Day Fifty-Three: OUCH!

I can't tell you how gratifying it was to step on the scale this morning and see a 196. I seriously thought something was wrong with the scale--I triple checked it to make sure it was tared correctly because I was so disbelieving! It's seriously motivational to see jumps like that, and not something I expected, really. So that means as of today, I have lost 15.5 lbs according to my home scale, which registered 211.5 on day one of this challenge. Now, the home scale in general measures a little lighter than the gym scale, so I am sure it's not quite as low by gym standards, but the progression is there none-the-less. Yay!

It's interesting how different I feel about my progression this time. This feels more real than any weight loss attempt I have ever had before in my life. I can see a difference in my body already, and it makes me want to see more of a difference. And, perhaps more importantly, I can FEEL a difference. I feel loads better than I did before I started. I feel more like myself than I have in many years. Here's hoping I will be physically able to continue at this pace for a long, long time. My mother and Jason continue to support and inspire me, as do many others around me.

And yet...

For all of my positivity and good feelings getting started this morning, I was de-railed today by my own clumsiness. Walking back to my car after lunch, I stepped on a wide sidewalk crack just wrong enough to trip and wrench my ankle and foot enough that, here at the end of the day, I can barely walk. I had every intention of going to Zumba class, but since I can't put all my weight on my foot, jumping and lunging onto it seems like a Very Bad Idea. I am spending the evening on the couch with ice, advil, and Outlander. It's not unpleasant, but it's certainly disappointing and not at all what I wanted from my evening. I am skipping barbell class in the morning as well in the hopes that this will be better by Friday, so I can make at least ONE Zumba class this week. *sigh*

Log:

Exercise:

• zilch, nada, nuthin' at all

Nutrition:

• Breakfast: two eggs scrambled with cheese, a piece of 9th Street Bakery's amazing Omega-3-Seed bread with homemade apple butter, 2 cups of tea with milk and raw sugar
• Lunch: Pei Wei Thai lettuce wraps (540 calories and more fat and sodium than i care to think about--that's about as good as it gets at Pei Wei)
• Dinner: baked chicken breast, kale salad with warm cranberry vinaigrette
• Snacks: N/A

Stats:

• Steps: fitbit battery died, so no idea--not enough!
• Calories: 1296 consumed,  0 burned (stupid foot!)
• Weight: 196 on the home scale

Day Fifty-Two: Whaaat???

How in the world did I miss so many days of posting??? It's hard single parenting and traveling and all that. I have so much respect for people who are single parents all the time--I do it for a week, and it's almost more than I can handle. Whew!

So I am not sure how I stopped writing. I was keeping up with decent eating and getting some walking and exercising in last week until, apparently, Thursday. Still--that day was ok. Friday, I packed up the kids and we drove to my mom's house. I took more food than clothes with me this time, and I cooked a lot while I was there. Instead of eating processed whatever on this trip, I ate things I had made like radish top pasta, butternut squash soup, roasted chicken, and stir fry with skirt steak, shitake mushrooms, eggplant, and tatsoi. I scrambled eggs for breakfast, and I packed microgreens and tomatoes from my garden to eat with them. MUCH better than my last visit, when it all just kind of fell apart.

That said, Sunday's eating was pretty terrible--eating out at chain restaurants on the road. It's the kiss of death. I did have a salad for dinner at least. Then Monday was ok, but not awesome. It's been raining, and I have had some weird nausea (maybe from the chain restaurants??) that has kept me more sedentary than I prefer over the last couple of days.

Anyway--I am, once again, getting back on the train here. I am hoping for some breaks in the rain at some point this week so that I can get outside and walk. I think walking is truly the centerpiece of my whole mindset about this endeavor. I need it mentally at least as much as I need it physically.

This morning, I tried and failed to get up for my 5:45am barbell class, but I did make it to a class this afternoon called Strictly Strength. And surprise! My favorite Zumba teacher, Tiffany, was the teacher for the class. It was really great, and not remotely easy, so yay for that. I don't think I can make it part of the regular routine once Kieran is tracked back into school, but it's a great back-up/track-out option. The kids love the kids center at the Apex gym location, so that was an extra bonus--they had fun, too! No walks today because of pouring rain. Boo.

Log:

Exercise:

• Strictly Strength class at the Apex gym with Tiffany

Nutrition:

• Breakfast: 1 boiled egg, half a honeycrisp apple, 2 cups of tea with milk and raw sugar
• Lunch: a big salad with champagne caper vinaigrette, butternut squash soup, a mozzarella Babybel
• Dinner: Panera pick two (at knitting): half a turkey avocado BLT and some black bean soup--both just OK, but not very satisfying. Bleh.
• Snacks:half a honeycrisp apple with some mission almond butter from Big Spoon Roasters, one Hershey's dark chocolate nugget with almonds

Stats:

• Steps: fitbit syncing fail--something around 6000
• Calories:  consumed,  burned
• Weight: 198 on the home scale (Holding steady after a few mediocre days--I'll take it.)

