Tuesday, August 19th
My schedule with the kids this week is really killing my time at the gym. But, as long as I keep eating right, I can make up for it next week.
Monday, August 18th
I know, I know. I haven't blogged in almost a week! I suck! Its unbelievable how fast this past week went by! Before you askl, I have not fallen off the wagon. I've been eating pretty darn good (a few cheats, especially over the weekend, including, but not limited to, a small piece of cheesecake, and a ton of brazil nuts) but I haven't been hitting the gym. I wont try to remember everything I ate this past week, I'll just make a point of doing better this week! I only went once last week, but, in my defense, I've been pretty busy, getting the kids back, boyfriend back in town (at least for a little while), and getting the kids ready for school.
I'm not even sure how often I can make it to the gym this week, considering my schedule with the kids. I can't quite find the ambition to go before work; I've never been much of a morning person. I really need to find the time, though. I'm overdue for a weigh in. I'm a little nervous about this one, since I haven't been working as hard these past two weeks as I did the first month, but I seriously doubt I gained anything--hopefully, I may have even lost a pound or two!
Well, its Monday, and here's to a new week, a fresh start!
Tuesday, August 12th
Man, I just cannot give up the cheese! I've managed to cut out almost all soda and sweet fruit juice from my diet, but I just cannot pass on cheese just yet.
I still didn't make it to the gym on Tuesday, as my schedule was too tight. But, I should be able to make it Wednesday and the rest of the week.
Friday, August 8th
Saturday, August 9th
Sunday, August 10th
Monday, August 11th
I really lost my focus this weekend--enough for me to really slack off today, Monday. I was feeling awfully depressed today (my job blows and is slowly sucking my will to live, caught my boyfriend flirting with some effing skinny bank teller) so rather than go to the gym and work off some steam, I just bought a lovely bottle of Sauvignon Blanc to drink while listening to Ani Difranco (she'd understand this madness) and feel sorry for myself.
I haven't exactly been emotionally eating, but I can feel it lurking around the fringes. Thank god for skinny cow!
I plan to weigh-in again on Friday, so I really need to get back on track this week. I didn't exactly go completely overboard this weekend and totally pig out or anything, but I sort of stopped caring as much, which led me to order a pizza on Saturday, while telling myself, "Well, its for the kids, after all!" Granted, that's all I ate that day, but its still no excuse. I could have easily made time to work out today, but I just didn't.
No more excuses! Depression is not an excuse to quit, its a reason to work out!
Wednesday, August 6th
Made a nice dinner for myself, with a couple of glasses of Alsace Gewuirtztraminer (sp?). I felt very French! Took the dog for a nice walk up in Hatcher's Pass and watched the sunset.
Thursday, August 7th
Didn't feel hungry much today, nor motivated to work-out. I just felt blah all day; I think my period's coming on.
Tuesday, August 5
Overall, a pretty good day, I think. I tried very hard to order my sandwich without cheese, but I failed miserably. I forgot to bring a lunch to work today, as well as skipping breakfast, so I was starving at about two o'clock. But, I managed to stay relatively healthy.
I love the english muffins; I get my bread fix without going overboard.
Planet Fitness is located right next to Fred Meyers, so as I leave the gym, I am inundated with the smell of fresh fried chicken every time I leave. Sometimes I swear I'd kill for a greasy friend chicken thigh (or two) with some sloppy coleslaw on the side. And we may as well add a wedge of hot apple pie drowned in vanilla bean ice cream.
*sigh*
Monday, August 4th
Planet Fitness gives away free pizza the first Monday of every month. I'm not so sure this is some sort of reward, as they say, rather than a way to make you keep coming back--like job security!
Friday, August 1st
I don't think the eggplant parmesan was too horrible fattening, excluding the mozzarella on top, as it was baked, not fried. However, there was no excuse for the burrito, I know. I didn't even feel good after I ate it; even only eating half of it, I felt bloated and tired afterwards.
