... is how long until my first weigh in. Yikes!
I'm really not sure if I'll make it. I feel like I've worked really hard. I could have avoided some diet mistakes along the way, but if you only knew what I was eating just last month. I've come a long way.
2010 was so insanely busy for me that I can't fathom how 2011 could be any busier. Of course I am knocking on wood and throwing salt over my left shoulder as we speak. This year, I will have plenty of time to focus on becoming some "optimized" version of me. Even if I don't make my January goal, I know that I've improved. I ran a ten minute mile and ate my first grapefruit in twenty years today.
Monday, January 31, 2011
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Coldstone.
I think today's title says it all. Chris and I split a Love It size Peanut Butter Cup Perfection at Coldstone today. However, that was the only "bad" thing that I ate.
I made some chili for dinner. It was very good, but I had to have some Tums for dessert. My taste buds like the heat, but my stomach doesn't agree.
One of the things that I like most about chili is that it seems like an indulgent food, but is really not bad for you at all. The only thing in my chili that might be considered unhealthy is the not-so-lean ground beef that I use. Considering that the entire pot only has one pound of meat and makes 7-8 servings, even that doesn't seem so bad.
Of course, I always have to add some naughty garnishes. Chili just isn't the same without sour cream, cheddar cheese, and a couple of saltine crackers. Lately, I've been subbing low-fat plain Greek yogurt for sour cream in just about everything. Personally, I can barely tell the difference and I think I may even like the yogurt a little more. I've also cut way back on the number of crackers that I use (4-5 instead of 10-15). A couple of years ago, my bowl of chili would resemble some sort of cracker-cheese-tomato paste.
Back to the grind tomorrow morning. If you didn't notice, tomorrow is the last day of January... Eek, deadlines approaching!
I made some chili for dinner. It was very good, but I had to have some Tums for dessert. My taste buds like the heat, but my stomach doesn't agree.
One of the things that I like most about chili is that it seems like an indulgent food, but is really not bad for you at all. The only thing in my chili that might be considered unhealthy is the not-so-lean ground beef that I use. Considering that the entire pot only has one pound of meat and makes 7-8 servings, even that doesn't seem so bad.
Of course, I always have to add some naughty garnishes. Chili just isn't the same without sour cream, cheddar cheese, and a couple of saltine crackers. Lately, I've been subbing low-fat plain Greek yogurt for sour cream in just about everything. Personally, I can barely tell the difference and I think I may even like the yogurt a little more. I've also cut way back on the number of crackers that I use (4-5 instead of 10-15). A couple of years ago, my bowl of chili would resemble some sort of cracker-cheese-tomato paste.
Back to the grind tomorrow morning. If you didn't notice, tomorrow is the last day of January... Eek, deadlines approaching!
Saturday, January 29, 2011
A Saturday at Home.
It's been a long time since I stayed at home for an entire day. Chris and I got a lot done around the house. It always feels good to have a squeaky clean home, even if it doesn't last long. Aside from the salt and slush that gets dragged in because it's a Michigan winter, having three animals in the house makes it hard to keep the place clean. I love those little faces too much to part with them, though...
I did not do any Tae-Bo today. However, that is because I spent about six hours cleaning, shoveling snow, and bathing the sixty-five pound dog pictured above. (He was a pup when that photo was taken.) Trust me, I burned plenty of calories.
I rebounded from yesterday's junk food bender. I woke up too late to have breakfast, so settled for a cup of coffee before I started my housework. For lunch, I made some light tuna salad and stuffed it into hollowed out tomatoes. I had seen it on the menu at a diner and decided to try it. It turned out to be really tasty. Chris and I each ate two tomatoes, but I think next time I'll just have one and find something to accompany it. For dinner, we had leftovers... nothing to write home about.
Now, I'm looking forward to a Saturday night in. We're watching Mad Men, Season 1 Disc 2. So far, it's an excellent show.
I did not do any Tae-Bo today. However, that is because I spent about six hours cleaning, shoveling snow, and bathing the sixty-five pound dog pictured above. (He was a pup when that photo was taken.) Trust me, I burned plenty of calories.
I rebounded from yesterday's junk food bender. I woke up too late to have breakfast, so settled for a cup of coffee before I started my housework. For lunch, I made some light tuna salad and stuffed it into hollowed out tomatoes. I had seen it on the menu at a diner and decided to try it. It turned out to be really tasty. Chris and I each ate two tomatoes, but I think next time I'll just have one and find something to accompany it. For dinner, we had leftovers... nothing to write home about.