Day Forty-Six: Busy but Beautiful Day

I didn't have time for my normal lunchtime walk today, so after I picked up Finn, I suggested to him that we go on a Finn and mama walk before we went to get his brother from camp. He suggested bringing his scooter, so we grabbed it, and we headed to Apex Community Lake for a Big Walk. It was absolutely gorgeous out, and we made it all the way around the lake in 40 minutes--that's kind of a miracle with a 5 year old boy. It was honestly one of the best walks ever. 

Log:

Exercise:

• Lake Walk with Finn: 2.28 miles
• Evening dog walk:1.04 miles
• Strength work: 25 minutes with the hand weights I bought last week--quick head to toe workout (basically, about half a barbell strength class)
• Ab work: I had better intentions, but it's late, and I got nauseous. I made it through 25 sit-ups and a 1 minute plank (Note: Still hate me some planks!)

Nutrition:

• Breakfast: spinach and mushroom frittata, half a honey crisp apple, a cup of tea with milk and raw sugar
• Lunch: I was planning to eat at home, but I got stuck at work, so I grabbed a Chelsea Cafe BLT on whole wheat, a tiny amount of broccoli salad, and a banana--not awesome, but not as bad as it could have been.
• Dinner: cold roasted chicken, robusto cheese, half a honeycrisp apple, a rosemary flatbread from Trader Joe's
• Snacks: small glass of whole milk

Stats:

• Steps:13,218
• Calories: 1391 consumed, 542 burned
• Weight: 198 on the home scale 

My Walking Companion Today <3

Pretty Thing From My Walk

Day Forty-Five: Half Way!

I am determined not to let the Hippie's absence this week affect my attempts to get back on track. I rearranged my work day a bit today to accomodate a 10:30am Zumba class. It actually worked out well, but only because my bosses are traveling this week and are both in time zones that make this a good idea. Shifting my work day later puts me more in line with when they are awake and need support. Granted, it's the end of the day now, and I am Wiped. Out. Whew.

So after one day back on track. I stepped onto the scale this morning to see a number under 200 for the first time in a long time. It may have been a fluke, but I am really hoping it's not--it's been incredibly motivating today! Today I ate pretty well and exercised plenty--I am so hoping tomorrow that I see even more progress. I have some lost time to make up for here, after the last two weeks of half-assed-ness...

Log:

Exercise: 

• Zumba with Tameka
• Lunchtime Walk with the Dawg:1.3 miles
• Ab work: 50 sit-ups, 20 leg raises, 60 crunches, 1 minute plank 
• Evening dog walk: .76 miles

Nutrition:

• Breakfast: spinach and mushroom frittata, chopped heirloom tomato from the garden, microgreens, a cup of tea with milk and raw sugar, slice of high-protein, low-carb bread from Great Harvest with homemade apple butter
• Lunch: A piece of grilled salmon and some superfood salad (kale, edamame, blueberries, etc) from Whole Foods, some sunburst melon from my CSA
• Dinner: Took the boys to La Rancherita (their fave), where i got a somewhat healthy bowl with fajita chicken, black beans, Spanish rice, lettuce, and guacamole--delicious and not too huge or awful for me
• Snacks:1 Babybel

Stats:

• Steps:14,580
• Calories:  1448 consumed, 1101 burned
• Weight: 198 on the home scale. YAY for dipping under the 200 mark!

Pretty Thing From My Walk

Fitbit Validation

I love when my Fitbit rewards me for walking--walking is my heart and soul lately, and what feels like the key to this entire endeavor. I was so excited by these two badges, I even posted them on Facebook. Lol.

for walking 17,206 steps on September 7th

for crosing the 1600-mile threshold on September 20th

Pretty Thing From My (Evening) Walk

Day Forty-Four: Reset

OK, enough messing around--it's time to get myself back in gear and get the numbers falling again. I have lost a little over 10 pounds, and I don't want to lose either that progress or my momentum, not to mention my motivation. Today someone actually told me that she could tell I had lost weight, which was incredibly validating. This week will be a challenge with Jason gone, but I am determined to make it work.

Log:

Exercise: 

• Lunchtime Walk: 2.15 miles
• Evening Walk: walked the dog for 1.2 miles
• Ab work: 50 situps, 20 leg raises, 60 crunches, 1 minute plank

Nutrition:

• Breakfast: spinach and mushroom frittata, 2 slices of bacon, microgreens, a cup of tea with milk and raw sugar
• Lunch: roasted chicken breast, French green beans with olive oil and porcini salt, roasted carrots, baby potatoes roasted under the chicken, a honeycrisp apple
• Dinner: simple chicken caesar salad
• Snacks: 1 mozzarella Babybel, a big cup of tea with milk and sugar (two bags!), then one more cup of tea in the late afternoon--I was draggin'.

