The long and winding road to fitness, day 59

Image by mistersnappy via Flickr

Whew…glad to have this work day over…worked 11 hours, starting at 5 am…I’m not a huge fan of going in to work at 5 am..and to think, I had a job once upon a time where I had to be at work at 2:30 in the morning…ugh..almost makes 5 not seem so bad…almost…

So let me pose a question here…does writing a fitness/weight loss blog…a public fitness/weight loss blog…mean that everyone I come in contact with can make comments on what I’m eating?  Seriously.  I’d been eating Cheez Its from a vending machine bag for three days…so obviously not a lot of them in any single day…but someone saw fit to tell me that they’re not “diet” food…really?  And what exactly is diet food…salad?  Nothing but salad?  Who can live on a diet like that for long?  One of my friends is a total vegetarian..and people are constantly making comments about what she eats…I’ve heard people tell her she needs more protein in her diet…like the only food that provides protein is meat…so I guess my question is, does writing this blog make me fair game for comments, advice, strange looks, etc about what I eat? 

I had a decent day of eating today (in spite of the Cheez Its) and walked for 45 minutes.  I didn’t get enough sleep, how is it possible to get enough sleep when you have to get up so early?  I’m going to try to get to bed a little earlier tonight (thank goodness the girl who lives next to me finally turned her LOUD music off).  I know I’ve got another manic day ahead of me tomorrow.

So how do you deal with people who try to monitor your diet?  Do you just ignore them or do you have some smart remark for them (and if you do, what  would that remark be?).

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The long and winding road to fitness, day 37

Image by LifeSupercharger via Flickr

Well….not such a great day of eating today.  I was so tired after working open to close yesterday, that I couldn’t drag myself out of bed in time to make anything to take to work today.  I ended up eating from the stupid, evil vending machine.  I had a bag of Cheez-Its for what I guess you’d say was my lunch today.  Unfortunately, breakfast was no better.  I ate a SuziQ…you know, those chocolate cakey things with the cream filling…not a lot of nutritional value in either of those choices, I’m afraid.

After work, I stopped at the grocery store, despite my vow not to go grocery shopping when I’m hungry or tired (and I was both today).  I walked down the cookie aisle, looked at the Fig Newtons (which really wouldn’t have been a terrible choice), then walked away.  When I walked by the deli, I looked at the BBQ wings, then walked away.  In the freezer section, I looked at the ice cream.  Then I looked at it some more.  Then I reminded myself that just a few days ago, I said I wasn’t going to buy ice cream.  I ended up buying a box of strawberry fruit bars…80 calories apiece…I think that was a better choice than the ice cream that I’ve been eating.  I ended up buying all healthy food and no diet Pepsi.  I think I’m getting closer to giving it up (again).  Anyhow, I’m feeling pretty good about my shopping trip…oh yeah, and that I have tomorrow off work!

Do you struggle to purchase healthier food and beverage choices?  How do you cope?

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The long and winding road to fitness, day 31

Image by Newbirth35 via Flickr

Another good day with the eating and exercising…I consumed 1550 calories, got in 45 minutes of walking and 6 core exercises, 2 sets each.  Plus, I ran from the front to the back of the store continuously today…we had a call-in in framing, and I was back there most of the day answering questions, helping people with 4-H projects (why do so many people wait until the last minute to do these things?), helping people with their framing questions, directing people to the restroom (please, please, use the restroom…), and trying like crazy to get at least a little of my own work done.

I ate my Greek yogurt, a little granola and a peach all mixed together for my morning snack.  Lunch was the quinoa, black bean salad I made the other day.  I had a V8 fusions drink (pineapple mango with green tea…have you tried these?) with my lunch.  I also ate one of those Fiber One brownies…only 90 calories and good enough to keep me away from the vending machine…honestly, I never even thought about getting anything from the vending machine today…too busy, I guess.

This was my dinner this evening…well, the smoothie, the other two peaches are still sitting on the kitchen counter.  For the smoothie, I used one peach (juicy and delicious), some cantaloupe, half of a frozen banana, half a cup of Greek yogurt and just a little water.  Yum!  And isn’t it just the prettiest peach color?  I also had some Back to Nature flaxseed crackers with a wedge of Laughing Cow cheese…who comes up with this stuff?  It’s so good that I feel like I’m eating a lot more calories than I am…and I’m all for that!  It was a nice, cool, refreshing dinner for this super hot day.

Do you find yourself naturally eating more cold foods when it’s as hot as it is now (I don’t know about where you are, but it’s going to be in the mid 90s here every day this week)?  Is there any particular food that you crave during the hot summer weather?  I like smoothies and watermelon when it’s so miserably hot…and those are some pretty healthy choices, I do believe!!  Stay cool, everyone!

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Why is it so expensive to eat healthy?

I had the day off work today (finally) and knew I had to go to Kroger to buy the basics…bread, milk, fruit and veggies.  I’m determined to get back to eating a healthy diet and start losing some of this weight I’ve gained.  So I looked at the ad, went through my coupons and made out my list.  Unfortunately, it seems that healthier foods are more expensive and there are fewer coupons out there for things like fresh fruit and veggies.

