This week: 179.6
This week +/- : +1.2
Net +/- : -1.4
ARRRRRGH!! Well, the biggest loser I'm not, I guess - if I'm not careful I'm going to get voted off my own blog...but seriously, I worked hard at it this week and I'm feeling a little ripped off right now!
Let's have an objective look at what I did this week then, shall we? I didn't have the Paleo Diet book yet at the beginning of the week, so I stuck to what I knew of the program and (mostly) eliminated starch and sugar and dairy. Except for Tuesday and yesterday...and if I'm honest those were pretty sizeable departures from the program! Anyway, the book is here, I've read most of it, and this week there are no excuses. None!
Sheesh...this is going to suck a little bit.
As far as everything else goes, this week was awesome. The new pill isn't making me sick anymore and for the first time in ages, I feel great! I got (some) good sleep, I have lots of energy and patience, and I worked out every day this week except yesterday. Yesterday was pretty special; I felt like the Human Torch all day - haven't been so sore in ages! Maybe that accounts for the weight gain...or maybe it's because (and this may be another overshare here, so my apologies) of PMS-related bloating. Which is cool, because it means that my body is actually behaving itself! Whee!
So this week the biggest challenge is going to be finding the time to work out; I'm afraid that I'm going to have to return to the 5am routine because work has gotten crazy. And if there's any justice in the world, any at all, next Sunday's weigh-in will be better. Here goes!
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
If you don't fall..
...you don't learn. That's what one of our taekwondo masters said today, and it sure rang true in my ears! I almost didn't go to class today; apparently the psychological scars from testing on Friday are still wide open and I wanted to either turn around and drive home in tears, or puke...but the girlies were nervous about going back too so there was no showing weakness. Not much, anyway.
It was a great class though, and I'm very glad I went.
I was actually going to call today's post "This woman will self-destruct in 10...9...8..." because I had SUCH a good couple of days - NO starch at all for 2 days and I was feeling ridiculously good, and then it all went to shit today. I mean, what the hell? Why do I do this to myself? It's not like I don't know better!
I blame the cookies. Tuesday is my special mommy-and-Sarah day, and just about her favorite thing to do together is bake something. Today it was cookies. I started out (paving the road to hell) with the best intentions; we were going to make super-healthy nut-butter-flax cookies. I have been diligently working away at using up the ends of stuff in our cupboards (in preparation for the biggest trip to costco ever, coming up early next month) so I was very creative with what went into the cookie dough...and we ended up with the most mother-beautiful cookie dough that I didn't even want to bake them. But, as always, they were better baked so needless to say I made a giant sow out of myself, first on dough and then on cookies. Blargh.
So I fell down, hopefully learned something, and tomorrow is a new day. The Paleo Diet is on it's merry way here as I tap away at my keyboard; looking forward to reading about how to do this properly. I'm pretty psyched considering how great I felt when I ditched the starch for two days!
It was a great class though, and I'm very glad I went.
I was actually going to call today's post "This woman will self-destruct in 10...9...8..." because I had SUCH a good couple of days - NO starch at all for 2 days and I was feeling ridiculously good, and then it all went to shit today. I mean, what the hell? Why do I do this to myself? It's not like I don't know better!
I blame the cookies. Tuesday is my special mommy-and-Sarah day, and just about her favorite thing to do together is bake something. Today it was cookies. I started out (paving the road to hell) with the best intentions; we were going to make super-healthy nut-butter-flax cookies. I have been diligently working away at using up the ends of stuff in our cupboards (in preparation for the biggest trip to costco ever, coming up early next month) so I was very creative with what went into the cookie dough...and we ended up with the most mother-beautiful cookie dough that I didn't even want to bake them. But, as always, they were better baked so needless to say I made a giant sow out of myself, first on dough and then on cookies. Blargh.
So I fell down, hopefully learned something, and tomorrow is a new day. The Paleo Diet is on it's merry way here as I tap away at my keyboard; looking forward to reading about how to do this properly. I'm pretty psyched considering how great I felt when I ditched the starch for two days!
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Onward and downward!
It's weigh-in day! Not that I'm expecting anything at all yet again this week...
Weight: 178.4 WHOOHOO! Haven't gone up! Hell yeah!
This week: -.6
Net loss: -2.8 (Wow, 2.8lbs in what, 4 weeks? 5 weeks? Oh well. It's been kind of a rough few weeks health-wise so I'll just be happy that I haven't GAINED 10lbs and press on.)
