Spinning Round Like A Record Player

I decided to go back to my original goal list (see 7/5-post) and start all over again since I had an extended break. Week 1 goal was to input all food information into Fitday account and my calorie goal was 2000.

ACCOMPLISHED! While I no longer use FitDay because since July I had stumbled upon SparkPeople and really love the tracking features, meal planner, and an app for my phone. I did log all my intake into the account. It really did help with being accountable and there were a couple nights after dinner, I had spare calories and could have a treat. I also was able to keep my intake within my goal range calculated by the website (1620-1970).

I must have been feeling very ambitious this week because after reviewing my goal list I also accomplished the goals for Week 2- No soda and Week 3-Go to the gym 3 times. So looks like I’m going to move onto Week 4 which is going to be a tough one….8 hours of sleep each night!

It’s crazy how when I actually make time to do what I need to like meal planning, cooking at home or going to the gym. Life is so much less stressful and I make much better choices. I feel better. I look better. I guess its about time I put in some me time. I like me time.  

Oh I almost forgot about my loss update! Current Weight– 318.2

Ok…it’s been awhile since I last updated this in parts because I’ve been exceptionally busy and we didn’t have internet at the house for about two months.

I’ve gained since my last weigh-in, partially from the beginning of holiday season but mainly I haven’t been taking the time I used to prepare my meals and make sure that I wasn’t eating crap. Convenience vs healthy….the struggle that always happens for me. I would do well and prepackage healthy snacks and then they would run out and I’d start grabbing what I could on the fly. My weight this morning is 323 which I wasn’t too happy to see. I’m taking a few hours today to get things organized both in meal plans, shopping and really examining my schedule so this doesn’t keep occurring. I’ve been on this track before several times. You think this time its going to be different and then life catches up. Well no more excuses.

So…why have I been so busy?

Work. We’ve had a new training class start and the ramp up was filled with time sensitive projects and stress. When it was finally time to go home, I just wanted to sleep.

New boy. My own personal McDreamy. Literally, the guy is a neurosurgeon finishing up his fellowship. We’ve been dating for about two months now. His schedule is even more insane then mine so finding time usually means 10 PM dinners and late nights. For the past few weeks, he’s been picking up extra call nights and on the weekends traveling for the holiday or interviews so we haven’t see much of each other. Its hard and I know this is how his life is going to be so its getting examination and decision time. Is this the type of relationship I want?

So thats the short version with a lot of other things wrapped in too. Here’s a new pic…well from the last month. I can see a difference in my face (compare to picture in the About Me page). It is kind of deceiving though as I’ve changed my hairstyle. WOOT BANGS! Love them!

Sorry about that. I was running on radio silent for awhile. If you read my last post, you’ll see I’ve been dealing with some things with my family and it has taken a bit to get back into the swing of things.

So here’s a catch up: Last week’s weight was 323.1. This week’s weight was 324.0. I wasn’t surprised with that change as I did not do a very good job of following my meal plan. Main reason….I didn’t go to the grocery store so I was eating things that were available. A little part of my brain said, “You’re cheating anyways. Why not make it worth it?” I really think our brain is our greatest obstacle sometimes. And man it is stubborn to retraining. I’m back on track though this week so far and I’m feel good.

Signed up for my first 5k ever today. It’s taking place on 9/25 at a local winery. Its an evening run and I’m psyched and scared at the same time. I’ve never ran that long ever or, well, even close to that amount. Training starts on Monday. I found a 6 week training program. Details to come. I’m hoping that once I get this one under my belt, I will feel more confident in the one that I’m running in May. It’s the Warrior Dash. 5k + an obstacle course….Again, exciting but very very scary.

Alright…at this time, I will not make this week’s goal of getting 8 hours of sleep. Looks like I may need to combine that with next weeks as well.

Oh…I’m sure everyone was enthralled to hear the rest of the canoeing saga. It was great. There were 4 of us that went and well….it was relaxing, fun, and in general a great time with superb friends. Fingers crossed for one more outing this year. Perhaps some white water rafting in WV next year.

So it’s been a hard weekend. Last month my dad was in the hospital because his heart was racing and was beating out of sync. He was placed on meds and sent home. On Friday, he had a scheduled procedure to shock it back into the correct rhythm. While there for the procedure, he was complaining of chest tightness and being short of breath. He was immediately admitted and set for surgery on Monday. This weekend was spent back home then visiting him in the hospital and trying to get things done around the house for his return. All the go, go, go didn’t bode well for my food plan. It’s ok. Luckily I managed not to gain but I was very careful. This weekend of all weekend showed me that I can overcome stress eating. He had the procedure today and is doing well. He had a stint put in one artery that was 90% blocked and tomorrow he is having the shock treatment to fix the arithmea.

