Monday, with cold, driving rain, slowing the traffic on I-95 northbound to a crawl. Again, I'm in a Ralph Lauren pinstripe suit, taking a second job candidate to the company cafeteria for a job interview and luncheon. Again, I've been up since 4:05 AM as I needed to work my weak leg in the gym before this long day began.
Michele, yes, I tried to balance work with a little fun (saw the new Juliette Binoche film, "Clouds of Sils Maria" on Sunday afternoon). Seems that I have to schedule my fun to ensure that I get some.
Weigh-in: 142.6. Yes, I gain a pound and a half every weekend, spend the week taking it off. It's .3 pounds fewer than last Monday, though.
Today's Meals:
Breakfast: Ham and broccoli egg bake; steel-cut oatmeal with banana salices; blackberries & yogurt
Snack: Braeburn apple
Lunch: Baby arugula and watercress salad, roasted sweet potatoes, smoked turkey, sunflower seeds
Dinner: Ham & navy bean soup
Dessert: Cookies & cream Quest bar
At the gym: 20 minutes on Cybex arc trainer, resistance at seven, hill intervals; then Workout 1A of Strong Curves. This is now my third week on the Beginner program. One more week & then I move to Phase 2.
Tuesday, hectic. Six consecutive phone calls from 10 AM to noon. Emails blasting through, too.
Weigh-in: 143.6. Up, as I thought it might be, for TMI reasons.
Today's Meals:
Breakfast: Ham and broccoli egg bake; cranberry banana muffin; blueberries & cinnamon with yogurt
Snack: Braeburn apple
Lunch: Romaine & arugula salad, roasted vegetables, toasted pecans, goat cheese, half an avocado, Craisins
Dinner: Ham & navy bean soup
Dessert: Lemon Quest bar -- the only flavor I haven't liked, unconvincingly artificial, like a blast of sweetened Lemon Pledge on my palate
At the gym: 30 minutes on recumbent bike, hill intervals, resistance at eight, then 3 negative chinups and 3x10 inverted rows
Physical therapy: Okay, I regretted the bike time at 6 AM when 1:30 PM came along. The usual 12-minute warmup on the Cybex elliptical, hill program. I did 3x20 bodyweight squats alternating with 3x15 crunches, and my injured leg was too weak to kick up on the leg extension machine -- they just strapped 3-lb weights at my ankles, so 4x12 on those. I kicked back just fine, 4x12, at a higher weight than the PT had thought I could do. And finally 4x12 adductor/abductor exercises.
Wednesday, feeling persecuted, which is a high-level stress phase for me, indicating too many consecutive demands. Up at 4 AM to brown pork chops and drop into crockpot, since mother's coming while I'm off at work. She'll oversee floor refinishing tomorrow while I m working. Then early morning email to a company Group Vice President (which I'd fretted over all night beforehand) about why I did not consider his buddy further for a job opening. I was honest, which he'll either appreciate or make me pay for it, politically. Now at the office at 7:30 AM, working on a doc for an analyst in Rome before our 9 AM meeting. After which I need to prep for a phone interview.
Weigh-in: 143.3. Down, not by much. In other news, my dress pants for work ought to be at least one size and possibly two sizes smaller.
Today's Meals:
Breakfast: Two cranberry banana muffins, spread with almond butter; blueberries & cinnamon with yogurt
Snack: Braeburn apple, slightly bruised
Lunch: Baby arugula salad with tomatoes, cabbage, kale, grilled chicken breast
Dinner: Salsa verde pork chop, steamed broccoli, mushrooms
Dessert: Mixed Berry Bliss Quest bar (surprisingly high in calories for a fruit-flavored bar)
Today's Exercise:
I am nervous about getting to the gym tonight. Normally I'd do so in the morning, at about 5:15 AM, but I needed to start work early. Now when I get home, my mother will want to dine with me and socialize, and I'll want to get away to the gym first. Will I be able to manage that?
