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Monday, in a traffic jam because of the crystalline, cold autumnal sky, with the sun rising in the East, right in all of the drivers' faces, blinding them with that beautiful light that always makes me think of 19th century Hudson River School paintings.
Weigh in: 142.3. down a pound. Meals for Today: Breakfast: Chocolate ricotta muffin with raw cacao nibs; egg bake with turkey bacon, broccoli and spinach; yogurt with cantaloupe Lunch: Arugula, cukes, tomatoes, unions, tuna, chickpeas, sunflower seeds and oddly enough, some wedges of baked acorn squash Snack: Pointy red plum, the last one, and a pear Dinner: Collard greens side with gypsy soup and quinoa and ground turkey Dessert: Chocolate chip cookie dough Quest bar Exercise for Today: 20 minutes on the recumbent bike, then my leg workout, except that instead of walking lunges, I swapped in step-ups with a pair of 17.5-lb weights. Or rather, tap ups, keeping weight on one stable leg. |
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B) I LOVE it when people are appalled that I deadlift; it gives me a bit of extra joy to know I'm doing something that others can't fathom. C) I also LOVE that I now belong to a gym where other women use heavy free weights, including a few who use the squat cage. I am, however, the only woman I've seen doing deadlifts and hip thrusts, even here. D) I'm pretty sure the aesthetic ideal of most men, however, DOES emphasize the g.m. Dagmar, what exactly is a "circus" body? |
Andrea, I assume she's French because she speaks French on her cell phone and is employed at the French embassy in Manhattan, though hey, for all I know, she's Québécois and employed at the French embassy.
My gym has an interesting international element, including two Italians (and not Italian Americans, though that is a dominant cultural strain in this area -- they are Italians who split the year between the U.S. and Italy), a number of healthcare professionals who hail from the Caribbean and work at the hospital across the street from the gym, and at least four emigrants from Ireland. My apartment building, two blocks from the gym, also has a similar population, mostly people with two homes, their apartment and then a house in another country. |
Andrea Look at any of the women in Cirque de Soleil (except the contortionist) for the "circus" body. It's a term I made up to describe fairly short, muscular, athletic women with correspondingly short limbs. Very strong, very agile, and apparently what a lot of men (yes I have conducted very unscientific research) like.
http://www.aubergeduquartierquebec.c...-du-soleil.jpg Dagmar :strong: |
Dagmar, I knew what you meant straightaway as I worked with someone like that last year. About 5' and kind of intensely packed into the frame she was given. Works out with pole, circus and dance.
If I could work out what would work the best with the frame I've been given, I'd go for it (probably). |
Tuesday, oversleeping by a half hour and feeling panicky at moments over all I've got to do in the next four days before logging off and going on vacation. Suddenly they want me to create an hour-long interactive online training session on top of all I'm trying to finish off.
Weight: Again 142.3, when I'd hoped to lose another fraction. Meals for Today: Breakfast: Chocolate ricotta muffin with raw cacao nibs; egg bake with turkey bacon, broccoli, spinach and tomatoes; yogurt with cantaloupe Snack: Pistachios which took forever to shell, which I guess is the point Lunch: Spring mix with roasted vegetables, a sliced-up persimmon, bleu cheese crumbles and lots of cashews Snack: Three dried peaches Dinner, Very Late: Gypsy soup with quinoa and ground turkey burger Dessert: Chocolate chip cookie dough Quest bar Exercise for Today: This was a hard workout today and felt like a metaphor for my working week. 20 minutes on the StairMaster, set at seven, then Workout 4A1 of Strong Curves advanced. I deadlifted 165 lbs. for 3x5. My weight is going up as my deadlift goes up. |
What are you doing for your vacation, Saef?
My weight was down a whopping .2 today. Oh well..... was hoping for a whoosh but maybe tomorrow! |
Whooshes are unpredictable IMO. My weight went down 3 pounds :?: from yesterday to today, and I've been eating the same foods and maintenance calories for the last 4 days. Exercise has been consistent, too.