Now, I'm looking forward to a Saturday night in. We're watching Mad Men, Season 1 Disc 2. So far, it's an excellent show.
Friday, January 28, 2011
Mixed Emotions.
I did decide to skip the gym this morning. It just didn't make sense to drive that far out of my way to use a treadmill. I had planned on doing some Tae-Bo this morning to compensate, but that didn't happen either. That was just sheer laziness. I will do some Tae-Bo at some point tomorrow.
After our meeting this morning, we all headed to an undisclosed location to celebrate getting our bonuses and being masters of our domain (not in the Seinfeld sense). As promised, I did my best to eat healthy. However, that is a problem when there are no healthy things to eat. That is, unless you want to eat cold chicken skewers and nothing else.
Upon seeing that eating healthy was going to be an impossibility, I decided to dive in head first. If you're going to have a bad day, then you might as well have a really bad day, right? I ate potato chips with sour cream, bacon, chives, and nacho cheese on them. I'm aware of how weird that is, but that is what was offered and it tasted really good. I also had a couple of scoops of ice cream, a cookie, some fried mac and cheese, and many other sinful delights. I had my margarita.
To cap off the great day that I was having, we went out to dinner. For $12.99 at T.G.I. Fridays, I got full-size bowl of French onion soup, a half pound burger with cheese and a side of fries, and a full-size slice of peanut butter cup pie. That is a hell of a deal and a hell of a lot of food. I only ate about half of what I was given, and I am stuffed.
I am happy that I got to have a surprise day off and ate all kinds of the things that I'd been craving. I also feel pretty guilty about it. To be completely honest, I also don't feel the best physically tonight. There's nothing in particular wrong, I just feel weighted down. It would be nice to remember this feeling the next time that I want to spend an entire day being indulgent. I haven't remembered it the last 200 times, but maybe writing it down will help it sink in.
After our meeting this morning, we all headed to an undisclosed location to celebrate getting our bonuses and being masters of our domain (not in the Seinfeld sense). As promised, I did my best to eat healthy. However, that is a problem when there are no healthy things to eat. That is, unless you want to eat cold chicken skewers and nothing else.
Upon seeing that eating healthy was going to be an impossibility, I decided to dive in head first. If you're going to have a bad day, then you might as well have a really bad day, right? I ate potato chips with sour cream, bacon, chives, and nacho cheese on them. I'm aware of how weird that is, but that is what was offered and it tasted really good. I also had a couple of scoops of ice cream, a cookie, some fried mac and cheese, and many other sinful delights. I had my margarita.
To cap off the great day that I was having, we went out to dinner. For $12.99 at T.G.I. Fridays, I got full-size bowl of French onion soup, a half pound burger with cheese and a side of fries, and a full-size slice of peanut butter cup pie. That is a hell of a deal and a hell of a lot of food. I only ate about half of what I was given, and I am stuffed.
I am happy that I got to have a surprise day off and ate all kinds of the things that I'd been craving. I also feel pretty guilty about it. To be completely honest, I also don't feel the best physically tonight. There's nothing in particular wrong, I just feel weighted down. It would be nice to remember this feeling the next time that I want to spend an entire day being indulgent. I haven't remembered it the last 200 times, but maybe writing it down will help it sink in.
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Carb Feast.
Ragu bolognese with whole wheat penne pasta and bread n' butter... best dinner since I started this thing. It may also be the least "diet friendly" dinner I've had since I started this thing. It was oh-so-good though.
I had a good leg workout at the gym this morning. I'm thinking that next week I need to take the weight up a notch. I already did that for lunges and squats (12 pounds to 16 pounds), so we'll see how I feel tomorrow. By the way, I'll be skipping the gym tomorrow morning because it's about a half hour out of the way of the meeting I have to go to... I may get up and do some Tae-Bo before I leave though.
Another off-site meeting for work tomorrow morning, followed by a party in the afternoon. It will be a junk-food and adult beverage haven. I'm sure the healthy options will be limited, but I'll do my best. It's also going to be really hard to say "no" to free drinks. (Margaritas?)
February first is fast approaching and I am not so sure it's going to be a good day for me. Would anyone argue that I've given it at least 95% of my effort? Trust me, I've got more to give... I'd rather not have to result to being a exercise-addict that only eats a thousand calories a day. That's how I did it in the past, but I really hope it doesn't come to that.
