Groundhog Day

Just a quick update. I am back from vacation, obviously. I ate way too much chocolate melting cake, naturally. It was a good week. Nothing like not having to plan or prepare a single meal for a week. Ashamedly, I wonder if that is what I actually liked the most. Quite possibly.

So now, the Y Not Be A Loser program at the ymca. The kick off was February 16. I weighed in with my team trainer on February 17. I have not weighed since. GASP! So here are some details about how this is going…

• my team trainer says not to weigh. I thought maybe that meant “don’t weigh except like once a week”. No. That means “don’t weigh until this program is over in April”. FOR REAL? This is a challenge for me, but yet like a new found freedom. I am enjoying it and I feel like it is better for me in the long run for various reasons.
• We have team workouts once a week. Today’s was strength. It was a good one. 4-6 days each week we should get a cardio workout of 45-60 minutes. And 2-3 strength workouts.
• They also want us to attend one cardio class each week. This is a challenge for me. I am not so much into classes because I am a horrible uncoordinated clod of a person. My EB (exercise buddy) wanted to do a cycle class for our one class, so last week I did that. I reached my goals in that class (don’t cry, don’t throw up, don’t require EMT’s to carry me out). However, I did not…COULD NOT…deal with the standing parts. I mean, isn’t that what that tiny little torture device called a seat is for? EB wants to do the cycle class again this week. Maybe. And maybe I will figure out the standing climbs and all that this time. Doubtful, but remotely possible I suppose.
• We are logging food on sparkpeople. I had to transition from fitday to sparkpeople because I forgot my fitday log-in information and if I had to start over, I may as well give sparkpeople a try. I like it much better.
• We are logging exercise on fitlinxx (the exercise logging thing that the Y has - and other gyms I assume).

My trainer is very anti-sugar. So that is a challenge to me because I was big into my frosted shredded mini wheats. But I will give this a chance and give it some thought.

One big difference between what I am doing now and what I have done in the past is VARIETY. I so easily get into an exercise rut and with the weekly group workouts and my EB, I find that I mix things up a lot more. My thinking is that this is going to be good for me. That it will keep my body in a state of confusion and will assist in weight loss. But I won’t know until APRIL since I am not supposed to weigh until then. 

So that is the current situation. This Y Not program has been pretty time consuming with the logging and all, so it is hard to get here as often. Going to try to catch up on reading later, though! Can’t wait to see how everyone is doing!

Ok. I am very distracted right now for various reasons. I haven’t been to the Y this week because my kids have been home every. single. day. And they are sort of too old for the child care but too young for the teen center. Excuses, I know. But anyway, eating has not been good either.

Mainly, we are supposed to leave Saturday for vacation. We are SUPPOSED to be flying out to get to Tampa to get on a cruise. Eleven of us. And the weather for this weekend is not looking good. As in more snow, ice, etc. YIKES 

So I am extremely preoccupied with all of this right now, but I hope to return here on February 15 ready to tackle this Y Not Be A Loser thing I signed myself up for at the Y and ready to get back to regular blogging and all that.

Catch up with y’all then!

Arrrrg! Too much lasagna yesterday!! But moving on…

Breakfast and lunch today: in control. Cereal, frozen diet thingie du jour, berries. Dinner is to be tomato soup with chicken and gorgonzola. I love this soup. Always have it with some sort of salad and this really nice whole wheat multigrain boulle that they have at walmart. Mmmm. So anyway, I forgot to mention Cooking Light’s fettuccine alfredo with bacon. How this is cooking light, I don’t know. I don’t question it. I do know that a serving is far less calories and fat than normal fettuccine alfredo. So anyway, I couldn’t find applewood smoked bacon. So I used an uncured bacon and I really liked it. I did not use the parsley. And used dried pasta instead of the fresh that it calls for. Also, I felt that the bacon drippings were too plentiful. So I dipped out a couple of tablespoons and used the rest. Very good. Served it with some chicken that I had cooked with blackening spices. Also some broccoli. I recommend trying this. Yummy.

Exercise today: my new exercise buddy is not wild about cardio machines. So I ended up cutting back to 20 minutes instead of 30. So we did 20 on the treadmill and 20 on the bikes. I ran a slight amount on the treadmill and it went better than it had in times past. Usually I get leg cramps on the treadmill if I run. I think I hold my feet weird on some treadmills. Maybe this one had a wider belt. Anyway, from there we did some upper body strength stuff and then some stretching. EB (exercise buddy) has another EB that is able to make it to the Y tomorrow. So I will not intrude there. I will just go and do more of an independent thing tomorrow. Probably a solid 30 on each of two cardio machines of some sort. Maybe three machines. You know, the lasagna and all. And as I type this, no joke, the song on the radio is “Fat Bottom Girls”. 