I wrote a little bit yesterday about the Paleo Diet but didn't go into too much detail since I don't have the book yet. (The library doesn't have it and I am too tight-fisted to just buy it, so I am waiting for the Chapters gift card that I ordered with my air miles!) Here is what I know about it from the website (which, if you're curious is, http://www.thepaleodiet.com): I am going to subsist on meat, veggies, fruit, and nuts. NO dairy, no starchy tubers, no beans, legumes, grains, or sugar. Sounds crazy, doesn't it? I am not sure how this is going to work exactly and I have a feeling that it's not feasible 100% of the time...but it should be an interesting experiment!
One thing I am pretty sure of, having paid more attention to what I'm eating this week, is that I'm not getting enough protein. If I follow the guideline of 0.7g - 1.0g of protein per pound of body-weight per day, that works out to 125 - 178g/day....which is considerably more than what I have been taking in.
So, for this week, the goal is to stick to a pretty light workout plan (no sense in getting carried away! One or two muscle groups per day with some cardio, and maybe, just maybe I'll get to the yoga studio) and start seriously decreasing sugar and starch. The thought of ditching dairy seems too awful to contemplate right now, so that will be a project for another week.
Here goes!
Weight: 178.4 WHOOHOO! Haven't gone up! Hell yeah!
This week: -.6
Net loss: -2.8 (Wow, 2.8lbs in what, 4 weeks? 5 weeks? Oh well. It's been kind of a rough few weeks health-wise so I'll just be happy that I haven't GAINED 10lbs and press on.)
I wrote a little bit yesterday about the Paleo Diet but didn't go into too much detail since I don't have the book yet. (The library doesn't have it and I am too tight-fisted to just buy it, so I am waiting for the Chapters gift card that I ordered with my air miles!) Here is what I know about it from the website (which, if you're curious is, http://www.thepaleodiet.com): I am going to subsist on meat, veggies, fruit, and nuts. NO dairy, no starchy tubers, no beans, legumes, grains, or sugar. Sounds crazy, doesn't it? I am not sure how this is going to work exactly and I have a feeling that it's not feasible 100% of the time...but it should be an interesting experiment!
One thing I am pretty sure of, having paid more attention to what I'm eating this week, is that I'm not getting enough protein. If I follow the guideline of 0.7g - 1.0g of protein per pound of body-weight per day, that works out to 125 - 178g/day....which is considerably more than what I have been taking in.
So, for this week, the goal is to stick to a pretty light workout plan (no sense in getting carried away! One or two muscle groups per day with some cardio, and maybe, just maybe I'll get to the yoga studio) and start seriously decreasing sugar and starch. The thought of ditching dairy seems too awful to contemplate right now, so that will be a project for another week.
Here goes!
Saturday, September 19, 2009
Hannah's Law
...is a term that Joel has (lovingly) coined in honour of what happened during my belt grading at taekwondo yesterday. It's largely the same as Murphy's Law, but more reliable and pertains only to my own self-sabotage, whether it's due to overconfidence or underconfidence. I will tell you the sordid tale in a minute here, but first I need to rant a little bit.
A couple of things have happened to piss me off of late. (Physically I am feeling much better, so it's largely due to that that I have the energy to actually get pissed off about something. I am VERY grateful and happy about this development, don't get me wrong.) One is that I had occasion today to wear normal street clothes. While this should not be a source of strife in itself, it doesn't happen very often - 99% of the time I am dressed either to work or to work out, which means that I live in completely elastic clothing. A good thing, yes, and I count myself lucky to be able to wear yoga pants to work, but it has successfully masked a whole other evil. An evil that has snuck up on me as I have spent the last oh, three months or so dragging my ass around, feeling like crap and not working out or eating properly...so I pulled a pair of cargo pants (previously quite comfy pants, it's important to note) out of my dresser, put them on, zipped them up (yup, could still do that), and...couldn't move. Oh dear. I could hear my grandmother saying "can you even FART in those pants??!"
Did some squats and some silly stretching to try to loosen them up, but there's no way I was going bowling in those.
So, ok. I knew I was a little heftier than last year, but that was a wake-up call. Grrr.