Saef, you are incredibly strong!! Might you be eating more because the exercise is giving you a larger appetite? Sometimes it's hard to know unless you are an OCD food tracker (like me). I'm sure you can find some food tweaks if you want to drop back to under 140, or maybe it will happen when you give yourself a short break from the heavy lifting. |
Oh; then I totally have a circus body. Though not as lean as the woman in the Cirque du Soleil photo.
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I did see one woman perform with Cirque who had my exact body, except about 25 years younger. She was slighty pudgy over quite chunky musculature. She did a thing with pieces of wood that basically involved her hypnotizing the entire audience with her breathing while she balanced them on each other. Though it sounds totally dorky it was amazing! Dagmar :strong: |
Yesterday I felt overwhelmed and almost panicky as my email inbox kept filling up and work kept coming in. I almost canceled on meeting my friend to see "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time" down in the city. But I didn't. And I thank God I didn't. I needed that infusion of time talking seriously with someone, and walking in midtown, then through Times Square crowds, and seeing something staged that engaged my imagination.
I should feel wiped out from not getting to bed till 11 PM and then waking up around 5 AM, but right now, I feel better than I have for days. Weight: Down to 141.7, as I was ravenous through the play and didn't eat until late, after I got home. Meals for Today: Breakfast: Chocolate ricotta muffin with raw cacao nibs; egg bake with turkey bacon, broccoli, spinach and tomatoes; yogurt with cantaloupe Snack: Three dried peaches Lunch: Arugula with saucy mushrooms, farro, chickpeas, raw vegetables and wild rice Snack: Some dry-roasted peanuts Dinner: Gypsy soup with quinoa and ground turkey burger, broccoli rabe Dessert: White chocolate raspberry Quest bar Exercise for Today: I had energy today, though a little less strength. 20 minutes on the Arc Trainer, set at seven, then Workout 4B of Strong Curves advanced. |
Good to feel that my very high-waisted Ralph Lauren pinstripe pants did not feel tight around my abs when I took them out of the closet. One of the joys of maintenance is that when you see your fall clothes again, after a long summer, they fit: Hello, old friends. I had to pull this thing out to conduct a job interview today. Again, it's for someone who won't end up reporting to me.
The good news is, that's because I won't be doing two peoples' jobs anymore by mid-November. At last, they've made a verbal offer and received a verbal acceptance for another manager -- my former direct report, whom I recommended for the job! Weight: Up a fraction, to 141.9. Meals for Today: Breakfast: Chocolate ricotta muffin with raw cacao nibs; egg bake with turkey bacon, broccoli, spinach and tomatoes; yogurt with frozen blueberries Lunch: Arugula with wild rice and chickpeas, sauteed apple slices, hard-boiled eggs and a scrap of chicken Snack: Three dried peaches Dinner: Beef eye round and broccoli Dessert: Chocolate chip cookie dough Quest bar Exercise for Today: For today, 30 minutes on the arc trainer, then some accessory work on biceps and triceps |
Trying not to jinx myself here, but I've managed to stay on (1200-1500 cals/day carb-cycling) plan for a few weeks in a row, and am finally reliably below 128, even on my "heavy" days. Praying that my inner strength doesn't cave as it often does the minute I see 125.x, even once, and after sweating, peeing and pooping first thing in the morning.
Saef, I have an observation about those Quest bars. If I eat one of the ones with "chunks" in it, I am reliably 0.5-1 pound higher the next morning than if I don't. If I eat a "plain" one (like cinnamon roll), this doesn't happen. This seems really weird to me, but what the heck chemicals do they use to make those pseudo cookie dough, oreo and chocolate pieces? Have you ever looked to see if it makes a difference to your scale weight? |
Andrea, I haven't seen any correlation between my weight fluctuations and eating the Quest bars with the chunks in them -- and as a matter of fact, the varieties with chunks in them are the ones that I like the best of all. I will keep taking in those chemicals and enjoying them. There is so much I don't eat anymore: No more candy, no more baked goods other than my own home-made muffins, no more of this & no more of that. The only stuff that's left is sugarfree gum and Quest bars.
