Well, I was quite happy after my weight in this morning.  I am going to San Francisco in June, so I want to try and set a goal for myself; I would like to lose at least 2 pounds a week, which would take to right under 200 pounds for my trip.  I haven’t been that in probably around at least 8 years, so it would be a really nice accomplishment.  I like setting goals for myself (realistic goals!) as it gives me something specific to work for. 

While I had a sensible breakfast and dinner, lunch was certainly a bad news bears situation! I honestly didn’t realize how much I had eaten until it was far too late.  I had lunch at 11:30 and didn’t have dinner or even a snack until 8 (while that may be normal for some, it’s not for me.)  The worst part is not only was it too much food, but it gave me such gut rot; my stomach did not want to process all of that pork and fat.  But here is the most ironic part about this: after my hubby and I finished eating delicious yet gut churning German food, we immediately went and looked at treadmills.  And we didn’t just look at treadmills; we worked out on them in the store and for a lot longer than you might think.  We also tried the elliptical for a while.  Picture a fat girl in a peacoat, trying her damndest to work hard on that elliptical, while wiener schnitzel and apple strudel were sloshing around her stomach.  IT WAS PRICELESS!  But we did end up buying a treadmill today; a NordicTrack T5.7 and I love it! I didn’t really do much more “typical” working out as my hubbypants was setting up the treadmill and I was moving one of my bookcases and all of my art books (Good god, art books are so freaking heavy!) along with a myriad of other things to get the treadmill up.  But tomorrow, it is so freaking on!!!!

Breakfast: Oatmeal with raisins and cinnamon and coffee.

Lunch:  Oh, German food.  You are a gut bomb, or at least were today!  I started off with a salad and had one potato pancake (was really hard to tell or server no when she asked if we wanted more!).  I wanted to try and include some veggies, so I had baby carrots and green beans, along with German egg noodles, one form of pork with mushroom sauce and a pot roast that was super vinegary.  I had a very small bit of weiner schnitzel and had seconds on the carrots, egg noodles, and pork with mushrooms (I removed most of the breading on the second trip; I can’t imagine how I would have felt had I not done that.)  The hubs and I split the desserts that were offered and both got half of an apple strudel and black forest cake.

Dinner:  Rosemary chicken breast over brown rice, steamed carrots, green beans, and broccoli.

Dessert: The other half of the Fruit and Nut Almond and Coconut bar that I started yesterday.

You Mean To Tell Me Working Out Really Works?

Happy days are here again! Since last week, I've lost 4.3 pounds! Although I certainly didn't eat the best at some points, I still did ok and worked out a fair amount.  But I still need to figure out a substitute for food when I'm feeling anxious, sad, upset, or that the sky is blue (I used to have a tendency to do that a lot!)  Suggestions are welcome!

Today I Claim A Small, Yet Weird Victory

Oh before I forget, I have a confession.  Sadly, I cannot be trusted when it comes to Reese’s Peanut Butter cups, even when I bought them for my husband as a Valentine ’s Day gift.  I had bought him a 6-pack of the Reese’s Valentine’s hearts on Thursday and by the end of the night I had somewhat gutted that bag (I ate 2 out of the 6 that night.)  I gave the remaining 4 to him the following day as clearly I just cannot be trusted with the deliciousness of peanut butter and chocolate.

The victory that I claim today is two-fold.  First, I had lunch with a dear friend for her birthday and I ordered a far less calorie laden item than I usually get.  Also, this particular restaurant had the most amazing pineapple martini and I didn’t order it (and dear lord, I wanted to!).  The second victory would be that I didn’t get the caramel cupcake that I really wanted for dessert.  I instead got a nut and coconut bar (It actually is kind of weird that this aren’t horrible for you as it is one of the most delicious moderately healthy items I have ever had.)

Since I was meeting a friend for lunch, I didn’t walk, but did all of the usual working out in my house and actually worked out for about 1 hour.  I felt pretty good about that being that it’s a Saturday.  The hubby and I looked for a decent, yet not insanely expensive treadmill.  I know that he wants to exercise too and this would also work well for me when the weather is bad.   I think we both wanted to wait on this until we both knew we were ready to do this, as we didn’t want the treadmill to become, as one friend put it, “a coat hanger.” 

Breakfast: Oatmeal with raisins and coffee

Lunch: Garlic chicken with load of veggies and brown rice.  There was actually originally another mound of brown rice, but I took it off.  I also had a fortune cookie, which my smart ass friend lovingly told me today, “Just eat the damn cookie!”  Love you Jeannie!

