This isn't a diet.
Because let's be honest, the last time you said you were on a diet, you freaked out, cleaned out your cabinets, avoided eating out, vowed to hit the gym 7x a week, and scared off your friends when you started to whine about how happy hour was going to make you fat.
Then you had a bad day at work/fight with your boyfriendmomsisterbestfriendchildboss/got bad news/had a craving.
Suddenly, margaritas, chips and queso, and that one chocolate bar you hid under your bed just in case happen. All at once. You wake up feeling bloated, probably hung over, and like the past two weeks of starvation were just not worth it.
And you're right. It isn't worth it. Because I've been there, I've done that, and it sucks.
I have tried weight loss pills (they make you pee), boot camp (5 am is mean when you don't like your coach), the all fruit/veggie 1 week flush (wait til a head of lettuce is in your stomach and tell me you feel good. that's called gas.), and everything in between.
I remember being happiest when I was teaching aerobics 4x a week. I was training for a marathon and walking miles a day to go to class. My mom used to tell me that she was thinnest in college, walking across UT's campus with her art portfolio and surviving on eggs and toast...or when she was carrying me around in my toddler years.
The bottom line is that we all grow up to the point where unless you are a fortuante few, you have a full time job that requires at a minimum 40 hours. You have a family (or two cats and a boyfriend). You have things you do (volunteering...or drinking with the girls...or both). Exercise, nutrition, these things are not built into our daily lives anymore.
We yearn to look like airbrushed models. We want to be as slender as the freakish mannequins who wear the clothing we try on. We are inspired by biggest loser and the women on the cover of those stay at home mom magazines who "lost half their body weight--you can too!"
We are not those people. At least, I am not.
I am a real person.
I live in a city with quick, amazing Indian food down the street. My favorite college pizza place is on my commute home. Starbucks is something that happens as an office escape, less as a mornin pick me up.
I work 40+ hours a week. I won't exaggerate and say I work anymore than 50 on a normal week, my heart goes out to those who do. But I am busy. I have two nights a week that are blocked out for non negotiable extra curriculars. Both of them happen right after work and usually involve quick, fat food.
I can't drive to my gym because this city sucks with parking, so just getting to and from the gym takes about 30 minutes in total. When it rains, how fun does that sound?
I pansy out easily on the gym. When my gym buddy cancels, I cancel on myself.
I have a boyfriend who only outweighs me by 10 pounds and can eat just about as much fat as he'd like and never gain a pound...and I like to cook for him/me/us.
But then a strange thing happened. The economy crashed and my boyfriend and I had a long conversation about the economy. We talked about how Americans, for how concerned we are about money, are very uneducated about money and money matters. We are too polite to talk about it, study it, learn it.
The same is true for food. We are very sensitve about what we eat, how we look, and our weight. Let's talk about it. Let's get real. If you are that concerned about it, then you should be studying.
So I bought a book called Volumetrics. I like to eat. I like to eat a lot. And I just wanted to see if while Chadd was researching the economy and money management, if I could research food, consumption, etc.
So began the great experiement. I'm in the throws of my third week, 4 pounds down, never hungry, and only truly tempted and denied once.
The bottom line: I still love and eat chocolate.
Tuesday, July 22, 2014
Chocolate Torte? Not this one...
I subscribe to Self online--I'm part of their 30 day challenge or whatever. I used it last summer until I got bored or too behind. However, their calorie calculator for workouts is top notch, so I pop in once and a while.
With this subscription comes little blast emails that I've subscribed to-mostly for the recipes.
I love to cook...and I'm a good cook.
However. Be aware....this low cal recipe sucked.
They promise me that "you'll love this chocolate torte, dripping with deliciousness"
Wrong. So very wrong. Especially at 300 calories wrong. (I didn't bother with the "whipped topping," so probably more like 200-250)
I was skeptical going in: prunes. Really folks? Let's hop on the PR bandwagon from a few years ago and start calling them dried plums.
But I was hopeful. Honestly, I think without the prunes it probably would have tasted like a low fat, dry brownie. The prune just added chucks of gooey...prune.
Bottom line: there are better ways and tastier results.
Next time, I'm going the volumetrics carrot cake route. Results to follow.
Off the list: Prunes.
With this subscription comes little blast emails that I've subscribed to-mostly for the recipes.
I love to cook...and I'm a good cook.
However. Be aware....this low cal recipe sucked.
They promise me that "you'll love this chocolate torte, dripping with deliciousness"
Wrong. So very wrong. Especially at 300 calories wrong. (I didn't bother with the "whipped topping," so probably more like 200-250)
I was skeptical going in: prunes. Really folks? Let's hop on the PR bandwagon from a few years ago and start calling them dried plums.
But I was hopeful. Honestly, I think without the prunes it probably would have tasted like a low fat, dry brownie. The prune just added chucks of gooey...prune.
Bottom line: there are better ways and tastier results.
Next time, I'm going the volumetrics carrot cake route. Results to follow.
Off the list: Prunes.
Monday, July 21, 2014
Win: Eggplant Lasgna
I love pasta.
That's a dumb statement. Who DOESN'T love pasta? It's fast, it tastes good by itself and even better with cheese and other amazingness.
But I could live on pasta.
I'm actually not a lasgna fan, but I was willing to give it a shot because of the eggplant (I know, right? go with me here).
A few years ago, a roommate and I tried to make eggplant parmesean. I came up with the idea after I had a phenominal dish at a little Italian place in Georgetown. I came up with this recipe:
This is the most amazing thing I've ever eaten.
So, when my volumetrics cookbook suggested Eggplant Parm, I gave it a shot.
You know my background, let me tell you about Chadd, who will serve as my recipe tester 90% of the time. Chadd is a young 20's normal guy. He burns through calories like a fire in a dry california forest. If he goes to the gym, he is capable of losing 10 million pounds and gaining it all back in muscle. He's that long lean baseball player type of which we are all envious. When he sits on his butt and plays video games, he loses weight. Don't ask me how, I wasn't a physics/nutrition/magic major. It's a guy thing.
What is abnormal of Chadd is that he is an incredibly picky eater. He would contend that over the past year of being away, he's gained a very expansive palate. I'll say that he'll try most anything once, but he still has his favorites. He cooks with butter and heavy cream and I'll be damned if it isn't the best food ever. But I gain weight when he cooks....or I eat a 10th of it and starve.
(My signature dish in college was actually Chadd's invention: pasta with heavy cream, butter, garlic, tomatos, peas, and mushrooms.)
When he liked the eggplant parm (see above), I jumped at our eggplant lasgna recipe. I suggest you all get the volumetrics cookbook since I can't find a link and don't want to get in trouble.
Regardless, while it was very good, it was a lot more time consuming than the eggplant parm, and Chadd thinks the parm was better. Number 1 cat thinks otherwise and has just now stolen chadd's leftover teaspoon of eggplant.
I vote with humans on food. While the volumetrics was good, I give the win to cooking light.
Dessert: I <3 skinny cow ice cream pops.
Friday night tip: A glass of white wine is about 46 calories. Save up during the day by eating fruits as snacks and you can throw back a few.
That's a dumb statement. Who DOESN'T love pasta? It's fast, it tastes good by itself and even better with cheese and other amazingness.
But I could live on pasta.
I'm actually not a lasgna fan, but I was willing to give it a shot because of the eggplant (I know, right? go with me here).
A few years ago, a roommate and I tried to make eggplant parmesean. I came up with the idea after I had a phenominal dish at a little Italian place in Georgetown. I came up with this recipe:
This is the most amazing thing I've ever eaten.
So, when my volumetrics cookbook suggested Eggplant Parm, I gave it a shot.
You know my background, let me tell you about Chadd, who will serve as my recipe tester 90% of the time. Chadd is a young 20's normal guy. He burns through calories like a fire in a dry california forest. If he goes to the gym, he is capable of losing 10 million pounds and gaining it all back in muscle. He's that long lean baseball player type of which we are all envious. When he sits on his butt and plays video games, he loses weight. Don't ask me how, I wasn't a physics/nutrition/magic major. It's a guy thing.
What is abnormal of Chadd is that he is an incredibly picky eater. He would contend that over the past year of being away, he's gained a very expansive palate. I'll say that he'll try most anything once, but he still has his favorites. He cooks with butter and heavy cream and I'll be damned if it isn't the best food ever. But I gain weight when he cooks....or I eat a 10th of it and starve.
(My signature dish in college was actually Chadd's invention: pasta with heavy cream, butter, garlic, tomatos, peas, and mushrooms.)
When he liked the eggplant parm (see above), I jumped at our eggplant lasgna recipe. I suggest you all get the volumetrics cookbook since I can't find a link and don't want to get in trouble.
Regardless, while it was very good, it was a lot more time consuming than the eggplant parm, and Chadd thinks the parm was better. Number 1 cat thinks otherwise and has just now stolen chadd's leftover teaspoon of eggplant.
I vote with humans on food. While the volumetrics was good, I give the win to cooking light.
Dessert: I <3 skinny cow ice cream pops.
Friday night tip: A glass of white wine is about 46 calories. Save up during the day by eating fruits as snacks and you can throw back a few.
The Sunday Milestones
On Sundays, I step on the scale.
I don't actually have a scale at home because I am obsessive compulsive and I would be on it every morning, every night and soon you would see another spreadsheet that caculates my weight fluctuations over the course of the day.
Not healthy.
So I've limited myself to Sunday after my aerobics class.
Today was both elating and disappointing. Technically the math works out that if you burn/don't eat 1000 calories a day from your daily requirement (which you can figure out with a scientific calculator and a formula), you'll lose 2 pounds a week. I'll walk you through that formula when I have the patience and I forget how much I hate math.
Regardless, after three weeks with minimal slippage on the "life style" (diet = bad word) and decent gym appearances, I've lost 5 pounds.
This is awesome, because for some reason, weight loss revolves around numbers in 5's--5, 10, 15 pounds. Those are milestones. So even though my goal was 6, 5 still feels pretty good. But I'm kind of wondering about that one last pound. Why couldn't it take a hike like the rest of it's unwanting cousins?
The bottom line is this. We're a culture of fast, now, get it done yesterday. xenapal, quartrix, superweightlosspillsupreme...whatever they are. They promise "I lost 48 pounds--FAST!"
Sure, maybe they did, but let's get real. There's that little star at the bottom of the commercial that explains "*results not typical!" They were probably also dieting and exercising and getting paid to lose an inhuman amount of weight.
Safe weightloss is, I am not lying to you, 2 pounds a week. So no, you cannot lose 10 pounds before you go on spring break next week. Or if you can, you either had a plastic surgeon or you did something that did more damage to your body than good.
It will take you about a month to lose those 10 pounds. But think about it--a month really isn't THAT long.
Commit yourself to 1 month of watching what you eat (honestly, not forgetting about that cookie you had) and working out (running because you're late to a meeting does not count). I don't promise 10 pounds, but I do promise that you will lose something. At the very least, you will feel better about yourself.
In other news, next time I teach cycle, i'm using flo rida's "sugar"
Edit: I just realized that I needed to clarify those 10 pounds in a month. I'm talking about sustainable weight loss. Not water weight. Some people see huge numbers when their body starts to lose weight, but only about a third of this weight is actually fat. The rest of it is water. Remember, our bodies are primarily water weight...and being hydrated actually helps you burn fat. So dont' skimp on the water/fruits/vegetables, they'll help you out in the long run, even if you don't see massive water shed the first month.
I don't actually have a scale at home because I am obsessive compulsive and I would be on it every morning, every night and soon you would see another spreadsheet that caculates my weight fluctuations over the course of the day.
Not healthy.
So I've limited myself to Sunday after my aerobics class.
Today was both elating and disappointing. Technically the math works out that if you burn/don't eat 1000 calories a day from your daily requirement (which you can figure out with a scientific calculator and a formula), you'll lose 2 pounds a week. I'll walk you through that formula when I have the patience and I forget how much I hate math.
Regardless, after three weeks with minimal slippage on the "life style" (diet = bad word) and decent gym appearances, I've lost 5 pounds.
This is awesome, because for some reason, weight loss revolves around numbers in 5's--5, 10, 15 pounds. Those are milestones. So even though my goal was 6, 5 still feels pretty good. But I'm kind of wondering about that one last pound. Why couldn't it take a hike like the rest of it's unwanting cousins?
The bottom line is this. We're a culture of fast, now, get it done yesterday. xenapal, quartrix, superweightlosspillsupreme...whatever they are. They promise "I lost 48 pounds--FAST!"
Sure, maybe they did, but let's get real. There's that little star at the bottom of the commercial that explains "*results not typical!" They were probably also dieting and exercising and getting paid to lose an inhuman amount of weight.
Safe weightloss is, I am not lying to you, 2 pounds a week. So no, you cannot lose 10 pounds before you go on spring break next week. Or if you can, you either had a plastic surgeon or you did something that did more damage to your body than good.
It will take you about a month to lose those 10 pounds. But think about it--a month really isn't THAT long.
Commit yourself to 1 month of watching what you eat (honestly, not forgetting about that cookie you had) and working out (running because you're late to a meeting does not count). I don't promise 10 pounds, but I do promise that you will lose something. At the very least, you will feel better about yourself.
In other news, next time I teach cycle, i'm using flo rida's "sugar"
Edit: I just realized that I needed to clarify those 10 pounds in a month. I'm talking about sustainable weight loss. Not water weight. Some people see huge numbers when their body starts to lose weight, but only about a third of this weight is actually fat. The rest of it is water. Remember, our bodies are primarily water weight...and being hydrated actually helps you burn fat. So dont' skimp on the water/fruits/vegetables, they'll help you out in the long run, even if you don't see massive water shed the first month.
Eating on the Job
I have passed a milestone. I have survived eating on the job.
I'm not at my normal office today, but I am at work.
I'm helping out with a special project, so I'm with a different team that I'm very comfortable with. Since they've all been working late hours and long days, they've been given the luxury of ordering food on the company. They definately deserve it, they all look a little too tired.
Regardless, this is my first major obstacle:
The office sponsored lunch.
The lead up has been daunting:
I had to be here this morning at 6:30 am. This means that I had to be up and out of the apartment around 6 am...not conducive to making my own lunch. Plus, I got my baking spree out last night for my team: blueberry muffins and brownies, so I wasn't about to carry anything else.
So when my senior manager footed the bill for lunch...from MatchBox (the most amazing pizza in downtown DC)...I was forced to make a choice. In this economy, you take free food. That wasn't the issue. The issue was: shop from the list of gourmet salads...or the list of gourmet, wood burning stove cooked pizzas. This was an epic battle.
I literally had to leave the office to settle my mind out on it. I took a lap, made some copies, sent a fax and came in...still unsure. I could literally smell the pizza.
The hard thing here is that even though I KNEW I should have the salad, I wanted that pizza. And I found myself justifying it. It's a thin pizza, I'm going to go to the gym later (I'm not, I have a date with Chadd's big TV and netflix tonight). But finally I realized, thanks to the support of a coworker, who suggested that we split a tiny pizza and get salads, that I could cope with the salad option.
I also had a stroke of genius and said to myself "you're always craving something then you always regret it, but you never feel the other way around." So I went with the grilled tuna salad. My dad has always told me, "if you're still hungry, we will order more."
I do regret that it was too small. I never say no to more greens. I did have that piece or two of pizza. Very thin crust, and was it cheating? I'm not sure, but I don't feel guilty...because when I got to that pizza, I was as full and satisfied as I could be (with a salad) and I made a healthy compromise.
I'm a very vindictive person with myself. I get irritable if I've withheld too long...and what do vindictive people do? They cheat. So there's always a balance to strike. Flirt, but don't cheat. Indulge, but don't over indulge. And it's a thin line. About as thin as the crust on my pizza.
Some history on me and salads:
For a while, Chadd and I were having a salad before dinner. This was back when I was working from home. I could start dinner casually while responding to emails and making calls, then move into a salad while dinner cooked. Now, I still spend time cooking, but most of it has to be up front to get dinner out, then make lunch for the next day (I told you, I love to cook). I always found when eating a salad prior, I ate less than half of what I normally did. I need to reinstitute this.
Tips:
- When you get home from the grocery or when you go to make salad next, chop enough for three salads, bag it up or put it in tupperware. If you do it while you're already chopping, you won't go out of your way. Then a salad is literally throwing things together.
My new motto?
Eat the salad first.
I'm not at my normal office today, but I am at work.
I'm helping out with a special project, so I'm with a different team that I'm very comfortable with. Since they've all been working late hours and long days, they've been given the luxury of ordering food on the company. They definately deserve it, they all look a little too tired.
Regardless, this is my first major obstacle:
The office sponsored lunch.
The lead up has been daunting:
I had to be here this morning at 6:30 am. This means that I had to be up and out of the apartment around 6 am...not conducive to making my own lunch. Plus, I got my baking spree out last night for my team: blueberry muffins and brownies, so I wasn't about to carry anything else.
So when my senior manager footed the bill for lunch...from MatchBox (the most amazing pizza in downtown DC)...I was forced to make a choice. In this economy, you take free food. That wasn't the issue. The issue was: shop from the list of gourmet salads...or the list of gourmet, wood burning stove cooked pizzas. This was an epic battle.
I literally had to leave the office to settle my mind out on it. I took a lap, made some copies, sent a fax and came in...still unsure. I could literally smell the pizza.
The hard thing here is that even though I KNEW I should have the salad, I wanted that pizza. And I found myself justifying it. It's a thin pizza, I'm going to go to the gym later (I'm not, I have a date with Chadd's big TV and netflix tonight). But finally I realized, thanks to the support of a coworker, who suggested that we split a tiny pizza and get salads, that I could cope with the salad option.
I also had a stroke of genius and said to myself "you're always craving something then you always regret it, but you never feel the other way around." So I went with the grilled tuna salad. My dad has always told me, "if you're still hungry, we will order more."
I do regret that it was too small. I never say no to more greens. I did have that piece or two of pizza. Very thin crust, and was it cheating? I'm not sure, but I don't feel guilty...because when I got to that pizza, I was as full and satisfied as I could be (with a salad) and I made a healthy compromise.