Yes, I did: At the gym, 20 minutes recumbent bike, resistance at eight, hills, then Workout 1B of Strong Curves, very tiring, left me nearly limping home. Again, I overdid it.
Thursday, with my mother in the house and the floor refinishers scheduled to return at 9 AM to fix what they botched. She'll oversee their work while I head off to physical therapy this afternoon. I have a lot of writing work to do today and just two meetings on WebEx.
No weigh-in this morning.
Today's Meals:
Breakfast: Cranberry banana muffin; spinach, broccoli & mushroom egg bake; blueberries & cinnamon with yogurt
Snack: Braeburn apple, a bit bruised
Lunch: Baby arugula salad with roasted vegetables, goat cheese, pistachios and walnuts, Craisins
Snack: Bag of Bare Fruit cinnamon apple chips (hungry from being overcaffeinated to the point that my hands shook and I felt cold)
Dinner: Salsa verde pork chop, steamed green beans, sweet potato
Dessert: Frozen Jell-O pudding cup, too old & icy
Physical therapy: The usual 12-minute warmup on the Cybex elliptical, hill program. Then 4x12 leg presses alternating with same calf raises and reverse crunches. Then 4x12 leg curls and leg extensions. And 3-lb weighted side leg raises for adduction for 3x12.
Planned on Pilates but got a really searing pain in the leg and would not have been able to walk there, even with a cane. And if the leg hurts that much, I'm not going to do more exercise, even if Pilates is mostly about lying on a mat.
I was proud of my choices/ planning yesterday. I didn't let a meeting derail my plans. Usually I go home about 3:30 and head to the gym or yoga by 4:00 or so. I had a meeting from 3:30-4:30 at another school yesterday. I thought I would go to the meeting, go home to change into my gym clothes and then go to the gym. Then I realized I was fooling myself and I'd easily talk myself out of the gym. So, I brought my gym stuff with me to the meeting, left at 4:45 when it hadn't wrapped up but everyone was just chatting and went straight to the gym before I could talk myself out of it. Last show of season one of Prison Break on the elliptical. Love that show!!! I was hungry after dinner but I didn't cave and my weight was down some. Phew. Still over my redline but at least I'm closer.
Michele, that's the reward for excellent planning. As for going hungry, as you did in the evening, I have a lot trouble with that, personally, as I'm divided on whether it's okay not to eat when I'm hungry. I'll let myself be hungry for a little while but if it escalates, I'm going to eat. I'm just trying not to have a whacked relationship with food.
Friday, just relieved to wake up without a searing pain inside my leg. Last night, I felt like someone was sawing off my leg below the knee. I think it has to do with how swelling reacts with the implanted metal plates and screws.
Today I am an addict squirming through withdrawal, suffering from self-denial. It's because of work stress. I don't like what I'm doing today. Sadly, I will be working this weekend to catch up on an important document written by two Italian analysts. Also, I'm worried about staffing up my department.
Weigh-in this morning: 141.4, pre-intake and pre-outtake. Will I gain a pound and a half over the weekend?
Today's Meals:
Breakfast: Cranberry banana muffin; spinach, broccoli & mushroom egg bake; cantaloupe with yogurt
Lunch: Baby arugula salad with roasted vegetables, walnuts and pistachios, half an avocado, goat cheese, Craisins
Smaller bag of Bare Fruit Granny Smith apple chips (this is a 50 calorie bag)
Snack: Sliced Braeburn apple, as my apple craving continued unslaked
Dinner: Chicken breast in Trader Joe's Masala simmering sauce with baby spinach and asparagus on brown rice
Dessert: Chocolate chip cookie dough Quest bar
Today's Exercise:
At the gym: 20 minutes on the recumbent bike, hill program, resistance dropped a bit, to seven; then Workout 1C of Strong Curves. This completes the third week of the first four-week phase. I'm continuing to regain my upper-body strength, and am much stronger than in February, when I returned to the gym. My lower body and injured leg is coming along more slowly, but I'm indeed seeing gains in my posterior chain, as this program so famously advertises. Mostly stronger hamstrings, much needed.
