Day 182: Accidental Rest Day

Today, I woke up with an annoying throbby headache--this happens to me every couple of months. That means I missed yet another class this week. Joy's going to think I don't like her class, but it's really just that Thursday is my hardest day to get up because I work out so late on Wednesday. This headache has been haunting me all day, accompanied by a general malaise that makes me feel like I may be fighting something off. Ugh. When I feel like this, all I want to do is sit down and knit and eat whatever is available and not a lot of effort for me. Thus, I didn't say no when offered a beautiful sour cream doughnut. And when the kids wanted Chick-Fil-A for dinner, I ate it, too. Today is an accidental rest day, and a bit of a fitness waste.I'm going to go to bed early and get back on track tomorrow. Whew.

Log: 

Exercise:

• Day 12 of the 30-day Abs Challenge: Rest Day

Nutrition:

• Breakfast: a slice of Great Harvest honey whole wheat toast with Big Spoon Roasters' Mission Almond Butter and half a banana, tea with milk and raw sugar
• Lunch: Leftover pan seared pork chop with mushroom gravy, basmati and wild rice with herbs, Swiss chard gratin
• Dinner: Chick-Fil-A chicken sandwich and fries dipped in Chick-Fil-A sauce
• Snacks: half a homemade sour cream doughnut (People at work need to stop giving me things like this! At least I just ate half...)

Stats:

• Steps: 5688 (pitiful)
• Calories: I can't even face this, plus I have no idea how to calculate lunch.
• Weight:186.5

Day 181: Ponderings on Community and Nutrition

Today was a really active day. I made it on my lunchtime walk, and managed to keep up a decent pace, in spite of some still icy places on my walking path. Most of our mess is melted, but there are still a few holdout areas in the shady places. Then I made it to Zumba tonight, too--the Wednesday night Zumba class is still by absolute favorite. I took over 5600 steps in one hour, and it was totally fun--you can't beat that!

It's interesting as I've gone along this whole fitness path how well I have gotten to know the teachers. I really love how supportive and helpful they all are, and how knowing them gives me a whole new level of accountability. One of the women who teaches Monday night yoga, Cathy, has started teaching a core class right before the Zumba class on Wednesday, so I see her there sometimes. Tonight, she came up to me and said that she had missed me on Monday and was glad to see that I wasn't sick. It's so nice that, by going to a class, there's a new person in the world who's suddenly looking out for me. I am so grateful to this posse of women I have acquired through taking classes, which is still my favorite way to work out. Cathy and Beth teach me yoga, Tracy and Joy motivate me to strength train, and Tiffany and Tameka make me MOVE! What's more, by going to these classes, I have met a whole herd of like-minded folks who are also creating this tremendous and somewhat unexpected social and support base. I am making friends on this path, which is a lovely consequence that I hadn't really thought about before I started. I am such a social person that it really, really helps me to stay motivated to be getting this unexpected social benefit.

And let's talk a minute about nutrition. I had this soup that I invented a few years ago for lunch today for which I had no idea how to calculate the calories. But I'll tell you, no matter how calorically dense it is, it is also a nutritional powerhouse. This soup has beans, greens, protein, and a huge concentration of vegetable-y goodness from earlier braised greens, summer tomatoes, and peppers and onions. It's one of those soups that's a little different every time, and always, always amazing. You can feel it giving you nutrients galore. My mother is trying to lose weight, and she is 100% focused on calorie counting to do it. I get it--it's very old school, and she's going on the research that was current when she was 35 years old. But it's so hard for me to watch her do it and not comment incessantly on the nutrition. She's eating everything "low fat," everything packaged. And I just want to go, NOOOOOO! I want to tell her that she doesn't have to starve herself, and that she should eat nutritionally, with a focus on making her body a healthy and well-fueled machine and STILL lose weight at the same time, that she can have nuts and not worry too much about how much fat they have, that cheese is not the devil, and that she needs to eat more vegetables and less refined carbs. But I don't say these things to her unless she asks. I am trying hard not to be an evangelistic nutrition know-it-all to my mama. But man--I am going to make her some of this soup next time I go home. She'll love it.

