Snickers

Workout:

X-train Tabata

X-train Core

Bike (9.3 miles courtesy of forgotten lunch)

Diet:

My X-train friend talked me into trying the core class. It was short and hard. I enjoyed it though. Not sure if it's worth the extra 45 min. I can do planks and what not on my own, but of course it's good to feel the pressure of not looking whimpy :o). I again had the urge to go running when I got home, but went ahead and came in for breakfast. My friend mentioned that she eats before class. I'm wondering if having a little something would give me some extra energy, i.e. a better workout. May need to play around with that.

So last night I bought some Snickers Ice Cream Bars. I know that it's not a good idea to bring junk food in the house. I am able to resist temptation but I'd prefer not to create the temptation in first place. I rationalized that instead of buying the king sized Snickers and eating 300 calories, it'd be better to buy the box of regular Snickers and eat 160 calories. My dad is coming on Saturday, so my goal is to refrain from eating (more than one) Snickers until then. I would like to get to a place where I can have junk food in sight without it wreaking havoc on my restraint.

Oh, by the way, that yogurt was terrible. Incredibly sour, even with the apple added in. And might I add that that chicken was even better as leftovers!!

My friend took some pictures at her apartment the other day and I seriously barely recognized myself when I saw them. Now I can't stop looking at them, lol #admittedlyVain. Have a look:

130.4

Well good morning! So today I woke up 8 hours after eating that salad and wasn't exactly looking forward to getting on the scale. But I did and to my delight I'm 130.4! Eating right has me feeling great. I don't wake up full from the day before, I wake up light and energized. So today is Memorial Day and I haven't cheated big (i.e. ate anything that wasn't listed somewhere in my book) since Tuesday because I was saving it for today. And now I'm on the right path and truly don't want to stop the momentum. I think a compromise is to avoid alcohol today. Tomorrow is Tuesday and I'm not going to start my 'week' off dehydrated and crappy feeling. I'm also going to do my best not to go crazy this evening :o). Maybe I should write 130.4 on my hand, lol.

Workout:

Bike (7.6 miles)

Yoga (90 min. water class at sunstone)

Diet:

Ok so on my way home I considered not listing the things I ate tonight since I imagined it would look pretty terrible in writing, but that's not the point of this... I don't feel overly guilty about my food choices tonight. I did a good job anticipating the kind of night this might have been and so I can at least take comfort in the fact that this was really the first time I ate bad in 6 days. I do think I could have made some better choices as far as food selection and portion control, but this is how we learn/grow.

What I did well:

I planned and 'saved up' for this. I knew it was coming and I knew it wouldn't be good for my diet so I tried to eat well in the days leading up to it. I also worked out this morning and ate light all day. Additionally, I only had one Dos Equis and that one did not lead to any others. I enjoyed my well deserved beer :o).

Room to grow:

Portion control! My first plate had really good portion sizes. But then I got another plate. And then another hot dog. I would like to have stopped with one plate, maybe a total of two hot dogs. Cupcakes get me every time, and they weren't even my favorite kind! I would like to have only had two of the mini ones as my dessert. And the chips became a snacking thing instead of part of the meal. I think in the future if it's not on my dinner plate, I want to wait until it is.

Healthier choices. There were actually turkey burgers! And wheat hot dog buns! And chicken. Of course I love hot dogs so I wanted that, but maybe a better plan of attack would have been to have a piece of chicken and then have one hot dog on a wheat bun. Also it may have been a better idea to just have the pasta salads rather than the chips since the chips are hard to eat in moderation. This was much harder than the Flying Saucer last week because I didn't/couldn't have the same sort of plan going in. I also should have drank more water throughout the night. This may have kept me too full to eat mindlessly.

Ok that's it. I weigh 134.6 right now so at least I know it shouldn't be worse than that tomorrow morning. But tomorrow's a new day and a new chance to recommit to my health.

Lessons learned:

• Even if you don't know what will be served away from home and can't form a concrete plan as far as what to eat, try to make some educated guesses as to what might be there and sketch a plan based on that. Then you can modify the plan when you see what's actually on the menu. Better to have a general plan than no plan.
• Don't forget to hydrate. Try to let water keep you too full to overeat.

Willpower

Diet:

Kefir Smoothie

Green tea

1/2 (because I couldn't finish it all) Chicken breast fillet (soy sauce, worcestershire sauce, garlic, lime)

Collard greens

Apple

Greek yogurt

Green tea

Green tea

Salad (yesterday's + carrots)

Still hanging tight at 132. Aaahhh 3 lbs away! Come on body!! I may have lunch with my friends today. I told them I would bring my own, but I'm thinking I may just eat before I go for convenience. I would like to strictly stick to the eating plan today as I deviated yesterday. I'm glad that the deviation didn't register on the scale and recall that I generally weigh a bit more the day after running. I would like to get another run in today.

So yesterday I went to Sprouts for my shopping and after comparing labels for quite some time I bought Greek God's Greek Yogurt. Well just now as I was making my apple yogurt snack to take to my friend's house I happened to compare the label with Yoplait's Greek yogurt and boy was I surprised! Greek God's has 60 calories compared to the 120 in Yoplait! Tomorrow we'll see if that's reflected in the taste...

.....

