, followed by 45 minute spin class)
despite indulging in the secretary's day brunch, I kept my calories under 1350 for the day (largely because I wasn't very hungry for dinner, so I stuck with a grande decaf nonfat misto and a cup of 1% no salt added cottage cheese). That made for EXCELLENT calcium intake yesterday!
Only one meeting today, so I can get admin work done--especially important since I spent most of yesterday with IT figuring out why my computer was breeding these little unknown documents on my desktop. I had to run a full scan of my virus software, a Malware program AND two different clean sweep programs before it was resolved.
did some online pricing for cars and sent the info to E's mom and said "This is what local places can offer me. Can your company match or better this offer?"
I hope she's not hurt or offended, especially if she ends up being my FMIL; however, it goes both ways. She should want to give me a good deal if I'm going to be her FDIL. Essentially, this other Honda place is offering me $3,000 off the sticker price, free oil changes and car washes for a year (or maybe it was 3--I can't remember) and 0.9% or 1.9% financing.
Today's plan should be a good one:
Breakfast: Egg Beater Cordon Blue! (Egg Beaters, lean ham, blue cheese crumbles on a low carb wrap--I baked it in the oven until the eggs were set. You can eat it like a pizza, quesadilla or tortilla roll-up.)
Snack: plain FF Greek yogurt with diced peach
Lunch: 4oz turkey on light wheat, salad with balsamic vinegar or salsa instead of dressing, small banana
Snack: smoothie made with FF Greek yogurt, skim milk, strawberries, protein powder, ice
Fitness: spin class, weights
Dinner: I've alotted myself 400 calories. Probably going to meet E at work for dinner (options: Baja Fresh salad with chicken, Baja Fresh Bare Style Burrito, steamed chicken and veggies with brown rice at a chinese take-out). Otherwise, I'm having chicken, cauliflower and sweet potato at home.
Snack: Jello with 1/2 cup of berries and FF Reddi Whip
Apparently, TOM bloat was just delayed. The scales have been up around 237 these days. Drinking tons of water today to stave it off. I wish I could say I also avoided the Administrative Professional's Day brunch, but sadly that was not the case. A sliver of a LF strawberry yogurt pie (devine!) and a 3x3 inch piece of coffee cake slid down my throat before I could say "skinny jeans!"
Who am I kidding? Even as a skinny kid my legs resembled tree trunks. Skinny jeans are likely not in my future. That's okay with me--I've always been a fan of a classic trouser or wide-leg cut anyway.
This car insurance stuff is going smoothly but is certainly time-consuming. Every day, I'm in contact with Geico as they let me know the progress of my claims. There's the auto adjuster, the total loss claims rep, the general case manager and the medical claims dude. And now, an insurance agent for the other victims is calling me to get information. Last night, I called E's mom and essentially told her that she should start preparing to wheel and deal. I told her what I wanted, we discussed how I could potentially get a good deal with financing (better than when I originally bought the car and I told her that I wasn't paying sticker price, given that I just gave them a pretty commission less than two years ago. I said, if she wanted me to get another car similar to the one that just saved both my and her son's life, she better start working her manager into cutting me a deal :)
I'm negotiating more this time. Last time, I paid sticker price for the car, even though I got a very good (at the time) finance rate, an extended warranty at cost, and $500 for my trade in, which was essentially a rust bucket with wheels (even Kelly's Blue Book valued it quite low). This time, I'm expecting the 0.9% or 1.9% financing and $2,000 off the sticker price. If they can transfer the extended warranty over to the next car or credit me for it since I didn't get the chance to use it once, I'll be pretty damn happy.
But... this is a weight loss blog. So... what am I doing about that? Um, not a lot. I've felt really tired lately (again, damn TOM), so I've been trying to get a solid 8 hours of zzzzzzs. Yesterday's calories were about 1350. My workout was cut short due to the need to get something notarized for insurance and overnight it.
Today will be better workout-wise. A 45-60 minute brisk walk, followed by spin and maybe even weights if my afternoon snack lets me hold out long enough for dinner.
So looking forward to the weekend... it's the end of the semester and work has been crazy. I'll take whatever peace and quiet I can get this weekend~!
Man... it seems like just Saturday I was singing about how easy this diet has been and the past day has been nothing but WANTING to eat but not knowing what I was craving and despite being perfectly full.
So. Annoying.
I passed the craving with water and later an herbal lavender tea, suspecting that PMS stress and crankiness was the cause. but not before mindless grazing on a couple handfuls of cereal as I realized that my cereal collection--about 7 unopened boxes--had all officially expired since I haven't really eaten cereal since last summer and fall. I'm not sure whether to trash them, donate them to a soup kitchen or keep them. After all, cereal doesn't really go bad, per se. Cleaning the kitchen and turning off the light were my visual cues that I Was Done.
My workout was equally lame. 30 minutes on the elliptical. The right side of my back and my right leg was so tight and in pain and uncomfortable. And TOM cramps are worse than usual, even spreading to my lower back. I decided that all of you who urged me to listen to my body were right. Also smart: starting slow. I did a fair amount of walking at work today, so I'm feeling okay about it.
My walking buddy bailed tonight (actually she rescheduled for Wednesday, so we're walking before spin), so I'm left doing a long walk by myself.
Food and schedule has been updated for multiple reasons:
BREAKFAST: Egg Beaters on Light Wheat Fiber One English Muffin, decaf coffee w/half & half
SNACK: apple
LUNCH: grilled chicken on large mixed green salad with 1/2 cup of beans and salsa instead of dressing, 2 TBS of guac
SNACK: 1/2 cup of 1% cottage cheese
EXERCISE: long walk (60 minutes/4 miles)
DINNER: chicken and cauliflower curry with sweet potato
SNACK: nonfat latte (decaf)
PM COMMITMENT: coffee date with student to discuss health/wellness--she requested it!
My fat intake is ridiculously low today: 24 grams total--only 17% of my 1171 calorie day. I may add 1/2 a TBS of peanut butter with my morning snack just to hold me over a little better.
Tonight, that coffee date will keep me from grazing. Another help: Lost, Glee and TBL are all on tonight. Gotta get the VCR ready!
Despite the fact that the scales showed a pretty impressive lost last
week (and still continue on a delightful decline), I have to admit that
I haven't been to the gym in more than a week. It started off as me
taking it easy and just going on a few walks, since I was still sore
from the accident, but my official planned return to the gym Thursday
was cancelled due to work. Friday I ran out of time. This weekend, I was
tired and cranky and just didn't feel like it.
Well, here is it Monday, and I'm still tired and a little cranky. I
suspect this is because I have not been to the gym.
I'm dreading it, but I WILL be going to the Total Body Conditioning
class tonight. And tomorrow I'm going on a long walk (and maybe also a
bike ride) outside since it's supposed to be beautiful. Wednesday is
spin & abs class with a weight circuit thrown in for good measure.
Thursday: another spin class. Friday, I'll take a well-deserved rest,
but it's back in the gym Saturday or Sunday for another workout (weights
& cardio).
I may not need to work out in order to make the scale budge, but I DO
need it to help my attitude improve.
Also, I've been slipping up with the no caffeine thing. This morning marked my return to caffeine free living.