Today’s weighin: 325.0 Thats -3.0 from last week. Woot! And I finally have received my 3FC ticker

This week’s goal is three times at the gym. I don’t really feel like this should be an issue. As long as I’m pack my clothes, I don’t have any excuses. Last week, I made it there twice and felt fantastic afterwards. It’s really about making the choice to have time.

It’s getting ready to storm here so I’ll keep this brief.

I FEEL AMAZING! Yesterday and today I actually made it to the gym for some good ol’ sweaty hard work and I have so much energy now. I know moving is moving and more activity then you were doing before is admirable but there is just something so fulfilling when I come home ridiculously sweaty and my muscles are all loose. I just feel good.

Oh wow….scary thunder. Later gators!

So today was a good day. I stayed on track with my meal plans. I have noticed however that I am ravenous by time I go to make dinner and want to eat everything in site. I obviously need to time my meal better or eat an afternoon snack. When I’m that hungry, I make bad decisions.

I had an eye appointment today. Woot new frames!! And much needed contacts. I’ve been running on this one pair for over 6 months. I had to have my eyes dilated which really shot my afternoon. I got home and after trying to function, it started giving me a headache because I couldn’t see any details. I decided to lay down for a few. Cue 2.5 hours later, I woke up. Maybe a sign I need more sleep?

Work was good and I was asked to complete a special project today which was a nice ego boost. I feel them giving me more responsibility and pruning me for the next step. I wish there just weren’t so many hoops to jump through. As my mom says, “Patience and hardwork will get you where you want to go.”

The most stressful part of my day was this evening when I was informed that the canoe trip that has been a burr in my side since its inception was dealt another blow. After the date was initial changed to August so my best friend who lives in Atlanta could come up, it was moved back to the original date because her boyfriends family is coming town and this will be their first meeting. Acceptable change of plans and plenty of forward notice. What I haven’t put was that when it was moved to August, it conflicted with another event I had previously made a commitment to. This put me in a very awkward situation as I couldn’t do both. Tempers flew and I felt put against the wall. I had to chose one set of friends over the other. So when it was moved back to its original date yesterday, I was excited. I could do both, no more odd situation.

Then this evening, my roommate who we had pushed off doing the trip for since June said she has decided to go to a concert with her boyfriend in Chicago. A concert that will be here in our town in September. We even talked about going to the show here which she no longer wants to go to as she’s already have seen it. I was so livid. We had sat down with both our calendars to pick out a day that worked. She had been busy most of June and I had very few weekends available either. We picked a day and then it was changed Awkward Situation 1 and now this.

I don’t really know how to tell her that this really hurts my feelings that plans with me are so dispensable. Part of me doesn’t even care anymore because this is one thing on top of others that le me know that she is not a good friend. Why do we keep these unhealthy relationships?

A bit of a rant…but much needed for my emotional health.

So weigh-in for today was 328. That’s down 3.6 pounds. Holla!

I was ecstatic with that number since we did have the family vacation this weekend and I was less then good. I tried to control my portions but the offerings were less then ideal even if they were delicious. I did a good job of logging my food in my fitday account (except for this weekend since there was no computer). I got to thinking and figured they must have an app for that. AND THEY DO!!! I chose Diet and Food Tracker. It basically does the same logging at FitDay for food and exercise but it also gives potential meal plans with grocery lists that you can customize online. FOR FREE!! No excuses now because if there is one thing I always have with me, it is my phone.

A little bit of a reflection about how logging my intake went…. I know I was more conscious of my efforts because I didn’t want to log I ate 4 potato chips, handful of nuts, slice of cheese and a cookie all while staring at the cupboard trying to decide what to make for dinner. I also was more conscious of what items I was putting into my body. I quickly realized that I consume too much fat and not enough protein and carbs. My balances were all off. One nice thing about this new app is that it shows you your daily goals in each of those categories and keeps a running tab on the day so you can plan your upcoming meals accordingly.

