Tuesday, May 30, 2006

Power Outage

Oy, somedays I just cannot get a break. This morning, I was about 10 minutes into my hipbox class when there was an emergency power outage. Thus, class was canceled because the power outage lasted for about 20 minutes. I went and lifted a few weights in the dark and then when the power came back on I used the eliptical machine for 35 minutes and lifted more weights. I will also practice yoga at home tonight with one of my cd's (probably the longer slower one) and try and get in a hard cardio workout tomorrow morning. I am really enjoying the yoga dvd's (much to my shock) and I think increasing my flexibility will be a really good thing in the long run. Besides, I like the fact that I don't have to think about them and I don't need a lot of equipment to use the dvd's. I can just pop in the dvd while I am making dinner and start working out. My goal is to build up a stack of dvd's that I can alternate so that I don't get bored and stop working out at night. I am hesitant to declare success when I have only been at this new plan for two days, but so far it seems to be working.

Monday, May 29, 2006

Yoga Girl

So, the last few days have not been exactly perfect foodwise, not horrible but not great. However, I am back on track again and trying to stay balanced. I finally went and purchased a dvd player to attach to my television and in the process of installing it I totally destroyed my tv stand. Lord, I hate mdf built products. It is so dead that I am going to use a hammer and break it up into even smaller pieces and toss it. So right now my tv is sitting on my glass coffee table (which is the only nice piece of furniture that I own). However, despite the destruction of my tv table, the dvd player was a good purchase. I bought a couple of yoga tapes on sale at K-Mart, and last night I actually spent 45 minutes doing yoga. This proved definitively that I am the least flexible person ever ( which I already knew). I am also going to buy some pilates tapes over the internet. My goal is to go to the gym in the morning and do some kind of tape every night (either yoga, pilates, or other core conditioning). This will keep me busy at night and stop me from snacking as it did yesterday. Other than that, I am still drinking far too much coffee but I figure that is a minor vice in the grand scheme of things. I figure that every day is a new opportunity to be healthy and that is what I am trying to do right now.

Tuesday, May 23, 2006

Missed that Anniversary

As I was skimming through my blog archives this morning, I realized that I had missed an anniversary, actually more of a blogversary. The first post on this blog was on May 13, 2004. So, I have literally been bloging for two years at this point (with occasional month long breaks). So, documenting changes since then seems to be in order. Since May of 2004, I have lost at least 30 lbs, probably more like 50 (with some episodes of regaining in between). Since I started losing weight, I have maintain a loss of at least 70 lbs. I have moved three times, once about 200 miles, then cross country and then across the international dateline (a plane ride of 12+ hours), went to Australia on vacation. I started a new job (which I am leaving in October), had one boyfriend (who moved back to the mainland), got my first apartment, and first cat for that matter. I learned to dive, started running seriously and also stopped running seriously and started taking spinning classes. I have been going to the gym consistently five days a week for more than a year now. I have learned to get up at between 4-4:30 am during the week for more than a year now so that I can go to the gym. Whew, that is a lot of changes over the past few years, both personally and professionally. Sometimes perspective is a really important thing.

Coordination

I am probably the least coordinated person ever, and that is if you are being nice. So, I amazed that my hipbox instructor has not started hyperventilating when she watches me try to do the moves in her class. Then again, no one else is terribly coordinated either for that matter. Mostly I go for the really good ab workout and the weight workout which is part of the class. Plus, I sweat like crazy in there which seems like a good thing. I made curry last night, but I need to work on perfecting it, there was a little bit too much salt involved. I may try it again tonight, we will see what I feel like after work. I think yesterday I managed to do 120 situps (60 at work and another 60 at home) which is a major improvement over past weeks. I have been reminded again of the benefit of living in a place with no excess snacks, there is literally nothing to eat mindlessly because it all has to be cooked. This right now is a good thing (although it would be helpful if I could snack proof work) since I am stressed when I get home and stress invariably leads to eating in my world.

Monday, May 22, 2006

60 Sit-ups

The people in my office are eating lunch together. Only some of them (not all) are annoyed with me so I was not really invited to join them. Plus I brought lunch and ate it at my desk. It was a very tasty southwestern chicken salad. However, I was feeling a bit sorry for myself and could feel the urge to snack rearing its ugly head. So I went into the bathroom which is the only enclosed private space on the floor and did 60 sit-ups. So now I feel better and the urge to snack has passed. Frankly, I have no idea why that worked, not a clue but it did and that makes me happy. Sometimes it really is just about the 60 second rule of finding something else to occupy my brain rather than food.