I'm a very vindictive person with myself. I get irritable if I've withheld too long...and what do vindictive people do? They cheat. So there's always a balance to strike. Flirt, but don't cheat. Indulge, but don't over indulge. And it's a thin line. About as thin as the crust on my pizza.
Some history on me and salads:
For a while, Chadd and I were having a salad before dinner. This was back when I was working from home. I could start dinner casually while responding to emails and making calls, then move into a salad while dinner cooked. Now, I still spend time cooking, but most of it has to be up front to get dinner out, then make lunch for the next day (I told you, I love to cook). I always found when eating a salad prior, I ate less than half of what I normally did. I need to reinstitute this.
Tips:
- When you get home from the grocery or when you go to make salad next, chop enough for three salads, bag it up or put it in tupperware. If you do it while you're already chopping, you won't go out of your way. Then a salad is literally throwing things together.
My new motto?
Eat the salad first.
Booze and the Epic Morning Fail
Oh beer.
Beer has a ridiculous amount of calories.
Your fearless leader had an epic fail after her minor victory against office food yesterday.
As it grew later and later, the troops grew restless and beer was supplied.
I had a few. Two.
Calories per beer I had last night: 153/12 oz.
Just two of those constitutes dinner. (And I also had dinner)
The good news here is that the hero of our tale only had two beers.
This is my rule because I've learned what happens the next day after more than two drinks, and no, it's not a hangover, though I'm sure that happens. It's that horrible bloated feeling. I like waking up, feeling thin and awake. Not tired and fat. Two beers is right at that line, but not over it. I wake up feeling nothing more than tired, which I would like to chalk up to being at the office from 6:30am to 9:30 last night.
This morning, because I was running late, I didn't eat breakfast, which was dumb. I have a very tempermental blood sugar levels...so I had a pesto veggie omelet thing. It sounds healthy, but from what I gather, anything that sounds healthy that isnt' in a pure form (hard boiled egg, fruit, vegetables). It's 740 calories not healthy.
This sounds horrible, and it is. But it's okay because I'm going back to Cosi for lunch and having a huge salad for dinner. Skip the cheese and the dressing (dip your fork tongs in for minimal calories, max taste) and you've got 228 for a salad.
Tonight, I'll be so tired I'll probably just have a salad at home, looking at my calculations for a small salad that I make at home...you get 61 calories, take out my dressing and use the dip method, we're down to 24 calories.
Our grand total for the day:
740 - Omelet sandwhich of doom
083 - Fruit salad
019 - Coffee
228 - salad at lunch
061 - salad for dinner
Total: 1131
Not bad, friends, considering I'm aiming for 1300 a day. It'll take off some of the edge from those two beers and fatty dinner last night.
I'm sure you're thinking that "for someone who counts calories, she must be panicking, she's probably freaking out."
You can assume otherwise, but I'm not really freaking out. I'm a bit disappointed in myself because I totally blew through that decision gate that said "this isn't going to be good. you'll feel bloated and sleepy all day tomorrow."
But it's almost a relief, because here's the deal. I was waiting to screw up. That sounds like I can't control my actions or that I was sabotaging myself, but think of it like this. When you first learn to ski or skate or anything that requires balance, the biggest fear is falling. But often times, once you fall, you go "that wasn't that bad, okay, next time I will have more confidence" and you fall less as your confidence builds. It's a weird circular system.
Now that I've really, totally blown it, I can readjust, I can better prepare and I know that I won't lose my mind over it. It's also something that will happen again. You can't not have that piece of pie that great aunt norma slaved over. You certinaly cannot refuse your soon to be mother in law's butter glazed, gravy coated, and deep fried chicken. And if you're stuck in a long meeting where they serve lunch (which happens to be chinese food)...you're going to eat.
Aside from cravings, none of us are 100% in control of what food is available to us. And for that matter, it probably shouldn't be. That's why I still go out and have lunch with my friends. It's why I let the office buy me lunch (and beer and dinner)...because let's face it. Neurosis of food is neurosis of food, even if you're losing weight.
And like I've said. I love food more than almost anything. And I don't like being neurotic about love.
Beer has a ridiculous amount of calories.
Your fearless leader had an epic fail after her minor victory against office food yesterday.
As it grew later and later, the troops grew restless and beer was supplied.
I had a few. Two.
Calories per beer I had last night: 153/12 oz.
Just two of those constitutes dinner. (And I also had dinner)
The good news here is that the hero of our tale only had two beers.
This is my rule because I've learned what happens the next day after more than two drinks, and no, it's not a hangover, though I'm sure that happens. It's that horrible bloated feeling. I like waking up, feeling thin and awake. Not tired and fat. Two beers is right at that line, but not over it. I wake up feeling nothing more than tired, which I would like to chalk up to being at the office from 6:30am to 9:30 last night.
This morning, because I was running late, I didn't eat breakfast, which was dumb. I have a very tempermental blood sugar levels...so I had a pesto veggie omelet thing. It sounds healthy, but from what I gather, anything that sounds healthy that isnt' in a pure form (hard boiled egg, fruit, vegetables). It's 740 calories not healthy.
This sounds horrible, and it is. But it's okay because I'm going back to Cosi for lunch and having a huge salad for dinner. Skip the cheese and the dressing (dip your fork tongs in for minimal calories, max taste) and you've got 228 for a salad.
Tonight, I'll be so tired I'll probably just have a salad at home, looking at my calculations for a small salad that I make at home...you get 61 calories, take out my dressing and use the dip method, we're down to 24 calories.
Our grand total for the day:
740 - Omelet sandwhich of doom
083 - Fruit salad
019 - Coffee
228 - salad at lunch
061 - salad for dinner
Total: 1131
Not bad, friends, considering I'm aiming for 1300 a day. It'll take off some of the edge from those two beers and fatty dinner last night.
I'm sure you're thinking that "for someone who counts calories, she must be panicking, she's probably freaking out."
You can assume otherwise, but I'm not really freaking out. I'm a bit disappointed in myself because I totally blew through that decision gate that said "this isn't going to be good. you'll feel bloated and sleepy all day tomorrow."
But it's almost a relief, because here's the deal. I was waiting to screw up. That sounds like I can't control my actions or that I was sabotaging myself, but think of it like this. When you first learn to ski or skate or anything that requires balance, the biggest fear is falling. But often times, once you fall, you go "that wasn't that bad, okay, next time I will have more confidence" and you fall less as your confidence builds. It's a weird circular system.
Now that I've really, totally blown it, I can readjust, I can better prepare and I know that I won't lose my mind over it. It's also something that will happen again. You can't not have that piece of pie that great aunt norma slaved over. You certinaly cannot refuse your soon to be mother in law's butter glazed, gravy coated, and deep fried chicken. And if you're stuck in a long meeting where they serve lunch (which happens to be chinese food)...you're going to eat.
Aside from cravings, none of us are 100% in control of what food is available to us. And for that matter, it probably shouldn't be. That's why I still go out and have lunch with my friends. It's why I let the office buy me lunch (and beer and dinner)...because let's face it. Neurosis of food is neurosis of food, even if you're losing weight.
And like I've said. I love food more than almost anything. And I don't like being neurotic about love.
Constant Cravings
Cravings.
We allllll have them.
If we didn't, the commercials wouldn't have these ridiculous commercials about women who cheat on every diet they try, or hoards of screaming women running after a 100 calorie pack of oreos truck. (I hate those commercials, in case you wanted my opinion...which you obviously do since you're still reading this blog.)
Cravings are hard to beat because they're chemical and then they're reinforeced with a mental/emotional behavior: a habit.
Everyone experiences cravings, if you don't...something is wrong with your chemical make up and you and I can never be friends.
Think about a runner training for a marathon. Big races historically throw a large pasta carb load dinner the night before a race, despite the fact that science now says that protein with a little carb added is the best meal prior to race day. But every runner associates pasta and garlic bread with that big race day. That's a situational memory/habit. The sleepy, restful feeling you get after that dinner is something runners cling to so they can sleep before a big race. I had to break an enormous habit of carb loading on Saturday nights before my distance run on Sundays post marathon.
Think about a smoker. Smokers have the added hindrence of the chemical reaction--one of the strongest in the world (apparently stronger than some heroine chemical reactions). Having a cigarette sets off chemical receptors in their brains that soothe them, mentally and physically. Add the human emotions surrounding a habit - boredom, stress, whatever, and you have a powerful craving that can take years to escape.
Think about your average dieter: someone who has gone through a few diets with minimal results and a lot of backwards sliding (lose a few pounds, feel great, go back to eating how they want, stop going to the gym, go back on diet). They associate diets with withholding, strengthening a craving when it occurs due to our lovely vendictive emotional make up. Add to the fact that a lot of cravings for sugar and carbs are chemically based, most often, based on being tired. When we're tired, our bodies want quick energy--simple sugar and simple carbs (they boil down to about the same thing).
Now, shout out to my dear friend, who is also embracing the volumetrics lifestyle. She's going the weight watchers way, which is essentially a program that makes calorie counting a bit easier to track.
I IM'ed her and said: I'm craving carbs.
She replied: I'm craving brownies.
I said to her: We both must be tired.
We are. It's been a tough two days at our respective offices.
So when I went to get lunch today (a big huge salad from the mall salad place, with chicken breast totaling to about 250 calories), I had to force myself to not get a bread stick (remember, I had my big slip Monday and a minor stumble Tuesday morning), or fries from the food court, or a pretzel.
See, here's the hardest part.
Just like a smoker who knows smoking will kill them, or the distance runner who knows that a dinner of chicken breast, green beans, and a few small boiled new potatoes is better than pasta...dieters face the same problem. We all know that X food is not in line with our goals. We know it and yet we just.don't.care. Or at least, I don't. I'll be the first to admit I have a weakness with food.
It's really easy to forget, but: hunger is not the same as a craving. Similar, our body doesn't equate a certain number of calories to a certain level of fullness.
I'll elaborate, because I in my nerdy nutrition curiosity, learned that our bodies process "full" on a volume basis. How "full" we are is truly the same on how FULL our stomach really is. You can have a 573 calorie king sized snickers bar...but you won't be as full as if you had something 10 times that size with a lower caloric value. It's just the way it goes.
Sucks, doesn't it? I'm bummed that chocolate has a ridiculous amount of calories as compared to lettuce. They don't consider lettuce a luxury item for a reason, though. Same goes with wine and good cheese....not sure why a burger and fries haven't made the luxury list, but you get my drift. Luxury is code for FAT.
Before we go to solutions, let's examine prevention. No one's ever going to erradicate a craving. Or if they do, hand me that pill. Regardless, eating 5-6 times a day in small portions will tackle a craving in two ways, and give your metabolism a boost. If you eat constantly, your body maintains a feeling of "full" and you're less likely to get hungry, then crave a quick fix. Also, by continuing to process low caloric food, your body is still processing, keeping your metabolism fired up. And finally, it takes care of that emotional component of eating when you're bored. My 3:30 snack is what I look forward to come 2 pm.
All that requires planning. And how's that phrase go class? "...the best laid plans..." (I'm not actually sure how that phrase really ends, but it's something about f'ing up.)
When planning doesn't happen....
There are two "real" ways to tackle a craving, and a third that sounds like crackpot science and could backfire in the worst ways...
1) Realize that the loaf of garlic french bread sounds great because you're exhausted. NOT because you're hungry. You're having a craving, but whether or not your hungry is all that really matters. The solution here is this.
Figure out why you're craving something:
We allllll have them.
If we didn't, the commercials wouldn't have these ridiculous commercials about women who cheat on every diet they try, or hoards of screaming women running after a 100 calorie pack of oreos truck. (I hate those commercials, in case you wanted my opinion...which you obviously do since you're still reading this blog.)
Cravings are hard to beat because they're chemical and then they're reinforeced with a mental/emotional behavior: a habit.
Everyone experiences cravings, if you don't...something is wrong with your chemical make up and you and I can never be friends.
Think about a runner training for a marathon. Big races historically throw a large pasta carb load dinner the night before a race, despite the fact that science now says that protein with a little carb added is the best meal prior to race day. But every runner associates pasta and garlic bread with that big race day. That's a situational memory/habit. The sleepy, restful feeling you get after that dinner is something runners cling to so they can sleep before a big race. I had to break an enormous habit of carb loading on Saturday nights before my distance run on Sundays post marathon.
Think about a smoker. Smokers have the added hindrence of the chemical reaction--one of the strongest in the world (apparently stronger than some heroine chemical reactions). Having a cigarette sets off chemical receptors in their brains that soothe them, mentally and physically. Add the human emotions surrounding a habit - boredom, stress, whatever, and you have a powerful craving that can take years to escape.
Think about your average dieter: someone who has gone through a few diets with minimal results and a lot of backwards sliding (lose a few pounds, feel great, go back to eating how they want, stop going to the gym, go back on diet). They associate diets with withholding, strengthening a craving when it occurs due to our lovely vendictive emotional make up. Add to the fact that a lot of cravings for sugar and carbs are chemically based, most often, based on being tired. When we're tired, our bodies want quick energy--simple sugar and simple carbs (they boil down to about the same thing).
Now, shout out to my dear friend, who is also embracing the volumetrics lifestyle. She's going the weight watchers way, which is essentially a program that makes calorie counting a bit easier to track.
I IM'ed her and said: I'm craving carbs.
She replied: I'm craving brownies.
I said to her: We both must be tired.
We are. It's been a tough two days at our respective offices.
So when I went to get lunch today (a big huge salad from the mall salad place, with chicken breast totaling to about 250 calories), I had to force myself to not get a bread stick (remember, I had my big slip Monday and a minor stumble Tuesday morning), or fries from the food court, or a pretzel.
See, here's the hardest part.
Just like a smoker who knows smoking will kill them, or the distance runner who knows that a dinner of chicken breast, green beans, and a few small boiled new potatoes is better than pasta...dieters face the same problem. We all know that X food is not in line with our goals. We know it and yet we just.don't.care. Or at least, I don't. I'll be the first to admit I have a weakness with food.
It's really easy to forget, but: hunger is not the same as a craving. Similar, our body doesn't equate a certain number of calories to a certain level of fullness.
I'll elaborate, because I in my nerdy nutrition curiosity, learned that our bodies process "full" on a volume basis. How "full" we are is truly the same on how FULL our stomach really is. You can have a 573 calorie king sized snickers bar...but you won't be as full as if you had something 10 times that size with a lower caloric value. It's just the way it goes.
Sucks, doesn't it? I'm bummed that chocolate has a ridiculous amount of calories as compared to lettuce. They don't consider lettuce a luxury item for a reason, though. Same goes with wine and good cheese....not sure why a burger and fries haven't made the luxury list, but you get my drift. Luxury is code for FAT.
Before we go to solutions, let's examine prevention. No one's ever going to erradicate a craving. Or if they do, hand me that pill. Regardless, eating 5-6 times a day in small portions will tackle a craving in two ways, and give your metabolism a boost. If you eat constantly, your body maintains a feeling of "full" and you're less likely to get hungry, then crave a quick fix. Also, by continuing to process low caloric food, your body is still processing, keeping your metabolism fired up. And finally, it takes care of that emotional component of eating when you're bored. My 3:30 snack is what I look forward to come 2 pm.
All that requires planning. And how's that phrase go class? "...the best laid plans..." (I'm not actually sure how that phrase really ends, but it's something about f'ing up.)
When planning doesn't happen....
There are two "real" ways to tackle a craving, and a third that sounds like crackpot science and could backfire in the worst ways...
1) Realize that the loaf of garlic french bread sounds great because you're exhausted. NOT because you're hungry. You're having a craving, but whether or not your hungry is all that really matters. The solution here is this.
Figure out why you're craving something:
- did you see a commercial? (emotional/memory trigger)
- are you tired or stressed? (chemical trigger)
- are you hungry? (chemical trigger).
Solution: Drink water, if that fails...Eat. But don't eat what you're craving unless you're prepared to deal with the consequences. Have an apple, a few carrot sticks, rice cake and peanut butter, a huge glass of water will often stave of boredom hunger.
2) The second is to have some of whatever it is. Really want that garlic bread? Okay. If you're one of those magical people who's super power is self control, be my guest. Have one slice (about 150 calories). Chocolate is your weakness? 1 square of dove chocolate is 42 calories. Stop the craving by eating slowly, and drinking a lot of water before and after.
3) (crack pot advice)...make a friend who has an enviable metabolism eat the craved food in front of you. This often back fires (at least for me). Watching Chadd eat a 5000 calorie diet and lose weight makes me want to throw up all over him. Or punch him. Or eat chocolate. Or all of them. For one of my friends, this satisfies her craving.
Final word: When I find out how to inhabit Chadd's body when I'm eating, I'll let you know.
Sunday, July 20, 2014
Burger of doom
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D9755V800&show_article=1
This makes me a) sick b) starving.
Sigh.
This makes me a) sick b) starving.
Sigh.
My new favorite tool
I'm sure you all are wondering how I have the time and patience to figure out the calories in everything I eat.
I'm wondering the same thing.
Aside from having the amazing self calculating spreadsheet that I created in all my consultant-ness a few weeks ago...I have...
google.
I know, that's kind of a let down, isn't it? I use food lables when possible, but for the most part, I google. Want to know how many calories that honey wheat bagel is? No problem, if it's not name brand, simply google: calories honey wheat bagel.
There are a few sites that consistently pop up, calorie king, calorie counter, nutritional data...
But today I have found the most amazing thing. While researching my burn at the gym on the rowing machine and treadmill on self.com, I came across an add for Nutritiondata.com.
I use them a lot, so I thought I'd skim around. While I haven't tested out this tool yet, you can use it to CALCULATE HOW MANY CALORIES ARE IN A RECIPE!!! AAAHHH
I love my volumetrics cook book, I really do, but I also love cooking in general. I love trying new recipes and experimenting with new oils and spices. Not all of these cookbooks and foodnetwork.com recipes have quite figured out that I need to know my caloric intake.
www.Nutritiondata.com requires basic log-in information, but it's free, and I love free things like I love my food: a lot.