Log: 

Exercise:

• Lunchtime walk: 2 miles
• Zumba with Tiffany at the Cary gym
• Day 11 of the 30-day Abs Challenge: 55 sit-ups, 33 leg raises, 65 crunches, 42 second plank

Nutrition:

• Breakfast: steel cut oatmeal with slices almonds and dried cranberries, tea with milk and raw sugar
• Lunch: a bowl of homemade white bean, kale, and polish sausage soup, a big tangelo, a Gouda Babybel with a few crackers, and a 4-ounce container of Noosa blueberry yogurt for dessert
• Dinner: a turkey and avocado wrap with havarti on a multigrain tortilla, half an opal apple (which was awesome, by the way!)
• Snacks:no snacks

Stats:

• Steps: 13,562
• Calories: 1447 consumed, 1012 burned
• Weight: 187

Pretty Thing From My Walk

Day 180: Twice the Days

Today is the end of the second set of 90 days since I started down this path toward a better lifestyle for my health. The first half was focused on weight loss. The second set has been focused more on maintenance,  getting through the holidays without a ton of gain, and setting up some appointments to take care of other aspects of my health--especially the dentist. I have lost only a few pound during this period, but that's OK. I am happy to still be headed down and not having slipped back up to a much heavier weight. That said--it's time to get going again in that steadily downward moving direction. This morning's refusal to get out of bed for barbell class (sorry, Tracy!) notwithstanding, I am feeling pretty motivated.

I had a hair appointment today, which meant missing my lunchtime walk. It also, however, meant that i got to have a spontaneous lunch date with Jason at one of our favorite farm-to-table restaurants in downtown Raleigh. Kimbap is an indulgence, but one I don't feel too bad about. Kim sources her Korean-inspired foods from the local farms we personally know, and her food is nutritious and delicious. I can't recommend her place enough!

But. I was feeling like a slug by 5pm. In a fit of inspiration, I was determined to find some way to do something active, so I decided to walk to knitting tonight. The Panera where we meet is just over 2 miles from my house, so I managed to get in a 4+ mile walk by doing something fun and social. I think I am going to plan to do that again, whenever the weather will cooperate with me. My friend Jennifer even got her husband to drop her off so that she could walk home with me, which was amazing. I hope she'll do it again, too!

Log: 

Exercise:

• Walked to and from knitting: 4.08 miles
• Day 10 of the 30-day Abs Challenge: 50 sit-ups, 30 leg raises, 50 crunches, 38 second plank

Nutrition:

• Breakfast: steel cut oatmeal with slices almonds and dried cranberries, tea with milk and raw sugar
• Lunch: Kimbap with Jason: 2 pork and ginger dumplings, beef bulgogi tacos with kimchee fried rice, Asian sauteed collard greens, 2 tiny beignets with semi-freddo and chocolate for dessert with a small cup of French press coffee with sugar and cream (SO DELICIOUS!)
• Dinner: Panera for knitting: 1/2 a chicken soba noodle salad and a small apple
• Snacks: no snacks today

Stats:

• Steps:11,637
• Calories: 1583 consumed, 537 burned
• Weight: 188--maybe even a little bit under

Pretty Thing From My Walk

Day 179: Recovering from Ice-pocolypse

Whew. We definitely had plenty of family togetherness over the past few days. I haven't weighed in in days--I dread what that scale is going to tell me. This is the result of some wild inconsistency I know. I take two steps forward and one step back pretty often. I get de-railed by life, and I have trouble getting the train back onto the tracks. This week is, again, another reset. And I will keep resetting as long as I need to.

