A scolding from my doctor…

A diet rich in soy and whey protein, found in products such as soy milk and low-fat yogurt, has been shown to reduce breast cancer incidence in rats. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

…okay, she’s this little bitty fairly young thing, and sitting there mildly scolding me…I tried my best not to laugh at her…and I didn’t…laugh at her, that is.  We were discussing the lab work I’d had done last week…the results were not as good as they were a year ago…no real surprise to me, I know I haven’t been eating as well as I was and I haven’t been exercising much either.

None of the results were in bad ranges (and that’s a good thing), but the numbers had edged up a bit over last year’s numbers.  So she brought up losing weight…funny thing was, before I left the house to visit with her, I’d made out a grocery list chock full of fruits and veggies, with no pizza or ice cream.  We started talking about diet and she said she brings a big salad to work every day for her lunch, very rarely eats out.  Believe me, I know that’s the way to do it.

After I left, driving to Kroger, I started thinking about what I was doing to myself with poor diet and exercise habits.  Kind of silly, isn’t it?   The last time I ate food from a fast food joint, the entire time I was eating it, I kept thinking it wasn’t even really that good.

So, my little goal for myself is to lose 10 pounds by the time I go back to see her in July…totally do-able, don’t you think?  I bought some strawberries and veggies to cut up and make my world-famous faux Subway subs (on whole wheat sub buns)…that’s going to be lunch for the next several days at work.

Back to that little old journey toward health and fitness…got to keep myself from getting sidetracked so I can feel a bit better.

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Detour on the road to fitness

looking down a rocky mountainside in Norway with a hairpin turn in a road far below (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Big time detour…the racing downhill and the brakes go out kind of detour…oh, and there’s a hairpin curve coming up…that kind of detour.  And the thing is, I know what brought it on…but I found it easier to just mindlessly eat than to face what was going on in my life.  I know that doesn’t help me deal with the issues…I know it just makes everything even worse, but that’s what I did anyhow…even knowing all that I know.  Is that crazy?  Or is that what passes for normal in my life?

I can feel myself edging closer and closer to recommitting to a healthier lifestyle.  Goodness knows, eating junk doesn’t solve anything.  What it did do was pack on the pounds, make me less fit than I was, and affect my self-esteem.  Not quite the route I want to go.

I just have to convince myself that I’m strong enough to get through whatever obstacles life throws in my way.  I may trip over those darn obstacles sometimes, but I can’t allow that to keep me down.  I want to get back to where I feel good in my own skin, where I have the energy to get out and do fun and exciting things again.  So…I’m going to continue working toward that elusive fitness…not easy when I’m also battling things in my life that aren’t going the way I thought they would…but…everyone deals with that at times, don’t they?  Just deal with it, do the best I can, and move forward…don’t let it derail my entire life…that’s my advice to myself today…

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The long and winding road to fitness, day 206

Wow!!  I’m so excited!  I’m making some good progress with my fitness quest.  Exercising every day and managing to stick with my food plan.  I even bypassed the donuts that someone brought in to work today!  Sat right there and ate the breakfast that I brought while everyone else was eating donuts.  And it didn’t even bother me.  Now that’s some progress!

And all of this is just in time for the livewell challenge that we’ll be starting at work on the 18th!  I’m ready!  I’m going to do this!

I’m a winner….and a loser!

Just came across this in an email and thought it was pretty funny…

We’re happy to let you know that you’re a winner in The Moisture Surge Intense Sweepstakes! You’ve won a Clinique Moisture Surge 7 ml sample, which has an approximate retail value of $0.90. Congratulations!

There’s nothing you need to do except look for your prize within 8-10 weeks after promotion conclusion. If we happen to need additional information from you, we will contact you at this email address.

Can you believe that?  I’ve won a prize worth 90 whole cents…well approximately…It doesn’t get any better than that!

Well, except when it does…when I stepped on the scale this morning, I discovered that I’ve now lost 4 pounds this year!!!  I’ve got a long way to go, but 4 pounds is a good start!  I’ve been exercising every day, sometimes for only 10 or 15 minutes, but still, that’s enough to get me back in the habit.  I woke up a few minutes early this morning and hopped on the exercise bike first thing…that was a great way to start my day.

And it’s getting easier to stick with my eating plan.  I haven’t completely cut out anything, just making sure I get at least 5 fruits and veggies every day, eating meals that I’ve prepared, avoiding the vending machine and fast food.  And those few things are making a difference! 

I really intended to spend January simply working to re-establish my healthy habits and I think I’m making pretty good progress!!  Each month I’m going to focus on something else, in addition to the habit I’ve established in previous months.  I’d really  like to get to a point where it just becomes my lifestyle.

How can I be this tired?

sometimes you just need a cozy place to curl up

Okay, granted I did work over 11 hours today.  And yes, I had to be at work at 5 am which meant I didn’t get anywhere near enough sleep.  Of course I was on my feet all day, running around, climbing ladders, going up and down stairs.  And I waited much too long to eat today, so I ended up with a headache to accompany my tired body.

But still, this is ridiculous!  My legs hurt, my back hurts, my head still hurts.  I know, as well as I know anything, that a lot of the pain will diminish as I continue to lose weight, but I’m not sure it’ll ever disappear completely…don’t remind me, I know I’m not a young whippersnapper any more.

At least I have tomorrow off work (I hope…hopefully I won’t get any phone calls asking me to come in because our zone vice president is on his way).  I have a few errands to run in the morning,some cooking to do in the afternoon, and I’m thinking sleeping in without an alarm clock forcing me to get up will be a treat!