Stats:

• Steps:11,330
• Calories:  1284 consumed,  433 burned
• Weight: 200 on the home scale (hanging in there--hopefully this week will start it moving back down again!)

Pretty Thing From My Walk

Day Forty-Three: Lazy Sunday

Today, we slept in, which is unheard of around here! Then I got up and made buttermilk pancakes (pig shaped ones for the kids!) and bacon from Holland Brothers in PA, which is equivalent to family treasure. I had some, but I held back on the portion. Then, since we ate breakfast at something like 10:30am, I didn't really eat lunch.

The grandparents showed up for a visit at around 2, and I made us a big cheese plate with two lovely hard cheeses, some pecans, fig preserves, apple butter, and crackers. We opened a really good bottle of wine and had a glass or two while chatting. It's hard to feel too bad about all that--I think we all needed it.

For dinner, I roasted a chicken over some tiny delicious fresh potatoes, and served it with roasted carrots and French green beans tossed with porcini salt. Delicious, heavy on the vegetables, and again--I held back on the portions to keep it from getting too crazy.

No exercise was had beyond the carrying of laundry and the family dance party we had right before the boys' bedtime. Tomorrow is my big reset and the day that Jason leaves for the Netherlands for a whole week, so today was just a day of puttering around the house getting things done.

Log:

Exercise: 

• uhhhhhh...

Nutrition:

• (Late) Breakfast: two homemade buttermilk pancakes, 2 slices of bacon, 1/2 a honeycrisp apple, a cup of tea with milk and raw sugar
• Lunch: N/A
• Dinner: roasted chicken breast, French green beans with olive oil and porcini salt, roasted carrots, baby potatoes roasted under the chicken
• Snacks: cheese plate with 2 cheese, fig preserves, pecans, and crackers, 2 glasses of red wine

Stats:

• Steps: 4615
• Calories:  1277 consumed,  0 burned
• Weight: 200 on the home scale (shocking!)

Pigs & Crossbones for Breakfast

Pretty Thing From My Walk

Day Forty-Two: Family Fun Day

Today was all about family time. We all went to the farmers market together, then we went with Jason to pick up a lost debit card in Chapel Hill. It was so astoundingly gorgeous out, and so lovely driving in the country, we took a spontaneous trip to Maple View Farms, a local dairy farm with an ice cream parlor on site--SO. GOOD. that i can't even feel bad about the massive serving of ice cream I had in a giant waffle cone while gazing out over the lovely farm.

Then, just to complete the day of craziness, we went to our neighborhood's food truck rodeo, where I had an absolutely fantastic bulgogi sandwich and 4 pork and chive dumplings from the Pho-Nomenal food truck. I skipped the free beer and the ice cream truck--I figured I'd had enough with the earlier ice cream extravaganza. At least we walked to and from the food truck party, so there was some exercise--better than nothing, right?

Log:

Exercise: 

• Walk to/from the neighborhood food truck rodeo: 1.8 miles

Nutrition:

• Breakfast: a slice of Great Harvest low-carb, high-protein country crunch bread with Big Spoon mission almond butter and a sliced banana, a cup of tea with milk and raw sugar
• Lunch: turkey roll-ups with avocado, cucumber, and havarti, half a honeycrisp apple
• Dinner: dinner from the Pho-Nomenal food truck at our neighborhood food truck rodeo--Cheerwine bulgogi sloppy joe (sliced marinated and grilled beef topped with kimchee and Sriracha mayo), 4 pork and chive dumplings
• Snacks:an ENORMOUS waffle cone with scoops of lavender honey and rosemary ice cream at Maple View Farms

Stats:

• Steps:7679
• Calories:  1812 consumed,  248 burned
• Weight: 200 on the home scale (still holding..)

View of Maple View Farms from the Ice Cream Porch

Day Forty-One: Slowly Coming Back to Life

Today, for the first time in a week, I woke up feeling almost normal. Two nights of going to bed early seem to have helped, thank goodness! I guess life is bound to be full of false steps and good weeks and bad ones. The key, as always, is to get yourself back on track as soon as you can. As I have said many times, I want to get to my goal weight in a healthy way. I believe part of that is not making myself miserable. If I need to rest, I need to rest--that's just a fact. And I am trying to just give myself a break for this week's exhaustion and move on to the next step without feeling like I have failed. That's something that's happened to me in the past--I am great till my first moment of defeat, and then I can't get back up. I am not letting that happen this time. I am making positive changes overall, and I need to remind myself frequently of the bigger picture, which is far more important that the day-to-day performances.

I was glad I managed to sneak in a little walk at lunchtime today, though it was shorter than usual since I was meeting my friend Sonya for lunch. There are never enough hours in my day.I had good intentions of getting in another evening walk, but I opted in favor of Family Movie Night, which is a Friday night event we haven't had in a while. In fact, I made a decision not to kill myself this weekend in favor of spending some good time with the family before Jason leaves Monday for a week in the Netherlands. I am well equipped to have a good healthy week, and this weekend, I plan to relax, love up on my family, and get some more rest!