School was closed today, so Jason and I both worked from home. Sometimes, that works out really well--I got a ton done in a short amount of time this morning. It's worth noting that I somehow lost my fitbit for a while this morning, so many of my steps today were not counted. I found it in the bed, if you can believe that--I think I went to bed with it on the band of my PJs, and it came off during the night. Oops! This afternoon, we were all close to snapping inside the house, and it had warmed up so much that we put on our boots and headed to the woods. It was amazing to hike through the snow, though we were slower than usual because of it. The woods were cool, the air refreshing, and the boys ecstatic to be outside--definitely a great little family hike!

I had planned to go to my yoga class tonight, but I was overruled by the family who wanted to try a new (to us) Irish pub in our town. I made an OK, but not great choice for dinner at the pub, which resulted in a bit of an overabundance of calories for today. I did do some yoga at home to make up for not making it to class. I admit I don't challenge myself as much as Cathy and Beth challenge me, but I feel good about doing some sun salutations, stretches, and breathing exercises on my own. I have to say though, between Jason's commentary and the cat trying to groom my hair in every downward dog, it wasn't quite the centering and relaxing experience to which I have become accustomed. Lol

Log: 

Exercise:

•  Afternoon family walk in the snowy woods at Hemlock Bluffs: 1.88 miles
• Day 9 (picking up where I left off, since I have failed to do this since last Thursday) of the 30-day Abs Challenge: 45 sit-ups, 30 leg raises, 30 crunches, 38 second plank
• 30 minutes of yoga at home (missed class with Cathy tonight--boo!)

Nutrition:

• Breakfast: 2 eggs over easy, 3 slices of peppercorn bacon (very little fat), one slice of whole wheat toast with butter, and tea with milk and raw sugar
• Lunch:Turkey chili with a little cheese and a handful of corn chips
• Dinner: Dinner out at Doherty's Irish Pub--a middle of the road choice--a mullingar boxty with garlic green beans and potato croquettes
• Snacks: no snacks today

Stats:

• Steps: 6449 plus whatever I walked between the hours of 7:30am and 12:20pm
• Calories: 1611 consumed, 427 burned
• Weight: No idea--I shudder to think...

Day 175: Low Activity Day

This morning, when the 5am alarm went off for barbell class, it was just not happening. I could barely open my eyes enough to turn the thing off. My head was hurting, and I was just too exhausted to do anything but keep sleeping. Now, of course, I feel like a wimp, even though I know better. This whole thing is about balance, and I didn't fall asleep last night till almost midnight. And folks, 5 hours of sleep more than one night a week definitely counts as not enough sleep.

I was stunned to step on the scale and see the 188 below. I checked to see if something was wrong with the scale, but it was right! I have had problems with consistency since the holidays started, but that's a sure sign that decent eating and consistent exercise definitely still work!

It's supposed to start sleeting/snowing any minute and keep it up till Saturday, so we'll see what the next few days hold. I tend to go into full-on hibernation mode if I get snowed in, which may mean very little logging and more cleaning, cooking, reading, knitting, and playing with kids.

Log: 

Exercise:

• Day 7 (since I forgot to do it yesterday!) of the 30-day Abs Challenge: 40 sit-ups, 20 leg raises, 20 crunches, 30 second plank

Nutrition:

• Breakfast: a slice of homemade banana bread, tea with milk and raw sugar
• Lunch: multi-grain wrap with grilled BBQ chicken thighs, smoked gouda, roasted red peppers, avocado, and cilantro (so awesome!), sliced cucumbers with honey mustard, a small blood orange
• Dinner: We went to Salem Street Pub for dinner in anticipation of getting snowed in and eating at home for a few days--tuna salad wrap and a side salad with thousand island dressing
• Snacks: Siggi's 2% coconut yogurt (This was meh, by the way. I wanted to try it because it has like half the sugar of most brands, but it was super thick, and it felt more like eating sour cream than yogurt to me.)