Waking in despair. I was working till 9 PM. Now I see that others continued past 11 PM and I'll spend the morning catching up. Also they are asking about that interactive training module which I had no time all week to work on. Guess I should NOT have gone to that play in the city and I should worked all evening instead, as I am paying for it now. I will be so glad for vacation but I am going to have to work on Saturday to earn it. Weight: The same, at 141.9. Meals for Today: Breakfast: Chocolate ricotta muffin with raw cacao nibs; egg bake with turkey bacon, broccoli, spinach and tomatoes; yogurt with frozen blueberries Lunch: Last of the gypsy soup with quinoa and ground turkey burger Snack: Peanuts, about a handful, anyway, more than eight Dinner: Chicken leg quarter, steamed broccoli, sauteed broccoli rabe Dessert: Cookies and cream Quest bar Exercise for Today: Started with 20 minutes on the recumbent bike, then my leg workout, and at the end, between sets on the abductor/adductor machine, 3x8 curls with the 40-lb barbell and 3x10 lat raises with 12.5-lb weights. |
I hear you, Andrea, on the jinxing. I feel like whenever I lower my ticker here, I somehow jinx myself. Stay strong!! I'm doing "turbo" carb cycling this week. Last time I did it, I dropped a bunch. This time I'm only down slightly.
Interesting theory on the quest bars. I also usually eat the chunky ones on my low-carb days. Hmmm.... |
Oh, how I have fallen for the Quest bars! They're perfect to take golfing because they don't melt like some we've had before. I'd show you a photo of my "stash" but you'd think I was crazy. I buy them by the box from Amazon and recently [U]really[U] stocked up. My absolute favorite is the chocolate chip cookie dough. I just had a banana nut muffin one. Good, but a little "chalky."
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Saef, in no way did I mean that you should give up Quest bars with chunks; I eat them too! I just meant that it was one potential variable in the weight fluctuations that annoy you. However, looking back, you eat ones with chunks every day (I vary between varieties with and without), so it can't possibly be the explanation.
Allison, yes, so have I. Some days, the artificial flavor bugs me, but as Saef points out, it is one of the few ways I have to enjoy sweetness without guilt. |
Andrea, thanks for not trying to break up my chemical romance. As I walk through the Valley of the Shadow of the Fun-Size Halloween Candy Bars, I am very much in need of some piercing sweetness. I like those Quest bars way too much. Like, after I've eaten one, all of my suppressed hunger for junk food comes roaring back, I'm in a heightened state of alert, overstimulated and raging to go back for more, to eat one after another. I have to walk myself shakily away from the pantry where the boxes are stashed. I need immediate distraction. Then I am reminded: Jeez, I was some kind of addict before I took up this abstemious, athletic life, and that person still lives inside me. Like someone who stopped posting here, Meaghan, who was always keeping a side of herself called Fat Meaghan locked up like Mr. Rochester's mad wife.