A couple of good things about today…one, even though I was feeling so tired (a big trigger for me) and dealing with a lot of stress, I still ate healthy today, totally stayed within my calorie range (on the low end of it…woohoo) and still got in some core exercises before work and rode the exercise bike for a little while this evening.  High fives all around!

The long and winding road to fitness, day 202

Wow!  There are times I regret not giving this weight loss journey my all for the past 202 days…how much weight would I have lost had I done that?

But…I can’t change the past…what I can do is use this to motivate me to work harder to stick with my food plan and exercise program.  I’ve done really well for the past few days.  I guess going back to work does have its advantages.

I’ve been preparing my food the night before and keying everything into my nutrition tracker at SparkPeople.com.  Not sure what the psychology behind this is, but it helps me stick with it…hmm…could be plain laziness, I may be too lazy to want to go back in and change things.

I’ve also been exercising every day.  Not crazy, not over doing it, but doing some cardio and strength training every day.  My body will get used to it…sometime, I hope.

And I did lose 1 pound last week even with not so great eating the first part of the week…vacation, you know…I do much better when I’m on a routine.  But a pound is a pound and I’ll take it.  I’ll take it and work to lose at least that much this week.

Now to get some sleep tonight.  For some wild reason, we’re going in at 5 am tomorrow.  I thought those days would be over since the holidays are behind us.  Shows just how much I know, doesn’t it?

Calories burned…

Okay, I’ve been alternating between my treadmill and my exercise bike for cardio this week…I track everything on SparkPeople.com so I have a general idea of how many calories I’m burning with my exercise.  But I’m wondering if it’s really true that I’m burning more calories on the exercise bike than I am with walking…that seems counterintuitive…with walking, you’re supporting your entire body weight with each step you take.  On the exercise bike most of my body weight is on my butt…yes, I’m moving my legs faster and I do have the tension set a little past the comfortable range…but still…does that make sense to anyone?  Can someone (you know, you fitness experts out there) explain this for me?

I hate to admit this, but I ate too many calories today, no matter how many I burned…haha!!  In a way, going back to work will be a good thing…that doesn’t mean I’m jumping for joy at the prospects of an end to my little vacation here…but I do plan better, and stick to my plan better, when I’m working.  And all of that walking around all day doesn’t hurt with the calories burned either…

One thing I do miss, when I have to go to work, is the beautiful sunrise…

Are you sure this is really January?

I’m a little confused…we’re having March like weather in early January.  It was in the 40s and sunny today and is going to be in the 50s tomorrow.  Not that I’m complaining, mind you…it’s just strange.

I walked on the treadmill today, but I really could have walked outside.  That’s how nice it was.  Of course, I couldn’t have watched tv while I was walking if I’d gone outside.

There was a cardinal couple (aren’t they just so cute together?) sitting on the arch outside my kitchen window today.  I like how one of them will keep watch while the other one eats.  Very protective of one another.  I’m sure they’re not complaining about the weather.

Oh I know, I shouldn’t get too excited…we’ll get some snow and cold weather, I’m sure.  But for now, I’m going to enjoy every single day of warm temps and sunshine!!

Here’s Spooky sitting on top of the fridge watching all of the goings-on outside.

The long and winding road to fitness, day 197

Another pretty good day today.   Getting my exercise in and eating healthier, still not perfect, but much better than it has been.  I’ve noticed I’m sleeping better.  Of course, not having to go to work may have something to do with that.

I got my cardio in on the exercise bike today.  I’m trying to alternate walking and biking in the hope that I’ll be able to avoid hip and/or knee pain.  Keeping my fingers crossed that it works.  I did core exercises today too.  So far I’m not experiencing a lot of muscle soreness, very mild.  Not sure if that means I’m not working hard enough, not doing enough, or that I didn’t totally lose the fitness I’d worked so hard for.

I pulled the crock pot out today and made a pot of chicken chili with quinoa instead of pasta.  One of my friends (thanks, Chris) mentioned that they had tried that in an effort to make the chili a little healthier, so I thought I’d give it a whirl.  Not bad, not great…but it was okay.  I may play around with the recipe and see if I can improve on it.  The quinoa did make it thicker and I think you could either reduce the amount of meat in the chili or do away with it altogether.

I’m definitely going to make this again, I just think I want to figure out how to make it better…then you can bet I’ll post a recipe with all kinds of pictures.

I was out running some errands today around lunch time.  I have to admit, I did consider stopping at one of the multitude of fast food joints I drove past…but I didn’t!  Instead I drove home where I had tilapia and half a sweet potato for lunch.  A tiny step in the right direction…making it just a little further down that winding, bumpy road to fitness.

A novel idea…I’m using the treadmill for walking

Yes, I know, I originally bought the treadmill to walk/run on.  However, lately it’s been more of a storage area…before Christmas, I put all of the gifts that I was taking to family, friends and co-workers on the treadmill, hoping Spook would leave them alone (she did…I think…).  I also used the handrails as kind of a hanger for light jackets when I knew I’d be going right back out.  Not exactly my intent when I purchased the treadmill and it was a pretty expensive way to store things.

That all ended today.  I dusted it off, tried to get all of the glitter off the belt (I think glitter has a mind of its own…it’s not going anywhere it doesn’t want to go…), plugged it in, turned it on and stepped on it for the first time in several months.  Whew…I am beginning to realize just how much I allowed my level of fitness to decline.  But I did it and that’s the important thing.  And tomorrow I’ll get on the exercise bike again…I’ll just keep on doing the exercise and eventually will regain that fitness.  It won’t happen overnight (wouldn’t that be something?), but it will happen!

I also did lower body strength training today.  I was watching last week’s episodes of Days Of Our Lives online and may have overdone the strength training today, but hey…that’s better than overdoing the candy, right?