By the way, you can also save these recipes. I'm in love with this new tool. I'm thinking I'm going to have to test it out either tonight or this weekend.
I'm wondering the same thing.
Aside from having the amazing self calculating spreadsheet that I created in all my consultant-ness a few weeks ago...I have...
google.
I know, that's kind of a let down, isn't it? I use food lables when possible, but for the most part, I google. Want to know how many calories that honey wheat bagel is? No problem, if it's not name brand, simply google: calories honey wheat bagel.
There are a few sites that consistently pop up, calorie king, calorie counter, nutritional data...
But today I have found the most amazing thing. While researching my burn at the gym on the rowing machine and treadmill on self.com, I came across an add for Nutritiondata.com.
I use them a lot, so I thought I'd skim around. While I haven't tested out this tool yet, you can use it to CALCULATE HOW MANY CALORIES ARE IN A RECIPE!!! AAAHHH
I love my volumetrics cook book, I really do, but I also love cooking in general. I love trying new recipes and experimenting with new oils and spices. Not all of these cookbooks and foodnetwork.com recipes have quite figured out that I need to know my caloric intake.
www.Nutritiondata.com requires basic log-in information, but it's free, and I love free things like I love my food: a lot.
By the way, you can also save these recipes. I'm in love with this new tool. I'm thinking I'm going to have to test it out either tonight or this weekend.
Date Night Dilemma
Chadd and I have busy lives. And in this economy, we also have economic lives. The combination here makes staying home, opening a bottle of wine (me) and playing video games (Chadd), a lot more desirable than going out on a date. This has actually been a really good thing in a few aspects. It's made weekends very restorative for me. I get a lot of sleep and relaxation and I also get to be in charge of what we eat. I can go grocery shopping, plan out my meals for the week, and cook at night. And it's also reassuring to know that Chadd and I don't get sick of each other when we're at home together on a Friday night. I've really enjoyed our low-key evenings; they're even romantic to me.
But this weekend, Chadd took me out for the classic dinner and a movie date. Needless to say, I was excited and nostalgic for our first few dates when we were back in high school. Our first date was to Coldstone one evening after he came to see a play I was in. *nostalgic music*
Anyway...
The big down fall for dieters, I believe, is when they are no longer in a position of 100% control. I can go to, let's say, Cosi for lunch because I know that their signature salad with the dressing on the side (fork dip method) is about 260 calories. I know that Noodles & Co. has a chart that disects pasta dishes by calories, fat content, amount of carbs, and sodium. But when we go to a local restaurant or a chain that doesn't like to advertise their nutritonal information...you're left with a undesireable options: "it's probably not that bad" food or guessing and possibly eating something you didn't want to begin with--makign going out pointless.
So when Chadd took me out on Friday night, I had a few choices to make along the way.
Going out is fun because it means you don't have to think about dinner. All you have to concentrate on is the people you've gone and the fun you're having. It's time to change that mentality. It's especially fun when you're going on a rare date night and want to really treat yourself. This is part of our mentality--and there is NOTHING wrong with it. I'm a big proponent of going out to eat as a special event, a treat, a celebration.
There were, of course, bumps along the way. Our evening went something like this:
After getting our movie tickets for "I Love You, Man" before dinner, we went over to Chadwick's on K street. Chadwicks, for those of you who are not local, is basically a mix between a sports bar and an average American Grill. It's the perfect pre-movie outting--right by the theater, quick service, wide selection.
We opened our menus. Normally, I'd have ordered a beer, a cheeseburger with jalepenos, maybe some guacomole and fries. This totals to a whopping 1,000 calories (that's choosing a bud select, which I would never choose).
I say to Chadd: "You know, I'm getting sick of eating salads."
Don't get me wrong, I like salads. I especially like good, unique salads that fill me up, and taste better than a normal garden salad...but after a while, I like sinking my teeth into a nice, juicy burger. After all, I am a texas girl.
Thank god for iPhones, I googled "turkey burger" to get a calorie read out: 600 calories.
I was probably visably distressed.
Chadd said, reassuringly: "I don't want you to feel like you always have to eat salads, what else do you think you can eat on the menu? I want you to enjoy yourself."
I perused. I finally settled on a salmon BLT sandwhich. I knew I'd ditch the bread, but pick up the sweet potato fries. SP Fries have the benefit of being lower in carbs. When people go the sugar busters route, sweet potatos become their best friends. I planned to keep the LT and ditch the B. I'm not really a bacon fan. Remember, rarely do buns actually taste good. They're normally slightly stale, buttered or wipped with mayonaise. Use a half bun and you'll get a better taste of what you ordered--the burger, the club of the club sandwhich, etc.
Chadd is a gentleman and likes to order for me. I also love this. So when he orders the salmon for me and our waitress let's him know that they're out of salmon, I'm back to the drawing board.
Much deliberation later, I determined on the veggie wrap, which I then pulled apart into grilled vegetables, disposed of the tortilla, used the fork dip method with the sundried tomato aoli. And it was good. I employed the method of "I'm hungry, I'm not craving." Chadd had wings (I had a bite to curb the craving) and a steak wrap (nothing I was interested in that evening) and fries (I literally, honestly, had exactly 1).
I will be curious to see what happens when I do have an honest craving.
So our hero passes another big challenge: date night.
For now, I think I'm too paranoid to go off my diet on a splurge night. But I'm sure, in the not too distant future, you will hear about a night of philly pizza. And damn will it taste good.
But this weekend, Chadd took me out for the classic dinner and a movie date. Needless to say, I was excited and nostalgic for our first few dates when we were back in high school. Our first date was to Coldstone one evening after he came to see a play I was in. *nostalgic music*
Anyway...
The big down fall for dieters, I believe, is when they are no longer in a position of 100% control. I can go to, let's say, Cosi for lunch because I know that their signature salad with the dressing on the side (fork dip method) is about 260 calories. I know that Noodles & Co. has a chart that disects pasta dishes by calories, fat content, amount of carbs, and sodium. But when we go to a local restaurant or a chain that doesn't like to advertise their nutritonal information...you're left with a undesireable options: "it's probably not that bad" food or guessing and possibly eating something you didn't want to begin with--makign going out pointless.
So when Chadd took me out on Friday night, I had a few choices to make along the way.
Going out is fun because it means you don't have to think about dinner. All you have to concentrate on is the people you've gone and the fun you're having. It's time to change that mentality. It's especially fun when you're going on a rare date night and want to really treat yourself. This is part of our mentality--and there is NOTHING wrong with it. I'm a big proponent of going out to eat as a special event, a treat, a celebration.
There were, of course, bumps along the way. Our evening went something like this:
After getting our movie tickets for "I Love You, Man" before dinner, we went over to Chadwick's on K street. Chadwicks, for those of you who are not local, is basically a mix between a sports bar and an average American Grill. It's the perfect pre-movie outting--right by the theater, quick service, wide selection.
We opened our menus. Normally, I'd have ordered a beer, a cheeseburger with jalepenos, maybe some guacomole and fries. This totals to a whopping 1,000 calories (that's choosing a bud select, which I would never choose).
I say to Chadd: "You know, I'm getting sick of eating salads."
Don't get me wrong, I like salads. I especially like good, unique salads that fill me up, and taste better than a normal garden salad...but after a while, I like sinking my teeth into a nice, juicy burger. After all, I am a texas girl.
Thank god for iPhones, I googled "turkey burger" to get a calorie read out: 600 calories.
I was probably visably distressed.
Chadd said, reassuringly: "I don't want you to feel like you always have to eat salads, what else do you think you can eat on the menu? I want you to enjoy yourself."
I perused. I finally settled on a salmon BLT sandwhich. I knew I'd ditch the bread, but pick up the sweet potato fries. SP Fries have the benefit of being lower in carbs. When people go the sugar busters route, sweet potatos become their best friends. I planned to keep the LT and ditch the B. I'm not really a bacon fan. Remember, rarely do buns actually taste good. They're normally slightly stale, buttered or wipped with mayonaise. Use a half bun and you'll get a better taste of what you ordered--the burger, the club of the club sandwhich, etc.
Chadd is a gentleman and likes to order for me. I also love this. So when he orders the salmon for me and our waitress let's him know that they're out of salmon, I'm back to the drawing board.
Much deliberation later, I determined on the veggie wrap, which I then pulled apart into grilled vegetables, disposed of the tortilla, used the fork dip method with the sundried tomato aoli. And it was good. I employed the method of "I'm hungry, I'm not craving." Chadd had wings (I had a bite to curb the craving) and a steak wrap (nothing I was interested in that evening) and fries (I literally, honestly, had exactly 1).
I will be curious to see what happens when I do have an honest craving.
So our hero passes another big challenge: date night.
For now, I think I'm too paranoid to go off my diet on a splurge night. But I'm sure, in the not too distant future, you will hear about a night of philly pizza. And damn will it taste good.
Long hours, short days
This is a particularly henious week for a few reasons.
1) I was informed late last week that we would be asked to work 50 hours a week...for the next three weeks. (This is only day two of week one.)
2) I normally only work 40 at the office, and maybe another 5 at home. I'm at the office around 45 hours a week due to a lunch and coffee break. Love my capped hour consulting gig. 50 hours means, if I want to leave at 5:30, like I normally do to get home to my life, I have to be here at 7:30 and not take a lunch break.
3) I am T-minus 33 days to my triathlon and no where near where I need to be for training.
This combination means I'm about to go into a challange that has the potential to crack my will. Pizza doesn't sound good now, but it might somewhere around Wednesday of next week. That's just a guess. It's more likely that as Easter draws near (and the end of Lent with it) that candy will once again be freely within my reach. I admit, I have a sweet tooth, especially when I'm tired. I haven't been craving it lately, especially with the help of 100 calorie packs of cookies, but I know it's got potential to rear it's ugly head and become an epic craving.
So anyway, for the next three weeks (essentially, all of my training time), I'll be working over time (without getting paid over time) and having to squeeze in training.
This is not counting in the fact that Chadd's mom is coming to visit us for Easter. I'm really excited to see her and have her stay with us, but it means I also need to really spend some of my spare time cleaning the apartment. She'd never judge, but I never want to look like I live in a dump. Also, I guarentee you that I will much rather spend time with her than go to the gym right after work.
Not to mention that she and I have started a secondary business (http://loveyourface.myrandf.com/ if you're curious) and need to spend some time getting that hammered out.
So, when it's all said and done for the next...20 days-ish...I need to be on top of my game, prepared to be tired, unwavered by quick, fatty food and sugar rushes, and still have energy/the will to go to the gym at the end of the day. Sadly, I can't go in the mornings while this 50 hours business is happening...so now it's gotta happen at night. The prime "nah, I'll cut the gym" hour.
I made a schedule to combat all this. Last night was a 45 minute swim--check.
Today, with church, I'm giving myself my day off.
Wednesday: Gym date with my brownie-craving friend (you want to be called by your real name or do you want a new identity? gchat me.)
Thursday: After tutoring, bike and run
Friday: Off or Swimming
Saturday: Off or Swimming
Sunday: double aerobics
I'll update on my success (I refuse to consider failure) as we move along. I think I'll stick with it out of the sheer fear of drowning in the triathlon.
For your reading/research pleasure: Best and Worst, brought to you by Eat This, Not That (essentially, volumetrics and a good research team.)
1) I was informed late last week that we would be asked to work 50 hours a week...for the next three weeks. (This is only day two of week one.)
2) I normally only work 40 at the office, and maybe another 5 at home. I'm at the office around 45 hours a week due to a lunch and coffee break. Love my capped hour consulting gig. 50 hours means, if I want to leave at 5:30, like I normally do to get home to my life, I have to be here at 7:30 and not take a lunch break.
3) I am T-minus 33 days to my triathlon and no where near where I need to be for training.
This combination means I'm about to go into a challange that has the potential to crack my will. Pizza doesn't sound good now, but it might somewhere around Wednesday of next week. That's just a guess. It's more likely that as Easter draws near (and the end of Lent with it) that candy will once again be freely within my reach. I admit, I have a sweet tooth, especially when I'm tired. I haven't been craving it lately, especially with the help of 100 calorie packs of cookies, but I know it's got potential to rear it's ugly head and become an epic craving.
So anyway, for the next three weeks (essentially, all of my training time), I'll be working over time (without getting paid over time) and having to squeeze in training.
This is not counting in the fact that Chadd's mom is coming to visit us for Easter. I'm really excited to see her and have her stay with us, but it means I also need to really spend some of my spare time cleaning the apartment. She'd never judge, but I never want to look like I live in a dump. Also, I guarentee you that I will much rather spend time with her than go to the gym right after work.
Not to mention that she and I have started a secondary business (http://loveyourface.myrandf.com/ if you're curious) and need to spend some time getting that hammered out.
So, when it's all said and done for the next...20 days-ish...I need to be on top of my game, prepared to be tired, unwavered by quick, fatty food and sugar rushes, and still have energy/the will to go to the gym at the end of the day. Sadly, I can't go in the mornings while this 50 hours business is happening...so now it's gotta happen at night. The prime "nah, I'll cut the gym" hour.
I made a schedule to combat all this. Last night was a 45 minute swim--check.
Today, with church, I'm giving myself my day off.
Wednesday: Gym date with my brownie-craving friend (you want to be called by your real name or do you want a new identity? gchat me.)
Thursday: After tutoring, bike and run
Friday: Off or Swimming
Saturday: Off or Swimming
Sunday: double aerobics
I'll update on my success (I refuse to consider failure) as we move along. I think I'll stick with it out of the sheer fear of drowning in the triathlon.
For your reading/research pleasure: Best and Worst, brought to you by Eat This, Not That (essentially, volumetrics and a good research team.)
Crispy Tofu Trials
Days just slip by, don't they?
So update on the hectic 50 hour lifestyle. The benefit of getting up early has been that I'm at the office early. It reminds me how much I prefer getting a start on the day. Once I'm off the 50 hours/week, I am telling myself that I will continue to get up early so I can spend an hour drinking coffee, getting ready, reading the paper. This is, of course, a pipedream.
Once my gym buddy stops traveling for work, I'll get back on my morning work outs, which will be supremely beneficial for all involved. And I'll be up early for that anyway.
I've continued to be good eating, aside from a slip up at work yesterday where I had a small square of cake. My brownie-craving friend, hence known as Brownie, and I went to the gym together last night and I told her about the slip up and about how I was pretty close to my calorie requirement anyway and that whatever, we all need chocolate cake now and then.
I was wrong. Very very wrong.
Because I felt sick running on the treadmill. I had chills then hot flashes then waves of naseau. It's true that once your body gets used to healthy food, it really doesn't like bad food. Mine really really didn't. I felt even worse later in the night. My sugar levels were totally out of control. I eat sugar. I eat a lot of natural sugar--fruit is quickly becoming my depedency as are 100 calorie packs. But that cake was so not a good plan. My co-worker and I have agreed to remind each other how sick we felt next time there is cake involved.
So far, 2 of 3 days, I have gone to the gym. Tuesday was church, so I was exempt. I still have to go tonight and either Friday or Saturday, which will take some convincing of my will.
In food news, I'd like to share with you my latest escapade into the real world of dieting.
Tofu.
I actually really like tofu. I've always preferred it in my chinese food more than I have the meat of whatever variety. Call me suspicious. But I dont' really cook with it. I like fried tofu, which I can only assume takes lumps of almost nada calorie bean curd and load it with calories.
I had a block of tofu in the fridge from a previous dream of making my volumetrics pad thai tofu. Didn't happen. So I opened it up, loaded up google and did a search "lo cal tofu recipes." I eventually found something that applied to what I could make with my limited supplies. I basically have spices, some lettuce, tofu, and a few random veggies.
I took the tofu, sliced it into about 1/4" slices, threw it in a pan that was sprayed with vegetable spray, coated with chili powder, garlic salt, peper, and salt. I had some spicy sauce stuff that I threw on there (adding 25 calories) and gave ti about 5 minutes a side. Not really crispy. The recipe online said to throw it in the oven at 400 degrees--that would make it crispy. Did that, no go. Set to broil, 4 minutes later.
I threw together some lightly stirfried veggies (onions, bell peppers, mushrooms) and dumped the tofu on top.
I wouldn't serve it in a restaurant and I still have no idea how to make a healthy crispy tofu...but it wasn't bad. I give it a weak three stars. Filled me up, it was spicy (which, for me, is a plus) and reheated well for lunch. Everyone said it smelled good, so I get points there.
Now, I just have to tackle texture, which, as Brownie would say, is the most important part.
Lesson: I like tofu, but I think I need more research and a better stocked fridge.
So update on the hectic 50 hour lifestyle. The benefit of getting up early has been that I'm at the office early. It reminds me how much I prefer getting a start on the day. Once I'm off the 50 hours/week, I am telling myself that I will continue to get up early so I can spend an hour drinking coffee, getting ready, reading the paper. This is, of course, a pipedream.
Once my gym buddy stops traveling for work, I'll get back on my morning work outs, which will be supremely beneficial for all involved. And I'll be up early for that anyway.
I've continued to be good eating, aside from a slip up at work yesterday where I had a small square of cake. My brownie-craving friend, hence known as Brownie, and I went to the gym together last night and I told her about the slip up and about how I was pretty close to my calorie requirement anyway and that whatever, we all need chocolate cake now and then.
I was wrong. Very very wrong.
Because I felt sick running on the treadmill. I had chills then hot flashes then waves of naseau. It's true that once your body gets used to healthy food, it really doesn't like bad food. Mine really really didn't. I felt even worse later in the night. My sugar levels were totally out of control. I eat sugar. I eat a lot of natural sugar--fruit is quickly becoming my depedency as are 100 calorie packs. But that cake was so not a good plan. My co-worker and I have agreed to remind each other how sick we felt next time there is cake involved.
So far, 2 of 3 days, I have gone to the gym. Tuesday was church, so I was exempt. I still have to go tonight and either Friday or Saturday, which will take some convincing of my will.
In food news, I'd like to share with you my latest escapade into the real world of dieting.
Tofu.
