The start of a new week

I can feel it. This is the week that I get back on track, the week I start adding parts of my "old" life to my "new" life. How do I know?

A. I'm still awake and it's almost midnight. As an undergrad, this was not unusual. As a matter of fact, midnight was early! Now, 10:30pm is late for me...

and

B. I went to the gym at 10pm. I've noticed a pattern over the last few weeks. If I don't make it to the gym on Monday, I'm unlikely to make it any other day of the week.

I found a site, Beginner Triathlete, that has a three month beginner cycling program. Today was my first day on the program, so I was supposed to warm up for 10 minutes, do 10x30 seconds at 100rpm with 1 minute recoveries, and cool down for 5 minutes. I'm not sure how the bike at the gym measures speed, but it's certainly not in rpm, because my warm up was around a 10.0. So I did my 10x30 seconds at approximately a 15.0 on whatever scale the bike uses. It felt good to be on a bike, but I still need to figure out the right level to provide enough of a challenge for me. This first day of the program didn't get me anywhere near sweaty, though I was a bit tired at the end. After the bike, I did a little weight lifting, but didn't really feel that into it, so came home. Hey, at least I made it there and did something, right?

Food Journal:
Breakfast: Oatmeal
Lunch: leftover chicken noodle soup and multigrain crackers
Snack: 30g pistachios in the shell
Dinner: homemade pizza with mushrooms and olives, diet pepsi
Other: less than 1/4 cup of ice cream, 2 hershey's kisses

I'm not sure I made it on the whole drinking 80 oz. of water front. I'm finding that to be much more of a challenge now that it's starting to get colder.

I've lost track

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I hope that if you are/were traveling you arrived or will arrive safely to your destination. My husband and I spent all day yesterday driving to his parent's house. In a few minutes we will be off to see my family for the morning. I am so excited!

Before I get to my journal entry, here's a little background on my ankle: While I was working this summer, I noticed that my left ankle would swell up pretty badly. It eventually got to the point where I went to an urgent care facility, but they could do nothing for me. Since it wasn't hurting me, I decided not to pursue it any further until I returned to school. Fast forward to the end of October, when my ankle really started to hurt. The health clinic on campus took x-rays, found no broken bones, and referred me to a physician with a health medicine background. This new doctor prescribed an anti-inflammatory for a few weeks, which didn't help at all, so I was sent for an MRI, which I have to say was a cool experience for someone with my background. The MRI revealed a bone bruise above my ankle (sorry, I don't remember all the technical terms) and fluid build-up (edema?) around my ankle bone. So now I've started 6 weeks of physical therapy, which I really hope gets me back into running!

Anyways, here's my journal entry from Nov. 24:

Breakfast: oatmeal

Lunch: chicken noodle soup

Dinner: Mexican restaurant: chips and salsa, diet coke, cheese quesadilla, chicken enchilada, chicken burrito (or something like that)

Other: oatmeal chocolate chip cookie, nerds, pumpkin seeds, yoplait delights, graham cracker

Over the past week, I've really fallen off the weight-loss train. I was flat out lazy and stopped keeping track of my eating, which has not been all that wonderful. I've particularly had problems with snacking now that my husband has started his new job.

I've also been slacking on the gym time. After talking to my husband, I'm going to have to start going to the gym without him in order to get enough exercise time in. I also need a training goal to work towards. I'm not allowed to run or do any other weight-bearing activity because of my ankle, but the physical therapist has approved bicycling and the elliptical. I tried the elliptical yesterday and was really paying for it today, so I don't think I'll be trying that again until after my next PT appointment. So that leaves the bicycle. I've been unsuccessful so far in finding a training regimen for it. Can anyone point me to some book websites for bicycling that would have training plans on it?

Food Journal Week 2, Day 3

Breakfast: 1 cup Kashi Go Lean Crunch and a splash of milk
Lunch: the last of the BBQ (~1/4 cup) and 2 slices sourdough bread
Dinner: BBQ sandwich with cole slaw and potato chips, sweet tea

Sorry these haven't been very interesting posts lately. Too many things to do and not enough time!

Food Journal Week 2, Day 2

Breakfast: Cheerios and raisins with a splash of milk
Lunch: none
Dinner: 2 slices of mediterranean pizza and a diet coke

I think I fell off the bandwagon today, but tomorrow's a new day! My husband promised me we'd go to the gym tomorrow morning.

Food Journal Week 2, Day 1

When I did my weigh in this morning, I was pleasantly surprised--I've lost 3 pounds! Hopefully this trend will continue!

Holiday Health Nut Challenge:
Breakfast: 2 graham cracker sheets with peanut butter
Lunch: leftover vegetable couscous
Dinner: Lentil-Tofu Soup and sourdough toast with margarine
Other: Apple Pie, 1/2 apple during making of said pie

I'm still doing poorly at getting my 5 fruits and vegetables a day. Somehow I need to make them more accessible when I'm constantly on the run. I also didn't make it to the gym as I had hoped and I don't forsee getting even a workout DVD in because it's so late--way past my bed time!

