Operation: Food Watch

As much as I want to think I can "eyeball" what 1600 calories per day looks like, I can not. While I am eating less than I used to (this time last year), it's not good enough to lose weight yet. I haven't been tracking my calories like I could be since I started working out at the gym. Not for any reason in particular, just haven't been. And, as a result, I haven't lost any weight...haven't gained any either...but I still need to lose about 30 pounds.

I talked about this with The Mick this week. He agreed that something didn't seem right, because he thinks I "work hard" at the gym. I told him I had talked with the dietician I work with, who advised a 1600 calorie diet to lose weight. As I was telling him what I ate, I realized it could be the amount. He confirmed that I can only get so much done at the gym, and the rest of it was my responsibility to monitor what I take in. He suggested coming to the gym everyday and burn at least 500 calories on the treadmill. Since I'm still working on my body handling 5 times a week, I'll work on his suggestion, but not now. Can't do it.

I went back and tracked the past week, and realized I was right...it's not what I'm eating that's the problem, it's how much. And, I am thinking we go out to eat enough, that it probably counters what I may be doing at home enough, to keep me at the same weight. Admittedly (is that a word), I have started eazing up on watching what I eat when we go out. Part of it is because I get tired of thinking about it all the time = every time I get hungry. Again, admittedly, I have been mad at how hard the gym is, mad at how hard it is to watch what I eat, and have been having "give up" moments more frequently than necessary.

In thinking this through, we go out to eat at least 6 times a week, and usually 1 or 2 more times. With there being 21 meals per week, 1/3 of them spent eating out, I can see where that could be a contributing factor if I'm not watching what I'm eating. And, there aren't any decently healthy restaurants around here. All of them pretty tasty, however not healthy.

Also, The Mick got on to Kevin about his gut. I'm glad he did, because although I have mentioned it a couple of times, he seems to have listened to The Mick. Now, going out to eat may be a mutual decision, instead of me feeling guilty for making Kevin cater to what I'm trying to do. He has been very accomodating at home, and eats anything I make. He even likes most of what I make from the AHA cookbook. I don't know why I feel guilty about eating out, oh well.

So, back to major meal planning. Oh boy, can't wait!

Off The Wagon?

I tell you what, I have this nagging habit of stress eating. I am being challenged by this bad habit, and have been for the past couple of weeks. There is A LOT going on at work. Patients with cancer and end of life denial, boyfriends throwing computers at one of them in a rage, many patients losing insurance due to lack of funding from the agency that pays the premiums, etc. My job is to be in the middle and calm fears, provide tools, and deliver bad news in a way that is understandalbe and reasonalbe. It's a tough time to be a Social Worker anyway, because of the economy and all the agencies that lose their funding, not being able to assist patients like they have in the past. Delivering bad news to several people daily is taxing. Hearing bad news from several other people daily is also taxing. Combine the two, and stuffed shells with meatballs in a thick red sauce sounds fine and dandy!

So, what I'm used to doing is snacking on something cruchy while I figure out how I'm going to tell patients all this bad news. Sure, there's dry popcorn, or celery, or raw bell pepper, but do I have that with me right now...NO. I didn't plan on having the crunch attack that precedes intelligence today. Something to think about though. The economy isn't getting any better. I should have crunch attack snacks on hand all the time now, I guess.

Bright Blue Tube Socks

I kid you not! Last night, The Mick was wearing navy blue shirt and shorts, with bright royal blue knee high tube socks! OH MY GOODNESS, it was hard not to laugh. He's thin enough, that the shorts already looked like they were too big. I'm just glad they went to his knees! I think the socks may have actually been those therapeutic socks used for circulation stuff, but the initial sight was a bit amusing...in a shocking kind of way.

I did the bench press for the first time last night. Was able to do 65 lbs. Kevin did 90 lbs his first time last week. I gotta catch up :-)

Food Used To Be For Entertainment

I was remembering with Kevin this week when food used to be entertaining. Now, it's just functional. What prompted all this was realizing that I am going to be sore for the next millennium. I think my exact words were, "It didn't hurt to get fat. It hurts to be healthy. Remind me why this is the better option."

I guess I hit a mental milestone this week with food consumption. It is National Social Work month, and more specifically, it was National Social Work day this past Wednesday. It was also one of my coworker's birthdays, so the clinic had food catered in to celebrate for both of us. He is from Africa, and only eats fish, vegetables and rice. He's always commenting on how Americans eat too much at a time, and what we do eat is just crap. I, of course, am trying to keep my cholestrol down and become healthier in general.