Log:

Exercise: 

• Lunchtime walk: 1.5 miles before meeting a friend for lunch

Nutrition:

• Breakfast: cup of tea with 2% milk and 1/2 a tsp of raw sugar, 2 boiled eggs, 2 Applegate Farms chicken and sage sausage links, a chopped up heirloom tomato from my garden
• Lunch: Lunch at Page Road Grill with my friend Sonya--a turkey, bacon, and avocado sandwich with pesto on whole wheat toast, house made chips with ranch, half and half iced tea. Good lord, it was a lot of calories.
• Dinner: a bowl of Kashi oatmeal flakes with blueberry clusters and milk
• Snacks:

Stats:

• Steps:7880
• Calories:  1501 consumed,  194 burned
• Weight: 200 on the home scale (Amazed that I am holding after this week!)

Pretty Thing From My Walk

Pretty Thing From My Walk

Day Forty: Bleh--Still Tired

I don't know what is wrong with me this week--I am so tired, I am barely functional. Granted, we tend to be pretty active when we're on vacation, so maybe it's just residual from last week. I am telling you though, working out this week is just not in the cards. Jason was encouraging me to go to the gym tonight, and it nearly made me hostile. I missed my lunchtime walk because I had to take Kieran to the doctor, but I did at least walk the dog this evening, so I got in some active minutes, It's definitely not up to what I am trying to make my usual standards. I am calling this week something of a wash, but I will try to reset on Saturday.

Log:

Exercise: 

• Walkin' the Dawg: 1.61 miles

Nutrition:

• Breakfast: cup of tea with 2% milk and 1/2 a tsp of raw sugar, scrambled eggs with cheese and half a honey crisp apple
• Lunch: Lunch out with Jason and his team in the cafe in their building: NC BBQ sampler with pulled pork, hoppin' john, collard greens, and a piece of cornbread. Not awesome, but way better than the country fried steak with gravy and mashed potatoes that I really wanted. Lol.
• Dinner: A bowl of cereal. Sheesh.
• Snacks: Oh god--the worst possible contraband: donuts! (~5 bites of donuts from a local bakery that a very nice coworker/friend brought for me to try. Thank goodness Kieran was with me to eat half of them.

Stats:

• Steps: 7231
• Calories:  1580 consumed,  205 burned
• Weight: 200 on the home scale (But not for long if I keep eating like today and not going to the gym!)

Preparing to Work Out at Home

By now, I have done enough of the strength training classes to know what to do if I miss class. Next week, Jason is going to The Netherlands for the whole week, so 5:45am classes are right out. In preparation for this, I went shopping. I have long had small hand weights, but I needed some that were a bit heavier. Target had just the thing with their C9 Neoprene Hand Weights. I bought 2 each of these:

Between these, the 5-pound weights I already own, my medicine ball, my resistance bands, and my yoga ball, I should be set to take care of business at home while Jason's away. Now, if I can only find my motivation... Lol.

Pretty Thing From My (Evening) Walk

Day Thirty-Nine: So Tired!

I swear, this week is a bit of an exercise bust. For some reason, I have just been EXHAUSTED, as has Jason. I almost fell asleep last night while eating dinner. I nodded off while putting Finn to bed. So, with some sadness about it, and feeling like a failure, I decided to skip Zumba and go to bed early. I love the Wednesday Zumba class--it's the most fun of all the classes I am taking, but tonight, I just could not do it. I did at least, drag my family outside for a little after-dinner walk to get some steps in and watch an absolutely amazing sunset. Soooo nice outside this time of year. I am trying to take full advantage of it!

Log:

Exercise: 

• Lunchtime walk: 2.28 miles
• Evening family walk: 1.08 miles with a gorgeous sunset

Nutrition:

• Breakfast: cup of tea with 2% milk and 1/2 a tsp of raw sugar, steel cut oatmeal with cinnamon, a little brown sugar, walnuts, and banana
• Lunch: baked chicken with nectarine avocado salsa and a little spicy sour cream, a big old garden salad with honey mustard
• Dinner: stir fry with skirt steak, soy, ginger, garlic, eggplant, bok choy, celery, onion, and shitake mushroom, served with a little bit of jasmine rice
• Snacks:24 almonds, a steaz green tea with coconut water

Stats:

• Steps:11,570
• Calories:  1576 consumed,  463 burned
• Weight: 200 on the home scale (Whaaaat??!)

Pretty Thing From my Walk

Day Thirty-Eight: Facing Challenges

This morning, I was supposed to go to the gym for a barbell strength training class with Tracy (my favorite) and have an official weigh-in. However, I instead slept till past 7am, and then raced around like a crazy woman getting ready for work/school/camp. We barely made it out the door alive. I am pretty bummed out about that, as I will miss that class all of next week, too. Jason is traveling for work, which means 5:45am classes and 8pm classes are not a possibility. I will have to figure out a new strategy for that whole week. Boo.