Dinner: It looks like a lot of food and it was, however I didn’t eat all of it.  I ate a little less than 2/3, but mainly ate the beef and teriyaki chicken, rather than the rice.  The danger for me with eating Chinese though, at least sometimes, is that I will just keep shoveling it in, even when I know I really should stop (especially when I had eaten 2/3 of that plate.).  So I came up with a weird and sad way of doing this.  I poured this gross form of mayo (I can never fully express the disdain and near vomiting that mayo causes me) all over the remainder of my food.  I knew that if I just left it in front of me, I would just keep eating.  Because I had never been to this place before, I had no idea how large the portions were.  Next time, the hubby and I will just split one of those plates and order a side salad or maybe edamame.

Dessert:  Half a Kind Fruit and Nut Almond and Coconut bar.  It really is like crack!

It Was An Exceptional Day!

So, SUPER EXCITING NEWS that has nothing to due with weight loss.  I’ve passed my final Praxis exam, and will be certified to teach soon!!!  The reason why I’m typing this is it has affected many things for today. 

Because of this, I have spent the day fill out a lot of paperwork and applying to lots of places!  Although I truly did want to address my health today, I NEED A JOB and really want one in my field (I love and have missed teaching art so much!). I haven’t applied much as I have been waiting for those scores, but now that I know that I passed, I may get carpal tunnel from all the typing I have done today. So while I do plan on getting a little exercise in today, it certainly will not be the usual as more important things have come to ahead.  I plan on lifting weights, doing sit-ups, stair-stepping, etc.  Basically everything except walking today. 

And although I don’t think I need to celebrate say the fact that we have Mondays, I WILL CELEBRATE this victory tonight.  I refuse to completely change and do firmly believe that you need to celebrate the big things in life and this is certainly one of them!  I have always been someone who doesn’t test well (being dyslexic and not being able to spell well doesn’t help) and I have had test anxiety from the time I was 7.  Back then, when I was in elementary school and had standardized tests, I wouldn’t be able to go to sleep until insane times of the morning.  But for every day I had one of those tests, my parents would bring me breakfast in bed that consisted of a carton of chocolate milk and a bacon and cheese Crossanwich from Burger King (I’ve always detested eggs).  I love my parents for so many reasons, but that really is one! I digress, tonight will be a fun!!!

Insomnia struck last night (or rather this morning) and I didn’t go to sleep until 5:30AM and got up at 10AM, so I didn’t have breakfast.

Lunch: This was planned before I found out I passed the Praxis (I try to only have one bad meal a day).  Yes, the picture shows a mammoth chicken filet sandwich, fries, and a sweet tea.  However it should be noted that I barely ate any of the fries and had only glass of tea(Oh, I wanted more!)

Dinner:  My dinner mainly consisted of cheese and booze.  Originally I planned to have yesterday’s leftovers, but not after this morning’s news.  Yes, this looks like a lot and it was, but not quite as much as it looks like.  I split the smoked Gouda mac and cheese with my husband and only used one of the dressings for my Greek salad.  I also had one double and one single Tom Collins (the best drink out there!)

After Dinner Dinner:  Given that I ate regular dinner early, didn’t eat breakfast, and didn’t eat a lot at lunch, I got hungry.  This is why I try to eat when I really know I should, so things like this won’t happen. I had a Lean Cuisine Chicken Pot Sticker.

I Want To Keep This Up!

Couple of things I’ve noticed.  Sounds stupid and ridiculously obvious, but eating healthy is expensive!  I have been buying far more fresh fruits and veggies to include in the diet than just all processed foods (although I still do love my lean cuisines; one vice at a time!) and my grocery bill certainly has gone up, but when I have done well and mainly cooked for the week, rather than eating out all the time, the budget does sort of balance itself out.  I also try to include good, lean protein into most of my meals, which really does just constitute a lot of chicken, but luckily there really are a million ways to cook chicken in a fairly low-calorie, yet delicious way.

I also did exercise a lot today, however not as much as the other day.  I decided to listen to a full album today while walking instead of listen to my walking mix, that generally are filled with very aggressive songs:  some rap, some punk, and a lot of hardcore music.  I decided to listen to The Dresdon Dolls Yes, Virginia.  I love when you re-discover how amazing an album is, which happened today.  And for this I have to thank Jeannie; your musical taste is unsurpassable and you are one of the few that I always trust implicitly whenever you suggest music. But listening to this crazy-balls amazing album helped push me when I wanted to quit and call my husband to pick me up from the park (which is a whopping 2 blocks away; sadly there have totally been moments when I thought it may come to that!)