They all know our eating habits. Did they ask us what we wanted to eat? No. So, what did they cater in? Mexican food. Not fajitas, that could have been made into some sort of salad...cheese enchiladas, sour cream chicken enchiladas, fried burritos topped with queso that had ground beef in it, quesadillas, refried beans, rice, lettuce (don't know why that was there), chips and salsa. Instead of what I normally do, which is think "oh well, it's a party for me (food for entertainment), it'll be a cheat day", I got mad. I thought, "I can't eat any of this crap!" I asked my coworker what he was going to do, and he decided to eat it. For some reason, I just couldn't. I hurt all the time from my workouts. I make what are hard decisions for me everyday to eat the right thing, and I was not going to blow it on this stupid meal. I joined the party, just smiled and thanked them for the thought. When it was over, I walked two blocks to Baylor hospital's cafeteria (which is surprisingly good) and got a veggie plate. My coworker complained of a stomach ache the rest of the day. I just complained, to Kevin and a few others, about how crazy the whole thing was. I was disappointed that they were insensitive to my eating habits that they were aware of, and mad all over again that I have to make these lifestyle changes. Cest la vive!

I have conquered the treadmill, so I'll be knocking that out later today. Baby steps :-)

10.5 Miles!

Farfalle Viola rides again! Took my bike out today for the first time this spring. It was overcast and a bit breezy (14 mph winds, with 19mph gusts). Doned my fancy pants, and did 10.5 miles easy! This is a good thing since I'm doing the 40 mile bike ride again in May. This time last year, knowing the ride was coming, I was still hoping the girls were going to cancel so I wouldn't have to get in shape. With 40 days to go, realizing they weren't backing out of it, I could only ride 3.5 miles, and training for it was one of the hardest things I'd done. Not this time. Glad it won't be such a difficult task. I can hopefully have some fun with the training this time.

Let's take a look at last year's "physique"



And now today's "physique"


I've lost my spare tire belly :-) That's pretty exciting!! The pooch is gone!! I still have my hips, and tree trunk legs, but hey...gotta start somewhere ;-)

The Treadmill....sigh...

The treadmill and I have a LOT of work to do if we are going to continue this relationship.

A couple of weeks ago, The Mick laid out two step boards from the step aerobics class and raised them up by 3 blocks. He asked me to stand in the middle of them, jump up with each foot landing on each step, then jump down. I did 15 like he asked, and my lungs were on FIRE!!! When he asked what was wrong, I told him, he said, "Oh, well, you're not in shape." UH...DUH! WHY DO YOU THINK I'M HERE?!?!? (And I mean that in the most loving sarcastic voice I can come up with.)

We stopped the step thing, and he showed me a treadmill exercise that is supposed to help with stamina, endurance, and "get me in shape." At a 1.5 incline, start at a 3.0 speed for 1 minute, raise the speed by .5 for a minute each time, until I reach 6.0. Then repeat 6 times. Now, I knew I wouldn't be able to do up to 6.0 at first, but what actually happened has tarnished my relationship with the treadmill...bum, bum, bum...

First time:
Did 3 reps up to 5.0. Did more than I thought I was going to be able to do. Not bad.

Second time (two days later):
Did 2 reps up to 5.5. DYING at the end of 2 reps. My heart rate was 170ish, and I could only get it to come down to about 155, even after 30 minutes of SLOW biking on the sit-down stationary bike. Then, I was sick the whole weekend. I slept, and slept, and slept. This was last week, and I decided not to take on the treadmill this week, until yesterday.

Third time (yesterday, which was 8 dyas later):
Did 6 reps up to 4.5. Ok, so I can do the 6 reps. I feel sore today, but rightfully so. I watched the heart rate the whole time, and rode the bike SLOWLY afterward for 30 minutes. Seems to be the right amount for now.

What the treadmill doesn't know is that I'm going to kick it's tiny little monkey butt! I don't take kindly to machines that make me sick for a whole weekend!! This is what I call relationship building :-)

New Shoes

About 3 years ago I bought a pair of shoes that look fire-y, and said that with them I had "feet of fire." Here's the shoe:

At the gym, I've seen a style of Nike that I really like, so I went to my favorite shoe store, that was having a "fitness sale" to see if they had a pair of my liking. Well, they did not, and I was going to leave and then noticed these:

"Feet of Fire - Next Generation"

Needless to say, I could not pass them up. Took them straight to the gym and put them to use on the treadmill. Now, the treadmill made a mockery of me, proving that I am still "not in shape" (The Mick said that, and it's why I have a treadmill workout now). Also, notice, they match the color scheme of the blog :-) OH YEAH!!! I'M EN FUEGO!!!