I certainly don't let myself get too hungry in the evenings, but my experience is that if I'm a little hungry in the evening, I usually see a drop on the scale in the morning. I assume it's because I'm having a calorie deficit.
I hope your pain abates, Saef, and your weight stays down too!
Saturday, and I woke up at 5:45 AM worried that I'd overslept, because I wanted to get to the grocery store and do some things before my mother woke up. I have to entertain her but also have to shore up for the coming week and finish that document for work on Monday morning.
Today's Meals:
Breakfast: Cranberry banana muffin; spinach, broccoli & mushroom egg bake; cantaloupe with yogurt
Lunch: Cannellini beans & escarole with a bit of parmesan cheese and some pistachios on top
Snack: Braeburn apple
Dinner: Salmon with dill, steamed broccoli, an ear of sweet corn
Dessert: Double chocolate chunk Quest bar
At the gym: 20 minutes on the regular stationary, random hill program, resistance raised to eight; then Workout 1A of Strong Curves. Commencing week four. Then a Pilates mat class
Sunday, waking with a feeling of hopelessness about the pressure on my job, that will never relent, ever, and I either have to develop better coping strategies or move on, once my health is more improved. I'll be working indoors on my laptop on this sunny afternoon, with the weather finally becoming milder. My mother's leaving today. I have to admit to feeling relief. It's hard to work and also spend time with her.
Today's Meals:
Breakfast: Cranberry banana muffin; spinach, broccoli & mushroom egg bake; cantaloupe with yogurt
Snack: Small bag of Bare Fruit Granny Smith apple chips
Lunch: Baby arugula salad with roasted vegetables, half an avocado, goat cheese, toasted pecans and Craisins
Snack: Larger bag of Bare Fruit cinnamon apple chips, slightly stale
Dinner: Baked cod with walnut lemon crust, steamed green beans, sauteed mushroom, small ear of sweet corn
Dessert: Banana muffin Quest bar. Okay, but I had a real one this morning.
At the gym: 30 minutes on the arc trainer, hill intervals, resistance upped to eight. Then a leg workout: Two sets of "body weight" lunges, 10x, while holding onto two side-by-side machines for balance. (My left knee doesn't bend smoothly or completely and I'd fall over if I tried it on my own.) Followed by 3x12 single leg press, 4x12 adductor/abductor machine, 3x12 Smith machine calf raises, 3x20 weighted glute bridge (kettlebell on hips)
Back from Washington DC where I spent, on average, 10 hours a day in the convention center, most of it sitting down. Thankfully, my Airbnb apt. was a brisk 15 min. walk from the convention center, and I forced myself to go out for a 30 min. walk/jog every day even though it meant missing some of the posters. I also walked up the stairs each time I had to go between floors instead of taking the escalators. Not great for a 6 day stretch, but I was simply too exhausted by the time I got back to the apt. each night (past 9 pm) to do the body-weight training I was planning on. And, unlike Saef, I refuse to get up at 5 (or 4) am to exercise before going to work. So, I was pleased to discover that I was a pound lower on the scale this morning than before I left. Thank you, Whole Foods and Starbucks.
Saef, your "slightly stale" "slightly bruised" "cold and mealy" type comments crack me up. I want you to know that I can't find those modifiers when I look up "apples" in My Fitness Pal. OTOH, perhaps try a pear, plum or orange?
Andrea, I love apples in all forms (fresh, dried, freeze-dried, chips) and I am an exacting judge of their texture and flavor. They fill me up better than a plum. But yes, I'll soon give up on last fall's stored crop and will turn to the stone fruits instead.
Monday, waking slightly too late for an early morning round at the gym, which will haunt me all day at work. I don't feel fresh and energetic, after working for nearly all of the weekend.
Weigh-in: 143.3. No I didn't gain a pound and a half over the weekend. Instead, I gained nearly two pounds. That was the stress of sitting all weekend at a laptop hating what I was doing.