Meanwhile, the weather continues to be glorious for walking! Low humidity, not too hot, sunny and breezy--just delightful to be outside. And while I was walking on my path at lunch today, I hit a patch of honeysuckle, of all things. In September! I smelled it before I saw it, and I really thought I was walking through a cloud of some other walker's perfume or something. Such a cool surprise on this very late summer day.

I had good intentions for some after-knitting exercise, but I was am just too exhausted, and it's too late! I'm going to bed...

Log:

Exercise: 

• Lunchtime walk: 2.06 miles
• Annnnnd...that's it. I got home late from knitting, and I just didn't have anything else in me.

Nutrition:

• Breakfast: cup of tea with 2% milk and 1/2 a tsp of raw sugar, steel cut oatmeal with cinnamon, a little brown sugar, pecans, and banana
• Lunch: baked chicken and French green beans tossed with olive oil and porcini salt, a medium honeycrisp apple
• Dinner:a tuna salad wrap from Salem Street Pub with a side salad instead of fries
• Snacks: two more cups of tea with milk and sugar at work, a Babybel

Stats:

• Steps:8378
• Calories: 1327 consumed, 267 burned
• Weight: forgot to weigh in the hustle this morning--oops!

Pretty Thing From My Walk

Notes on Body Types

When I did my initial weigh in, the trainer who weighed me took one look at me and declared me an endomorph--he said that this means carbs are my personal enemy and that I should focus on strength training over cardio. I am just now getting around to doing some reading on this topic.

This site has what looks like a good analysis, and a quiz that helps you figure out your body type and how best to train for it: http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/becker3.htm

I took the quiz, and these were my results:

Traits
Endomorph: 38%
Mesomorph: 63%
Ectomorph: 0%

Your body is between an endomorph and a mesomorph.

Endomorph: Your biggest concern should be losing fat and adopting a lifestyle that keeps it off. Strength training should be done to get a better muscle-to-fat ratio, which will help to boost your metabolism. Use moderate weights at a fast training pace, allowing for very little rest between sets and exercises. Lower your calorie intake and eat frequent but small meals to make sure you're still getting adequate nutrition. Eliminate sugar, sweets, and junk food from your diet. Get your heart pumping by engaging in some form of daily activity such as brisk walking or biking. 

Mesomorph: You have a naturally fit body but, to maintain or improve it, you should adopt an exercise and diet regimen that compliments your build. You can strength train more often and for longer periods of time, but be careful not to overdo it. Train with moderate to heavy weighs and keep a moderate pace, making sure not to rest too long between sets. You'll find you gain muscle quite easily. Don't fear; you won't get "bulky." When you're happy with your muscle size, simply train to maintain. Stick to a good, healthy diet to stay lean and muscular, and watch for any slow-creeping fat gains. Engage in and enjoy aerobic activities, but be careful not to overdo it.

I would actually have guessed that I was more endomorph with a smattering of mesomorph. Lord knows that I always have a pretty high body fat percentage. However, I also have thin wrists and ankles, and it's easy for me to build muscle mass if I try at all. I can already tell a huge difference in my arms and legs after just over a month of strength training. If I wanted to become a body builder, as I actually thought about doing when I was in high school, I think that would be an easy path for me. However, I really, really, do NOT want to get bulky. Strong yes, bulky, no.

So it seems to me that what I am doing is about right. Watch the calories, avoid too many carbs, keep the sugar to a minimum, try to focus on building strength and muscle mass, and do some cardio, but not too much with super high heart rates that could be burning that carefully built muscle. It seems to me like the walking is probably better in the long run than the Zumba, but the Zumba is just too fun to stop, and it keeps me motivated. It's all about balance, right?

Pretty Thing From My (Evening) Walk

Day Thirty-Seven: Jerking the Wheels Back onto the Bus

It's been a week since I posted. Apparently, vacation will de-rail the best laid plans. I stopped keeping track of things in favor of walking on the beach and hanging out with my kids and going out and about with the family. I wasn't great. I wasn't awful. I didn't touch the weights I brought with me so that I could work out at the beach. I did walk a lot. Yesterday and today are kind of transition-back-to-reality days, and I am working to get things back on track.

I gained 4 pounds last week. Sheesh. There was beer, and carbs, and Fried Things, a cheeseburger, and one over-the-top, utterly decadent chocolate milkshake. I don't really regret it, but now there's work to do. Whew!

Yesterday was better. I ate well, and I only drank half a beer (my last for a long while). We went on a beautiful family hike to Hemlock Bluffs--it was cooler than it's been in weeks, and just lovely in the woods: mushrooms and acorns all over, but still lush and green. You can just start to feel that winter might be on the way again.