I actually really like tofu. I've always preferred it in my chinese food more than I have the meat of whatever variety. Call me suspicious. But I dont' really cook with it. I like fried tofu, which I can only assume takes lumps of almost nada calorie bean curd and load it with calories.
I had a block of tofu in the fridge from a previous dream of making my volumetrics pad thai tofu. Didn't happen. So I opened it up, loaded up google and did a search "lo cal tofu recipes." I eventually found something that applied to what I could make with my limited supplies. I basically have spices, some lettuce, tofu, and a few random veggies.
I took the tofu, sliced it into about 1/4" slices, threw it in a pan that was sprayed with vegetable spray, coated with chili powder, garlic salt, peper, and salt. I had some spicy sauce stuff that I threw on there (adding 25 calories) and gave ti about 5 minutes a side. Not really crispy. The recipe online said to throw it in the oven at 400 degrees--that would make it crispy. Did that, no go. Set to broil, 4 minutes later.
I threw together some lightly stirfried veggies (onions, bell peppers, mushrooms) and dumped the tofu on top.
I wouldn't serve it in a restaurant and I still have no idea how to make a healthy crispy tofu...but it wasn't bad. I give it a weak three stars. Filled me up, it was spicy (which, for me, is a plus) and reheated well for lunch. Everyone said it smelled good, so I get points there.
Now, I just have to tackle texture, which, as Brownie would say, is the most important part.
Lesson: I like tofu, but I think I need more research and a better stocked fridge.
Saturday, July 19, 2014
Magazines Health Tips: good for...!
Hold tight, I need to brew some coffee...
Okay. Coffee, check.
Let's talk about girl magazines. I admit, I read Glamour and Cosmo and all those crappy magazines (really, just those two).
For a while, I was pulled into the magazine "Lose 10 pounds--THIS MONTH!" type articles. And then...I wasn't. Because I realized my pattern. We read the promise, we skim the section and despite their best efforts, it's almost setting women up to fail. I actually got...2 workouts into something from Shape, once.
That's not to say that the health tips they provide aren't wonderful, and the "fat blasting beach moves!" aren't also legit--they are. But here's the problem: it's not a program.
If you want to add a new move to your routine, cool. If you typically eat at McDonalds and you see their "eat this not that" tip of the month (provided you like eating 710 calories), then excellent for you...and you will probably not identify with me at all on this one.
But I think the problem is not with the magazines, it's with our culture. (no...really??) These magazines are not health magazines (and even the ones that are, they're for the group of people looking for tips--not plans) but people treat the tips like they are. At least, my mind did. I never followed through on the Self get fit club, and I don't like to be on a bright pink website at work to go through Cosmo's beach body club. I guess I'm just a believer in a lifestyle change.
The golden answer to the weight loss conundrum is this:
1) Watch what you eat by knowing what you eat: keeping a food journal really is truly the key. Magazines do tout this one, but they don't tell you why. Or if they do, I really want to push it into everyone's brain.
I was guilty of "this is kind of...a cup...(when it's really 2)" and "i don't have to write down these five hershey's kisses" (which total to about 100 calories). These little cheats add up (trust me, it's depressing when you realize you're doing all that work and cheating yourself). And being honest with yourself, not fudging, and not trying to change that food diary in your first week of keeping it will keep you on track. I don't think you need to keep a food diary forever. I fall off the wagon now and then since I've been doing it for about a month--because I'm hyper aware. But to do something mentally, you have to have had a lot of practice at it to get it right in the first place.
2) Get your ass in gear. Food is 70% of your weight loss regiment. Sucks, I know. I'd rather eat whatever I wanted and work out to burn it off...but it doesn't work that way for whatever horrid reason. For some people, getting in gear is a 20 minute walk. For the fortunate/unfortuate like me, who already have a gym habit (or gym job)...we have to bump it up a notch. Try for something every day. Last night was my epic fail...I skipped the gym to clean my apartmetn until I realized I'd probably done at least 15 minutes of stair climbing doing my laundry 6 out of the 8 floors in my building. (it's still a cop out)
I'm not a big believer in the lists of things that burn calories that you "don't even know you burn." Because calculating your caloric needs already take that into account (I'll put up that formual later). You have to dedicate yourself to sheer physical activity once a day.
3) Balance it out. I am not a person who will ever be able to banish pizza from my life. And I'm not talking about substituting in lean cuisine pizzas. I love pizza, pasta, chocolate ice cream, cake, good desserts from restaurants, etc. I love it. And I'll never give it up. I am still struggling with where that line is for me. Where is the line between blowing it and indulging. I know I talked about it last entry, but it's still something I'm concerned about. It's about experience, I guess.
And that's all it is. At least, thats all I think it is. It's not about fast fatty flab busting moves, or eat this not that for one dish. It's about education and dedication. I sound so old fashioned. But it's true. It's also about professing your love for all that is bad in food and moving on.
On a fun note: Glamour asks their staff: "Which health habit are you proudest of?"
(it's it most proud?) Journey with me through their eye rolling answers.
1) "I meditate every morning. It helps me mentally prepare for my day."
Realist response: I meditate...while I'm hitting snooze. (Honestly, I wish I could get up and get myself together before I had to go to work)
2) "I don't drink coffee: instead, I drink 64 ounces of water a day."
Realist response: $#!#% you're either an alien, cheat by drinking diet coke, or you life is much much easier than mine. What a nut ball. I will never give up my coffee (Ps. they say that 1-2 cups a day helps boost metabolish. whether that's true or not, I don't really care. I'm going to continue to drink it.)
3) "I laugh a lot. Staying happy keeps the stress away!"
Realist response: this was a cop out answer. I bet she smokes, throws back a few cocktails every night, and uses laxatives. People like her provide me with a good laugh.
4) "I stopped ordering takeout. I like knowing exactly what I'm putting in my body."
Realist response: I'm actually about 80% with her on this one. But I believe in keeping your options open, because I'm a real person who has a real life that is usually not 100% in my control. Order from a place that will provide nutritional information or do your google research. We're all busy people. I'm one of the least busy I know and I still struggle to make dinner at home some nights. Take out knowledge is the trick.
5) "I wake up at 5 am to work out. It's challenging but rewarding!"
Realist response: Okay. You got me. The only thing here that bothers me is that "!" at the end. I get up early to go to the gym, too. It's the only time I have sometimes (this after I say I'm the least busy person I know--I know a lot of really really busy people who don't sleep). When people ask me when I work out, I do not add a "!" to the end of my answer. It's just assinine.
6) "I quit smoking. My life has improved in so many ways."
Realist response: Good for you. I'm proud of you, random staffer.
7) "I get my beauty sleep. I need eight hours every night so I can recharge."
Realist response: You either have a very very cushy job, a very rich boyfriend/husband, or absolutely no life...or all of the above. I wish you ill, as does everyone else in this world who has a life.
8) "I gave up fried foods a year ago and haven't eaten any since!"
Realist response: STOP WITH THE "!!!!" aaauuggh. People who do this stuff are so superior sometimes. Eat the fries. Just...don't go overboard, okay?
Okay. Coffee, check.
Let's talk about girl magazines. I admit, I read Glamour and Cosmo and all those crappy magazines (really, just those two).
For a while, I was pulled into the magazine "Lose 10 pounds--THIS MONTH!" type articles. And then...I wasn't. Because I realized my pattern. We read the promise, we skim the section and despite their best efforts, it's almost setting women up to fail. I actually got...2 workouts into something from Shape, once.
That's not to say that the health tips they provide aren't wonderful, and the "fat blasting beach moves!" aren't also legit--they are. But here's the problem: it's not a program.
If you want to add a new move to your routine, cool. If you typically eat at McDonalds and you see their "eat this not that" tip of the month (provided you like eating 710 calories), then excellent for you...and you will probably not identify with me at all on this one.
But I think the problem is not with the magazines, it's with our culture. (no...really??) These magazines are not health magazines (and even the ones that are, they're for the group of people looking for tips--not plans) but people treat the tips like they are. At least, my mind did. I never followed through on the Self get fit club, and I don't like to be on a bright pink website at work to go through Cosmo's beach body club. I guess I'm just a believer in a lifestyle change.
The golden answer to the weight loss conundrum is this:
1) Watch what you eat by knowing what you eat: keeping a food journal really is truly the key. Magazines do tout this one, but they don't tell you why. Or if they do, I really want to push it into everyone's brain.
I was guilty of "this is kind of...a cup...(when it's really 2)" and "i don't have to write down these five hershey's kisses" (which total to about 100 calories). These little cheats add up (trust me, it's depressing when you realize you're doing all that work and cheating yourself). And being honest with yourself, not fudging, and not trying to change that food diary in your first week of keeping it will keep you on track. I don't think you need to keep a food diary forever. I fall off the wagon now and then since I've been doing it for about a month--because I'm hyper aware. But to do something mentally, you have to have had a lot of practice at it to get it right in the first place.
2) Get your ass in gear. Food is 70% of your weight loss regiment. Sucks, I know. I'd rather eat whatever I wanted and work out to burn it off...but it doesn't work that way for whatever horrid reason. For some people, getting in gear is a 20 minute walk. For the fortunate/unfortuate like me, who already have a gym habit (or gym job)...we have to bump it up a notch. Try for something every day. Last night was my epic fail...I skipped the gym to clean my apartmetn until I realized I'd probably done at least 15 minutes of stair climbing doing my laundry 6 out of the 8 floors in my building. (it's still a cop out)
I'm not a big believer in the lists of things that burn calories that you "don't even know you burn." Because calculating your caloric needs already take that into account (I'll put up that formual later). You have to dedicate yourself to sheer physical activity once a day.
3) Balance it out. I am not a person who will ever be able to banish pizza from my life. And I'm not talking about substituting in lean cuisine pizzas. I love pizza, pasta, chocolate ice cream, cake, good desserts from restaurants, etc. I love it. And I'll never give it up. I am still struggling with where that line is for me. Where is the line between blowing it and indulging. I know I talked about it last entry, but it's still something I'm concerned about. It's about experience, I guess.
And that's all it is. At least, thats all I think it is. It's not about fast fatty flab busting moves, or eat this not that for one dish. It's about education and dedication. I sound so old fashioned. But it's true. It's also about professing your love for all that is bad in food and moving on.
On a fun note: Glamour asks their staff: "Which health habit are you proudest of?"
(it's it most proud?) Journey with me through their eye rolling answers.
1) "I meditate every morning. It helps me mentally prepare for my day."
Realist response: I meditate...while I'm hitting snooze. (Honestly, I wish I could get up and get myself together before I had to go to work)
2) "I don't drink coffee: instead, I drink 64 ounces of water a day."
Realist response: $#!#% you're either an alien, cheat by drinking diet coke, or you life is much much easier than mine. What a nut ball. I will never give up my coffee (Ps. they say that 1-2 cups a day helps boost metabolish. whether that's true or not, I don't really care. I'm going to continue to drink it.)
3) "I laugh a lot. Staying happy keeps the stress away!"
Realist response: this was a cop out answer. I bet she smokes, throws back a few cocktails every night, and uses laxatives. People like her provide me with a good laugh.
4) "I stopped ordering takeout. I like knowing exactly what I'm putting in my body."
Realist response: I'm actually about 80% with her on this one. But I believe in keeping your options open, because I'm a real person who has a real life that is usually not 100% in my control. Order from a place that will provide nutritional information or do your google research. We're all busy people. I'm one of the least busy I know and I still struggle to make dinner at home some nights. Take out knowledge is the trick.
5) "I wake up at 5 am to work out. It's challenging but rewarding!"
Realist response: Okay. You got me. The only thing here that bothers me is that "!" at the end. I get up early to go to the gym, too. It's the only time I have sometimes (this after I say I'm the least busy person I know--I know a lot of really really busy people who don't sleep). When people ask me when I work out, I do not add a "!" to the end of my answer. It's just assinine.
6) "I quit smoking. My life has improved in so many ways."
Realist response: Good for you. I'm proud of you, random staffer.
7) "I get my beauty sleep. I need eight hours every night so I can recharge."
Realist response: You either have a very very cushy job, a very rich boyfriend/husband, or absolutely no life...or all of the above. I wish you ill, as does everyone else in this world who has a life.
8) "I gave up fried foods a year ago and haven't eaten any since!"
Realist response: STOP WITH THE "!!!!" aaauuggh. People who do this stuff are so superior sometimes. Eat the fries. Just...don't go overboard, okay?
Chocolate indulgences
This morning I woke up late. Rather, I hit snooze until really late. This made me fuzzy all morning (this is important to keep in mind.)
I got to work and boom, like clockwork, right after I had gotten my coffee (19 calories with the skim milk), someone was in our office with post baby shower treats. These included beautiful, designer chocolate bars.
In case you didn't know, chocolate is my weakness. I love chocolate about as much as I love good restaurant bread--which is a lot.
This basket had the most beautiful bar of dark, coconut filled chocolate. Yes please.
Without a thought of "I shouldnt' eat this," I did. (Remember: fuzzy brain syndrome)
And man was it amazing. Chococlate surrounding the lightest, most flaky coconut layer. It quite literally melted into butter, sugar, and cocoa in my mouth. (Do a test, are you salivating? Are you craving chocolate? Okay, now skim down and read my entry on cravings. Go drink that big cup of water).
Not only was it amazing, it was 250 calories amazing.
Did I care? nope!
And then I got a ridiculous raging headache. So much for me and my chocolate dreams. I'd have been a lot better off having a 50 calorie square of it, saving it and savoring it...and avoiding the headache.
I got to work and boom, like clockwork, right after I had gotten my coffee (19 calories with the skim milk), someone was in our office with post baby shower treats. These included beautiful, designer chocolate bars.
In case you didn't know, chocolate is my weakness. I love chocolate about as much as I love good restaurant bread--which is a lot.
This basket had the most beautiful bar of dark, coconut filled chocolate. Yes please.
Without a thought of "I shouldnt' eat this," I did. (Remember: fuzzy brain syndrome)
And man was it amazing. Chococlate surrounding the lightest, most flaky coconut layer. It quite literally melted into butter, sugar, and cocoa in my mouth. (Do a test, are you salivating? Are you craving chocolate? Okay, now skim down and read my entry on cravings. Go drink that big cup of water).
Not only was it amazing, it was 250 calories amazing.
Did I care? nope!
And then I got a ridiculous raging headache. So much for me and my chocolate dreams. I'd have been a lot better off having a 50 calorie square of it, saving it and savoring it...and avoiding the headache.
You wine some, you lose some
Good morning from rainy, nasty Washington.
I have not actually fallen into a pit, eaten myself into a coma, or otherwise abandoned my blog as I'm sure many of you had assumed.
I've just been consumed by other things. Which actually leads me, in a strange way, into what I want to write about today.
I've figured out how to eat normally without totally blowing my diet.
This all started when Chadd's mom came into town a little more than week ago. Since Chadd works night and Kimberly and I have the benefit of getting along very well, we decided to go out for drinks and dinner.
But before dinner, we took about a 45 minute walk up to the zoo and back. Then we perused the Dupont restaurant selection, and finding nothing that made us go "ooh" on Connecticut, we moved over towards 18th and found a little bistro called Rosemary's Thyme that combines American grill with Mediterranian (sp).
We sat down, had a glass of wine, then ordered a salad to split. That was it and because we had all the time we needed, we decided that if we wanted more food, we'd order more.
Halfway through the salad, we decided that we probably needed another bite of something. So we ordered a roasted vegetable pizza. Having seen a pizza that went by earlier, it appeared that these were thin crusted, mostly topping laden pizzas. Good news on the roasted veggie front!
Because it takes about 20 minutes for your stomach to register how much food you've eaten, by the time the pizza showed up, I was approaching full, but needed a topper. I probably had a slim slice and a half and was done. It didn't hurt that we were talking a million miles an hour, either. Always eat with people you like; it not only makes the meal more enjoyable, but the more you talk, the slower you eat, and the more likely you are to realize that you're full.
The weekend progressed in a similar fashion. When we ate, it was punctured with conversation, we ordered by courses, and had an enjoyable. time. I'm sure I made up all my calories in wine...but you wine some you lose some (ha ha....okay, give me a break, it's monday.)
Regardless, what helped too is that since we were so busy, we were mostly just eating little bites of things here and there.
Things continued well last week as I cut back on my snacking, stayed good for lunch and dinner (I had made soup on Tuesday along with some eggplant something something).
Saturday was an epic fail, though. After a day of painting and tooling around the apartment, both Chadd and I realized we were really hungry and it was getting late....so out came the papa john's coupons and I pretty much inhaled pizza.
And that's okay.
This week I'm back on track, continuing to watch what I eat. Always ordering a salad before I have anything else (90% of the time, I'm satisfied), and trying to get back to the gym while work fights aggressively to keep me lazy.
Bottom line: once you know what you're eating down to the ounce, scoping outward is more of a challenge of maintaining scrutiny, eating less when eating worse, and not throwing a plan of attack out the window.
I have not actually fallen into a pit, eaten myself into a coma, or otherwise abandoned my blog as I'm sure many of you had assumed.
I've just been consumed by other things. Which actually leads me, in a strange way, into what I want to write about today.
I've figured out how to eat normally without totally blowing my diet.
This all started when Chadd's mom came into town a little more than week ago. Since Chadd works night and Kimberly and I have the benefit of getting along very well, we decided to go out for drinks and dinner.
But before dinner, we took about a 45 minute walk up to the zoo and back. Then we perused the Dupont restaurant selection, and finding nothing that made us go "ooh" on Connecticut, we moved over towards 18th and found a little bistro called Rosemary's Thyme that combines American grill with Mediterranian (sp).
We sat down, had a glass of wine, then ordered a salad to split. That was it and because we had all the time we needed, we decided that if we wanted more food, we'd order more.
Halfway through the salad, we decided that we probably needed another bite of something. So we ordered a roasted vegetable pizza. Having seen a pizza that went by earlier, it appeared that these were thin crusted, mostly topping laden pizzas. Good news on the roasted veggie front!