My brain is full of a mish-mosh of thoughts today. Paragraph form just ain’t happening…

• swimming…the title of this post was going to be “one stroke forward, two strokes back” but I figured that sounded obscene. Today did not go as well as Friday. Not as confident. Ended up having moments where I was a sputtering, gasping uncouth oaf of a person. %^&*@# swimming!!! But I try again on Friday.
• oh and about the swimming…at one point I thought sure that my heart was going to beat right out of my chest and I was going to have to retrieve it from the bottom of the lap pool. So I checked it…120. I run my heartrate up like crazy in cardio since I am not quite in shape and it doesn’t bother me and I can still even talk. So I guess it is the breathing. Ugh. The breathing.
• workout buddy - met up with someone today and worked out some together after swimming. I think my cardio pushes her and her strength stuff pushes me. She had me doing lunges and squats for the first time since last year. My legs are already hurting. If we stick together, we are likely to whip each other into shape.
• locker room - I had to use the grown up locker room today because I didn’t have my kids with me (which is my ticket to the nice family locker room with the huge private changing rooms). And I’ll just admit it…it was junior high all over again. I do NOT like communal changing. No. Never. Never ever ever. Do people really do this?
• food - cereal unmeasured, frozen diet thingie du jour, yogurt, and blackberries. Dinner will be lasagna, salad and bread because uncomplicated is the name of the game today because….
• I have to go to parent orientation AT THE MIDDLE SCHOOL today. If I get through this emotional trauma without chocolate it will be simply miraculous.

All 4 kids play basketball. Fortunately my 7 & 8 year olds are on the same team. So we had three games today. Then I was elbow deep in paper mache for a school project. Doesn’t have to be paper mache, but in adhering to the family policy on school projects…”mediocrity is NOT an option” we are making a paper mache alien which will have 100 wiggley eyes (for my son’s 100 days of school project). My daughter is working on a shadow box for her project on The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. My son is working on his pinewood derby car. Arrrggg! I got projects out the wazoo.

Tonight is the Latin Dance Party that I won tickets for. Have no idea if my husband is going with me. I suppose I should find that out so I can find someone else if he won’t go. We have no clue how to dance, but I really want to hear the latin band that is playing so I know I am going.

So, questionable as to whether exercise is going to happen today or not. Since basketball started, Saturdays and Sundays are crazy.

• breakfast - cereal, not measured
• lunch - frozen diet thingie du jour and Activiaaaaaa
• dinner will be chicken, mashed potatoes and green beans.
• exercise - doubt that it will happen

Ventured into the lap pool today like a big girl. Of course, I had my kids with me. They had a un-snow day today (as in there was only one place in the county that was icy and it was not here). So I took them all to the Y to swim. When I go alone, I figure people expect me to get down to business. But if my kids are with me in the lane, I can relax more because I don’t feel like I should be doing constant laps (which I can’t do yet).

After not swimming since early last summer, I am actually better than I was before. Because it is about 80% psychological. I have to relax and slow down. Last year, I kept pushing myself feeling like I had to get there fast. I refuse to let myself get trapped up in that now. So I have accomplished the goal I left off with last year. I can now swim the full length of the lap pool. I need to stay focused on the baby steps with this, so the plan for now is to just keep swimming…just keep swimming.  

Mondays and Fridays are the best days for swimming because there are more lanes open (and less really good swimmers to be intimidated by). I think on days when I swim, I am going to make it swimming only. I need a break from the elliptical/bike routine.

• breakfast: kids had a snow day, so I cooked. Bacon, eggs, and toast. Sooo bad, but it tasted sooo good.
• lunch: frozen diet thingie du jour (some sort of chicken ranch flat bread thing - NOT good)
• dinner: I am back into trying new recipes now that I am not working and have time to search for them. Tonight’s is Greek Pasta with Meatballs. Not sure what to have with it. Getting bored with salad.******my mom is here and I miss her slaw, so we had slaw with this. Had some Activiaaaaa after dinner. Why is it that I can’t just say activia without singing it? Activiaaaaa!!
• exercise: swimming (yay!)

***Ok…about the meatballs. First of all, I have not had that much lamb in my life. I think I may have had it once or twice at a Greek place years and years ago. Well, actually a decade ago. And now, these meatballs…I am not so sure I like lamb. The meatballs also have cinnamon. So maybe that was the problem. But I think it was mostly the lamb. So my recommendation on this recipe would be “don’t bother”. Unless you like lamb, of course. I don’t think I said the word “lamb” quite enough, so lamb lamb lamb. There.

Alright, I realize that I had grown accustomed to mass quantities of food since I was not maintaining, but actually GAINING. But jeez louise, when is this hunger going to back off a little?! Sheesh.

• breakfast non-measured chocolate frosted mini wheats
• lunch - frozen diet meal du jour and yogurt
• dinner - steak tips with mushroom gravy I was at the doctor’s office looking through a Cooking Light magazine and saw this. And being cold and icy and overall icky outside, I thought it was a good day for something belly-warming like this. Used whole wheat noodles and I don’t know why CL didn’t call for that in the first place because there is no reason to use traditional egg noodles with this dish. Other than that, I made it as written and I recommend it. My husband is deprived of his beloved beef because I am not wild about beef. This is something I can handle though and everyone liked it. Had it with sugar snap peas, salad and bread. Now time for some strawberries because I can’t seem to go a day without some sort of berries.
• exercise: 30 minutes elliptical, 30 minutes bike. A little bit of walking.