I had a good leg workout at the gym this morning. I'm thinking that next week I need to take the weight up a notch. I already did that for lunges and squats (12 pounds to 16 pounds), so we'll see how I feel tomorrow. By the way, I'll be skipping the gym tomorrow morning because it's about a half hour out of the way of the meeting I have to go to... I may get up and do some Tae-Bo before I leave though.
Another off-site meeting for work tomorrow morning, followed by a party in the afternoon. It will be a junk-food and adult beverage haven. I'm sure the healthy options will be limited, but I'll do my best. It's also going to be really hard to say "no" to free drinks. (Margaritas?)
February first is fast approaching and I am not so sure it's going to be a good day for me. Would anyone argue that I've given it at least 95% of my effort? Trust me, I've got more to give... I'd rather not have to result to being a exercise-addict that only eats a thousand calories a day. That's how I did it in the past, but I really hope it doesn't come to that.
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Squash Fries and Motivation Issues.
I had a really hard time getting going this morning. I got to the gym and started running. Within ten minutes I'd had enough of that. I didn't want to stop, but just didn't have the oomph to keep going. I stopped and got on a recombinant bike for another ten minutes, alternating high resistance with low. Then, I finished the workout off with five minutes on a stair climber. There's something about cross training that keeps you going when you really want to stop.
The office food got me again, but I balanced it out by only eating part of the food that I took to work with me for the day. I didn't have my protein shake today either... I'm just not seeing the results that I was hoping for and I don't know if choking the shakes down is really worth it. I know that I said they were better with milk and they are. They're still not great though. I'm probably better off to save the 200 calories (including the milk) for something that I actually enjoy.
I made grilled chicken and butternut squash fries for dinner. I learned to make the fries on an episode of Hungry Girl. In spite of what she says, they do not taste like sweet potato fries. They taste like baked butternut squash. That's fine by me because I like squash, but Chris was not the biggest fan. I also found that the more of them I ate, the less appealing they were. I wish real french fries had diminishing returns.
The office food got me again, but I balanced it out by only eating part of the food that I took to work with me for the day. I didn't have my protein shake today either... I'm just not seeing the results that I was hoping for and I don't know if choking the shakes down is really worth it. I know that I said they were better with milk and they are. They're still not great though. I'm probably better off to save the 200 calories (including the milk) for something that I actually enjoy.
I made grilled chicken and butternut squash fries for dinner. I learned to make the fries on an episode of Hungry Girl. In spite of what she says, they do not taste like sweet potato fries. They taste like baked butternut squash. That's fine by me because I like squash, but Chris was not the biggest fan. I also found that the more of them I ate, the less appealing they were. I wish real french fries had diminishing returns.
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Rude Awakening.
I woke up at 1:30 this morning because I heard our dog, Jet, pacing up and down our hallway. Then, I heard another all too familiar sound: the sound of our cat, Max, having an epileptic seizure.
I got up as quickly as I could get my body to function and went to find him. He had stopped seizing by the time I got there, but was laying in a puddle of his own urine and looked terrified. He's on medicine for seizures and hasn't had one for five months. He seems okay tonight, but I feel terrible for the little guy. My pets are the closest thing that I have to children.
Aside from the early morning drama, today was a decent day. I didn't eat anything that I'm ashamed of, and I got a good arm workout in at the gym this morning.
Random fact of the day...
Did you know that a serving size of pan spray is a "1/4 second spray"? I'd like to know who makes a pan small enough that you can coat it with a 1/4 second spray. I would also guess that there are some people out there that can't move their trigger finger that fast.
I got up as quickly as I could get my body to function and went to find him. He had stopped seizing by the time I got there, but was laying in a puddle of his own urine and looked terrified. He's on medicine for seizures and hasn't had one for five months. He seems okay tonight, but I feel terrible for the little guy. My pets are the closest thing that I have to children.
Aside from the early morning drama, today was a decent day. I didn't eat anything that I'm ashamed of, and I got a good arm workout in at the gym this morning.
Random fact of the day...
Did you know that a serving size of pan spray is a "1/4 second spray"? I'd like to know who makes a pan small enough that you can coat it with a 1/4 second spray. I would also guess that there are some people out there that can't move their trigger finger that fast.
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