Saturday, August 2nd
I feel like I'm forgetting something for Saturday. This is why I can't put off blogging for four days!
Sunday, August 3rd
I tried to make up for Saturday binging on Sunday! I went shopping, and found some wonderful healthy options. Who knew that Canadian Bacon was so low in fat? It makes a perfect alternative to bacon. I also found some Italian seasoned chicken sausages that are very low in fat as well. We'll see how they taste!
Thursday, July 31st
9.4 pounds GONE! Woohoo! So, in 24 days, I've been averaging a loss of 0.39 pounds per day!!! Of course, I think I may have sweated out nearly ten pounds! If I keep going at this rate, I'll definitely be at my target weight within 7 months--hopefully February, I'll have lost 70 lb. I haven't been counting calories (far too much work, really) but I'll bet I've been averaging between 1500-2000 calories per day, and I've been making it to the gym between 4-5 days per week. I wonder how long until I can actually see a difference in my thighs? I should be a poster child for Planet Fitness!
Turkey sausage is surprisingly good, too. If I hadn't known, I might not have been able to tell that it wasn't pork, and about half the fat. Still, not great for me, but it's a lot better than Jimmy Dean. I could have done without the cheese, but I woke up positively starving this morning for some reason. I usually have to make myself eat something before noon. Maybe that's actually a good sign?
And ooh damn, do my abs ever hurt today! That's what I get for working a set of muscles too hard for the first time in a long time.
Wednesday, July 30th
Every day it gets easier on the elliptical trainer. My knees aren't bothering me as much, and I think I might even be sweating less!
I really need to buy some miracle whip or something, I can't believe how horrible mayo is for you. How can there possibly be 11 grams of fat in one tablespoon???
My mom turned me on to the skinny cow ice cream products--these things are fabulous! You'd never know they were nearly fat free, and just over 100 calories a piece. They're actually pretty filling, too. A great dessert option. Thanks Mom!
Monday, July 28th
Tuesday, July 29th
I'll tell you what, I cannot drink like I used to. It tears my stomach up something fierce. And I should know better than to drink on a fairly empty stomach. Oh well. It was a good time, though.
Saturday, July 26th
Sunday, July 27th
Not a great weekend, but not too terrible, in my opinion. I really could have done the baked tomatoes without butter (but at least they weren't fried, plus they were absolutely delicious!), and I could have skipped the mayo sauce with the other-wise healthy chicken. I did manage to watch my portion sizes this weekend--I actually counted the number of Doritos I ate (much to my boyfriend's amusement) and ate a small piece of steak. I read somewhere to limit your red meat intake to a portion about the size of a deck of cards. I also quite vigorously vacuumed and mopped the floor on Saturday, and I did break a sweat, so that should count for some kind of exercise!
The boyfriend and the kids are out of the house again--boyfriend out for a week, the kids for 3 weeks or more. It's going to be a lot easier to keep up on the work-outs and eating right. I just don't know how I'm going to keep all this up when they're all back in the house full time. I think the boyfriend is starting to realize what a horrible influence he is. I even noticed he didn't pig out as much as he normally does, especially on the weekend. Maybe I can actually be the good influence on him!
Friday, July 25th
Did a lot of snacking today, rather than eat a full meal. My knees are feeling a lot better today, and I've been stretching more, which I think helps a lot.
Thursday, July 24th
The knees feel a little better today, but I still took it pretty easy at the gym. The special-k cereal bars are wonderful--a nice change from granola bars--and only 90 calories.
I'm so glad tomorrow's Friday.
Wednesday, July 23rd
I took it really easy today on the elliptical, as my knees are still sore. I did some reading online, and it turns out that its common for people to have sore knees because we tend to stand very straight on the trainer, when many of us tend to stand slightly duck footed (toes slightly pointed out). I watched how I stand and walk naturally, and, low and behold, I do walk somewhat duck-footed, so I tried standing like that on the elliptical trainer today. It seemed to help, and I went fairly slowly. We'll see how I feel tomorrow.