So Goal 2 is to quit the soda and caffeine. Not going to lie this is going to be hard. I’ve already started substituting ice/water for my daily stop at the work cafeteria for unlimited soda from 7AM-1:30PM. I’ve already started to get the mini-headache from the withdrawal. After writing that that, it makes me really think about what a small thing I think a soda is but what an effect it has on my body. This really is a withdrawal from a substance. My body had become dependent on a substance that was not necessary. That’s a little bit scary. Anyways, two advil popped and a prayer this doesn’t last for long.

I know that this goal will be hardest when going out with friends for mixed drinks as well as mornings after when all I crave is a McDonald’s Diet Coke. Seriously, I swear they have a special formula to keep you coming back. On a positive note, with the decreased sodium, I’m hoping to lose some water weight. I’m not a big regular cola fan so I’m not losing many calories from my typical total.

On a different topic, I’ve been having a hard time working in my 30 minutes a day. I know this shouldn’t be difficult but by time I get off work I’m just so tired. Worst thing is that I know once I get started into the routine, I will start to miss it when I’m not able to do it. I saw on the 3FC website that someone suggested the conservative couch to 5k program. I’m going to start training for that tomorrow. What good luck, Monday was an off day :).

Cheerio!

So I’ve been missing the past couple days, we had our extended family vacation this weekend. It was a lot of fun and great to have the whole family all together.

I tried to stay on my plan of eating properly by bringing healthy snacks and trying to eat only those. Of course, there was lots of tempting things as well. It was my mom’s birthday on the 3rd so we had ice cream cake to celebrate. I restrained and only had a small piece which really was just enough.

Exercise was easy when you have a nieces and three nephews that want you to play with them constantly.

We’ll see how it goes with the weigh in tomorrow. I’ve gone well with first weeks goal of inserting all food into the food diary. I’ve got to update it with items from this weekend.

So today was a crazy storm all around, I went back to my regular 6:30AM shift. Wouldn’t you guess that last night was the time I couldn’t fall asleep until 1AM. I woke up at 3AM so hot that I decided to move to the living room where its at least semi-air conditioned. It was a very restless night.

Work was ok. I got the new shift I wanted (Tues-Fri 8:00-6:30 PM) starting 7/18. The real fun came afterwards when I was supposed to pick up a dining room table and chairs from my cousin’s house. Rented the truck which I had for 75 minutes from Home Depot and then my friend who was supposed to help me bailed last minute. Grrrr. Deep breath…I’ll just make this work. Luckily someone was there to help me get the table in the truck. Still was a chore for the two of us. This set my timeframe all short and I hit rush hour traffic on the way back up= more rental fees. Ahhhh!! So much stress!!!

I’m proud of myself that I didn’t stress eat like I typically would. In the back of my mind, I felt the want for a Frostie but I just ignored it. I was pretty excited about that. I just chanted my mantra, “I have the key. It is my choice.”

Tomorrow I’m finally going to get to the grocery store but not for meal planning groceries. I need to pick up supplies for the family vacation this weekend. I’m in charge of breakfast. I’m having a hard time trying to plan a meal that my extended family would find acceptable but fits within my new lifestyle guidelines. We’ll see what materializes.

I had a late start this morning. Since I had an extra day off work I had a list of things I wanted to do. Dishes-Check. Cleaning-Nope. Grocery Shopping-Made a list.

My roommate got home around noon and we decided instead to go to the pool. YAY Sunshine! I figured I could knock out my 30 mins activity swimming or water walking. As we were heading out the door she asked if I had ate lunch yet and she wanted to go to Taco Bell. I had a mini freak out moment in my head. Oh no, I don’t have time to research and see what are some healthier menu options. I ended up getting a chicken quesadilla and hard taco meal. Afterwards, I found out that is approximately 750 calories. Ouch!!

On a good note, I downloaded an Calorie Counter app while at the pool that has regular foods as well as popular restaurant information. Even cooler is the barcode scanner that’ll automatically pull up the product and nutritional information. Helpful since it does have a diary function. Next time, I will be prepared.I had a late start this morning. Since I had an extra day off work I had a list of things I wanted to do.

I did 10 minutes of fitness walking in the shallow end and 20 minutes of swimming in the deep end during “Adult Swim” time. The blissful 15 minutes when the lifeguard goes on break and all the kiddies get out of the pool.

Right now I have a terrible headache so I’m going to lay down for a bit, I can’t tell if it’s from the sun, my swimsuit pulling on my neck, pr allergies. Anyways, I’ve taken some Advil, my allergy meds, and drinking lots of water.