Stats:

• Steps:4780
• Calories: 1429 consumed, 0 burned
• Weight: 188 lbs

Blowing Stereotypes out of the Water

"why plus size women shouldn't do yoga"Agency: lg2 for Penningtonshttp://adsoftheworld.com/media/tv/penningtons_yoga
Posted by Ads of the World on Thursday, January 14, 2016

I love this ad. I love that the woman in the ad is beautiful, and that she is unapologetic in her pursuit of health, strength, and flexibility. I used to be so intimidated by the gym and by the anticipated judgment from the other people in the gym. I used that intimidation as an excuse for not taking care of myself for years, and it took me until my 40s to say--to hell with you, judgy people! I care more about my health than about your opinion. I am grateful that I can say that with confidence now. There is no shame in ANY body type. Judgment has no place in the gym or on a hiking trail or in any other venue where people are striving for good things for themselves.

Day 174: More Ouch

Today, I had the rest of my dreaded dental work done, and it wasn't that bad during the process. But man, the pain in my gums when the drugs started wearing off this time gave me one heck of a headache. I am very thankful for Advil this evening. Advil allowed me to make it to Zumba, which remains my favorite. :-)

Log: 

Exercise:

• Zumba with Tiffany at the Cary gym (exactly 6000 steps tonight!)
• I was supposed to do Day 7 of the 30-day Abs Challenge, but I actually completely forgot to do it. Day 8 is a rest day, so I am just flip-flopping those days and will do Day 7 tomorrow.

Nutrition:

• Breakfast: two eggs scrambled with cheese, 1/2 a cup of grits, a thin slice of homemade banana bread
• Lunch: grilled chicken thighs, roasted sweet potato, and French green beans with olive oil and porcini salt
• Dinner: steel cut oats with cinnamon and brown sugar, milk, and a medium banana (soft stuff bc my mouth huuuuuuuuurts!)
• Snacks: none

Stats:

• Steps:11,985
• Calories: 1231 consumed, 754 burned
• Weight: 190 lbs

The Whole Package

I saw this on Facebook yesterday, and I keep thinking about it. This is just a great reminder to look at your whole package, and not get too focused on any one aspect of your life. Someone asked me recently what my secret to weight loss was, and all I could think was--there are no secrets to this whole thing. I am getting outside more than ever. I am eating better than ever. I am more active than ever. And it's making me feel really, really good. I feel stronger and healthier, and I feel like my immune system is stronger, too. Even when I got sick over the holidays, I was only sick for a few days rather than the weeks of lingering malaise I usually experience if I get sick this time of year. When I went to my doctor in the fall for my yearly physical, I was stunned to see that my vitamin D levels are now in the high end of the normal range, when historically they have always been low. My iron levels are good. I have more energy, and I feel more clear-headed now than I have since my children were born. There is no doubt that the physical care I am giving to myself is positively impacting my mental health as well. All of these steps I am taking now--they are truly a gift to myself and my family. These are just the first steps on what I hope is a long, happy, healthy journey.

Day 173: Weekend Update and Other Thoughts

This past weekend was one of running flat out all weekend long. There was very little in the way of formal exercise, but there was also very little in the way of stopping at all. I got up Saturday, went to the farmers market to grab my CSA with both boys in tow, came home, threw everyone in the car, dropped kids off at the grandparents' house, and headed with Jason to Ikea, which is about 2.5 hours away. There we bought ALL THE FURNITURE, and then we came back, grabbed the boys, fed everyone pizza and salad, and crashed. Sunday, as you might imagine, was a day of putting stuff together. That, along with the weekly grocery store run, and a ton of re-organization, ate the day. I cooked little, ate OK, but not great, and went to bed absolutely worn out. There was no logging and no blogging.

My weight dropped to 189, so yay for that!