Today I'm on edge. I have to write that interactive presentation and throw it over the wall at someone else to work on, which she won't like, but it was her idea, so she deserves to have to finish it. Oh, and have I said here that tomorrow I'm flying down to New Orleans, where I'll be staying for about a week? I've never been there before. (Last year was Savannah, the year before was Charleston, so there's a logical sequence to my travels.) I am trying to be happy. New Orleans just before Halloween seems like it might be a great place to experience. Of course, I am freaked out. I will not have access to any exercise facilities. I have no idea what I'll be eating. (But I'll take Quest bars ;-) I am really, really TRYING not to succumb to eating-disordered thinking and to enjoy myself, instead of being miserable. I mean, New Orleans food? Come on. Weight: Whoosh, went my weight, down to 140.5. Meals for Today: Breakfast: Chocolate ricotta muffin with raw cacao nibs; egg bake with turkey bacon, broccoli, spinach and tomatoes; yogurt with frozen blueberries Lunch: Salad from the salad bar at Acme, which means spring mix, broccoli with grape tomatoes, some cheese and bacon, edamame and black beans with corn and a few strips of chicken breast. Snack: A lumpy, small, spotted but delicious windfall apple Dinner: Two chicken leg quarters, steamed broccoli & cauliflower Dessert: Double-chocolate chunk Quest bar Exercise for Today: Strong Curves 4C routine, the last exercise I'll get for six days. I did that before 20 minutes on the StairMaster, at seven. And then a Pilates mat class, emptier than usual. Our neighborhood is preparing for Halloween. |
Sunday morning, after a freak out on my part because my old, preprogrammed bedside clock "remembers" the old Daylight Savings Time. So on this morning, of all mornings, I lost an hour, and had to rush to get ready for the 5:45 AM arrival of the car for the airport.
Weight: Just about stable at 140.6. We'll see what a week eating in New Orleans without gym-going does. |
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Enjoy New Orleans :hat: :hungry: :yay: saef. Whatever you do there can be undone when you get back. Dagmar :coffee2: |
Saef, enjoy Nawlins as much as possible (business trip right?). One crawfish or shrimp etouffee isn't a crime - or some bourbon bread pudding. There's plenty of good walking there too!
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I think it's vacation for Saef! Have a po boy and some beignets at Cafe du Monde for me! I bet you do tons of walking and other exercise too. Used to love New Orleans but haven't been there since before Katrina.
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Ever since I saw the movie Chef, I've wanted to go to New Orleans, specifically to try the beignets at Cafe du Monde!
Enjoy your vacation, Saef! |
Oh a vacation - much better!!
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Back from New Orleans, trying to unwind with a cup of decaffeinated Pumpkin Spice coffee hauled home in my suitcase from Fresh Market -- but NOT by eating my third Quest bar of the day.
I did not get any formal exercise in a gym, but I walked a lot every day. I also ate a lot. Nothing sweet, but it was five days and nights of gumbo at every meal, because I wanted to try a lot of variations, and shrimp & grits, and sloppy red beans on rice, and shrimp creole, and duck breast medallions on salad, and other such things. Also I indulged in not just one, but two pumpkin muffins every morning (yes, I brought a batch in my suitcase). I didn't have any beignets -- it was enough to watch my mother devouring three of them while I drank down a large black iced coffee with that wonderful slightly charred chicory tang. Hard to explain why the beignets weren't appealing except for overexposure -- the debris of half-eaten beignets strewn around nearby tables, and the powdered-sugar foot prints, and the sticky table tops, and the powdered sugar mounds outside of the trash cans near the Cafe du Monde. I felt like one of the people who work there, who probably get over their charm really fast. Oh, and did we ever see houses. If you know me, you know I am terribly interested in 19th century architecture and interiors and furniture. We visited three plantations and four other 19th century restorations as well as Long Vue Gardens, which was built in the mid-20th century by wealthy people dreaming of 19th century country homes. The scale will tell me what I've done. I'm guessing that I gained five to seven pounds, but who knows? As for work, you don't want to know ... my first days back are jammed with back-to-back appointments with people who were frustrated that they couldn't get hold of me this past week, and I have to give a major presentation on Wednesday of something that I handed in last Saturday (yes, I spent the first day of my vacation working) and they completely revised over the past week. That's my punishment for being away for a week. |
Saturday, with the post-vacation blues settling in, big-time.