My other source of extreme irritation comes from something that hasn't happened yet: the Calgary Ironman 70.3 in 2010. A half-iron-distance triathlon that I am already signed up for. That is going to be one long day of racing and I REALLY need to be lean and fit in order to swim 2k, bike 90k, and run 21.1k at any kind of competitive speed. It's going to take lots of training too, that I have yet to start doing, and I'm starting to feel very afraid. It's great to have goals, but mine is moving steadily farther off into the distance!
The thing is, and this is going to sound ridiculous from someone in my line of work, but I don't know how to get there. Oh sure, I know how to design a training program and workout schedule and eating plan - it's the execution that's eluding me. How does a working mom who is completely exhausted most of the time, who is largely reliant on four food groups (coffee, chocolate, protein powder, and whatever's handy) for energy, overhaul her habits without killing herself (or anyone else)? THAT's my problem.
I've been thinking that the best way to do this is to make it black and white. Learning to eat properly (and do it out of habit, forever) is not like quitting smoking. One has to eat, but what if I set out a bunch of hard and fast rules....?
Enter the Paleo Diet. Something I've been pondering for a while; it's an extremely restrictive CRAZY program (but one of the healthiest diets out there) that will help me drop the extra weight for sure, IF I can stick to it. Either way, it will be fun to write about. I can't start it just yet because the book hasn't arrived and I'm not quite sure how to go about starting...but I'm starting to cut down on starch and increase my protein intake in preparation. So here we go!
Boy, it feels good to be back on the wagon.
Oh yeah, the belt test...I will spare you all the gory details; suffice it to say I have some new bloodstains on my nice white uniform, it took 14 (14!!) tries to break my board, and I think I have the hardest-won yellow stripe our school ever saw. It was a really special exercise in humility, and a massacre to those who witnessed it...but hey, it's done. And as Joel pointed out, isn't that what I signed up for when I started a martial art? Would it be all that special without some bruises and spilt blood?
A couple of things have happened to piss me off of late. (Physically I am feeling much better, so it's largely due to that that I have the energy to actually get pissed off about something. I am VERY grateful and happy about this development, don't get me wrong.) One is that I had occasion today to wear normal street clothes. While this should not be a source of strife in itself, it doesn't happen very often - 99% of the time I am dressed either to work or to work out, which means that I live in completely elastic clothing. A good thing, yes, and I count myself lucky to be able to wear yoga pants to work, but it has successfully masked a whole other evil. An evil that has snuck up on me as I have spent the last oh, three months or so dragging my ass around, feeling like crap and not working out or eating properly...so I pulled a pair of cargo pants (previously quite comfy pants, it's important to note) out of my dresser, put them on, zipped them up (yup, could still do that), and...couldn't move. Oh dear. I could hear my grandmother saying "can you even FART in those pants??!"
Did some squats and some silly stretching to try to loosen them up, but there's no way I was going bowling in those.
So, ok. I knew I was a little heftier than last year, but that was a wake-up call. Grrr.
My other source of extreme irritation comes from something that hasn't happened yet: the Calgary Ironman 70.3 in 2010. A half-iron-distance triathlon that I am already signed up for. That is going to be one long day of racing and I REALLY need to be lean and fit in order to swim 2k, bike 90k, and run 21.1k at any kind of competitive speed. It's going to take lots of training too, that I have yet to start doing, and I'm starting to feel very afraid. It's great to have goals, but mine is moving steadily farther off into the distance!
The thing is, and this is going to sound ridiculous from someone in my line of work, but I don't know how to get there. Oh sure, I know how to design a training program and workout schedule and eating plan - it's the execution that's eluding me. How does a working mom who is completely exhausted most of the time, who is largely reliant on four food groups (coffee, chocolate, protein powder, and whatever's handy) for energy, overhaul her habits without killing herself (or anyone else)? THAT's my problem.
I've been thinking that the best way to do this is to make it black and white. Learning to eat properly (and do it out of habit, forever) is not like quitting smoking. One has to eat, but what if I set out a bunch of hard and fast rules....?
Enter the Paleo Diet. Something I've been pondering for a while; it's an extremely restrictive CRAZY program (but one of the healthiest diets out there) that will help me drop the extra weight for sure, IF I can stick to it. Either way, it will be fun to write about. I can't start it just yet because the book hasn't arrived and I'm not quite sure how to go about starting...but I'm starting to cut down on starch and increase my protein intake in preparation. So here we go!
Boy, it feels good to be back on the wagon.