HFN Holiday Challenge:

• drink enough water--5 points
• 30 min incidental activity--5 points
• eat 3x per day--5 points
• 6-9 hours of sleep--5 points
• no junk food--5 points
• compliment yourself--5 points
• wear sunscreen--5 points
• take inventory--5 points
• eat breakfast from home--10 points
• eat lunch from home--10 points
• eat dinner from home--10 points
• avoid alcohol--10 points
• drink only water--10 points
• eat vegetarian for the whole day--15 points

Pictures are coming soon, I promise! I also want to figure out how to post a graph of my pedometer output.

Food Journal Day 5

Breakfast: 2 graham crackers with peanut butter (<2tbsp)
Lunch: Spinach and mushroom quiche
Dinner: at least 1 cup of white rice, chicken curry (sortof)
Other: mini skittles and mini snickers, several toasted pumpkin seeds

So to explain the whole dinner thing, my husband and I made a chicken curry dish and it was way more spicy than I expected. So I'm not sure how much of mine I ate; I wound up eating plain rice to cool down my mouth. I also definitely reached my 80oz of water! The rest of what was on my plate got packaged up and will be a weekday lunch for my husband.

Wow, am I really sore from that body sculting class I went to yesterday. I am definitely aware that my butt is a muscle and I'm sure I waddle a little when I walk. Hopefully I will be much less sore tomorrow, as I will be standing for most of the day parking cars for the football game (yay). Despite my soreness, I managed to make it to the beginner step class at the gym this morning and I even survived the whole hour, though I was definitely more tired than the last time I took the class.

I remembered to take a picture of the quiche today at lunch, so I will try and post that sometime this weekend. Off to bed I go, considering I have to leave at 5am tomorrow to park cars.

On a totally random note, I say 'definitely' a lot; I should find another word...

Food Journal Day 4

Holiday Health Nut Challenge:
Breakfast: 1 cup cheerios with 1/4 cup raisins
Lunch: 1 slice spinach and mushroom quiche and 1 serving carrots
Dinner: Chicken-broccoli-tortollini soup and 2 corn bread squares
Dessert: Coffee with 2 tbsp french vanilla creamer and 1 slice pumpkin pound cake
Other: ~1 handful total of toasted pumpkin seeds

Since my class was cancelled this morning, I decided to attend a body sculpt class at the gym. I felt really good about myself afterwards because I was able to do most of the moves with only a few modifications and I didn't really wimp out on any of the moves until the end of the class. I also learned that I have really horrible balance, especially when doing lunges. Maybe this is because of my injured foot? I wasn't too sore after the class, but now I'm starting to get stiff. I did my best to stretch, but I'm pretty sure I'm going to be hurting tomorrow, which is unfortunate because I can't take any more pain killers! Since I don't have to work tomorrow morning, I think I'm going to try the beginner's step class again. I'm kinda bored with the bike machine, but need to get cardio in there somehow!

HFN Holiday Challenge Points:

• Drink enough water--5 points
• Perform 30 minutes of incidental activity--5 points
• Eat at least 3 times a day--5 points
• Get 6-9 hours of sleep--5 points
• Look in the mirror and compliment yourself--5 points
• Wear sunscreen--5 points
• Take inventory--5 points
• 30 minutes of dedicated exersize--10 points
• Eat breakfast prepared at home--10 points
• Eat lunch prepared at home--10 points
• Eat dinner prepared at home--10 points
• Stretch before bed--10 points
• Avoid alcohol--10 points
• Work out with someone else--15 points
• Go to a new group exercise class--20 points

Today's total: 130 points

That's the highest number of points I've reached in one day since I started this challenge! One thing I'm finding it hard to earn points on is eating 5 servings of fruits/vegetables a day. I came close today with 4 servings, but I will have to work harder on this point. I've also picked out a book to read for the challenge, which will earn me 30 points when I finish it--Life At These Speeds by Jeremy Jackson. I also picked up The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Runner, by Alan Sillitoe, but it's really short, so I figured I wouldn't count that one. It's certainly an interesting read, though!

Recipe: Weeknight Cheese Quiche

Last post of the night, I promise!

Here is the recipe I used for the spinach and mushroom quiche, which was quite delicious.

Source: Kraft foods
Makes: 6 servings

1 cup sliced fresh mushrooms

1 onion, chopped

1 pkg. (10 oz.) frozen chopped spinach, thawed, drained

4 eggs

1/3 cup milk

1/3 cup mayonnaise

1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

1 frozen pie crust (9 inch), thawed

1/4 cup bacon bits

1. Heat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Cook mushrooms and onions in a large nonstick skillet sprayed with cooking spray on medium-high heat 5 minutes or until crisp-tender. Remove from heat and stir in spinach.
3. Beat eggs, milk, and mayonnaise in a medium bowl with a whisk until well blended. Add spinach mixture and cheese and pour into crust. Top with bacon bits.
4. Bake for 50 minutes or until center is set and top is golden brown.

