Wednesday, July 16
- About 8 oz special k cereal, skim milk, 2 sliced strawberries
- turkey, lettuce, tomato wrap--with a small amount of some unknown sauce. The ingredient list was difficult to read, but it didn't seem to be mayo or salad dressing
- dinner salad with 1/2 broiled chicken breast, 2 hard boiled eggs, strawberry vinaigrette
- 1/2 whole wheat english muffin with 1 tsp butter, small drizzle of honey
- doctored ice tea
- 1 oz dark chocolate
- 45 minutes on the elliptical trainer
- various nautilus exercises: abs, arms, and legs
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.