Oh yeah, the belt test...I will spare you all the gory details; suffice it to say I have some new bloodstains on my nice white uniform, it took 14 (14!!) tries to break my board, and I think I have the hardest-won yellow stripe our school ever saw. It was a really special exercise in humility, and a massacre to those who witnessed it...but hey, it's done. And as Joel pointed out, isn't that what I signed up for when I started a martial art? Would it be all that special without some bruises and spilt blood?
Sunday, September 13, 2009
...and again
Still 179.0 this week, which I'm pretty happy about considering I've been following a very strict regimen of eating whatever I want, whenever I want it, and hardly a workout in sight! Taught my abs class on Wednesday and did taekwondo Tuesday and Thursday but that is the sum of my discipline for now.
The blood work I did last week didn't show much except a very compromised immune system, so I'm into the second week of treatment and I'm hoping to start feeling like myself more so I can get back on the wagon. Will be nice to have some energy and my sense of humour back! When that happens I will post more regularly, I promise.
The blood work I did last week didn't show much except a very compromised immune system, so I'm into the second week of treatment and I'm hoping to start feeling like myself more so I can get back on the wagon. Will be nice to have some energy and my sense of humour back! When that happens I will post more regularly, I promise.
Sunday, September 6, 2009
Breaking Up is Hard to Do
Well folks, it's weigh-in day, and I have to confess that I'm not expecting much. I've been quite the sloth this week, focusing not on exercising and eating properly, but on catching up on sleep. I didn't even finish my cleanse, but I'm blaming that on my darling husband who, whenever he came across a dirty great big bottle of diarrhea sitting on the counter (sorry, that's what it looks like), did the smart thing and poured it out, thus saving me from having to drink it.
I saw the Dr. on Thursday about this invisible lardass of an elephant who's been sitting on my shoulders for the past few weeks. Not much to report there; had some blood work done on Friday and hopefully will find out next week why going up the 14 stairs in my house is leaving me winded. Needless to say, there was no working out this week either...so, what's the verdict?
Weight: 179.0
This week: +1.0
Total: -2.2
Could be worse. Will forge ahead, and damned if I'm going to see 180 on that scale ever again!!
I've been feeling a little morose lately; I have decided to sell off my glass-working equipment. Half of our basement is taken up by my workbench right now; various crockpots full of acids and toxic chemicals, tanks of gas, torches, failed experimental metal and glass projects, tools, glass, beads, and rack after rack of finished jewelry litter two large tables that haven't been used in years. I miss it like crazy, and just going down there bums me out because I just don't have the time to put into making jewelry that I used to...so I need it to go. Some of it, anyway.
I feel like I am saying good-bye to doing glass work forever. Joel says that's silly; that one day there will be more time for us to pursue our hobbies, but I don't see how that's possible; there are only so many hours in the day and there is so very much I want to do...maybe he's right and I will return to it someday, but in the meantime I need all my dusty tools to stop whispering at me.
Anyway, enough whining! The strange thing about having a blog like this is that it is practically a blank check for self-pity and self-indulgence, but wouldn't we all prefer to read silly stories and diarrhea analogies? I would.
I saw the Dr. on Thursday about this invisible lardass of an elephant who's been sitting on my shoulders for the past few weeks. Not much to report there; had some blood work done on Friday and hopefully will find out next week why going up the 14 stairs in my house is leaving me winded. Needless to say, there was no working out this week either...so, what's the verdict?
Weight: 179.0
This week: +1.0
Total: -2.2
Could be worse. Will forge ahead, and damned if I'm going to see 180 on that scale ever again!!
I've been feeling a little morose lately; I have decided to sell off my glass-working equipment. Half of our basement is taken up by my workbench right now; various crockpots full of acids and toxic chemicals, tanks of gas, torches, failed experimental metal and glass projects, tools, glass, beads, and rack after rack of finished jewelry litter two large tables that haven't been used in years. I miss it like crazy, and just going down there bums me out because I just don't have the time to put into making jewelry that I used to...so I need it to go. Some of it, anyway.
I feel like I am saying good-bye to doing glass work forever. Joel says that's silly; that one day there will be more time for us to pursue our hobbies, but I don't see how that's possible; there are only so many hours in the day and there is so very much I want to do...maybe he's right and I will return to it someday, but in the meantime I need all my dusty tools to stop whispering at me.