I was able to use coupons for yogurt…

The small containers, I’ll take to work.  The plain yogurt, I’ll use in smoothies…had a smoothie for dinner tonight, strawberries, banana, spinach, yogurt and a little milk.  Smoothies make me feel like I’m eating something unhealthy, like a shake…but, if I make it myself, I can control exactly what’s in it and keep the calorie count down.

I did buy some Gorton’s fish that was on sale and I matched that up with a coupon.  I don’t eat a lot of fish, but I do like it.  It makes for a pretty quick dinner when I come home from work late.

I bought broccoli, spinach, mushrooms, onions, bananas, apples and cole slaw mix…all on sale.  I looked at a lot of the other fruits and veggies and just couldn’t convince myself to pay what they were asking for them…the price of produce sure makes having a garden even more appealing…

The radishes I planted last week are starting to come up.  The lettuce hasn’t emerged yet, but radishes are always the first of the seeds to sprout.  This weekend, I’m going to plant more lettuce, spinach and radishes.  I tell you, I’m not going to be a slave to high produce prices…I’ll grow my own and eat what’s in season…hmm…sounds like what my grandma did years ago…

Anyhow, on my shopping trip, I stayed under my $50 food budget (right around $47) and saved 22%…nothing like the 50%+ trip of a week or so ago, but I did buy only healthy food and totally stuck to my list.

I did manage to prepare my meals for work for the rest of the week (I have this weekend off…woohoo!!).   I cooked some veggie pasta with broccoli and carrots, grilled a chicken breast, shredded the chicken and added it to the cooled pasta.  Mixed it with a  little of my secret ingredient…Hendrickson’s sweet olive oil and vinegar dressing…put everything on a bed of fresh spinach.

Now isn’t that better than a fast food burger?!

Here’s what I saw out my kitchen door today…gorgeous!

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Live Well

Image by Ed Yourdon via Flickr

Unfortunately I haven’t been living particularly well lately.  Still kind of eating whatever, not really doing much cooking.  Definitely not getting enough exercise.  That’s why I’m pretty excited about this new program my company has started.  They’re offering weekly prizes for simply taking 10,000 steps a day and logging it on the website.  There are lots of tips and advice on the site (honestly, I don’t need the tips…I really do know what to eat, how much to eat, how much exercise I need to get in…but I do think it’ll help motivate a lot of others who will be participating…I just need the motivation and accountability).

We started our own team, got several people at our store signed up for the program (and many of us were among the first 5,000 to register so we will receive  a free pedometer, log, etc) and I’m really talking it up to everyone.  We have several college kids working at our store and they’re probably the healthiest people there…kind of frightening when you think about their eating and drinking habits!!  Most of us could stand to lose (at least) a few pounds, we all definitely need to get more exercise, and stress is a big issue for just about all of us.  My hope is that we’ll all be able to encourage and support one another as we strive to develop healthier habits.  Working together…learning to live well!!

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Breakroom Ambience…really

Another crazy busy day at work…this just in from our corporate offices…we need to ambience the breakroom for Christmas!  Seriously?  We don’t even have the time to do all the work we need to get done every day and now they want us to decorate the breakroom…heck, most of us don’t even manage to make it back to the breakroom to actually take a break! I usually try to get outside for a quick walk and often end up eating my lunch at my desk while working on the computer…hmm…maybe I should try taking a real break at least once a day…could do wonders for my stress level…I think the whole ambience thing has more to do with corporate visitors being in our stores over the next couple of weeks than providing us with a relaxing place to take a break.  Hey, I’m all for relaxing…how about some recliners and a nice television…that’ll happen, you betcha!  Okay, okay…let it go…this could be fun…what do I want to see in the breakroom?  I’ll have to give this some thought.

Now on to the challenge…yep, made it thru another day without resorting to the evils of diet soda…have to admit I was tempted once, but just refilled my water bottle and kept moving on.  Tomorrow I’m going to do some real cooking…something to take to work for my lunches for the rest of the week, maybe some pumpking muffins (love, love, love anything pumpkin) and I just remembered I have some rhubarb in the freezer…what can I do with that that doesn’t involve pie?  Looks I’ll be searching for some recipes tonight while I watch my favorite show, Dancing With the Stars!

I did work out this morning before heading out the door to work.  I really do feel so much better when I sweat a little before going to work…seems to at least start my day on a high note.  It usually makes me more aware of what I’m eating, but I have to admit to eating a donut today…we had a birthday girl at work today and, instead of cake, she got donuts.  I can’t really say why I felt the need to eat a donut other than the fact that they were there…that’s one of those bad habits that I’ve got to work on again…thank goodness I never smoked!!!  As difficult as it is to kick that habit, I’d be in real trouble!  No donuts for me tomorrow…but I will be going out for a run, my first one in several days…hopefully I haven’t lost much in the way of fitness…we’ll see…