Weight: Surprising, or maybe not. Up half a pound, to 140.9. That's all. Meals for Today: Breakfast: Pumpkin muffin with toasted pecans; egg bake with turkey bacon, broccoli, spinach and tomatoes; yogurt with raspberries Lunch: Baby kale salad with lots of raw vegetables, quinoa with feta, gigantic pecans brought home from the south, and Craisins Snack: Small windfall MacIntosh apple Dinner: Miso-glazed salmon, steamed cauliflower and asparagus, sweet potato -- and American Pharaoh winning the Breeders Cup on TV! Dessert: Cinnamon roll Quest bar Exercise for Today: 20 minutes on the Cybex elliptical, then Workout 4A2 of Strong Curves, dropping the weights slightly because I missed three days of lifting over the past week (and yes, I needed to lower the weights! How quickly strength ebbs!) and a Pilates mat class. |
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Saef - sounds like a great trip! I didn't see this fast enough, Cafe du Monde is great for atmosphere, but the better beignets are at Cafe Beignet a few blocks away. They also typically have live jazz playing at the park next door.
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Shannon, thanks. I didn't really want a beignet. I would have liked to eat a praline, because when I eat sugar, I want to mainline it, in as close as possible to its purest state -- for me, there is no such thing as "too sweet." I talked myself out of it for the sake of my blood sugar and my barely-in-check Type 2 diabetes, which surely will jump the borderline as I grow older. I told myself I could eat savory dishes if I wanted them -- my other condition: if not breaded and fried -- and I did. But no sugar.
Sunday morning. As usual, I'm conflicted over my behavior with my mother, who's overstayed and who told her sister over the phone yesterday, when asked when she'd be leaving: "I haven't decided yet." I'm gearing up for the return to work, just hoping I can join the mainstream smoothly. Weight: Down to 140.2, as the residue of salt from constant restaurant meals washes out. Meals for Today: Breakfast: Pumpkin muffin; egg bake with turkey bacon, broccoli, spinach and tomatoes; yogurt with a quarter of a papaya Snack: Yellow delicious apple, another windfall from Upstate Lunch: Baby kale salad with roasted vegetables, marinated artichokes, quinoa and feta, pecans and Craisins Dinner: Smithfield ham, putting that salt right back in me, steamed broccoli and green beans, half of a sweet potato Dessert: Cookies and cream Quest bar Exercise for Today: 20 minutes on the StairMaster. Then sort of randomly did the "B" Exercise from 1-5 of Strong Curves Advanced program, as I'm out of sequence. That overhead barbell press isn't easy. |
Well, I'm now 50. Had a great party today, with lots of friends and family and yummy Indian food (my favorite) plus fruit and chocolate cake. Only overate slightly, and it was well worth it.
I will leave for Barcelona on Tuesday evening and will likely be out of touch for a week (depending on the quality of wifi there). Conference for 3 days followed by sightseeing for 3 days, then home again a week later. Looking forward to seeing Gaudi's architectural masterpieces in person, and maybe even the beach. Fresh seafood here I come! |
Andrea~have fun in Barcelona! If possible, try to get tickets in advance for La Sagrada Familia--the lines start early and are long! I didn't get to see the inside due to that. The hop-on, hop-off takes you to all the important sights for cheap.
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Happy Birthday Andrea! Sounds like a great trip! Any family going with you or are you going solo?
Saef-- good luck getting your mom to leave. Great job on getting the weight right off! We went to Napa Saturday night and I indulged Saturday and Sunday morning so my weight is quite high this morning. Dh and I went to the gym AND yoga after we got back yesterday so I'm sure it could have been much worse. |
Happy birthday, Andrea! Have a great trip!
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Happy birthday Andrea and have a blast!
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Dagmar :hat: |
Oh, Andrea, how wonderful that sounds, to visit Barcelona! My company is also holding a big event there, the European version of our huge annual conference, and I'm envying my coworkers who are tacking on a day or two beforehand or afterward, just as you are doing. I hope you tuck into a paella on one of your higher-carb days. I'm living testimony that rice consumption won't hurt you, as every gumbo that I ate for five days had white rice sort of plopped on top of it, like a condiment.