Because it takes about 20 minutes for your stomach to register how much food you've eaten, by the time the pizza showed up, I was approaching full, but needed a topper. I probably had a slim slice and a half and was done. It didn't hurt that we were talking a million miles an hour, either. Always eat with people you like; it not only makes the meal more enjoyable, but the more you talk, the slower you eat, and the more likely you are to realize that you're full.
The weekend progressed in a similar fashion. When we ate, it was punctured with conversation, we ordered by courses, and had an enjoyable. time. I'm sure I made up all my calories in wine...but you wine some you lose some (ha ha....okay, give me a break, it's monday.)
Regardless, what helped too is that since we were so busy, we were mostly just eating little bites of things here and there.
Things continued well last week as I cut back on my snacking, stayed good for lunch and dinner (I had made soup on Tuesday along with some eggplant something something).
Saturday was an epic fail, though. After a day of painting and tooling around the apartment, both Chadd and I realized we were really hungry and it was getting late....so out came the papa john's coupons and I pretty much inhaled pizza.
And that's okay.
This week I'm back on track, continuing to watch what I eat. Always ordering a salad before I have anything else (90% of the time, I'm satisfied), and trying to get back to the gym while work fights aggressively to keep me lazy.
Bottom line: once you know what you're eating down to the ounce, scoping outward is more of a challenge of maintaining scrutiny, eating less when eating worse, and not throwing a plan of attack out the window.
More dreams than food
Good morning everyone.
It's a monday, and I guess that's about the best way to describe it. The past few weeks have been wrought with lack of exercise and indiscreminate eating. I couldn't care.
My best friend is in medical school right now and she and I have had a million conversations about eating right and having time to work out and feeling a million times worse about slipping up for a day/week/month than we do about feeling food for the one day/week/month that we did well.
Perhaps it's been my inability to care, or maybe it's that God loves me that much to know that this week is going to be hellish enough without weight gain. So he let me lose a pound.
By the mathematical rules of addition and subtraction, I would have gained weight. I probably ate more calories, and I know I burned fewer. I should have, be all accounts, gained weight.
This entry serves a few purposes:
1) to remind everyone that as much as we'd love to make weight loss black and white, we can't always account for that random gain or loss of a pound
2) stall from having to get my monday started.
3) talk about something entirely different.
And now for something completely different.
I mentioned a while ago that I've started my own business and that I was excited.
Words probably dont' do that justice because now that I've gotten to a point of pain with my job, and this is my way out. I think a lot about what I'll do when I quit working here. Rodan + Fields will likely be about a 20 hour a week requirement, which is fine by me. Chadd and I talked for a bit about grad school this weekend and I determined that when R+F takes off, I might decide to go back, if I want. I know I want to get my degree at some point, but now that I have another way out of my current job, I no longer feel the need to go as soon as possible.
I day dream a lot about how the future will look. For your viewing pleasure (and for a break from reading about food), here it is:
8:30: wake up, stretch, feed kitties
9:00: depending upon weather, go for walk or run, maybe make it to the gym
9:30-10: return home depending upon duration of outting
10:30: showered, at my desk, email opened
12:00: Several emails, a few phone calls, and some training review later, I have lunch.
1:00: Present the business
3:00: Return home
4:00: Finish reading the paper, my afternoon coffee, start thinking about dinner.
etc.
The reality of that schedule is that this is what will happen. If Chadd is still working his insane hours, my days will really look like this:
11:00: Roll out of bed, open laptop and feed cats
11:30: Shower
1:00: After some kind of breakfast/lunch combo, drive chadd to work
2:00: Present business to someone
3:30: Return home
4:30: finish watching daytime TV
5:00: Start thinking about dinner
2:00: wonder where my day went, wait for chadd to come home, fall asleep immediately once he gets back.
I really want the first lifestyle. I think I'd probably work at a gym part time to get experience in gym management. But for now, these are all hopes and dreams and projections when I really don't know how things will go. I believe that we will have incredible success, that this lifestyle is possible and that freedom is possible next year.
I am making the promise to myself that in pursuit of this dream, bad days, set backs, and discouragement will not change my mind.
http://loveyourface.myrandf.com is my ticket out of here.
Next time, I promise to talk about food.
It's a monday, and I guess that's about the best way to describe it. The past few weeks have been wrought with lack of exercise and indiscreminate eating. I couldn't care.
My best friend is in medical school right now and she and I have had a million conversations about eating right and having time to work out and feeling a million times worse about slipping up for a day/week/month than we do about feeling food for the one day/week/month that we did well.
Perhaps it's been my inability to care, or maybe it's that God loves me that much to know that this week is going to be hellish enough without weight gain. So he let me lose a pound.
By the mathematical rules of addition and subtraction, I would have gained weight. I probably ate more calories, and I know I burned fewer. I should have, be all accounts, gained weight.
This entry serves a few purposes:
1) to remind everyone that as much as we'd love to make weight loss black and white, we can't always account for that random gain or loss of a pound
2) stall from having to get my monday started.
3) talk about something entirely different.
And now for something completely different.
I mentioned a while ago that I've started my own business and that I was excited.
Words probably dont' do that justice because now that I've gotten to a point of pain with my job, and this is my way out. I think a lot about what I'll do when I quit working here. Rodan + Fields will likely be about a 20 hour a week requirement, which is fine by me. Chadd and I talked for a bit about grad school this weekend and I determined that when R+F takes off, I might decide to go back, if I want. I know I want to get my degree at some point, but now that I have another way out of my current job, I no longer feel the need to go as soon as possible.
I day dream a lot about how the future will look. For your viewing pleasure (and for a break from reading about food), here it is:
8:30: wake up, stretch, feed kitties
9:00: depending upon weather, go for walk or run, maybe make it to the gym
9:30-10: return home depending upon duration of outting
10:30: showered, at my desk, email opened
12:00: Several emails, a few phone calls, and some training review later, I have lunch.
1:00: Present the business
3:00: Return home
4:00: Finish reading the paper, my afternoon coffee, start thinking about dinner.
etc.
The reality of that schedule is that this is what will happen. If Chadd is still working his insane hours, my days will really look like this:
11:00: Roll out of bed, open laptop and feed cats
11:30: Shower
1:00: After some kind of breakfast/lunch combo, drive chadd to work
2:00: Present business to someone
3:30: Return home
4:30: finish watching daytime TV
5:00: Start thinking about dinner
2:00: wonder where my day went, wait for chadd to come home, fall asleep immediately once he gets back.
I really want the first lifestyle. I think I'd probably work at a gym part time to get experience in gym management. But for now, these are all hopes and dreams and projections when I really don't know how things will go. I believe that we will have incredible success, that this lifestyle is possible and that freedom is possible next year.
I am making the promise to myself that in pursuit of this dream, bad days, set backs, and discouragement will not change my mind.
http://loveyourface.myrandf.com is my ticket out of here.
Next time, I promise to talk about food.
Working Hard or Hardly Working
The title isn't meant to talk about what I'm doing in the present moment on company time (you're reading it). I gave my company 14 hours yesterday and the day before that, and a few on Sunday. I was encouraged to hit 40 hours this week (I go on vacation tomorrow, please note the day--it is currently wednesday), which was apparently very kind of them seeing as I have a required 55 hours this week and next.
In case you didn't know, working 40 hours in three days (Plus a little weekend time) is something of a nightmare. Everything else in my life has been put on the wayside.
I guess what I'm trying to communicate here is that while I'm working hard for a very thankless and unfulfilling job (at least it has been for the past few weeks)...I'm hardly working on eating well. I'm more concerned about the fact that I've given up sleep (or rather, it's given up on me) and that I can't remember what day it is often.
Chadd did the most wonderful boyfriend thing this weekend. He booked a massage for me on Saturday at the four seasons. A body treatment AND a massage, to be precise. 80 minutes of bliss in a very swanky spa. After lunch out, we came home and I did exactly what one does after a massage and lunch...sleep. That night, we went to Fogo de Chao, the world famous brazillian steakhouse....and what can I say, the way to my heart is through a spa treatment and then multiple cuts of wonderfully cooked beef. Texas girls are pretty simple, it seems.
While we were seated at the restaurant, Chadd told me "this is a special occassion. eat whatever you want." Now, dont get me wrong, Chadd doesn't watch what I eat an harp on me for his own pleasure. I've enlisted him as my watchdog, which worked very well when we had the same schedule.
I will say, I've been decent about eating despite my horrible schedule. Remember my last post about the minus one pound weekend. I didnt' weigh in this week, but it's probably very similar to the last time I weighed in. Work takes away my time/desire to cook something.
I've been either not hungry, or craving pasta and grease. I never give into the grease--though Five Guys was very close to winning the battle last night--but the pasta, I do. I try to stick with a lot of lean cuisines and healthier sandwhiches and snacking.
Come to think of it, I eat better than I feel I do...but I know it's no where as regimented as it should be. That's how we get into trouble. We lose focus, then its not a priority, then we get out of the habit and before you know it, it's easy to push take out for three nights in a row under the mental rug.
I've done okay with it, in all honesty. Of course, I'd rather be spending my money on something else than food, I'd also rather go back to cooking. I enjoy cooking. It's very relaxing to me. This would also probably help me sleep.
If anyone has ever been a waiter or had a crazy busy job that requires extreme multitasking, then they'll understand how this goes. When you're a waiter, often times you have something called "waiter dreams." I didn't know that other people had them until I read some guy's blog about being a waiter in NYC and his friend asked him after he'd left the industry and found his way back, if he'd started having waiter dreams again.
Waiter dreams are unique. They're a very strange combination of things. Usually, the dreams aren't bad, but they tend to last all night, you can wake up and go right back to them. They're unusually realistic for dreams--at least 3-4 nights a week when I was a waitress, I'd have waiter dreams:
Drinks to table 101, dont' forget a side of ranch for table 112, and the two top in the corner is finally all here, must take their order. Don't slip in that puddle. Remember to grab the pitcher of beer from the bar, swing around and hey, tie your shoe, don't forget your pen is in your hair. Ed's the cook tonight, did my hostess finish wrapping silverware?
Almost never a bad dream. There was rarely a dream about chilling out at the bar with my friends after work or sitting at the hostess station. Always moving. I've been told it's because your brain is constantly juggling simultaneous tasks by bringing them into your short term memory--that second bucket where you have about 5 minutes to keep it there until you lose it...your brain likes to do a dump of those, much as you would defrag a computer. Boom. Waiter dreams.
That happens a lot now that I'm working this many hours for my day job and constantly trying to brainstorm and grow my new business. Rodan + Fields is by far the most energetic job I've ever had. I love it. Perhaps I should have known that I was always meant to be in sales (like my Dad) and own my own business (I think I had three of them when I was growing up). But I am constantly working (when I'm procrastinating with Deloitte work, I'm doing R+F stuff--today was a HUGE win over at Nordstrom's with a Chanel woman with friends in need of work)...and so my brain is constantly working on overdrive.
For the past three weeks, I've not been sleeping well, if at all. Last night, I got three hours. The past week, aside from this weekend (where Chadd and I went to sleep at a normal time), I haven't slept well. Lots of waiter dreams for R+F -- sending emails, having interviews, doing demos, etc.
I think this post probably lost it's purpose. Bottom line: working hard (when it's not something you love...aka, my day job) can make you hardly work on yourself. I am on a quest to figure out how to conquer that. But maybe that's the Holy Grail. Suggestions?
In case you didn't know, working 40 hours in three days (Plus a little weekend time) is something of a nightmare. Everything else in my life has been put on the wayside.
I guess what I'm trying to communicate here is that while I'm working hard for a very thankless and unfulfilling job (at least it has been for the past few weeks)...I'm hardly working on eating well. I'm more concerned about the fact that I've given up sleep (or rather, it's given up on me) and that I can't remember what day it is often.
Chadd did the most wonderful boyfriend thing this weekend. He booked a massage for me on Saturday at the four seasons. A body treatment AND a massage, to be precise. 80 minutes of bliss in a very swanky spa. After lunch out, we came home and I did exactly what one does after a massage and lunch...sleep. That night, we went to Fogo de Chao, the world famous brazillian steakhouse....and what can I say, the way to my heart is through a spa treatment and then multiple cuts of wonderfully cooked beef. Texas girls are pretty simple, it seems.
While we were seated at the restaurant, Chadd told me "this is a special occassion. eat whatever you want." Now, dont get me wrong, Chadd doesn't watch what I eat an harp on me for his own pleasure. I've enlisted him as my watchdog, which worked very well when we had the same schedule.
I will say, I've been decent about eating despite my horrible schedule. Remember my last post about the minus one pound weekend. I didnt' weigh in this week, but it's probably very similar to the last time I weighed in. Work takes away my time/desire to cook something.
I've been either not hungry, or craving pasta and grease. I never give into the grease--though Five Guys was very close to winning the battle last night--but the pasta, I do. I try to stick with a lot of lean cuisines and healthier sandwhiches and snacking.
Come to think of it, I eat better than I feel I do...but I know it's no where as regimented as it should be. That's how we get into trouble. We lose focus, then its not a priority, then we get out of the habit and before you know it, it's easy to push take out for three nights in a row under the mental rug.
I've done okay with it, in all honesty. Of course, I'd rather be spending my money on something else than food, I'd also rather go back to cooking. I enjoy cooking. It's very relaxing to me. This would also probably help me sleep.
If anyone has ever been a waiter or had a crazy busy job that requires extreme multitasking, then they'll understand how this goes. When you're a waiter, often times you have something called "waiter dreams." I didn't know that other people had them until I read some guy's blog about being a waiter in NYC and his friend asked him after he'd left the industry and found his way back, if he'd started having waiter dreams again.
Waiter dreams are unique. They're a very strange combination of things. Usually, the dreams aren't bad, but they tend to last all night, you can wake up and go right back to them. They're unusually realistic for dreams--at least 3-4 nights a week when I was a waitress, I'd have waiter dreams:
Drinks to table 101, dont' forget a side of ranch for table 112, and the two top in the corner is finally all here, must take their order. Don't slip in that puddle. Remember to grab the pitcher of beer from the bar, swing around and hey, tie your shoe, don't forget your pen is in your hair. Ed's the cook tonight, did my hostess finish wrapping silverware?
Almost never a bad dream. There was rarely a dream about chilling out at the bar with my friends after work or sitting at the hostess station. Always moving. I've been told it's because your brain is constantly juggling simultaneous tasks by bringing them into your short term memory--that second bucket where you have about 5 minutes to keep it there until you lose it...your brain likes to do a dump of those, much as you would defrag a computer. Boom. Waiter dreams.
That happens a lot now that I'm working this many hours for my day job and constantly trying to brainstorm and grow my new business. Rodan + Fields is by far the most energetic job I've ever had. I love it. Perhaps I should have known that I was always meant to be in sales (like my Dad) and own my own business (I think I had three of them when I was growing up). But I am constantly working (when I'm procrastinating with Deloitte work, I'm doing R+F stuff--today was a HUGE win over at Nordstrom's with a Chanel woman with friends in need of work)...and so my brain is constantly working on overdrive.
For the past three weeks, I've not been sleeping well, if at all. Last night, I got three hours. The past week, aside from this weekend (where Chadd and I went to sleep at a normal time), I haven't slept well. Lots of waiter dreams for R+F -- sending emails, having interviews, doing demos, etc.
I think this post probably lost it's purpose. Bottom line: working hard (when it's not something you love...aka, my day job) can make you hardly work on yourself. I am on a quest to figure out how to conquer that. But maybe that's the Holy Grail. Suggestions?
Friday, July 18, 2014
The First Run
Chadd tells me frequently that sometimes he needs a break from something. It's usually much more big pictures--like his love of baseball, doing triple jump and track in high school, political discussions...or something very ephermerial like....video games (he then goes on a movie streak, or some other media based entertainment).
I understood this in a way that was very conceptual. I go in phases on things, but I tend not to actively make a decision to "take a break" from something. Usually, I lose interest, or put it aside for a while without really realizing it, then I loop back around when I realize what I'm missing.
While I might still not have grasped the idea in an active sense, I have finally understood my reasons behind why I lose interested and why Chadd takes active breaks. As you may have guessed, it has everything to do with my sudden lack of exercising beyond teaching twice a week.
I made a post a few weeks back about the increase in my henious hours--the three 50 hour weeks and what that would do to my exercise life. That was an additional 2 hours at the office a day...and since I often have evening activities that are non negotiable (examples: Catholic class, literacy tutoring)...that meant being at the office an hour earlier and working through my lunch break. It's silly, but those two hours wear you out...especially over the course of 5 weeks...and then two weeks of 55 hour requirements. I obviously didn't make it through those three weeks with the healthy eating and exercising regiment I said I would.
For that matter...I lost all interest in anything. It wasn't that I didn't want to finish painting the condo (next weekend's activity while Chadd's out of town), nor was it that I wasn't interested in spending time with my friends, or reading the new book I picked up...it was that I was wholly disinterested in everything beyond just dying to get home, avoid work for a bit, throw something together for dinner (which usually started out frozen--if I was lucky, I had the patience to wait 20 minutes to have one of the amazing and healthy eating plan abiding Home Bistro meals mom sent me for my birthday), and then get back to work before I gave up and went to bed.
Rodan + Fields gives me energy to at least get to work and stay at work, mostly because if I'm out of the house, I'm busy brainstorming, even if I'm creating powerpoints and answering scores of angry emails.
Seeing Chadd when he came home from work and get in bed at 4 am because something to look forward to, even if it meant waking up in the middle of my sleep cycle.
I stopped sleeping well because I wasn't exhausting my body with working out.
I wasn't working out because my mind was too drained and miserable to comprehend changing and then leaving the safe haven of our condo to go back into the world at the gym.
So my days became:
1) wake up miserable from bad sleep
2) stay tired all day
3) get home too tired to consider gym
4) load self conscious with guilt
5) stay up late trying to squeeze any productivity outside of work into my day
6) go to bed late
7) fight my mind moving a million miles an hour trying to find a way out.
That must be the cause of obesity.
But after wading through that depressing half of the post...here's the good news.