Food Journal Day 3

Breakfast: 1 cup cheerios, 1/4 cup raisins, dash of 1% milk
Lunch: leftover meatloaf and mashed potatoes
Snack: 2 small chocolate chip cookies
Dinner: 3/4 cup chicken pot pie, 1 cup fruit salad, 2 small rolls, lemonade
Dessert: 1 small slice of snickers pie and 1/2 small slice of peanut butter pie

So obviously sweets were my weakness today. I also failed to make it to the gym...again. However, I did do a stability ball workout DVD, so I did get some exercise in. I'm planning on attending at least one gym class tomorrow, maybe two. Maybe I'll be able to avoid the sweets since I'll be away from home most of the day and should make it home at a relatively decent time. It just occurred to me that if I put the Halloween candy away in a cabinet, maybe I'll eat less of it.

You know what's most frustrating about trying to lose weight? Every Monday is the Monday. The start of the week where you're finally going to do it all right. But that week never pans out the way it's supposed to, at least for me. One day I'll have my Monday.

Handwritten Journal Entry

So last night I was way too tired to face another computer screen, so I wrote my update in a real journal. Remember those? Here's what I wrote:

November 3, 2009
So I've started these two challenges and I'm starting to wonder why. I guess I was hoping they would provide motivation to eat healthily and go tot he gym, but it doesn't seem to be working. I guess it did get me to do my stability ball strength training last night, but if that's what I'm going to do, then why am I paying for a gym membership, especially when [my husband] still doesn't have a job? I think the eating front would be easier if we didn't have Halloween candy in the house. When I'm starving and waiting for [my husband] to go out and get the one dinner ingredient I've forgotten (two nights in a row!), they're just too tempting.

One thing I don't like about one of the challenges is the awarding of points for drinking only water. I drink my 80oz. of water and then I want a different flavor! And if I ever start this co-op...then I'm definitely going to need some coffee when I get up a 5am!

What I ate today:
Breakfast: cheerios with raisins and 1% milk
Lunch: leftover meatloaf and mashed potatoes
Dinner: 2 slices spinach and mushroom quiche
Other: a pinch of mozzarella cheese; Reese's peanut butter cup; mini laffy taffy; mini skittles

While I didn't make it to the gym because I was exhausted and my ankle was really hurting (I know, excuses, excuses), I logged 11336 steps on my pedometer! 3154 of those were considered aerobic steps. Therefore, I burned 236 calories by walking 2.14 miles. So I definitely get my points for incidental exercise.

New Motivation

I'm not able to run due to possible shin splints, so I've been slacking off in the exercise department. However, I hope I've found some new motivation--two fitness challenges. The first is HFN Holiday Challenge from The Nest, which runs from November 1 until December 31 and has a point basis. The second challenge is the Holiday Health Nut Challenge, which is being run by Destination: Athlete from November 2 until December 28. For me, this is a weight loss challenge, similar to The Biggest Loser (my favorite show!). I am attempting to lose 12 pounds by the end of the challenge, drink 80 oz. of water a day, and keep a food journal. I'm hoping that these two challenges will help keep me accountable for the food I put in my mouth and provide motivation for going to the gym, or at least to do a workout video here in the apartment!

So, here are my check-ins for each challenge:

HFN Holiday Challenge:

• drink enough water - 5pts
• 30 minutes of incidental activity - 5pts
• 3 meals a day - 5pts
• wear sunscreen - 5pts
• blog about how you feel - 5pts
• get 6-9 hours of sleep - 5pts
• eat home-made breakfast - 10pts
• eat home-made dinner - 10pts
• avoid alcohol - 10pts
• drink only water for the day - 10pts

I need to find a Health & Fitness related book to read. Any suggestions? I'll need to make a stop at the public library or the school library.

Holiday Health Nut Challenge:

My beginning weight for this challenge is 142 pounds. I hope to make it to 130 by December 28, with a long-term goal of 120 pounds. Surprisingly enough, I actually did drink 80 oz. of water today. That sounds like so much water to me, that I didn't think I really accomplished it, but I did! For the food journal, here's what I ate today:

• 2 graham cracker sheets spread with peanut butter (~1 tbps)
• canned fruit (~1/2 cup)
• 6 inch turkey sub on 9-grain honey oat with spinach, cucumbers, tomatoes, olives, and pickles
• small box of Milk Duds
• canned fruit (~1/4 cup)
• mini snickers bar
• 2.5 cornbread squares
• 1/2 cup pork BBQ
• a little more than 1/4 cup baked beans

My biggest problem was that I was starving when I got home from school, or else I wouldn't have eaten the extra canned fruit or the mini snickers bar. This actually sounded a lot worse in my head, but doesn't seem so bad written down, which may be due to crappy estimating (note to self: measure food from now on). If I can find a calorie estimator online, I'll post the tally later on.

The big thing I haven't done yet today is make it to the gym for a dedicated workout. I know these are crappy reasons, but my foot was really hurting, I have a rebound headache from the anti-inflammatory medicine the doctor has me on, and I'm tired. Maybe I'll play Wii for a little while. Does that count as a dedicated workout? Something tells me no.