Anyway, enough whining! The strange thing about having a blog like this is that it is practically a blank check for self-pity and self-indulgence, but wouldn't we all prefer to read silly stories and diarrhea analogies? I would.
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Universe Juice
Remember that scene from Kung Fu Panda, where Tigress disdainfully looks at Po stuffing his face and says, her voice barbed, "It is said that the Dragon Warrior can survive on nothing but the dew from a single ginkgo leaf and the energy of the universe." To which Po replies, "Gonna need more than dew...and...universe juice."
I have this gross shit in the fridge called Greens + Extra Energy in two different flavors (I will leave it up to your imagination what the flavors are, because no matter what you dream up, it tastes worse. Trust me.) which in our house has been dubbed Universe Juice. On the mornings that my stomach is feeling particularly steely and I can actually gag it down, it makes me feel great, however, most of the time just the sight of that evil white jar in the fridge is enough to make me heave. I have a feeling that I've developed a sort of Pavlovian response to Universe Juice - this morning it really didn't taste all that bad (I only mixed half a scoop of the vile green shit with my new love, chocolate Dymatize protein powder) and I was smelling Universe Juice on everything for the rest of the day, everywhere. Ugh, just writing about Universe Juice is making me feel vaguely sick. At any rate, Joel was moved to comment this morning as I was washing down Universe Juice with cleanse juice while the children looked on with wrinkled noses, that "fitness people are insane!" And perhaps we are. But I tell ya, the vile brown cleanse juice (which looks a lot like it should on the way out, but going in? Not so much) sure tasted good after evil green Universe Juice.
In the interest of coming clean here, I feel it's only fair to acknowledge that I have sort of set aside the weight loss goal this week, which is both irretreivably lame and a relief. Lame because there have been so very many setbacks in this process and I'm sick of it, sick of hearing myself say "it's okay; this week I just need to get through ____________". The thing is, and I hate to admit this even to myself, but something's wrong. My energy has been slowly draining away, I don't recover from workouts in a reasonable amount of time, and I can't sleep at night. I have an idea of what it might be and I have to see the Dr. about it tomorrow which I also REALLY don't want to do. Not only because my doc is young and good-looking, though it doesn't help that I have to talk to him about such undignified subjects as the toxic waste dump that I have in my
uterus, but because I HATE admitting that I need help. I HATE that I may have to take some drugs to get back to normal. BAH!
Today's overshare was brought to you by the letter 'W' and Greens+. Try it! I dare you.
I have this gross shit in the fridge called Greens + Extra Energy in two different flavors (I will leave it up to your imagination what the flavors are, because no matter what you dream up, it tastes worse. Trust me.) which in our house has been dubbed Universe Juice. On the mornings that my stomach is feeling particularly steely and I can actually gag it down, it makes me feel great, however, most of the time just the sight of that evil white jar in the fridge is enough to make me heave. I have a feeling that I've developed a sort of Pavlovian response to Universe Juice - this morning it really didn't taste all that bad (I only mixed half a scoop of the vile green shit with my new love, chocolate Dymatize protein powder) and I was smelling Universe Juice on everything for the rest of the day, everywhere. Ugh, just writing about Universe Juice is making me feel vaguely sick. At any rate, Joel was moved to comment this morning as I was washing down Universe Juice with cleanse juice while the children looked on with wrinkled noses, that "fitness people are insane!" And perhaps we are. But I tell ya, the vile brown cleanse juice (which looks a lot like it should on the way out, but going in? Not so much) sure tasted good after evil green Universe Juice.
In the interest of coming clean here, I feel it's only fair to acknowledge that I have sort of set aside the weight loss goal this week, which is both irretreivably lame and a relief. Lame because there have been so very many setbacks in this process and I'm sick of it, sick of hearing myself say "it's okay; this week I just need to get through ____________". The thing is, and I hate to admit this even to myself, but something's wrong. My energy has been slowly draining away, I don't recover from workouts in a reasonable amount of time, and I can't sleep at night. I have an idea of what it might be and I have to see the Dr. about it tomorrow which I also REALLY don't want to do. Not only because my doc is young and good-looking, though it doesn't help that I have to talk to him about such undignified subjects as the toxic waste dump that I have in my
uterus, but because I HATE admitting that I need help. I HATE that I may have to take some drugs to get back to normal. BAH!
Today's overshare was brought to you by the letter 'W' and Greens+. Try it! I dare you.
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