Today is nearly back to normal. Today, I went for a walk at lunch in the beautiful fall weather that arrived overnight. So gorgeous out! The boys and I took a shorter, after-dinner walk as well, and then I took a short stroll to finish my day's steps. I was nearly chilly there for a minute! Here's to getting myself back in gear.

Log:

Exercise: 

• Lunchtime walk: 2.07 miles
• After Dinner Family Walk: .94 miles
• Evening walk (to finish steps): .56 miles
• Ab work: 40 sit ups, 20 leg raises, 60 crunches, 1 minute plank

Nutrition:

• Breakfast: 2 cups of tea with 2% milk and 1/2 a tsp of raw sugar, two eggs scrambled with cheese, little tomatoes from the garden
• Lunch: deconstructed mahi mahi tacos with nectarine avocado salsa and spicy sour cream (no tortillas), sliced cucumbers, 1 mozzarella Babybel
• Dinner: Leftovers that are off-diet, but that I refused to throw away: pecan crusted grouper with a bacon tomato risotto and a rosemary citrus vinaigrette. The portion was small enough that it was well within caloric limits.
• Snacks: N/A

Stats:

• Steps: 11,765
• Calories: 1037 consumed, 469 burned
• Weight: 203 (yesterday was 204) (home scale)

mahi mahi tacos. mmmm.

Pretty Thing From My Walk

Pretty Thing From My Walk

Day Thirty: Beach Day!

I spent the morning on the beach with the family, lifting Finn and dragging him through the waves about 1M times. I certainly got an arm workout, but I have no idea how one logs that. I am trying hard to maintain decent nutrition and a good activity level while on vacation, and still allow myself to have some treats here and there. Today's treats were a small glass of wine and a little piece of key lime pie with whipped cream--so good!

Meredith and I tried to go for a big beach walk before dinner, but we were thwarted by rain. Luckily it cleared off later, and we were able to gather the Hippie and head out after the kids were abed for a long walk on the beach with thousands of stars, meteors, phosphorescent sea critters, a low tide, and a lovely breeze. So nice, and my word at the steps I have accidentally taken today!

In addition to all the walking, I have completed the 30 Day Abs Challenge! Yay!!! Now, I just have to figure out what to do next, but that can wait till tomorrow. I am beat, and need sleep.

Log:

Exercise: 

• Walk on the Beach: .61 miles, and it started to rain. boo.
• Day 30 of the 30 Day Abs Challenge: 125 sit ups, 65 leg raises, 200 crunches,  120 second plank
• Evening Walk: 3.48 miles

Nutrition:

• Breakfast: tea with 2% milk and 1/2 a tsp of raw sugar, a boiled egg, half a honeycrisp apple
• Lunch: crazy thrown together food on the beach: 3 turkey roll-ups, 15 sun chips (that's a serving, btw), a banana
• Dinner: beer boiled shrimp with cocktail sauce and old bay, sauteed veggies (mushrooms, zucchini and squash, shallot, garlic, onion, and leftover baby lima beans--so good!), a small glass of wine, 1/2 a slice of key lime pie with whipped cream
• Snacks:12 smoked almonds

Stats:

• Steps:17239
• Calories: 1352 consumed, 547 burned
• Weight: no scale at the beach

Day Twenty-Nine: Keeping it Up-ish

We tried to go sailing today, but alas, it rained. We, and half the universe defaulted to the Aquarium at Pine Knoll Shores instead. Normally, we walk on all the nature trails at the aquarium, so it felt a bit odd to be stuck inside with the rain, but it was still entertaining. The kids of course had a blast!

Vacation means plenty of opportunities for food cheating, and I can't say I was perfect, though I didn't totally lose it. I had some whole wheat bread, a 16-ounce vanilla chai latte, and a small glass of (absolutely delightful) wine with dinner.

I managed to walk a lot, do all my ab work, and be fairly active, while simultaneously managing to color in my new coloring book and generally chill out. Feels like vacation to me. :)

Log:

Exercise: 

• Walk on the Beach: 2.68
• Day 29 of the 30 Day Abs Challenge: 120 sit ups, 62 leg raises, 190 crunches,  115 second plank

Nutrition:

• Breakfast: tea with 2% milk and 1/2 a tsp of raw sugar, a boiled egg, half a honeycrisp apple
• Lunch: Lunch at the Village Market in Emerald Isle: chicken salad on whole wheat and a few slices of marinated cucumbers
• Dinner: grouper baked in parchment with baby lima beans, garlic, and lemon, a few bites of quinoa and brown rice, a small glass of wine
• Snacks: 1 Babybel, 16-oz vanilla chai latte from 4 J's Coffee Shop at Emerald Isle

Stats:

• Steps: 12023
• Calories: 1237 consumed, 218 burned
• Weight: no scale at the beach

Pretty Thing From My Walk

Can't Live Without My Fitbit

I just ordered this from Amazon, and had it shipped to the beach house:

I forgot mine, and the charge on my Fitbit isn't going to make more than a couple more days. I know I'm on vacation and all, but a girl has to keep up with her steps.