Yesterday was mostly back on track, but man it's cold. Too cold for walking outside at lunchtime. My food intake wasn't huge, but it wasn't all great, that's for sure. But I did make it to yoga class last night, and I arrived early enough that I did a whole bunch of ab work to cover day five and to make up for missing day three of the 30 day abs challenge over the weekend. (Day four is a rest day, so I guess I didn't miss that one. lol) I was pretty proud of myself at yoga for managing a full on lizard pose, which I haven't been able to do before. That baby grasshopper pose, however? That still looks like something the human body isn't meant to do. I mean, just look at it! (Images are from here and here.)

Today--today, man. I am TIRED. But I got up this morning at 5:15am and dragged my butt out into the 18-degree morning to make it to barbell class. I spent the day yawning as a result, but I am still glad I did it. I need to figure out how to get some steps in when it's so abysmally cold outside--I really can't take being outside for long when it's like this. I guess this is why there are treadmills and elliptical machines.

I am so tired that I skipped knitting tonight--that's saying something when you're too tired to sit still and knit. Time for bed!

Log: 

Exercise:

• Barbell strength class with Tracy at the Apex gym
• Day 6 of the 30-day Abs Challenge: 34 sit-ups, 15 leg raises, 15 crunches, 25 second plank

Nutrition:

• Breakfast: two eggs scrambled with cheese, 2 Applegate chicken and sage sausage links, milk, tea with milk and raw sugar
• Lunch: turkey and havarti on whole wheat, cut up raw zucchini and red peppers with honey mustard, and a cup of fruit (honeydew melon, grapes, blueberries)
• Dinner: grilled chicken thighs, roasted sweet potato, and French green beans with olive oil and porcini salt
• Snacks:1 lemonade Girl Scout cookie, an extra cup of tea with milk and raw sugar, a handful of roasted peanuts

Stats:

• Steps: a pitiful 5210
• Calories: 1480 consumed, 327 burned
• Weight: 189 lb

Day 169: Eating Out on an Insanely Busy Day

Today was a day of running around pretty much all day long. There was no time for a lunchtime walk, since I went to a retirement lunch for a friend whose last day was today. That meant eating out at a pub-type restaurant where I didn't make awful selections, but I also didn't eat a salad. I skipped the fries in favor of apple cole slaw so there was more in the way of vegetables. If I am not going to be conscious of caloric intake, at least I can try to give myself more nutrients, right? For dinner, I had a salad from Chick-Fil-A--again not awesome, but not god-awful either. It was the best I could do with today's busy schedule. 

I dragged my tired kids to the gym and went to Zumba class, for which I am very glad--that was over 6000 much-needed steps in an hour! I also did some yoga at home--I desperately needed to stretch, and I kind of surprised myself by actually remembering the flow and order of things from class. I could hear Cathy's voice in my head telling me what to do. I think I am even accidentally learning the names of the poses and forms without really trying. More yoga == good.

Log: 

Exercise:

• Zumba with Tameka at the Apex gym
• Day 2 of the 30-day Abs Challenge: 20 sit-ups, 8 leg raises, 8 crunches, 12 second plank
• 30 minutes of yoga in my living room floor

Nutrition:

• Breakfast: steel cut oats with brown sugar and cinnamon, sliced almonds, and fresh blueberries, milk, tea with milk and raw sugar
• Lunch: Work lunch at Carolina Ale House: Buffalo chicken wrap with a side of apple cole slaw--probably a million calories
• Dinner: Asian salad from Chick-Fil-A
• Snacks: 1/2 of a tall classic hot chocolate from Starbucks (I split it with Kieran)--HUGE treat and no way to break that 190 pound plateau. lol

Stats:

• Steps:11,424
• Calories: 1513 consumed, 865 burned
• Weight: 190 lb and holding--at least it's not going UP!

Day 168: Half-ass Day - SO Sore!

I woke up this morning to go to barbell class, but my legs were so sore that it really felt like a mistake. I slept longer. I did some stretching. I did some more stretching at work, and then opted to skip my lunchtime walk. It's been a long time since I wimped out on exercise because of overdoing it, but today, I did. Whew. By the end of the day, I had stretched enough to at least walk some, but it was late, and I was alone with sleeping kids, so I just walked in the house--so boring, but way better than nothing.