Now that's willpower! I told my friend I would bring my own food to her house today and when I couldn't make it to two o'clock, I went ahead and ate lunch at home. I took my snack (apple/yogurt) and green tea over there. I love hot dogs, and I love potato chips. They had both, lol. I normally would be willing to sacrifice my diet for a couple of hot dogs, but because I know that two hot dogs leads to three leads to chips leads to too much pasta salad leads to cake leads to liquor and repeat (all of these things were there), I just decided to abstain for as long as possible. And apparently not eating is an appetite suppressant so I made it through the night, lol. By the time I got home I didn't even want dinner, but I am forcing myself to eat a salad before bed. I should have taken one with me, note to self. So yeah, good job today team healthy eating. Also, I'm glad I didn't let healthy eating stop me from having fun. It actually wasn't even awkward until other people make it awkward by making a big deal about me not eating there. But still, that passed and I was fine.

Lessons learned:

• If you make a conscious decision to eat right when going to a social event, bring enough food to sustain you through the time you'll be there. If you'll be there 'til 10:00 but you normally eat between 6:00 and 8:00, bring dinner.
• If someone comes to the social event you're at and chooses not to partake in the consumption of unhealthy foods, accept that and don't make a big fuss over it. In trying to make them more comfortable you'll probably just make them uncomfortable :o).

Cheat Day

Well I realized that giving myself 'cheat days' was making it easier for me to get through the week without epic eating failures, so I decided to go back to that. All day yesterday I was craving everything but decided I'd try to wait until today (Saturday). I made a deal with myself to eat dinner first and then if I still had my cravings I would succumb. Of course I didn't want anything after I ate. But today I got on the scale and was 132.0 and now I don't even want to cheat! I want so badly to get to the (mid) 120s. I know I have gained some muscle weight so I'm content if I stay the same weight since I know I've lost fat. However, if I lose a significant amount I just know I'll feel/look amazing. In addition, Monday is Memorial Day, so there might be some inevitable cheating if I hang with people from school. I hate that so many social events are centered around eating; I feel like if I want to eat right I have to limit my social interaction. It is a potluck however, so I could easily just bring something to grill that I want to eat. Next Wednesday is the department boat cruise. I'm not too thrilled at the prospect of hanging around drunk math people in the hot sun for 4 hours sober. In fact it sounds like pure torture. I feel like alcohol does quite a bit of damage as far as (water) weight gain, but I do want to go. It's going to be hot as hell... Ehhh I need to think about this. I can always of course get a run in to make up for any damage I do, but I don't know; it just feels so good to be putting good things in my body. Also, next weekend my dad and his fiance are coming to visit for 3.5 days. When they leave I will only be able to eat well for 2 days before the frat reunion weekend. So yes, the point is I would like to take advantage of the opportunity to eat right while it's easy, i.e. when there is not all kinds of (yummy) junk food sitting in front of me.

Lessons learned:

• For me, it's easier to eat right when there is a cheat day in sight. Instead of trying to eat like a fitness angel for 2 weeks, I'll try to do it for 3-5 days. By the 4th-6th day, the benefits of eating good have started to show and I won't even want to cheat.
• Cravings are mental. When craving *insert yummy fatty salty empty-caloric food here,* if I eat something good/planned first I usually will no longer want **. Knowing this can help me defeat that desire to eat unhealthy.

PS- Did you know a Chili's Oldtimer w/ cheese (what I was tempted to have for dinner yesterday) has 800 calories??? Sigh, it's like they just pour lard into foods at restaurants.

Workout:

run (3 miles)

Diet:

So I hit the pavement for the first time in over a month. It felt really really good. I was actually kind of impressed with my speed/endurance. I definitely don't feel out of shape. Feels good to be back!

Day 3

Workout:

TRX Strength

Bike (7.5 miles)

Walk (1.2 miles)

Diet:

132.6ish today! Not sure if I worked hard enough at workout this morning (legs). I guess my soreness will tell me tomorrow. Today is Friday so in my head I can take this evening/tomorrow off, but I don't really want to! That scale can be really encouraging. Protein shakes definitely helped with the 5 days of workouts this week!

Day 2

Workout:

X-train Tabata

Diet:

Yesterday was an awesome eating day but it hasn't yet registered on the scale. I tried on my swimsuits yesterday and while there's still work to be done, I'm pleased.

I actually wasn't too hungry for dinner after snacking on carrots but I ate anyway. I was worried the strawberries (vs. apple) would have me starving by the time I got home, but that wasn't the case. And as a bonus I defeated the candy bowl today! Oh, and I did have time for a run AND hot yoga but didn't do either. That's the beauty of doing my workouts in the morning; I can take my evenings off if I want to!

Day 1, take 73

Workout:

TRX Strength
Bike (9.5 miles)

Diet:

Today was a good day. I really enjoyed my bike ride(s), and the extra workout didn't make me hungry. Gum and tea were helpful. Tomorrow I'll take the Tabata class but maybe I'll have time to squeeze a run in as well. That or hot yoga...

All or Nothing

I tend to take kind of an all or nothing approach to healthy eating. Last night I managed to overcome that, but failed miserably today. It's my hope that this blog will help me with that.

Today I started off good (this is typical). And then I had 3 m&m's. And then 5. And so on... So then I had a pack of powdered doughnuts. And a $.99 bag of Salsa Verde Doritos. I finished off with some leftover popcorn.

Where did I fail? After I ate the first few m&m's I felt good. Satisfied and happy that I was satisfied off so little. But then it spiraled out of control. In theory 100 extra calories is tolerable. But it always leads to more. Therefore, I think my best bet is to delegate either a time of day or day of week when I can have whatever. That was working for me at first. Today is Tuesday. I'm going to work to defeat the candy bowl the rest of the week and I will treat myself to whatever I want on Saturday.

Workout:

X-train Tabata

Diet: