I was seduced by a giant chocolate muffin this morning, and you know what? Even though it wasn’t even very good, I ate it anyway.
aargh.
OK, positive notes: aside from horrible muffin, not a bad day so far. Even brought a fruit smoothie to work for a snack.
Did not walk to work because I was running late, (maybe not so positive).
I ordered GMAT study books this morning, I will book my test for June next payday. omg I am terrified of the math. I haven’t been in a math class since Gr. 10. I am going to have to find a tutor.
Working on trying to get the recommended 8 hours of sleep a night. It is harder than it sounds. Usually I find myself still wandering around after midnight - for no particular reason, just avoiding bed. And of course, that’s when I start poking around in the fridge. So the last few nights I have been carefully watching the clock and hitting the sack by 11pm. To my surprise a) I fall asleep and b) I wake up before the alarm. Now, I don’t want to get out of bed that early but I am awake, and instead of hitting ’snooze’ 6 or 8 times I do get up after only one or two pauses. That’s progress.
And today I did start paying attention to how much water I drink, and the answer is…not very much. So that’s another small step to take.
Tomorrow it is supposed to be a bit warmer - up to -5C. No promises, but I MIGHT walk to work. It’s only about 15 minutes and I don’t have to go anywhere during the day. There, back for lunch, there, home - an easy hour of walking inserted into the day.
Oof. I hate reality checks. In Nov I was at a conference, and I just got a chance to see the pics on Twitter (double oof). All I can say is that I really don’t think I look that big or bloated or lumpy. Even if the camera is adding 10 lbs…nope. I have to accept the photo evidence. Aargh.
I think I am going to have a bath and feel sorry for myself for the rest of the evening.
Also it appears I had really bad hair.
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Ok, started with a formal food log again, and tracking exercise impact as data not wishful thinking. Interestingly, snowshoeing calculates as almost exactly the same calorie burn as running at my pace ( read: slow). Uses more muscles, though, I think.
Weight did not go down this week, but it did not go up either so I am taking the win. Also, I ate mindfully for most of the week. Ok, I could have eaten less cheese and had less wine last night but so what? Into every life a little gorgonzola should ooze.
Horrors, I can’t find my nike ipod thingy! I am ready to try to start to build the mileage again and I need it! My ankle feels so much better I feel like a right twit for waiting so long to look after it. I should be able to start up the running program in Feb, and I will be right back at the beginning, I know. I looked up the cost of my gym, a fee that comes straight off my paycheque, and it is a lot less than I thought. Certainly that’s the only option for running for the next couple of months - no way do I want to be flopping my way between the mile high snowbanks.
Well, off to snowshoe on this very cold but sunny day. Snowshoeing is like walking in deep sand, and you have to adjust your gait a bit because the shoes are wide and long. If the snow is packed hard or not not too deep you can run in them, which requires a lot of effort and probably is not very good for your knees. I know people who race each winter but that would take the fun out of it for me, I think. I just enjoy being outside.
Well it is almost tropical outside today - it is -12C…lol…and, of course, snowing. I am getting ready to take the dog out on a long snowshoe run. We both need the exercise and while I can’t tell with him, I need to clear my head with a good dose of fresh air.
I am determined to finish off the den this weekend because it will also become my ‘exercise’ room. I am going to cancel my gym membership - I go about once a year anyway, and if I am not going to exercise I can easily do it here at home where it is free.
Yesterday I went out for lunch and had something called grilled vegetable pasta. It was a good idea gone wrong. It was like the chef just put all the ingredients on the plate and forgot to actually make the dish. There was a little bowl of sauce, a pile of angelhair pasta and then a pile of whole grilled veggies - a whole zuchinni, a portobello mushroom, 1/2 a tomato, 1/2 a green pepper. 1/2 a yellow pepper. It made lunch feel like so much work, having to cut up those huge chunks of food and by the time I did all that it wasn’t hot anymore. I told the waiter he should warn people about the level of effort required before they could eat. The only good thing was that I got my full serving of veg in one meal.
Well, off to play in the snow.
Thank goodness it is Thursday, I don’t think I could last much longer. The last two weeks have been quite the roller-coaster experience. Between family, TNB, and a whole raft of work stuff all hitting me at the same time I have been caught in a bit of a whirlwind. And you know, I don’t do drama well. I find high emotion very exhausting.
I have done ZERO hours of exercise this week. (Nada, unless you count bed sports, which while the most fun don’t really burn a lot of calories.) I am using the weather as an excuse - the -29 C air is keeping me indoors - but I know it is pure and simple sloth. On the plus side I am staying away from those big coffee shop muffins and french fries, two of my weaknesses. I read that an order of fries is minimum 500 calories. That is impossible to justify. Impossible.
Today I am taking the morning off to get my hair done, because I have two big public speaking events in the next week and I need the self-confidence boost. Tomorrow I am back at the laser clinic - the first appt didn’t seem to give me the results I was hoping for right away, but I may have been too optimistic. I will continue through the series of appts and report back. I pay for the time away from the office by having to stay late and work at home in the early morning, but I still feel like I am playing hooky.
Holy crap. -32. I am not sure but I think that this is close to when the C and F scales converge. Under any system it is freakin’ cold. During the brief 3 minute dog walk I think my forehead froze. Maybe it will have the same effect as botox.
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oh no.
It is 2 :31 am. Another really bad day coming up.
It does make me happy to fill in my daily food log with vegetables and fruit and other crunchy stuff. Not sure I am getting enough iron, etc. though. I am worried that I may be anemic, since I seem to have hit that time of life when my cycle is so erratic sometimes my ‘month’ is less than a week long. After a lifetime of being so regular I could almost predict it to the hour this is not welcome at all. So I have become one of the best customers at the health food store, stocking up on anything that looks like it might be good for me.
It is almost 10 pm, and I am getting caught up on things like ironing. (My life is so exciting I can hardly stand it.) The weatherguy keeps saying ‘the coldest air of the season is moving in tonight’…and the thermometer is dropping, dropping, dropping….I will be pulling out the super puffy ski pants to walk the dog. I am not sure he even wants to go outside tonight. It is a ’second day’ for exercise but I don’t know if I can do more than 20 minutes with the animal when it gets this cold.
I have found a new favourite tea, called chocolate chai - it is so nice, chicory and ginger and carob, slightly bitter with an exotic feel, not like hot chocolate but more like something you would sip at night at the edge of the desert. Or maybe that’s just the picture on the box…I know, I am SO easily influenced.
But overall, feeling pretty good about how I handled my day. I really hope I can get some sleep tonight though. I just do not function at all on less than 4 hours sleep. After a couple of days/night like this I will be nauseous and very nasty.
This reluctance to go to bed is going to cause me big problems, It is almost 1am, and I am wandering around finding excuses to stay up. This can’t be good, and I will pay for this tomorrow. I have just spent 20 minutes reading news sites and looking at old doonesbury comics. Why?
Bad stress is invading my dreams. This morning I woke up MAD because I was so angry in my dreams the emotion just carried forward. That’s not nice, sleep is supposed to be an escape….
Alright, down 1.6 lbs this week. I am not sure how meaningful that is, since that number bounced up and then back down over the 7 days. However, I will pat myself on the back and take the win.
Now I am going to make a turkey stew with lots of vegetables.