Tuesday, July 22
No time to work out today, but my knees are killing me for some reason, so it's probably for the best. I wonder if it's from working out so much when I'm not used to it--but the elliptical trainers are supposed to be low impact. . .
The boys are with me for at least a week, so I need to find a happy medium between healthy dinners and something the kids will like. It's amazing how much those two eat, it's like they have a tapeworm.
Monday, July 21st
The chicken "breast" on my sandwich from McDonald's must be the smallest portion of chicken I've ever seen, even for fast food. It didn't even cover half the bun. We'll add that to the list of reasons to never patronize McDonald's again. But, the kids do love it.
My inner rabbit must have taken the day off, because I was NOT feeling the salad for lunch--delicious vinaigrette or no. I had to make myself eat half of it. I have been eating a lot of salad recently, so maybe I need to find something else low fat for lunch for a change.
I've noticed that the time spent on the elliptical trainer goes much faster when I listen to music, rather than watch television. I listened to the Dropkick Murphy's today (fast paced Irish punk rock) which was an awesome motivator. You almost can't help but run in-time with the music. I only went for 35 minutes, but I burned almost as many calories as when I go for 45 minutes.
Sunday, July 20
Well, my boyfriend's off to Kenai again, but the kids are back in town. I hope I'll still find the time to workout every day this next week. I worked out 6 days this week! I really needed today off from the gym, though, my muscles are killing me.
I've managed to cut out the gingerale by replacing it with the doctored ice tea. I sweeten it only with a little honey and fruit juice, and it really is good!
Tomorrow marks two weeks! Go me!
Saturday, July 19
Not a bad day, calorie-wise, but not a great day. I couldn't turn away from the beautiful array of snacks at the baby shower, but I was able to turn down a piece of cake. I managed to squeeze in a little time at the gym, so I don't feel too bad about today.
Friday, July 18
My boyfriend claims this certain pizza joint in Kenai makes the best pizza he's ever had. That's quite a bold statement. I have to say though, even 4 hours old, it was damn good. Then again, after a whole week of very low fat food, I'm not sure I was in the best condition to judge. It was delicious--and my only vice this week!
Thursday, July 17
I took my Mom's advice and went ahead and weighed myself today. Almost six pounds lost in 10 days! That's over 1/2 a pound per day?!?! Though its possible some of this can be water weight, I don't care one bit. I was amazed at how fast I made progress.
*does a dorky happy dance*
The workouts are getting easier, though I still sweat like a pig--it's almost embarrassing. The little twinkies never even seem to sweat; it's like their living in a different climate. Though I suppose its hard to break a sweat while lazily pedaling the stationary bike while you text message your 20 closest twinkie friends.
Wednesday, July 16
Well, a pretty good day overall. I overdid it a little with dinner; I really didn't need two hard boiled eggs. And I shouldn't have had two sweets afterwards.
And for the record, skim milk is disgusting. After being used to whole milk, I should have started with 2% or something; I'm not sure I'll be able to go through this quart before it goes bad. Even my cat won't drink it.
A much better day for cardio. 45 minutes didn't exactly zoom by, but a vast improvement on yesterday. The first half is always so much harder. Once I get past the 20 minute mark, things seem to be easier. It must be mental.
I also braved the nautilus machines today--or, the Planet Fitness version of nautilus. I took it pretty easy, only used about 5 different machines, and did two reps of 15, using fairly light weights. We'll see how I feel tomorrow. I must admit, I was a little intimidated by the machines, though I'm not sure why exactly. I've used nautilus before. I think I was just a little shy, using these machines for the first time in front of people who really seemed to know what they were doing.
One thing I sure hate about the gym, or all gyms for that matter, is the little size 0 teenager girls in their skin tight work-out gear, who seem to spend all their time lazily using the stationary bikes while text messaging or reading Cosmo Girl. (Also, the magazine selection there is abysmal. It's all Vogue and Good Housekeeping. Is it too much to ask for a Newsweek?) And they lounge around on the nautilus machines, constantly yapping on their cell phones. Either work out or get out, you effing little twinkies!!!