I am signing up for Y not be a loser at the YMCA. A little healthy competition is probably a good thing for me right now. And the good thing is that it starts like a day or two AFTER I get back from vacation in February. Thank goodness.

The last few days…same ol’ same ol’ pretty much.

Food today was good. Resisted A LOT of temptation to eat. No special event or anything. I just have an appetite the size of Jupiter right now. Sheesh.

At the Y: amping up to cardio settings on the elliptical and bike. Break a sweat, feel like I actually did something. The fat burning setting is lower intensity and did not make me feel like I was working hard. Running…arrrrg. I ran 1/3 of a mile today and my calves felt so tight and painful that I couldn’t even walk it out. Had to go sit down. Don’t know if it is too much salt or just my legs punishing me for not running for so long or what. Either way, ouch and grumble.

Good news is that today at the Y I saw someone who occasionally subbed at the school where I used to work. Much like me in various ways. Down to earth, ungirly, has four kids. Also struggles with weight and food and would love to have someone to run with, etc. Cool. So I hope this works out. She likes to play raquetball and asked me if I play. Uh, no. My hand-eye coordination is basically non-existant. BUT I am willing to try. I am forever in search of how to stay active and in shape without getting bored with the same ol’ routine. And raquetball is certainly NOT the same ol’ routine for me!

And I just won tickets for a local latin dance party. I’m not really sure what to wear. Oh, and there is that one little detail about how I DON’T KNOW HOW TO DANCE!! Too bad I am across the continent from tiny2b. I need HELP!!!!

I’m off to go get a youtube education on latin dance. Dios Mio!

There is the nice man who works at the Y, well everyone there is nice and that is why I like it but anyway… he always spoke to me last year and always remembered my name and commented on my progress. He is an older man, like a mentor. He was always so encouraging. So since I returned to the Y this year, I have kept my head hung in shame. Compared to last year, I have more pounds and less muscle/strength. So I have avoided Mr. Friendly because I feel like I have let him down. But he didn’t let me get by with it for long. Today he spoke to me USING MY NAME even though I haven’t been there for like six months and I have a totally different hairstyle. So anyway, now I know. He knows it is me. I was hoping he didn’t remember me but he does. So now I have some more accountability there. I don’t want to disappoint Mr. Friendly.

• breakfast - raisin bran, measured out - 1 serving
• lunch - frozen something or other from lean cuisine and berries
• dinner - cabbage stuff tonight because last night ended up being pizza instead
• 30 minutes elliptical
• 30 minutes bike
• 1 mile walking with the daily running excuse being that I had drank too much water and it was sloshing around in my stomach

I can’t wait to get in the lap pool. When I took the kids to the Y on Friday to swim, my daughter said her friend had commented “wow, your mom is good!”. You have to know the backstory here. I used to weigh about 202 pounds and worried that my kids would some day be ashamed of me. So even though I am not at the top of my game right now, I know that I am still someone who my kids can be proud of. Until they are teenagers anyway. 

I have ALL of my children (4) at home with me today (and Monday). And today my oldest has her friend with her. So my Y routine was a little different. I had them go to the teen center and the younger ones went to child watch for an hour while I put in my elliptical and bike time.

After that, we went to the pool. First of all, I was happy to put my real swimming suit on (you know, the kind that is actually made for swimming which also happens to be the only one I have that the chlorine at the Y will not basically dissolve). I am up some pounds since I last had it on last year, so I am relieved that it still fits ok. I did not make it into the lap pool today. Just swam back and forth in the family pool.

What I noticed is that there does not seem to be a huge difference between now and where I left off last year. So this is good and bad. The good part is that I can pick right back up where I was. The bad part is that that means that I really hadn’t gotten very far with my swimming last year. My approach this time is to slow it down, relax more, and try to keep my expectations low. Also, I need to figure out when I NEED to breathe instead of googling it and basing it on what it seems like other people do.

No walking or running yet, but we are having a break in the frigid weather so I think I am going to load the crew up again and go to the track.

• breakfast: chocolate mini wheats. Seriously, if they stop making these things I will weep.
• lunch: frozen boxed diet food of the day is….mushroom pizza, lean cuisine I think.
• dinner: will be similar to Whole Grain and Italian Sausage stuffed Cabbage The changes I make are that I layer it all into a casserole instead of dealing with stuffing the cabbage leaves. I also replace the porcini mushrooms in water with 2 cups of beefy onion soup from a mix. The porcinis always reminded me of beef broth and this is cheaper (although it adds more sodium).

I will also have some berries some time today. I am hooked on berries.

Yesterday I spent about 5 hours at the allergy doctor’s office getting allergy testing done. So no exercise. And dinner was Ethiopian (doro wat, some vegetable alecha with cabbage with carrots, and lentils with garlic and smoked paprika). All three cooked with butter, so not exactly health food. It is a rare occasion that I make Ethiopian though since we can’t get injera around here. So no worries.