General Ramblings

Last night I did manage to do some situps at home and stay on plan foodwise. Although, I have eaten so many rice cakes in the last two days that I may start floating soon. I am absolutely aware that my stress level has been completely impacting on my food consumption and I need to find a better way of dealing with both of those problems. I have not figured out a great solution yet but I am working on it. I am thinking that maybe I will invest in some yoga or pilates DVD's and do those at night. Much as I would like to claim that I will make it to the gym every night, I am forced to admit that most nights it is easier to just hop in my car and drive home. Therefore, I would be well served by making sure I have workout stuff at home rather than worrying about making another stop at the gym at night. I already own a bunch of weights and a workout ball so these would just be additions. I am evaluating the finances (since I need to buy a dvd player) and will probably make a decision by this weekend. Tonight I am going to make chicken curry for dinner so that I have some good protein and then turn in early. Tomorrow morning I have a hipboxing class (which is always interesting because I am not terribly coordinated) and if I feel really motivated I will go to spin at night. Once again I am inching back to my normal food plan and I feel much better as a result.

Sunday, May 21, 2006

Here we go again

Saturday morning, I packed up my cat, all of my clothing, and rapidly scuttled back to my own apartment. I have never been so excited to get back into my own space in my entire life. The last few weeks have been a debacle of too much chocolate and sweets, lots of coffee, and not enough sleep. The return to my own apartment meant a return to sanity finally and an extra 30 minutes of sleep everyday. Sunday and today were good food days, probably since I made it to the store and stocked up on premade salad bowls for lunch and low calorie soups for dinner. I have decided that I am simply going to lose the battle on drinking coffee and so instead I am just going to make sure I do not drink coffee with anything but low calorie creamers and small amounts of sugar. I will say this, work is ridiculous and horrible and insane. I walk into work and I want to eat chocolate, but I am not going to do that anymore. If I keep eating sweets, I really won't fit into my clothing. I am going to start working out in the evening ( I think I need to by a VCR and get tapes or something) even if it is just five minutes of abs and try to focus my stress on something positive. Oh, and last week, I got my hair cut into a short bob (about chin length) which will look bad if I gain any weight in my face so that is an incentive as well. I keep trying and struggling and failing and trying again, but I know as long as I keep trying that I am doing better than I could possibly have imagined a few years back. (Oh, and I am keeping up my morning exercise routine just fine).

Monday, May 08, 2006

Sleepy

I am really dragging today, getting up twenty minutes earlier every day is going to wear me down. However, there are certain benefits to house sitting, including having a roommate around who makes it worth cooking actual meals. I don't normally cook very much for myself, I should but I don't because I end up with ridiculous amounts of extra food. However, when I have someone else around who can eat the food that I cook, well then I have more incentive. Last night I made pasta with homemade tomato sauce, which was good and pretty healthy. Tonight, I am thinking about making a home made veggie pizza and maybe some corn. I have also discovered that the grocery stores are finally starting to sell pre-made salad bowls which is very exciting. I love these because I know exactly how many calories are in them and I can just throw them in my bag and take them to work for lunch. I did not have money to pick up any this morning, but I will probably stop tomorrow and buy a couple for the rest of the week for lunch. So, hopefully that will really help me get back to where I need to be over the next few weeks.

Sunday, May 07, 2006

Where was I?

Er, right where was I ? Ahh yes, slacking off again. I am keeping up on exercise just fine but food is just killing me recently and I am so tired of saying that over and over again. Mostly, I know it is related to the fact that I walk into work and the stress and tension overwhelms me instantly (and everyone I work with for that matter). Add in the fact that I have had at least one party every weekend for the past month and it has been bad. So, I am struggling to keep my head above water, but I am still trying. This morning, I ran a mile, then did an hour long spin class, lifted weights and finished with 20 minutes on the eliptical machine and a ten minute cooldown on the treadmill. I am house sitting for the next two weeks so I had to get up 30 minutes earlier than normal to get to the gym on time for my spin class. I am not a big fan of getting up at 4 am and driving for 30 minutes but I did not want to miss exercising. Tomorrow, I will probably get up a little bit later and go run at the gym before I come into work. I am going to keep working on the food thing as well, hopefully I will get better over the next few weeks.