I was listening to the NBC news on the radio this afternoon, and they had a segment in which they reviewed three different diet plans for effectiveness: Atkins, the Mediterranean diet, and a simple low fat diet. Overwhelmingly, the Atkins diet was most effective for losing weight and lowered cholesterol. However, they did mention that the study was funded partially by the Atkins foundation! Good god. In NBC's defense, they did mention, twice, the conflict of interest being presented here. But what they didn't address is the simple fact that radically changing how you eat (i.e., completely forgoing carbohydrates) is a recipe for dieting disaster. They conducted the study in controlled settings, but what about the real world? How many people actually stick with Atkins for their whole lives? Eating right is a lifestyle change, not a get-thin-quick scheme. True, Atkins invariably works in the beginning, but it's just too easy to fall off the wagon. A simple low fat diet may have slower results, but it is a much easier diet to maintain for a life time. I'm not talking about a no-fat diet, but just low fats, and the right fats, as well as refined sugar in extreme moderation.
Okay, I'm done venting. It just seemed to me as though the segment was nothing more than an endorsement of the Atkins diet. And with that. . . ahem. . . screw Atkins. I'm eating my bread, thank you.
Tuesday, July 15
Man, my ass was dragging all day. 45 minutes at the gym felt like an eternity--it was all I could do to finish.
My strawberry vinaigrette was absolutely heavenly! Four fresh strawberries, 1/2 cup red wine vinegar, drizzle of honey, drizzle of olive oil, small sprinkle of garlic powder, salt, and lots of pepper. Sweet and savory, it was fabulous on my salad. True, I used a little more than I needed to, but it was just too good. There really wasn't much olive oil in this blend, so I don't feel too bad about it. Besides, other than pancakes on Saturday, I haven't really cheated at all this week!
I had to resist the temptation to weigh myself today. I have to walk past the scale every time I go to take a shower at the gym, but I promised myself that I would only weigh myself once a month. I don't want to get too hung up on the number, and instead simply focus on the workouts and eating right. But the scale, I swear it mocks me as I walk past it.
Monday, July 14
So, ladies and gentlemen, this was a great calorie day, but the only problem is, all of these calories were consumed after 7:00pm. I forgot to bring a lunch to work, and I couldn't get away from the office until 5:30. I didn't want to go to the gym on a full stomach, so I went ahead and worked out, showered, and drive to subway where I ordered a sandwich feeling rather light-headed. Not hungry, exactly, just sort of weak. I felt immensely better after I wolfed down my sandwich and yogurt, but I was hungry again in an hour. I HAVE to feed myself during the day, I really know better.
I was good, though. I went to the grocery store and got about a weeks worth of groceries for myself--all healthy, except for the olive oil and dark chocolate squares. I still think, however, that it is important to have some fat in your diet, and it may as well be a good fat, like the kind in olive oil, or avocados, or dark chocolate for that matter. These things, in moderation of course, make your food taste so much better, that you're left feeling fuller and more satisfied, and, hopefully, less likely to go back for something else.
Also, I made the most wonderful vinaigrette! I used to despise vinegar in all forms, but in the last year, my body seems to crave it, and I positively salivate when I smell it. After asking the subway sandwich maker to add more vinegar to my sandwich, I started to think about making my own salad dressings. So I bought some good olive oil and some expensive red wine and balsamic vinegar. The normal ratio for vinaigrette is 3 parts oil, and 1 part vinegar. The dressing I made, however, was more like 2 parts red wine vinegar, 1/2 part oil, and 1/2 part honey, salt & lots of pepper. Not exactly the healthiest dressing ever created, but I only used a little over a tablespoon for my salad, and it was more than enough. And very very tasty. I think I'll make a strawberry vinaigrette tomorrow..... Mmmm.....