Being at home with my folks in the glory of the Florida sun, where I spent my high school years, is restorative. Seeing family is always a positive experience for me, but combine that with temperature in the 90's, a pool, and tons of sun after a few weeks of gray, cold, rainy weather back in DC...and things automatically get a facelift. I've been sleeping because I told the world, via my curt out of office message "I will not be checking email or voicemail while I am out of the office."
So today, after we got home from seeing my mother's new art studio in the next town over, I turned to my brother and said "wanna go for a run?"
I have seen the misty, 40 degree weather in DC and said to myself "You love running in this weather, get outside." and I haven't. I havent' even wanted to, and then been too lazy...I just haven't wanted to run. And if there's one thing I've never truly lost interest in...it's running.
So, my brother and I changed into running gear, got outside in the nearly cloudless sky around quarter of 5 and just went out for about 3 miles. It was fast, it was hot, and we came home, dying to get into the pool. But, running down the road, past the semi-green lawns, dying in the direct sun, I saw a shadow of myself in front of me. My quads were well trimmed. My pony tail bouncing beind me, the subtle rise and fall in my distinctivly distance runner gait...and I felt like my old self.
I remembered training in the summer heat three years ago--had it been that long?--between jobs, trying to get my 6 miles in, 9 if I was lucky...and how that felt, the sweat dripping down my back, into my eyes, off my hair. My hands basically as wet as if I'd just come out of the pool. And did I love it...of course.
I loved going to the casual barbeque place where I waitressed that summer and pulling my blonde hair through my black hat, sliding into my khaki shorts and black polo and stretching out my legs as I took orders. Loving my freckles and my dark brown arms.
And I wonder where it is that it all went away. The answer could not be as simple as "the extra 10-15 hours required at work"....but maybe it is. Maybe it's not those hours directly, but their effect. I'm sure I could have made myself go for a run, or get up and get to the gym, but I didn't. Even when I did, I sat on the bike and looked pathetic, huffing through law and order on the distracting tv screen.
I've finally figured out the solution, though I have yet to see how it holds up in practice. Part of the reason I felt so bad was because I didn't do what Chadd does and declare and active break from an activity. I'm smart enough to know that I wont' get through 6 weeks of horrible hours at the office and maintain the same standards for my diet and exercise. I should have compromised, created a plan, and then eased off on my guilt trips. Chadd actively makes decisions even to "Do nothing" on a weekend...because then he feels like he made the choice to hang out...and it wasn't a waste of a day. I have a large amount of guilt when I return to something I let slide, whether I knew it or not.
Now it's time to rededicate. I have one more week of 55 hours (44 of which I'll make due to my PTO), and hopefully I'll go back to 40 hours. I'll start up slow on the healthy eating and the working out...and this time, I'll actively give myself a break when I know that I can't balance it all.
I understood this in a way that was very conceptual. I go in phases on things, but I tend not to actively make a decision to "take a break" from something. Usually, I lose interest, or put it aside for a while without really realizing it, then I loop back around when I realize what I'm missing.
While I might still not have grasped the idea in an active sense, I have finally understood my reasons behind why I lose interested and why Chadd takes active breaks. As you may have guessed, it has everything to do with my sudden lack of exercising beyond teaching twice a week.
I made a post a few weeks back about the increase in my henious hours--the three 50 hour weeks and what that would do to my exercise life. That was an additional 2 hours at the office a day...and since I often have evening activities that are non negotiable (examples: Catholic class, literacy tutoring)...that meant being at the office an hour earlier and working through my lunch break. It's silly, but those two hours wear you out...especially over the course of 5 weeks...and then two weeks of 55 hour requirements. I obviously didn't make it through those three weeks with the healthy eating and exercising regiment I said I would.
For that matter...I lost all interest in anything. It wasn't that I didn't want to finish painting the condo (next weekend's activity while Chadd's out of town), nor was it that I wasn't interested in spending time with my friends, or reading the new book I picked up...it was that I was wholly disinterested in everything beyond just dying to get home, avoid work for a bit, throw something together for dinner (which usually started out frozen--if I was lucky, I had the patience to wait 20 minutes to have one of the amazing and healthy eating plan abiding Home Bistro meals mom sent me for my birthday), and then get back to work before I gave up and went to bed.
Rodan + Fields gives me energy to at least get to work and stay at work, mostly because if I'm out of the house, I'm busy brainstorming, even if I'm creating powerpoints and answering scores of angry emails.
Seeing Chadd when he came home from work and get in bed at 4 am because something to look forward to, even if it meant waking up in the middle of my sleep cycle.
I stopped sleeping well because I wasn't exhausting my body with working out.
I wasn't working out because my mind was too drained and miserable to comprehend changing and then leaving the safe haven of our condo to go back into the world at the gym.
So my days became:
1) wake up miserable from bad sleep
2) stay tired all day
3) get home too tired to consider gym
4) load self conscious with guilt
5) stay up late trying to squeeze any productivity outside of work into my day
6) go to bed late
7) fight my mind moving a million miles an hour trying to find a way out.
That must be the cause of obesity.
But after wading through that depressing half of the post...here's the good news.
Being at home with my folks in the glory of the Florida sun, where I spent my high school years, is restorative. Seeing family is always a positive experience for me, but combine that with temperature in the 90's, a pool, and tons of sun after a few weeks of gray, cold, rainy weather back in DC...and things automatically get a facelift. I've been sleeping because I told the world, via my curt out of office message "I will not be checking email or voicemail while I am out of the office."
So today, after we got home from seeing my mother's new art studio in the next town over, I turned to my brother and said "wanna go for a run?"
I have seen the misty, 40 degree weather in DC and said to myself "You love running in this weather, get outside." and I haven't. I havent' even wanted to, and then been too lazy...I just haven't wanted to run. And if there's one thing I've never truly lost interest in...it's running.
So, my brother and I changed into running gear, got outside in the nearly cloudless sky around quarter of 5 and just went out for about 3 miles. It was fast, it was hot, and we came home, dying to get into the pool. But, running down the road, past the semi-green lawns, dying in the direct sun, I saw a shadow of myself in front of me. My quads were well trimmed. My pony tail bouncing beind me, the subtle rise and fall in my distinctivly distance runner gait...and I felt like my old self.
I remembered training in the summer heat three years ago--had it been that long?--between jobs, trying to get my 6 miles in, 9 if I was lucky...and how that felt, the sweat dripping down my back, into my eyes, off my hair. My hands basically as wet as if I'd just come out of the pool. And did I love it...of course.
I loved going to the casual barbeque place where I waitressed that summer and pulling my blonde hair through my black hat, sliding into my khaki shorts and black polo and stretching out my legs as I took orders. Loving my freckles and my dark brown arms.
And I wonder where it is that it all went away. The answer could not be as simple as "the extra 10-15 hours required at work"....but maybe it is. Maybe it's not those hours directly, but their effect. I'm sure I could have made myself go for a run, or get up and get to the gym, but I didn't. Even when I did, I sat on the bike and looked pathetic, huffing through law and order on the distracting tv screen.
I've finally figured out the solution, though I have yet to see how it holds up in practice. Part of the reason I felt so bad was because I didn't do what Chadd does and declare and active break from an activity. I'm smart enough to know that I wont' get through 6 weeks of horrible hours at the office and maintain the same standards for my diet and exercise. I should have compromised, created a plan, and then eased off on my guilt trips. Chadd actively makes decisions even to "Do nothing" on a weekend...because then he feels like he made the choice to hang out...and it wasn't a waste of a day. I have a large amount of guilt when I return to something I let slide, whether I knew it or not.
Now it's time to rededicate. I have one more week of 55 hours (44 of which I'll make due to my PTO), and hopefully I'll go back to 40 hours. I'll start up slow on the healthy eating and the working out...and this time, I'll actively give myself a break when I know that I can't balance it all.
The Biggest Loser (Office Addition)
So my team has decided to do the biggest loser challenge. This would be great if anyone of them needed to lose weight, but they don't. So I'm having to restructure our approach. Why me? Because I've been designated as Bob/Jillian.
Now, let me say right off the bat that I have a big issue with Biggest Loser. I don't subscribe to the methods they do--at least, not for the millions of Americans who could lose 20-30 pounds. If you are about to die of a heart attack, incur extreme health issues, etc. Then I'm willing to cope with the idea that you should lose 10 pounds a week. Often times, for people who are morbidly obese, they do need to lose a significant amount of weight in a very short time. However, this is an extremely rare case. People who need to lose between 10-50 pounds, and potentially more, should go about it at a rate of 2-5 pounds a week. 5 pounds being for people who are on the higher end of the needed weight loss--your body will help you out when you start losing weight if you're severely overweight. Men also tend to lose quite a bit of weight in the first few weeks.
So, we've modified our approach. We're looking to become more lean, with better definition. A couple pounds off wouldn't be harmful either.
So here we go.
Today was the walk of shame, meaning we all emailed each other what we ate over the weekend. I'll discuss mine in a later entry to be entitled "When Philly Pizza has Calories"...
For now, off to a team lunch to enjoy their last meal before dieting and exercise kick in.
Now, let me say right off the bat that I have a big issue with Biggest Loser. I don't subscribe to the methods they do--at least, not for the millions of Americans who could lose 20-30 pounds. If you are about to die of a heart attack, incur extreme health issues, etc. Then I'm willing to cope with the idea that you should lose 10 pounds a week. Often times, for people who are morbidly obese, they do need to lose a significant amount of weight in a very short time. However, this is an extremely rare case. People who need to lose between 10-50 pounds, and potentially more, should go about it at a rate of 2-5 pounds a week. 5 pounds being for people who are on the higher end of the needed weight loss--your body will help you out when you start losing weight if you're severely overweight. Men also tend to lose quite a bit of weight in the first few weeks.
So, we've modified our approach. We're looking to become more lean, with better definition. A couple pounds off wouldn't be harmful either.
So here we go.
Today was the walk of shame, meaning we all emailed each other what we ate over the weekend. I'll discuss mine in a later entry to be entitled "When Philly Pizza has Calories"...
For now, off to a team lunch to enjoy their last meal before dieting and exercise kick in.
When Pizza Doesn't Have Calories
This weekend a happy/sad thing happened.
One of my best friends in the world graduated from college and packed up and left DC for her amazing new life as a TFA teacher in Las Vegas. I know she'll kick ass and being an incredible influence on many many students lives out there...but I'd be remiss if I didn't tell you that I'm truly heart broken that she's leaving the city.
I met her in probably my first semester of teaching aerobics. She was one of my more friendly regulars...and when I asked if anyone was joining greek life that year, she said she was and named the co-ed frat I was in. We bonded and when she rushed, she became my little and my best friend.
Since then, I've seen her almost every class I've taught. Last summer, she basically lived at my place when I lived by myself. We had marathon girl date weekends, where I picked her up from work on Friday night, we went out that night, then hit up Philly pizza, or took in all day concerts while taking a day off work (warped tour) ...she was my go-to person here.
So, Friday, after work and running a few errands...I almost reluctantly threw on something to go to DC9 for indie music and a 6 dollar open bar (rail drinks only--this keeps me good, I can't drink hard liquor without feeling like I want to throw up). After her brother and his girlfriend left, she and I walked home so she could say good bye to the cats, then we jumped in the car to go to Philly pizza one last time.
Philly pizza is something of an institution. Incredible pizza for almost nothing. At 1 am, it's like a slice of heaven. It rivals jumbo slice any day of the week, because it's even good sober. It seems like everytime my friend and I had a girl weekend, Philly pizza squeezed its way in and it became something like a tradition.
And that's when pizza has no calories. Because after 4 years of girl dates and punk shows, late night pizza, long ponderings over a bottle of wine, and 5:50am boot camp...there's only one way to say goodbye--in the least dramatic and normal way possible.
Good luck, lady! Come visit for calorie free pizza any time.
One of my best friends in the world graduated from college and packed up and left DC for her amazing new life as a TFA teacher in Las Vegas. I know she'll kick ass and being an incredible influence on many many students lives out there...but I'd be remiss if I didn't tell you that I'm truly heart broken that she's leaving the city.
I met her in probably my first semester of teaching aerobics. She was one of my more friendly regulars...and when I asked if anyone was joining greek life that year, she said she was and named the co-ed frat I was in. We bonded and when she rushed, she became my little and my best friend.
Since then, I've seen her almost every class I've taught. Last summer, she basically lived at my place when I lived by myself. We had marathon girl date weekends, where I picked her up from work on Friday night, we went out that night, then hit up Philly pizza, or took in all day concerts while taking a day off work (warped tour) ...she was my go-to person here.
So, Friday, after work and running a few errands...I almost reluctantly threw on something to go to DC9 for indie music and a 6 dollar open bar (rail drinks only--this keeps me good, I can't drink hard liquor without feeling like I want to throw up). After her brother and his girlfriend left, she and I walked home so she could say good bye to the cats, then we jumped in the car to go to Philly pizza one last time.
Philly pizza is something of an institution. Incredible pizza for almost nothing. At 1 am, it's like a slice of heaven. It rivals jumbo slice any day of the week, because it's even good sober. It seems like everytime my friend and I had a girl weekend, Philly pizza squeezed its way in and it became something like a tradition.
And that's when pizza has no calories. Because after 4 years of girl dates and punk shows, late night pizza, long ponderings over a bottle of wine, and 5:50am boot camp...there's only one way to say goodbye--in the least dramatic and normal way possible.
Good luck, lady! Come visit for calorie free pizza any time.
The Best Sleep
Time to take a break from doing not much of anything.
It's a pity that somehow someone can't find a way to evenly distribute the work we had over the past six weeks to this week. I'm bored with nothing to do, so I'm obviously thinking about the gym.
Last night, I had my first personal training session with my coworker, where I basically worked her as hard as I could. The good side of this is that a) it's probably improving our working relationship, and b) I got a good work out, too.
The work out was classic--20 minutes fast jog/run on the treadmill, very very fast (not short) arm routine hitting biceps, triceps, back, shouldes, chest, then on to lunges and squats. We went through abs and stretched out. A good work out by all accounts.
I can feel my body responding positively, even just in self perception, after three days of working out. I stepped on the scale and after those six weeks of hell on my body, I'd only gained 2 pounds. So I'm down to just 6 pounds lost...but that's something, isn't it?
The best thing to come of the working out, and I'm sure it has something to do with Chadd coming home last night, was that I finally slept through the night. No waiter dreams, no nightmares, nothing. Just sleep. And while I was exhausted when my alarm went off, since I was up late to pick up Chadd from work, I felt like I'd actually slept.
Goes to show...making yourself physically exhausted, even if you're mentally done, provides the best sleep.
Today, my favorite tool is MapMyRun.com. You can map your run, determine just how far you're going, check elevation, etc. Awesome! Definately going to try it out tonight...
Enjoy!
It's a pity that somehow someone can't find a way to evenly distribute the work we had over the past six weeks to this week. I'm bored with nothing to do, so I'm obviously thinking about the gym.
Last night, I had my first personal training session with my coworker, where I basically worked her as hard as I could. The good side of this is that a) it's probably improving our working relationship, and b) I got a good work out, too.
The work out was classic--20 minutes fast jog/run on the treadmill, very very fast (not short) arm routine hitting biceps, triceps, back, shouldes, chest, then on to lunges and squats. We went through abs and stretched out. A good work out by all accounts.
I can feel my body responding positively, even just in self perception, after three days of working out. I stepped on the scale and after those six weeks of hell on my body, I'd only gained 2 pounds. So I'm down to just 6 pounds lost...but that's something, isn't it?
The best thing to come of the working out, and I'm sure it has something to do with Chadd coming home last night, was that I finally slept through the night. No waiter dreams, no nightmares, nothing. Just sleep. And while I was exhausted when my alarm went off, since I was up late to pick up Chadd from work, I felt like I'd actually slept.
Goes to show...making yourself physically exhausted, even if you're mentally done, provides the best sleep.
Today, my favorite tool is MapMyRun.com. You can map your run, determine just how far you're going, check elevation, etc. Awesome! Definately going to try it out tonight...
Enjoy!
Hashing
I got home last night and almost crapped out on my run. I was getting tired, I knew that, even though I had plenty of time, I had plenty of things that needed to be done....namely procuring a new hair dryer and going to the grocery.
And then the most amazing thing happened. I remembered how good it feels to throw on a pair of sweats and a tank top, slide on flip flops and run errands.
So, I charged up my iPod, found my Nike + iPod shoe chip and set course for a 5k. From my place, a 5k gets me just past the Naval Observatory and then back--this is taking the route up Mass Ave, which showcases one of the biggest, longest, hills in DC.
One of my coworkers was supposed to join me, but she decided to go her own way last night.
Fine on my end, the weather was gorgeous last night, a real runner's dream: mid 70's, slight breeze, sunny. When I got home, I changed into my sweats and walked over to the bigger safeway to get some of the items we've been missing: milk, yogurt, veggies, lean cuisine. And headed home, talking to my med school friend who has arrived in the states, finally!
When I sat down at my desk last night, a few things hit me:
1) I like running with people
2) I miss having a group of friends.
Last year, I played kickball with a good friend of mine. Times changed, we went our own ways, and I quit kickball. Someone mentioned the Hashers the other day and it flooded back to me--the hashers are a group of runners (though they claim to not take themselves too seriously) who drink at pit stops through their 4-6 mile run, and then hit the bar afterwards. Their attitude seems to be a mix of ultimate frisbee (they sing songs), kickball (alcohol), and the crazy runners (because who else can drink and run 4-6 miles?)
So I did a little research and joined the mailing list for the White House Hashers. We'll see how that goes. Potentially, the first run I'd be able to make is Monday...
I'll let you know if I make it Monday.
And then the most amazing thing happened. I remembered how good it feels to throw on a pair of sweats and a tank top, slide on flip flops and run errands.
So, I charged up my iPod, found my Nike + iPod shoe chip and set course for a 5k. From my place, a 5k gets me just past the Naval Observatory and then back--this is taking the route up Mass Ave, which showcases one of the biggest, longest, hills in DC.
One of my coworkers was supposed to join me, but she decided to go her own way last night.