Today's Meals:
Breakfast: Cranberry banana muffin; spinach, broccoli & mushroom egg bake; strawberries with yogurt
Snack: Braeburn apple, unremarkable
Lunch: Spring mix salad with red peppers, artichokes, black olives, wheatberries, tuna & sunflower seeds
Dinner: Chicken breast in Trader Joe's Masala simmering sauce with baby spinach and broccoli
Dessert: Chocolate chip cookie dough Quest bar -- the best!!
Today's Exercise:
20 minutes on recumbent bike, resistance at eight, hill program, felt strong. Then Workout 1B of Strong Curves. One more workout before I finish the first four-week phase of the Beginner program.
Up at 4:15 AM, though I did not have to go to the gym, because of my physical therapy appointment scheduled for later this afternoon. I learned last week that it wasn't a good idea to double up and get in time on the elliptical or recumbent bike in the morning on these days. So instead, I spent a couple hours catching up on household stuff that I missed out on doing over the weekend -- namely, cooking so I can reheat for the rest of the week.
Weigh-in: 143.8. The wrong direction, and for a good reason, of which TMI.
Today's Meals:
Breakfast: Cranberry banana muffin; spinach, broccoli & mushroom egg bake; strawberries with yogurt
Snack: Bare Fruit cinnamon apple chips, the larger bag
Lunch: Baby arugula salad, roasted vegetables, leftover curried chicken, toasted pecans
Dinner: Chicken leg quarter in cacciatore sauce on top of steamed green beans
Dessert: Cookies n' Cream Quest Bar (the second best one they make)
Exercise for Today:
At physical therapy: Warmup, 12 minutes on Cybex elliptical, a pretty steep hill program. Then 20x4 goblet squats w/ a 12-lb weight alternating with 12x4 reverse crunches; 12x3 10lb dumbbell RDLs alternating with calf stretches; 4x12 single-leg alternating hamstring curl machine/leg raise machine.
Wednesday, a day in which I had to run a staff meeting, help teach a writing class in the afternoon, feign surprise and then enthusiasm when pulled out of the class to be informed of the reorg, and coach a shaky writer on an assignment. I needed an Excedrin by the end of the day. I foresee more such days ahead.
Today's Meals:
Breakfast: Cranberry banana muffin; spinach, broccoli & mushroom egg bake; blackberries with yogurt
Lunch: Baby arugula salad, some raw veggies, buffalo wing mushrooms (yes, really), chickpeas, tuna, sunflower seeds -- a big salad
Dinner: Chicken leg quarter in cacciatore sauce on top of steamed broccoli
Dessert: Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Quest Bar (I'm a little scared to admit this was the best part of the day)
Exercise for Today:
20 minutes recumbent bike, hill program, resistance at eight, then my final workout of the Week 1-4 phase of Strong Curves' Beginners program. Hard to do this at the end of the day -- it would've helped me if I used it during lunch hour to work off tension. I tried to walk a little out in the sunshine. It did help, a little.
Thursday, as work drains me of all of my energy, hopes and joy. But as always, in the middle and on the last day of the month, I get paid.
Weigh in: 141.0, an unusual perfectly even number for me
Today's Meals:
Breakfast: Cranberry banana muffin; spinach, broccoli & mushroom egg bake; blueberries with cinnamon & yogurt
Snack: Braeburn apple (which I don't think I tasted, I was so hungry by 10 AM because of eating breakfast around 4:30 AM)
Lunch: At a restaurant, unusual for me, expensed: Grilled salmon with chopped salad with hearts of palms & avocados & a vinaigrette, molded into an attractive-looking puck. And Pellegrino with lime.
Snack: Apple pie Quest bar
Dinner: Chicken leg quarter in cacciatore sauce over steamed broccoli
Exercise for Today:
At the gym this morning: 30 minutes, Cybex arc trainer, hill intervals, resistance at eight.
And back to the gym tonight: 60 minute Pilates mat class