In order to prevent what happened today, I packed a lunch for tomorrow with more food than is really necessary. I figure I should give myself a little variety, in case I turn out not to be in the mood for something I brought with me.
Sunday, July 13
I found a treasure buried in the garage. The Chuck Norris and Christy Brinkley sponsored Total Gym that my boyfriend received as a gift some 10 odd years ago. I dusted it off and managed to lug the thing up the stairs and set it up (one helluva workout in itself, I might add). I'm missing the accessory that enables me to do the leg work outs, but I might be able to order it somewhere.
And now the boys are gone. My boyfriend heading out of town to work, and the little ones are back at their mom's. Just me and the dog, all week. Its nice to have all this time to myself, but it's getting awfully quiet and lonesome around here. You can only watch Muriel's Wedding so many times before you start to realize why your boyfriend hates that movie. And for me, boredom=snacking. Luckily, I've managed to get rid of a lot of junk food in the house. There is, however, a box of oreos in the kitchen that I must attempt to ignore. :)
If I make it through tomorrow, it will have been 1 whole week since I started this. Hooray for me!
Saturday, July 12
Yes, overall, not a good day calorie-wise. However, in my own defense, it was my youngest son's eighth birthday today, so we went to IHOP for breakfast and the boys stuffed themselves to the gills with chocolate chip pancakes loaded with whipped cream and strawberry syrup. I am rather ashamed to admit that I really didn't even look for a semi-healthy option the menu, but I woke up thinking about pancakes, which is one of my biggest weaknesses.
I am very vulnerable to cheating on breakfast items. I never crave anything sweet, like a donut, or danish, or even cereal. Give me some crispy bacon, a fried egg, hashbrowns with sausage gravy. Or eggs benedict, with a thick wedge of canadian bacon, floating in a pool of hollandaise sauce. Mmmm. I suppose I should wake up early and scramble myself one egg and make a slice of toast to overcome the breakfast cheating. I detest McDonald's food most times, but I'll tell you what, the egg mcmuffin is about my favorite thing for breakfast--they use an actual fried egg, instead of the powdered egg crap they use for the rest of the sandwiches.
Okay, okay, enough talk about food, already!
I live in Wasilla, Alaska, which is about an hour north of Anchorage, and I realized today that I didn't really know any of the hiking trails around here. I know many in Anchorage, but being able to utilize the trail systems in the Mat-Su will be great for days that I don't go into Anchorage. Thanks to my boyfriend, I know quite a few atv trails around this area, but I don't quite like the idea of hiking on trails that are used mostly for people to rip around on a 4-wheeler. So I did some research and found 5 different trails that prohibit motor vehicles that are relatively close to where I live.
My goal is to hit all of these spots in the next five weeks. Really, I live in the most beautiful spot in the world. As Peggy Wayburn says in Adventuring Alaska, "Its mountain's dwarf the Alps; its fjords surpass Norway's; its large free-roaming mammals rival east Africa; [and] its glaciers outnumbered only by Greenland and Antarctica." I should be out in it, as I have all winter to work out in a gym.
Friday, July 11
So my two step-sons are back at the house now after a few weeks with their mother, and my boyfriend is back for the weekend after working out of town all week. Eating right and having plenty of time at the gym was a heck of a lot easier when the men-folk were out of the house. It's going to be trickier now, especially having my boyfriend around. Just tonight, after eating large portions of the mostly healthy meal I made, he ate two mammoth bowls of cereal, three lunch-size bags of doritos, and a bag of m&m's. He makes me sick, I swear. He has a tiny beer gut, but really, he's in good shape. Bastard. Plus the kids, 8 and 10 years old, are starting to need enough food to feed a small country. Temptations will abound. *sigh* At least I was good all alone, as we all know Myth #2: food consumed in the absence of witnesses contain no calories.
Wish me luck this weekend, ladies and gentlemen!