Fine on my end, the weather was gorgeous last night, a real runner's dream: mid 70's, slight breeze, sunny. When I got home, I changed into my sweats and walked over to the bigger safeway to get some of the items we've been missing: milk, yogurt, veggies, lean cuisine. And headed home, talking to my med school friend who has arrived in the states, finally!
When I sat down at my desk last night, a few things hit me:
1) I like running with people
2) I miss having a group of friends.
Last year, I played kickball with a good friend of mine. Times changed, we went our own ways, and I quit kickball. Someone mentioned the Hashers the other day and it flooded back to me--the hashers are a group of runners (though they claim to not take themselves too seriously) who drink at pit stops through their 4-6 mile run, and then hit the bar afterwards. Their attitude seems to be a mix of ultimate frisbee (they sing songs), kickball (alcohol), and the crazy runners (because who else can drink and run 4-6 miles?)
So I did a little research and joined the mailing list for the White House Hashers. We'll see how that goes. Potentially, the first run I'd be able to make is Monday...
I'll let you know if I make it Monday.
Thursday, July 17, 2014
5 days Before the Shapeover
So, as you may recall, when I started this blog, I was all about Volumetrics. Don't get me wrong, I still am. I endorse calorie counting, becoming aware of the ingredients in your food, and making smarter choices--like ordering dressing on the side, knowing how big a real portion is, and learning to cook for yourself.
And yet, I knew that I would eventually fail at this. There's a certain peak at which you lose your mind and count everything (I was probably about 6 weeks away from this miracle), and then there's that week point (about 7 weeks in) where you lose the time/interest/and time for the grocery...there's a breaking point.
I'm doing a redirect. I am good about watching what I eat, which is really the main case that I have for doing a calorie count for a few months. It's good to know what you consume. I cook my meals using pam, I make Chadd's dinner with a ton of butter. The list could go on. But the point remains...calorie counting is, at worst, a learning experience.
I bought a book on Monday called "28-Day Body Shapeover," by the guy who wrote one of my favorite sculpting books for women--"Sculpting Her Body Perfect." This guy has the right idea--the way to tell how heavy your weights should be, how many reps, which exercises, how often, etc. I have used this book as a cheat sheet for...3 years? I'm going to give the 28 Day Body Shapeover, well...28 days.
I think it's important that if I choose to open my own gym, I can offer a "See It in a Month" option. You know that pre-wedding, pre-high school reunion, post-baby one month boot camp. I'm a little nervous about the diet that goes with it. It's not something that is sustainable for my lifestyle. For example:
Day One:
Meal One:
- 1/2 cup oatmeal
- 1 scoop whey protein powder
- Coffee or tea
Meal Two:
- Strawberry Smoothie (1 c. strawberries, 1 scoop whey, 1 tablespoon flax oil, crushed ice)
Meal Three:
- 6 oz. grilled chicken breast
- large salad
Meal Four:
- 1 pear
Meal Five:
- 6 oz. flounder
- 12 oz. yellow squash.
I can do 28 Days. During those 28 days, I'm going to have to think of a follow up plan. Stay tuned...
In the mean time, I'm going to be home with my family for my brother's high school graduation, where I plan to indulge in wine, good food, and Florida heat.
You'll probably get a wine-induced post from me along the way.
And yet, I knew that I would eventually fail at this. There's a certain peak at which you lose your mind and count everything (I was probably about 6 weeks away from this miracle), and then there's that week point (about 7 weeks in) where you lose the time/interest/and time for the grocery...there's a breaking point.
I'm doing a redirect. I am good about watching what I eat, which is really the main case that I have for doing a calorie count for a few months. It's good to know what you consume. I cook my meals using pam, I make Chadd's dinner with a ton of butter. The list could go on. But the point remains...calorie counting is, at worst, a learning experience.
I bought a book on Monday called "28-Day Body Shapeover," by the guy who wrote one of my favorite sculpting books for women--"Sculpting Her Body Perfect." This guy has the right idea--the way to tell how heavy your weights should be, how many reps, which exercises, how often, etc. I have used this book as a cheat sheet for...3 years? I'm going to give the 28 Day Body Shapeover, well...28 days.
I think it's important that if I choose to open my own gym, I can offer a "See It in a Month" option. You know that pre-wedding, pre-high school reunion, post-baby one month boot camp. I'm a little nervous about the diet that goes with it. It's not something that is sustainable for my lifestyle. For example:
Day One:
Meal One:
- 1/2 cup oatmeal
- 1 scoop whey protein powder
- Coffee or tea
Meal Two:
- Strawberry Smoothie (1 c. strawberries, 1 scoop whey, 1 tablespoon flax oil, crushed ice)
Meal Three:
- 6 oz. grilled chicken breast
- large salad
Meal Four:
- 1 pear
Meal Five:
- 6 oz. flounder
- 12 oz. yellow squash.
I can do 28 Days. During those 28 days, I'm going to have to think of a follow up plan. Stay tuned...
In the mean time, I'm going to be home with my family for my brother's high school graduation, where I plan to indulge in wine, good food, and Florida heat.
You'll probably get a wine-induced post from me along the way.
Self Imaging
I'm sick.
My coworker's chest cold has turned into, for me, a raging chest infection, that the CVS minute clinic said I will need to have a chest x-ray for if I start having chest pain.
GREAT!
I'm afraid that this might post pone my big work out schedule. But I'm trying not to go there right now.
I'm watching America's Next Top Model, which normally I would not condone watching for good self imagine. But there's one girl who is getting a lot of flack for being muscular--that apparently she's only good for being a sports model. It's ridiculous. You can't be muscular (god forbid, you be healthy), you can't be curvy--they let the one "plus" size model go after 4 weeks. And what really blows my mind is how much these girls smoke, one of them is on the edge of alcoholism, if she isn't already full blown.
Back to the muscular girl. Being healthy should be the beautiful standard. So many models are so unhealthy and it's what we all strive for, which is RIDICULOUS. We'd all like to be stick thin, with no boobs, our clothes hanging off of us. What about being healthy, strong, toned?
I've struggled a lot with this recently. If I had one secret that I'd never like to share with anyone is this:
I'm horribly insecure with how I look.
Even now, writing that out, I'm very very tempted to delete it. But it needs to be said...because so many people suffer from this. The interesting thing is that someone can say "ugh i hate blank about my body" while the girl standing next to them can say "oh man I wish i had that girl's blank." Its self perception. For many people, myself included, we are our own worst enemy.
I wish that I had the knowledge to get away from the horrible things that we say to ourselves. I don't want to admit it, but every morning there is one thing that I never fail to do: after throwing off my pajamas, look in the mirror and say to myself one of two things: "I look thin" or "I look fat."
How pathetic.
How realistic.
Those three words that I say in the morning will shape my entire day. I will obsess over how my pants feel. I'll look in the mirror and tug at the skin around my face. I push my sides, jiggle my thighs and reinforce allll day. If I say that I feel thin...then my pants are some how loose, my arms look great, etc. etc. It's a vicious battle, and there's no way to talk myself out of that first sentence in the morning.
Of course, right now, it doesn't help that I can't work out because my lungs are in such bad shape from this chest cold. The lack of endorphins keeps me down.
I was really looking forward to kicking off to a healthier few weeks with the 28 Day Body Shapeover...but with this chest cold, I'm not allowed to work out for at least five days. If I do, there's a chance that I could aggrevate it and make it worse. I've got a stressful day at the office coming up, too. Getting back on track at the office and then getting through Impact Day.
Yuck. Too much negativity for one entry. The thing that I tell myself that does get me off my own back is this: "You can change things if you just do it. Take it day by day." So, just gotta take it day by day. Get back on track, get healthy, and get going.
For now, I guess more Top Model is on the books.
My coworker's chest cold has turned into, for me, a raging chest infection, that the CVS minute clinic said I will need to have a chest x-ray for if I start having chest pain.
GREAT!
I'm afraid that this might post pone my big work out schedule. But I'm trying not to go there right now.
I'm watching America's Next Top Model, which normally I would not condone watching for good self imagine. But there's one girl who is getting a lot of flack for being muscular--that apparently she's only good for being a sports model. It's ridiculous. You can't be muscular (god forbid, you be healthy), you can't be curvy--they let the one "plus" size model go after 4 weeks. And what really blows my mind is how much these girls smoke, one of them is on the edge of alcoholism, if she isn't already full blown.
Back to the muscular girl. Being healthy should be the beautiful standard. So many models are so unhealthy and it's what we all strive for, which is RIDICULOUS. We'd all like to be stick thin, with no boobs, our clothes hanging off of us. What about being healthy, strong, toned?
I've struggled a lot with this recently. If I had one secret that I'd never like to share with anyone is this:
I'm horribly insecure with how I look.
Even now, writing that out, I'm very very tempted to delete it. But it needs to be said...because so many people suffer from this. The interesting thing is that someone can say "ugh i hate blank about my body" while the girl standing next to them can say "oh man I wish i had that girl's blank." Its self perception. For many people, myself included, we are our own worst enemy.
I wish that I had the knowledge to get away from the horrible things that we say to ourselves. I don't want to admit it, but every morning there is one thing that I never fail to do: after throwing off my pajamas, look in the mirror and say to myself one of two things: "I look thin" or "I look fat."
How pathetic.
How realistic.
Those three words that I say in the morning will shape my entire day. I will obsess over how my pants feel. I'll look in the mirror and tug at the skin around my face. I push my sides, jiggle my thighs and reinforce allll day. If I say that I feel thin...then my pants are some how loose, my arms look great, etc. etc. It's a vicious battle, and there's no way to talk myself out of that first sentence in the morning.
Of course, right now, it doesn't help that I can't work out because my lungs are in such bad shape from this chest cold. The lack of endorphins keeps me down.
I was really looking forward to kicking off to a healthier few weeks with the 28 Day Body Shapeover...but with this chest cold, I'm not allowed to work out for at least five days. If I do, there's a chance that I could aggrevate it and make it worse. I've got a stressful day at the office coming up, too. Getting back on track at the office and then getting through Impact Day.
Yuck. Too much negativity for one entry. The thing that I tell myself that does get me off my own back is this: "You can change things if you just do it. Take it day by day." So, just gotta take it day by day. Get back on track, get healthy, and get going.
For now, I guess more Top Model is on the books.
Day 0
I'm back in DC, away from the land of wonderful, plentiful food and wine (Florida).
Sadly, my trip this time was marked by my lovely chest cold of death. My coworker is going to get an earful from me tomorrow since he was the one who was kind enough to come to work with the plague. I missed out on a huge paella dinner. One thing you don't want to miss out on from a true Spanish family is a paella dinner. I guess I made it just fine to the other million graduation parties that my brother and our family attended.
Regardless, an inhaler, antibiotics, tussin DM, mucinex, and flonase later...I'm stable, kind of. I'm on the upward swing of being better and feeling better. Ever since I saw a few seasons of Gray's Anatomy, I have become entirely too paranoid of every time I get sick. I actually convinced myself the other night that I had HIV. Don't ask me how. I'd have to have contracted it in one of those fwd'd spam mail scare mail ways where you sit on the pin at the movie theater. All sorts of paranoia. Suffice to say, I'm very glad that I'm feeling better.
While it's my first instinct to go to the gym since I got home around 6 today (post grocery, vitamin store, and fish market), both of the N.P.'s that I saw at CVS told me that chest cold + exercise = delayed recovery. I mean, I already knew this, but I figured, unless I want a serious set back, it's time to chill out. This is a challenge in and of itself. If you're like me, once you get an idea and dedicate yourself to it, it's go time.
Its no secret, but I'm unhappy with my job. It's more of a growing displeasure than anything else, but it's making the search for a new distraction ever more imperative. I think things probably would have worked out better if I hadn't had those 6+ weeks of horrible hours. But things are what they are and it's time to move on and just cope until the time is right to make a life change.
For now, I've determined that the best way to combine my displeasure with being back in the same city as my job with my desire to get started on my new plan...is to start on the part of it that isn't exercise relevant--the diet part. Remember when I say "diet," I mean the literal definition: what one eats.
I went to the grocery, and tried something new--buying only food that was on the list (I had to pick up some stuff that was only Chadd relevant). Minus Chadd food, I wound up spending about 10/day--so around $70 for the week. Vegetables are cheap, aren't they? Then I went to the Vitamin Shoppe and picked up a huge thing of low calorie, whey protein powder. I also picked up a high calorie whey protein powder for Chadd. While I'm busy losing weight, I'm tasking him with gaining weight (about 10 pounds...man do I wish I had that task.) I also got a bottle of flax seed oil. I'm skeptical of anything that requires a trip to a specialty shop on par with GNC. But we'll give it a 28 day go round.
My last stop was to Slavin & Sons, the great fish market in Alexandria. I picked up sea bass, tuna steak, and a good piece of flounder. All for around 16 bucks.
The hardest part is going to be doing the smoothie thing. I think I need to rearrange the first two meals of my day. For example, tomorrow has been moved around to look like this:
Meal one:
- strawberry smoothie (with whey powder and flax oil)
Meal two:
- 1/2 cup oatmeal with whey powder
Meal three:
- grilled chicken breast
- large salad
Meal four:
- medium pear
Meal five:
- flounder
- grilled yellow squash
I figure, a week of getting used to this food will ramp me up to being ready to work out again. This week is going to be hectic too. I have a large "extra-curricular" work thing going on that will finally wrap up, after months of work, on Friday.
So, tonight marks the end of my yaay no eating guidelines. I plan on taking care of the rest of the red wine that's looking at me. Hopefully it will end the coughing for a bit, too.
Tomorrow, I'll let you know how flax seed and whey protein powder goes...
Sadly, my trip this time was marked by my lovely chest cold of death. My coworker is going to get an earful from me tomorrow since he was the one who was kind enough to come to work with the plague. I missed out on a huge paella dinner. One thing you don't want to miss out on from a true Spanish family is a paella dinner. I guess I made it just fine to the other million graduation parties that my brother and our family attended.
Regardless, an inhaler, antibiotics, tussin DM, mucinex, and flonase later...I'm stable, kind of. I'm on the upward swing of being better and feeling better. Ever since I saw a few seasons of Gray's Anatomy, I have become entirely too paranoid of every time I get sick. I actually convinced myself the other night that I had HIV. Don't ask me how. I'd have to have contracted it in one of those fwd'd spam mail scare mail ways where you sit on the pin at the movie theater. All sorts of paranoia. Suffice to say, I'm very glad that I'm feeling better.
While it's my first instinct to go to the gym since I got home around 6 today (post grocery, vitamin store, and fish market), both of the N.P.'s that I saw at CVS told me that chest cold + exercise = delayed recovery. I mean, I already knew this, but I figured, unless I want a serious set back, it's time to chill out. This is a challenge in and of itself. If you're like me, once you get an idea and dedicate yourself to it, it's go time.
Its no secret, but I'm unhappy with my job. It's more of a growing displeasure than anything else, but it's making the search for a new distraction ever more imperative. I think things probably would have worked out better if I hadn't had those 6+ weeks of horrible hours. But things are what they are and it's time to move on and just cope until the time is right to make a life change.
For now, I've determined that the best way to combine my displeasure with being back in the same city as my job with my desire to get started on my new plan...is to start on the part of it that isn't exercise relevant--the diet part. Remember when I say "diet," I mean the literal definition: what one eats.
I went to the grocery, and tried something new--buying only food that was on the list (I had to pick up some stuff that was only Chadd relevant). Minus Chadd food, I wound up spending about 10/day--so around $70 for the week. Vegetables are cheap, aren't they? Then I went to the Vitamin Shoppe and picked up a huge thing of low calorie, whey protein powder. I also picked up a high calorie whey protein powder for Chadd. While I'm busy losing weight, I'm tasking him with gaining weight (about 10 pounds...man do I wish I had that task.) I also got a bottle of flax seed oil. I'm skeptical of anything that requires a trip to a specialty shop on par with GNC. But we'll give it a 28 day go round.
My last stop was to Slavin & Sons, the great fish market in Alexandria. I picked up sea bass, tuna steak, and a good piece of flounder. All for around 16 bucks.
The hardest part is going to be doing the smoothie thing. I think I need to rearrange the first two meals of my day. For example, tomorrow has been moved around to look like this:
Meal one:
- strawberry smoothie (with whey powder and flax oil)
Meal two:
- 1/2 cup oatmeal with whey powder
Meal three:
- grilled chicken breast
- large salad
Meal four:
- medium pear
Meal five:
- flounder
- grilled yellow squash
I figure, a week of getting used to this food will ramp me up to being ready to work out again. This week is going to be hectic too. I have a large "extra-curricular" work thing going on that will finally wrap up, after months of work, on Friday.
So, tonight marks the end of my yaay no eating guidelines. I plan on taking care of the rest of the red wine that's looking at me. Hopefully it will end the coughing for a bit, too.
Tomorrow, I'll let you know how flax seed and whey protein powder goes...
Whey Powder and Flax Seed Oil
Last night, things took a turn for the worse.
I picked up Chadd and came home ready to go to bed. I lay down...and the coughing started. I expected it. But after an hour of coughing, many cough drops, glasses of water, and cough medicine later...I was coughing so much I was choking, which turned into vomiting. I say choking and I don't mean "I couldn't breathe," just more like "aaauuuggh cannot stop coughing."
I wrote an email to my boss and to one of my team mates and told them I wouldn't be coming into the office today.
My original intent was to go to a walk-in clinic this morning...but the closest walk-in clinic is in Rockville. I don't have a primary care doctor here because no one is taking new patients.
That's the health update.
But, as promised, here's the flax seed and whey powder update.
At the direction of the man at Vitamin Shoppe, I purchased a low calorie whey protein powder called Necter:
90 Calories for a scoop and since I was going to be mixing it with fruit, oatmeal, etc, I opted for vanilla.
I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised. Usually, they taste chalky, have a chemical after taste--but this one was very clean, almost milky.
Good recipe:
1 c. strawberries, 1 c. ice, 1 scoop nectar, 1 tbsp. flax seed oil. Very thick, but light at the same time. It was enjoyable, I recommend it.