Days Twenty-Seven and Twenty-Eight: Packing and Heading to the Beach

I'm at the beach! Yay!

However, working a full day when the kid has early release from school, and packing for the beach at the same time makes this mama a freakishly busy person with no time or thought to give to fitness, eating, or blogging. I had no time to eat breakfast, then ate a late lunch because I had to get to the school to get the kid. Last night I was packing like a crazy thing while still doing laundry, and my friend Meredith was arriving, and there was all kinds of frenzied activity. I literally forgot to do my ab work, let alone blog about the day. I skipped zumba on purpose, though I felt a little bad about that. But there it was, 11:40pm, and I realized as I was crawling into the bed that no ab work had been done and not one thing had been logged for the day. I did manage to eat decently, though not enough calories. I thought I had eaten so much food till today when I logged the calories--skipping a meal is a mistake.

Today, I made up for the calorie thing yesterday. We ate a good breakfast, but then lunch on the road at Chick-Fil-A while driving. One cannot eat a salad while driving, and I knew that we were going out for dinner, too, so I just declared today a cheater day. And how. I ate more calories for lunch than I ate all of yesterday. Ugh. Not only that, after Chick-Fil-A for lunch and fried seafood for dinner, I feel like crap on toast. I will NOT be doing that again tomorrow--I want green things.

Today should have been day 28 of the ab workout, which is a rest day, so I just did day 27's workout today, and I will skip the rest day. Only two more days to go, which is hard to believe. Now, I need to figure out what ab work I am going to keep as part of my daily workout. I definitely need to keep going with the ab work--I can already see and feel a difference in my body from the past 28 days of dedicated and targeted work.

Tomorrow begins my official vacation, and I plan to walk and walk and walk. I brought hand weights, a medicine ball, and resistance bands with me, so I am going to try to fit in some mild strength training as well. And there will be stretching--I want to stretch every day.

Day 27 Log:

Exercise: 

• Does packing count?

Nutrition:

• Breakfast: N/A
• Lunch: big salad with lots of veggies, avocado, and turkey breast, with honey dijon dressing, muhammara and 5 pretzel thins
• Dinner: a small grass fed ribeye, French green beans with olive oil and porcini salt, heirloom tomato salad
• Snacks: 1 mozzarella Babybel

Stats:

• Steps: 5965
• Calories: 732 consumed, 57 burned
• Weight: 201 (home)

Day 28 Log:

Exercise: 

• Day 27 of the 30 Day Abs Challenge: 115 sit ups, 62 leg raises, 180 crunches,  110 second plank

Nutrition:

• Breakfast: two eggs scrambled with cheese, microgreens, little tomatoes, watermelon
• Lunch: Chick-Fil-A sandwich and fries with iced tea
• Dinner: went to Frost, a fried seafood joint at the beach (tradition)--I split a popcorn shrimp plate with Meredith with a side of squash casserole and a small salad with ranch dressing
• Snacks: N/A

Stats:

• Steps: 5407
• Calories: 1978 consumed, burned
• Weight: no scale at the beach

Day Twenty-Six: Resisting Serious Temptation

Today my company had a team event at an Irish pub with a reputation for delicious food and a huge menu covered in things like open faced roast beef sandwiches with gravy and mashed potatoes, burgers, sweet potato fries, etc. But I was good--I ordered some grilled pork loin with cabbage and applesauce. It came with a roll, which I gave away, and a salad, from which I removed the croutons. Go me.

Meanwhile, I have hit a failure point on the plank situation. I can hold it for a minute and 21 seconds, and then my wrist gives out. I can finish it out on my elbows, but it feels like wimping out. Further, I am frustrated as all get out that I haven't had time to go on walks this week. It's making me tense, and I feel like I am falling behind. We're going to the beach on Saturday, and I am hoping I can walk and walk and walk on that shoreline while I'm there...

Today's Log:

Exercise:

• Barbell Strength Class with Tracy at the Apex gym
• Day 26 of the 30 Day Abs Challenge (110 sit ups, 170 crunches, 60 leg raises, 100 second plank--I was 20 seconds short)

Nutrition:

• Breakfast: 2 cups of hot tea with 2% milk and 1/2 tsp raw sugar each, two egg omelet with tomatoes, avocado, turkey bacon, and Parmesan, served with a pile of microgreens
• Lunch: work lunch at O'Malley's Irish Pub & Grill in Raleigh: grilled pork loin chops, stewed cabbage, applesauce, a garden salad with balsamic vinaigrette, iced tea
• Dinner: a small grass fed ribeye, French green beans with olive oil and porcini salt, sauteed mushrooms
• Snacks: 1 mozzarella Babybel

Stats:

• Steps: 4012 (UGH!)
• Calories: 1219 consumed, 280 burned
• Weight: 201 (home)

Day Twenty-Five: Getting it Back

Today was all about getting it back on track. As Jason has told me many times, it's unrealistic to think you can stay focused 100% of the time. The measure of overall success comes from how well you can get yourself back in gear after a lapse. Sadly, it was WAY too hot out to go walking at lunch, but I made up for it in other ways.