I noticed that my upper arms look far too much like something: wobbly turkey necks.  Although I think there has been some change for the positive due to massive exercise, they are still shakier than I they should be.  But, I know they will one day be non-gobblerific!

Also, I am getting enough water in the past couple of days and am parking far away when I run errands.

Breakfast: Oatmeal with golden raisins.  I actually didn’t sweeten it this time with honey and it was still pretty good (although the raisins certainly help with that.) And as always, coffee with honey and I was half awake this morning while I was making it, so added a little too much creamer.

Lunch: Lean Cuisine Ginger stir fry chicken and applesauce with cinnamon. 

Dinner: Rosemary and Garlic Chicken Sauté with brown rice.  I also had a lot veggies (was too tired to make a salad): Steamed broccoli, carrots, and green beans.

Snack/Dessert: Mini Clif Blueberry Crisp Bar (1.0 oz. not the 2.4 oz.)

Oh, the muscles are sore!

So I found out that, yes Virginia, you can work out too much.  Although I may one day be able to work out for 2 hours and be ok, I’m just not there yet by a long shot.  Not to say that I think or will give up when I tired or it gets a little tough, but I do believe that I need to work up, at least a little, to the craziness I was doing.  I also think that if I try to fit in too much too soon, that I will give up.  And while I realize that there are and will be struggles, I don’t want to be stupid enough to knowingly add to them.  So I did not walk today, but I did weights, sit-ups, and some exercise that I saw on (damn this is hard to admit) The Real Housewives of Orange County.  God I’m just not proud of that, but I am a girl who likes her horrible TV.  I would love to be the intellectual that my mother is, but that just won’t happen, at least in some of my TV watching habits.  It is weird that I have a deep love for British comedies and reality television.

I also broke one of my cardinal rules today, which is to eat breakfast. I didn’t eat breakfast cause I woke up later than usual, but I just need to set a schedule for myself.  As you can see, little good comes from when I don’t eat breakfast; I just get hungry and eat crap throughout the day. 

Lunch: Lean Cuisine Pasta Romano with bacon.  Yeah, I really only bought this because it was a lean cuisine with bacon and it really wasn’t the best.  Not awful, but just not that flavorful.  The sauce just lasted like thinned down tomato soup with a couple of chunks of bacon.  I also paired this with applesauce with a ridiculous amount of cinnamon.

Copious Snacks:  Carrots with hummus (started out good), but then it got bad.  A small bowl of chocolate chips, a small bag of potato chips, and a 100 calorie bag of popcorn.

Dinner:  I did actually keep this rather light. Lean Cuisine ginger garlic stir fry with chicken.

Drink:  I did enjoy a beer today!  Thanks David and Taryn!

And although I eaten or even made it yet, I will be having a lovely plate of steamed broccoli.   I do have a bit of an obsession with broccoli.  Yeah, my dear husband hates this for obvious reasons.

Ahhhhh, Beginning Yet Once Again

So today for the most part was quite successful.  I woke up and ate a sensible breakfast and worked out for 2 hours today.  Most of it was my 3 mile walk, but also did a ludicrous amount of sit-ups, stair stepping, lifting weight and other such exercises.  I know that in the real world, I won’t be able to do this, but I’m enjoying it while I can do it.

Today is my father’s birthday, but sadly he died 7 years ago.  I say this because food was always a huge part of my family and everything we did whether it was a celebration or enduring sorrow revolved in some way around food.  In the past years on his birthday, I would eat large quantities of the food he enjoyed, which I generally enjoy as well.  And this year, I did have some food that wasn’t great for me, but it was just dessert rather than dinner and every other meal.  I realize this might sound like a minute  change, but as I said I don’t want to change everything about the way I eat, but rather to try and eat healthier and still enjoy myself and the food I eat.

Breakfast: Oatmeal sweetened with a touch of honey and raisins.  And coffee in the usual manor.

Lunch:  Had lunch with a dear friend at one of my favorite restaurants.  I had a giant Greek salad (sadly I did eat most of this!) I also had a small dessert that was cashews and honey wrapped in Phyllo dough.

Dinner:  Low calorie lemon chicken stir-fry over brown rice.  I added way more veggies than it called for and sadly overcooked some.  This was the first time I prepared this recipe, so I know what to change for next time.

Dessert:  In honor of my pops (and truthfully I wanted it) a hot brownie sundae with praline ice cream, pecans, carmel, and whipped cream.