Bad recipe:
1/2 c. oatmeal, 1 scoop whey powder, but that's probably just because I hate oatmeal.
As for the flax seed oil, I have positive things to say about that. It made the smoothie thicker and rich.
For now, good diet days. I don't know if I can take down the chicken and salad right now. I've had enough medication and I'm starting to get tired. Law and Order SVU is on. Which means, I'll be napping before my hair appt.
A [Good] Doctor Is Hard to Find
I have one of those weird personality issues where I'm constantly paranoid: see below post re: HIV.
Right now, I'm swept up in the idea that I have pneumonia. I highly doubt that I do, because according to WebMD and my other WebMD (my best friend in Med School), if I'm not coughing up blood and my chest doesn't hurt, then I'm fine. My chest hurts, but more like "I've been coughing too much and my muscles are sore" type pain.
I'll probably wind up in the walk-in clinic on Saturday if I don't feel better over the next few days. I guess three days won't do me in forever.
I have a tendency, also, to feel like I'm never going to get better. I do this every time I get sick. The first time I remember having this feeling was when I twisted my ankle in the 4th grade. I remember watching a cartoon and wondering how it felt to walk and it seemed like it would be eons before I'd walk again. Every time I get sick, I wonder when I'll breathe normally, stop coughing, whatever.
This leads me to the real topic of discussion:
Why are primary care doctors no longer taking patients?
The girls I work with called about 20 people a month or so ago to see if we could find a primary care physician. No such luck. The nearest walk-in clinic here, aside from the CVS minute clinics, is out in Rockville.
How are we expected to take care of ourselves if we cannot find primary care doctors? Why are they not taking patients any more? As Chadd asked, isn't this a bad business decision? Does anyone know the reason? My dad suggested that it's because doctors are leaving their practices for hosptials. Less insurance blah blah blah to deal with.
It's scary. What if I didn't have a car? What then? GW Hospital? I don't even want to think about how expensive that is.
And apparently, there IS a clinic close to me...over in Arlington. Oh well. Maybe tomorrow afternoon...
Right now, I'm swept up in the idea that I have pneumonia. I highly doubt that I do, because according to WebMD and my other WebMD (my best friend in Med School), if I'm not coughing up blood and my chest doesn't hurt, then I'm fine. My chest hurts, but more like "I've been coughing too much and my muscles are sore" type pain.
I'll probably wind up in the walk-in clinic on Saturday if I don't feel better over the next few days. I guess three days won't do me in forever.
I have a tendency, also, to feel like I'm never going to get better. I do this every time I get sick. The first time I remember having this feeling was when I twisted my ankle in the 4th grade. I remember watching a cartoon and wondering how it felt to walk and it seemed like it would be eons before I'd walk again. Every time I get sick, I wonder when I'll breathe normally, stop coughing, whatever.
This leads me to the real topic of discussion:
Why are primary care doctors no longer taking patients?
The girls I work with called about 20 people a month or so ago to see if we could find a primary care physician. No such luck. The nearest walk-in clinic here, aside from the CVS minute clinics, is out in Rockville.
How are we expected to take care of ourselves if we cannot find primary care doctors? Why are they not taking patients any more? As Chadd asked, isn't this a bad business decision? Does anyone know the reason? My dad suggested that it's because doctors are leaving their practices for hosptials. Less insurance blah blah blah to deal with.
It's scary. What if I didn't have a car? What then? GW Hospital? I don't even want to think about how expensive that is.
And apparently, there IS a clinic close to me...over in Arlington. Oh well. Maybe tomorrow afternoon...
Wednesday, July 16, 2014
Good News, Doctor Seekers!
Good news on all fronts.
First, it's Friday.
Better yet, I went to the Urgent Care place in Arlington yesterday and had my chest x-rayed--no pneumonia (whew!!). I can probably start running next Wednesday. They also gave me a z-pack and strict instructions to do the following:
1) Make an appt. with an ENT (ear nose throat) doctor.
2) Find a primary care physician and go there when I get sick--my tendency towards sinusitis is more than CVS can handle because they're not keen on giving out more than the standard antibiotics, said my urgent care doctor.
According to my last post, no one is taking patients.
The really good news?
The physician referral line for the DC Area:
703-Dial-VHS (703-342-5842).
Tell them what insurance you have and they'll give you a doctor. I haven't tried this out (bad, I know)...but just to make all you seekers out there sleep a bit better.
First, it's Friday.
Better yet, I went to the Urgent Care place in Arlington yesterday and had my chest x-rayed--no pneumonia (whew!!). I can probably start running next Wednesday. They also gave me a z-pack and strict instructions to do the following:
1) Make an appt. with an ENT (ear nose throat) doctor.
2) Find a primary care physician and go there when I get sick--my tendency towards sinusitis is more than CVS can handle because they're not keen on giving out more than the standard antibiotics, said my urgent care doctor.
According to my last post, no one is taking patients.
The really good news?
The physician referral line for the DC Area:
703-Dial-VHS (703-342-5842).
Tell them what insurance you have and they'll give you a doctor. I haven't tried this out (bad, I know)...but just to make all you seekers out there sleep a bit better.
Cupcake Fail
I feel weird.
I can't determine if it's because I'm still sick, because the cat basically slept on my face, or because I should go make oatmeal (eew).
I am back at the office, sadly. The hardest thing about this is that instead of being all perky and ready to get back to work and ease into the swing of things, I'm basically dragging myself through the motions.
But that's neither here nor there.
Since I was sick last week, I didn't have the energy or desire to get through the first week of the 28-day diet.
Right now, at 11:42, I've had my strawberry smoothie (scroll down for recipe) and a cup of tea. I missed my window for the oatmeal, but man am I about to eat my hand. It doesn't help that I hate oatmeal...
And much later in the day, I have epic failed. Should have eaten that oatmeal. Instead, after a marathon of meetings today, my first day back at the office after being sick...there was a giant box of Costco cupcakes...which means they themselves were giant...
Fail.
But, I refuse to beat myself up. I'm going to the gym tonight with my old roommate, then coming home to poach some fish and fresh veggies and then curl up in bed and pass out early.
Day 1 Review
Day 2 of the 28 Days.
My old roommate, we'll call her K, has joined my gym. We had a great time last night, trying out the first weight work out in the 28 day plan, battling the crazed new version of the elliptical (has anyone seen this bizarre thing?), and chilling out in the Hamam that was recently opened downstairs.
Day 1 Work-Out Review:
Focus: Upper body, primary: biceps, triceps
Difficulty (1-10): 6; I need to jump up to 10's, instead of babying myself with the 7.5's (who makes that size weight?)
Time required: 35 minutes (I had to reference the book a few times)
Review: This was a good work out; I'm goign to have to train myself to only do that work out. We'll see how it goes, but the point is to really target one area per work out. I definately need to boost my weights, but since I'm still getting over being sick, I figure 7.5 pound weights was okay for now. None of the specific movements were hard to understand or difficult to do.
I really appreciate the guy who wrote this book--he's realistic. At first, you flip through and go, oh hell no, I'm not going to make it to the gym 6x a week. Then...if you read the intro, you see that there are technically 6 workouts a week--but you can combine your cardio and weight days to make it into three days of workouts--topping out at about an hour at the gym for each of those days.
This guy took the time to consider how people make it to the gym. If I had been conscious of myself during those weeks of crazy work, I'd probably have been able to stick to this schedule.
Day 1 Food Review:
Saitey (1-10): 8
Yum Factor (1-5): 2
Review: My biggest gripe about the food is that I prefer choosing what I get to eat. While the calorie counting was a pain, it was also a lot more free than the menu you see in earlier posts.
Today, while I haven't cheated, I didn't start out so well. I am not myself in the morning. I'm groggy and totally undedicated. There was a huge thunderstorm in the DC area around 6 this morning, so I hit snooze until I should have been leaving the house because I lost an hour of sleeping wondering if the cat was throwing up, if the windows were going to blow in, if a tree had fallen on my car.... Needless to say, I didn't make my 6 egg white and portabello mushroom omelet. It's my dream to get up an hour before I have to leave the house. Maybe that'll be the goal for next week.
I did, however, try the oatmeal again. I made it at work, which was probably a bad idea since it exploded all over my client's microwave. Once I cleaned it up, added my whey powder, it wasn't half bad....but I was also starving.
Meal two was an ounce of dry roasted peanuts.
Lunch should be promising...turkey sandwhich and large salad (which I forgot the dressing for...sad panda.)
Meal three is a cup of raspberries which is quickly liquifying in my lunchbox.
Meal four consists of the bay scallops in my freezer and a whole bunch of spinach. Last night's tilapia was actually pretty good.
My version:
- one small filet, a few slices of onion, bunch of capers, lemon juice, in a pan with a tiny bit of water, tented, and poached for 5 minutes. Two whole yellow squash, steamed.
Chadd's version:
- three filets, dipped in cream and egg mixture, tossed in bread crumbs, fried in vegetable oil. New potatoes, steamed.
Clearly, I'd prefer his version to mine. This is why I usually make his dinner after mine. Otherwise, I'll lose control. The key to sticking with this diet is to eat before you get hungry (meaning, I should eat right now), and to eat exactly what's on the menu.
I'd better start looking up ways to make scallops delicious without sticks of butter...
ps. my coworkers crapped out on Biggest Loser. Why am I not surprised?
My old roommate, we'll call her K, has joined my gym. We had a great time last night, trying out the first weight work out in the 28 day plan, battling the crazed new version of the elliptical (has anyone seen this bizarre thing?), and chilling out in the Hamam that was recently opened downstairs.
Day 1 Work-Out Review:
Focus: Upper body, primary: biceps, triceps
Difficulty (1-10): 6; I need to jump up to 10's, instead of babying myself with the 7.5's (who makes that size weight?)
Time required: 35 minutes (I had to reference the book a few times)
Review: This was a good work out; I'm goign to have to train myself to only do that work out. We'll see how it goes, but the point is to really target one area per work out. I definately need to boost my weights, but since I'm still getting over being sick, I figure 7.5 pound weights was okay for now. None of the specific movements were hard to understand or difficult to do.
I really appreciate the guy who wrote this book--he's realistic. At first, you flip through and go, oh hell no, I'm not going to make it to the gym 6x a week. Then...if you read the intro, you see that there are technically 6 workouts a week--but you can combine your cardio and weight days to make it into three days of workouts--topping out at about an hour at the gym for each of those days.
This guy took the time to consider how people make it to the gym. If I had been conscious of myself during those weeks of crazy work, I'd probably have been able to stick to this schedule.
Day 1 Food Review:
Saitey (1-10): 8
Yum Factor (1-5): 2
Review: My biggest gripe about the food is that I prefer choosing what I get to eat. While the calorie counting was a pain, it was also a lot more free than the menu you see in earlier posts.
Today, while I haven't cheated, I didn't start out so well. I am not myself in the morning. I'm groggy and totally undedicated. There was a huge thunderstorm in the DC area around 6 this morning, so I hit snooze until I should have been leaving the house because I lost an hour of sleeping wondering if the cat was throwing up, if the windows were going to blow in, if a tree had fallen on my car.... Needless to say, I didn't make my 6 egg white and portabello mushroom omelet. It's my dream to get up an hour before I have to leave the house. Maybe that'll be the goal for next week.
I did, however, try the oatmeal again. I made it at work, which was probably a bad idea since it exploded all over my client's microwave. Once I cleaned it up, added my whey powder, it wasn't half bad....but I was also starving.
Meal two was an ounce of dry roasted peanuts.
Lunch should be promising...turkey sandwhich and large salad (which I forgot the dressing for...sad panda.)
Meal three is a cup of raspberries which is quickly liquifying in my lunchbox.
Meal four consists of the bay scallops in my freezer and a whole bunch of spinach. Last night's tilapia was actually pretty good.
My version:
- one small filet, a few slices of onion, bunch of capers, lemon juice, in a pan with a tiny bit of water, tented, and poached for 5 minutes. Two whole yellow squash, steamed.
Chadd's version:
- three filets, dipped in cream and egg mixture, tossed in bread crumbs, fried in vegetable oil. New potatoes, steamed.
Clearly, I'd prefer his version to mine. This is why I usually make his dinner after mine. Otherwise, I'll lose control. The key to sticking with this diet is to eat before you get hungry (meaning, I should eat right now), and to eat exactly what's on the menu.
I'd better start looking up ways to make scallops delicious without sticks of butter...
ps. my coworkers crapped out on Biggest Loser. Why am I not surprised?
Results: Week 1
So, here we are on day 8.
I've surprised myself with how often I've gone to the gym. It helps that K comes with me. I was skeptical at first--30 minutes a day, that's it? But strangely, it works. Chadd has noticed little things here and there. Yesterday, the flattering commentary went something like this:
"You're looking good, honey, keep it up"
"I think your arms look like you're toning. I like it."
When I said I thought my legs looked leaner, he agreed.
There is no greater motivator, aside from major events, than a boyfriend's encouragement. Chadd has taken on the brutal duty of being honest with me, at my request. To most men, this is equivalent of lighting your last cigarette, blind folding yourself, and standing before a firing squad. He's taken his share of flack, but for the most part, he can feel free to correct me, I think I've taken his commentary well. (The definition of well may include tears). But truly, I don't give him the credit he deserves.
But back to working out. I'm a big fan of the 30 minute workouts. When I can do more, I do, but I never feel stressed out about going to the gym. The workout is very inclusive, I am often sore the next day, but I never feel like the exercises are too hard--for that matter, I'm still a little concerned that I'm not using heavy enough weights. I vow to try a bit harder tonight.
The eating is not for my lifestyle. I could do it if I had access to a kitchen to make some of these things throughout the day. But for the most part, I have to be able to pack and store 3-4 of my 5 meals a day. My new theory is to stick by the concepts of the food.
For example, this morning was probably something along the lines of oatmeal. I combined my first and second meals and had dry kashi cereal, a cup of coffee, and a thing of raspberries.
Dinner tonight will likely be a big salad with grilled chicken.
I would, however, like to be in the habit of using the protein powder (oatmeal = tolerable), and the flax seed oil. Apparently it's good for your heart and potentially good at cancer prevention. I like the smoothies, so I guess flax seed will be sticking around for a bit.
But the bottom line is lots of fish (some chicken--stick with lean lean proteins), very few carbs (all complex), and an abundance of vegetables and a few pieces of fruit. It's very similar to eating a lot of unprocessed foods.
So the two things holding me back?
1) sleep: despite sleeping a ridiculous amount this weekend, I'm still deprived. Mostly because I made a huge dinner last night for Chadd and since I didn't get started on roasting the beef until sometime around 9:30, we had a late late dinner. I fell asleep around 2 am.
Part of my fix on this is getting onto a schedule. While I failed this morning, from now on, I'm going to be in bed no later than 11 with the lights off. If I need to (though I doubt I will), I'm going to take a tylenol pm and get on track. I will get up every morning an hour before I need to leave (something I haven't done since before I was in high school). I need time to put on make up, straighten my hair, choose an outfit, feed the cats, eat at home, and head out with a clear head. I will probably be a lot happier. This will start tomorrow (at least I hope).
For now, time to go home, find a suitable snack (I'm thinking cottage cheese and a few triscuits) and hit the gym with K.
Also, I need to buy a measuring tape. Measurements (am I seriously that brave?...) to follow.
I've surprised myself with how often I've gone to the gym. It helps that K comes with me. I was skeptical at first--30 minutes a day, that's it? But strangely, it works. Chadd has noticed little things here and there. Yesterday, the flattering commentary went something like this:
"You're looking good, honey, keep it up"
"I think your arms look like you're toning. I like it."
When I said I thought my legs looked leaner, he agreed.
There is no greater motivator, aside from major events, than a boyfriend's encouragement. Chadd has taken on the brutal duty of being honest with me, at my request. To most men, this is equivalent of lighting your last cigarette, blind folding yourself, and standing before a firing squad. He's taken his share of flack, but for the most part, he can feel free to correct me, I think I've taken his commentary well. (The definition of well may include tears). But truly, I don't give him the credit he deserves.
But back to working out. I'm a big fan of the 30 minute workouts. When I can do more, I do, but I never feel stressed out about going to the gym. The workout is very inclusive, I am often sore the next day, but I never feel like the exercises are too hard--for that matter, I'm still a little concerned that I'm not using heavy enough weights. I vow to try a bit harder tonight.
The eating is not for my lifestyle. I could do it if I had access to a kitchen to make some of these things throughout the day. But for the most part, I have to be able to pack and store 3-4 of my 5 meals a day. My new theory is to stick by the concepts of the food.
For example, this morning was probably something along the lines of oatmeal. I combined my first and second meals and had dry kashi cereal, a cup of coffee, and a thing of raspberries.
Dinner tonight will likely be a big salad with grilled chicken.
I would, however, like to be in the habit of using the protein powder (oatmeal = tolerable), and the flax seed oil. Apparently it's good for your heart and potentially good at cancer prevention. I like the smoothies, so I guess flax seed will be sticking around for a bit.
But the bottom line is lots of fish (some chicken--stick with lean lean proteins), very few carbs (all complex), and an abundance of vegetables and a few pieces of fruit. It's very similar to eating a lot of unprocessed foods.
So the two things holding me back?
1) sleep: despite sleeping a ridiculous amount this weekend, I'm still deprived. Mostly because I made a huge dinner last night for Chadd and since I didn't get started on roasting the beef until sometime around 9:30, we had a late late dinner. I fell asleep around 2 am.
Part of my fix on this is getting onto a schedule. While I failed this morning, from now on, I'm going to be in bed no later than 11 with the lights off. If I need to (though I doubt I will), I'm going to take a tylenol pm and get on track. I will get up every morning an hour before I need to leave (something I haven't done since before I was in high school). I need time to put on make up, straighten my hair, choose an outfit, feed the cats, eat at home, and head out with a clear head. I will probably be a lot happier. This will start tomorrow (at least I hope).
For now, time to go home, find a suitable snack (I'm thinking cottage cheese and a few triscuits) and hit the gym with K.
Also, I need to buy a measuring tape. Measurements (am I seriously that brave?...) to follow.
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