I needed to make up for lost time on the abs challenge the past couple of days, so I did two days' worth today to catch up: day 23 in the afternoon and day 25 before bed. I had to skip the plank for day 25--my poor core just was DONE. And let me tell you--that was enough for one day. I'll try to do that plank in the morning or something. I am still hating planks with every fiber of my being, and I still have some range of motion issue with the ab exercises in general because of scar tissue, but it has gotten a ton better over the past few weeks. Further, I can tell a difference in how my pants are fitting, which is a wonderful, awesome, motivating thing! The other night, I told Kieran he needed to get to bed so I could go finish my ab work, and he goes, "More sit ups, Mom?!" And I said, "Yep! Every night!" And he said, "Well, you're looking really good, Mama!" Awwww...

Meanwhile, the food thing is still pretty much good. I am allowing a few carbs and natural sugars here and there, but nothing over the top. I am keeping my calorie count low and still focussing on eating mostly lean proteins, good fats, and lots of veggies. I feel pretty good about how this is all going so far.

Today's Log:

Exercise:

• Day 23 of the 30 Day Abs Challenge (100 sit ups, 150 crunches, 58 leg raises, 90 second plank)
• Day 25 of the 30 Day Abs Challenge (105 sip ups, 160 crunches, 60 leg raises, 95 second plank)
• Zumba with Tiffany at the Cary gym--still my favorite class!

Nutrition:

• Breakfast: 2 cups of hot tea with 2% milk and 1/2 tsp raw sugar each, two eggs scrambled with cheese, little tomatoes, microgreens
• Lunch: baked salmon with yellow squash, arugula salad with radishes, walnuts, and goat cheese with champagne caper vinaigrette
• Dinner:sauteed zucchini with peppers, onions and chicken, brown rice, watermelon
• Snacks:a little muhammara and 5 pretzel thins

Stats:

• Steps:11301
• Calories: 1373 consumed, 822 burned
• Weight: 201.5 (home)

Day Twenty-Four: Weigh-In Day and Still Off Track

When my alarm went off at 5am this morning telling me to get up and go to my barbell strength class, I still felt pretty ill. I skipped it. I hate that--I know rationally that skipping it was the right thing to do, but man, I dislike feeling like I have wimped out! Further, I had a hair appointment this morning, which means to time for a lunchtime walk. I optimistically brought my shoes with me, just in case, but I knew it was a long shot. And no, it didn't happen. I am not beating myself up about this or anything, but I do want to find a way to make it up.

I did stop by the gym to weigh in at least, and was delighted to be officially down a bit more. I am down 8.4 pounds by the official scale, which is about 4 pounds heavier than the scale at home is measuring. Good progress so far, and motivating to see. Yay!

Upon analysis of what I ate yesterday, I think my nausea may have been coming from the fact that I just didn't consume enough calories yesterday. It seems clear that to feel good and have energy, I can't go much below 1100 calories, or things start to feel off. This morning, I didn't eat breakfast at all, which is out of the ordinary for me, and I feel a bit like I paid for that throughout the day. I was sluggish and lower-energy all day long. And yet, here I am at the end of today in nearly the same caloric boat. Tomorrow, I will get up and eat a good breakfast, and just hit a giant reset button for everything.

I went to knitting tonight, and at dinner at Panera. I chose the soba noodle broth bowl since the grains were whole in the noodles, and I wanted something more filling than a salad after skipping breakfast today. I definitely got it--I am still stuffed hours later! I think my body is in carb shock.

Today's Log:

Exercise:

• Not crap--today was a day with no time in it, and I am now officially off a day on the 30 day abs challenge. Dammit. I will do day 23 tomorrow, skip 24 (the rest day), and if I can stand it, the next rest day, too, to make up time. Ugh.

Nutrition:

• Breakfast: hot tea with 2% milk and 1/2 tsp raw sugar - didn't eat anything because I was still feeling nauseated---bleh!
• Lunch: chicken breast with grilled asparagus, mushrooms, and peppers, little tomatoes, arugula salad with radishes, walnuts, and goat cheese with champagne caper vinaigrette, a small honeycrisp apple
• Dinner:Panera's soba noodle broth bowl--SO SALTY! iced tea
• Snacks:24 almonds, 1 Babybel, a little muhammara and 3 pretzel thins

Stats:

• Steps: 4713
• Calories: 1215 consumed, 0 burned
• Weight: 201.5 (home), 205.9 (Official Weigh-in, -8.4 lbs)