According to Calorie Count, I burn approximately 102 calories per hour performing "light" office work. Of course, I started wondering what qualifies as light office work; I'm not sure mindlessly playing Bookworm for at least three hours of my day would burn as many calories as, say, filing or filling up the water cooler. My heart rate does, however, increase whenever I have to do financial reports (small company, near bankruptcy) so I can only hope that evens out somehow.
Also, I supposedly burn 136 calories per hour driving. Well, at least that is some good news, since I spend a minimum of two hours (maybe more like three) driving.
(102 cal/hr * 7 hours) + (136 cal/hr * 2.5 hours) + 150? cal/hr x 3 hours [an average of doing dishes, fish feeding, plant watering, crocheting, etc] = 1504 calories burned.
Now, I'm sure I'm missing a few things, as I believe you even burn calories while sleeping and watching movies, so lets say I burn about 2000 - 2200 calories in a single lazy day. I've been averaging about 400 burned calories on the elliptical trainers, totalling 2600 calories.
It takes approximately 3500 burned calories to lose one pound. Therefore, if I can eat less than 2000 calories on a day I work out, I can burn, hopefully, 1500 calories a day, then I can potentially lose one pound every 2.3 days. Let's just say 3 days. To lose 70 lb will take approximately 210 days, about 7 months.
Hopefully by February or March, I just might be a size 7! Hmm, 7 dress sizes in 7 months. Sounds like a great title for a diet book!
So here's everything for the past week.
Monday, July 7:
Tuesday, July 8:
Wednesday, July 9
Thursday, July 10
I dearly love the eliptical trainers, but they always make my feet go numb...
So, ladies and gentlemen, here's to a good start!
The funny thing is, when I was trying to select a domain name for this blog I found that all the good names were already taken. Big suprise, I know. I queried "fatchick," "fatgirl," "fatgirlskinnygirl," "dietergirl" along with several others. Curious, I visited these blogs only to find, in most cases, a single declaritive post, dated several years ago, with absolutely no follow up. I can sympathise with these women, truly. Sometimes you wake up in the morning full of vim and vigor, sure that "Today will be The Day!" I have had countless mornings like this. True to form, you take the stairs up to work instead of the elevator, and have a low fat granola bar for breakfast. Then, thinking of heading to subway for lunch, you realize its potluck day, and Mary from accounta payable has brought in her famous beef and cheese enchiladas, and is that fried chicken you can smell? Or maybe you starved yourself all day only to cave in at eleven and call pizza hut, and extra cheese it is. Or maybe you managed to be good and eat right all week, but spoil it on Sunday by eating a whole pint of ben & jerries chubby hubby.
I know, I know. So I don't begrudge fat chick or fat girl.
But this blog will not be the case, ladies and gentlemen.
Four days ago, I weighed myself for the first time in about a year. Then I cried.
202.4 lb.
(And damn that extra decimal place, by the way. As if 202 lb wasn't fat enough. Even the number itself looks fat--the roundness of the twos, sandwiching the most obese number of all, the Big Fat Zero.)
According to a BMI calculator, at 5'3" tall, 202.4 pounds gives me a body mass index of 35.8, classifying me as "obese".
So. After work on Monday, I joined Planet Fitness. I was highly impressed by their ridiculously low rates ($20 per month, $22 start-up fee) and the gym seemed to have a happy mix of men, women, fat, skinny, young and old. The gym itself is very streamlined; half the space is given to cardio machines with 14 screens of television to choose from, and the other half devoted to Planet Fitness's version of nautilus equipment and free weights. The locker rooms were clean and seemed well maintained, with ample locker space and four fairly private showers. No sauna, no steam room, but I can work with that. My only complaint so far is that they do not provide towels, and you have to surrender your car keys in order to borrow headphones. I suppose $20 a month only goes so far.
In this blog, ladies and gentlemen, I shall itemize all the food and drink that I consume in one day, as well as my workouts. And of course, regularly lament the lack of ben & jerries.