And happy 50th! Mine's several years in the past but I like pretending it just happened or has yet to happen. I'm in denial about the whole 50s thing. Monday after a vacation, with many meetings and emails, and something due that I'll need to work on tonight after hours. Oh, and an appointment with the orthopedic surgeon, who said "Bye bye, have a nice life." I'll go back if there are any new issues. Weight: Up just about a pound to 141.1, right back on my body. Meals for Today: Breakfast: Pumpkin muffin; egg bake with turkey bacon, broccoli, spinach and tomatoes; yogurt with a quarter of a papaya Snack: Macoun apple, my favorite, which I haven't eaten since last year Lunch: Baby kale salad with roasted vegetables, several forkfuls of hummus, quinoa and feta, pecans and tiny Seckel pears Dinner: Rotisserie chicken, steamed green beans and roasted cauliflower Dessert: Cookies and cream Quest bar Exercise for Today: 20 minutes on the recumbent bike and then did my leg workout, with weighted walking lunges, squats and calf raises, and sessions on the various leg machines. |
Bon Voyage, Andrea, and Happy Happy Birthday
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I will be so glad when that presentation I'm giving tomorrow is OVER WITH. It's like a cloud between me and the sun. I drafted one last month, only to have Workforce Development come back and advise a new, different kind of presentation, which I had to write on the Saturday on which my vacation began. Various people in management suggested changes all over it during the past week, while I was on PTO, which I'm now incorporating. I'll rehearse the new version today with one of two co-presenters.
Weight: Down nearly a pound, to 140.3. Meals for Today: Breakfast: Pumpkin muffin; egg bake with turkey bacon, asparagus and spinach; yogurt with raspberries Snack: Yellow delicious apple Lunch: Baby kale salad with roasted vegetables, half an avocado, a persimmon, pecans and several forkfuls of hummus Dinner: Rotisserie chicken, broccoli rabe, roasted cauliflower Dessert: Cinnamon roll Quest bar Exercise for Today: 20 minutes on the StairMaster, then Workout 5A1 of the Strong Curves Advanced Program. |
Wednesday, and it's just an hour before I'm scheduled to give the presentation, and I'm feeling the usual stage fright, writing notes that I hope I can actually consult, rather than freezing up and not seeing them.
I have to keep telling myself, it's not about me. It's not a singing performance where I have to make myself admired for my talent. It's an instructional session. It's about the attendees and whether they learn something. I have to explain something and I'll have done well if they understand, never mind my performance. I'm teaching, I'm not Adele or Cate Blanchett. It's not about the ego. Weight: Up just a fraction, to 140.4. Meals for Today: Breakfast: Pumpkin muffin; egg bake with turkey bacon, asparagus and spinach; yogurt with raspberries Snack: Nice crisp Macoun apple Lunch: Arugula with roasted eggplant and cauliflower, roasted butternut squash, steamed green beans and asparagus, barley and roasted veggies, chicken breast Snack: Small somewhat bruised Bartlett pear, another Upstate windfall Dinner: Ham with steamed asparagus and roasted cauliflower Dessert: White chocolate raspberry Quest bar Exercise for Today: 20 minutes on the Cybex arc trainer, then Workout 5B of the Strong Curves Advanced Program. |
Good luck, Saef! I'm sure it went well!
Tonight is Ellie's appointment and I'm a little anxious about it. I was already biting dh's head off this morning. He originally said he'd be home by 5:30 and we are trying to leave by 6:30 so I said I'd pick up salads. This morning he says he's "hoping" to be done with the meetings around 5:30 and he'll for sure be home by 6:30. HUH? Then he told me who the meetings are with and they always go over. He has a bad habit of leaving his cell phone elsewhere when he's stuck in meetings so I can't bug him (at least that is my perception). So I griped about how important this is. We'll see when he makes it. I'll report back tomorrow with what the specialist says. Hoping I can get out of work early enough to make it to the gym and walk the dogs before our evening appointment. The fun of the morning is sure to be our "shelter in place" drill when I have 3 kindergarten classes together in the library!! |
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