My eating was ok today, but I could have still eaten more veggies than I did. I tried to keep the calories a bit low since I didn't do very much active. Tomorrow, I will be eating lunch out, so we'll see how that goes. At least it's a Zumba day.

One other note: my friend Meredith was talking about doing the 30-day Abs challenge, and I decided to do it again with her. I have gotten out of the habit of doing evening ab work, and I need to re-add that. It was really making a big difference in my shape and my post-C-section belly fat. So, today I started back at day one of that challenge. The big difference this time is that I can actually DO the exercises from the start, whereas the last time I had to build up to them. It was nice to have a decent leg raise on day one this time.

Log: 

Exercise:

• Day 1 of the 30-day Abs Challenge: 15 sit-ups, 5 leg raises, 5 crunches (I did 10 because 5 felt too wimpy), 10 second plank
• Walking around the living room for roughly ever

Nutrition:

• Breakfast: steel cut oats with brown sugar and cinnamon, sliced almonds, and fresh blueberries, milk, tea with milk and raw sugar
• Lunch: roasted chicken and tiny potatoes, brussels sprouts with garlic
• Dinner: turkey and havarti wrap, sliced cucumbers and carrots with honey mustard
• Snacks:two leftover bites of Kieran's peanut butter and elderberry jelly sandwich on TJ's honey whole wheat bread

Stats:

• Steps:8,045
• Calories: 1064 consumed, 0 burned
• Weight: 190 lb

Day 167: Working Through It

Today, I had to have some dental work done instead of taking a lunchtime walk. It wasn't too bad, except for the mouth numbing part and the ensuing soreness as the anesthesia wore off. Given that, and the fact that I may have overdone it at barbell class yesterday, this day was all about working through some pain. Yay for Advil!

My eating was also a little odd today because of the teeth issue. I definitely ate too many carbs and didn't eat enough vegetables. I'll do better with that tomorrow after my gums have had a chance to recover.

I won't lie--making it to Zumba tonight was a near thing. I was tired and sore, the kids were off the chain, and the couch and the Netflix and the cat and the knitting were calling my name. But I am glad I went--check out my steps before and after class:

You can't argue with that, folks.

Log: 

Exercise:

• Zumba with Tiffany at the Cary gym

Nutrition:

• Breakfast: Starbucks breakfast sandwich with egg whites and turkey bacon on a whole wheat English muffin, tea with 2% milk and raw sugar
• Lunch: 1/2 a turkey and havarti sandwich on whole wheat with organic mayo, a handful of grapes
• Dinner: the other half of the turkey sandwich and a little bit of homemade chicken noodle soup
• Snacks:a slice of whole wheat toast with almond butter and sliced banana, 1/2 a cup of 2% milk

Stats:

• Steps: 12,041
• Calories: 1359 consumed, 1050 burned
• Weight: 190 lb

And in Fitbit News...

Pretty Thing From My Walk

Day 164: Hitting the Life Reset Button

Despite the best of intentions, life gets in the way of your goals sometimes. The best you can do is move on from setbacks, try not to beat yourself up, and get back on the path you've set for yourself as soon as you can muster the strength to do it. Last week was the first week back after the holidays--hard enough on its own. But then I was also still sick, so that kept me from the classes I love. Then my aunt passed away, which meant leaving town unexpectedly in the middle of the week, just as my cold was backing off. I ate well Monday through Wednesday, but then I was utterly out of whack for the rest of the week. And I won't talk about my level of exercise Wednesday through Saturday, as it was basically non-existent. What I did do was see a ton of family and old family friends that I seldom see. And I sat down for some treasured moments of stillness with my mother. And I slept and slept and slept. And when I got home, I drank some wine, chilled out, and cooked All The Foods. This week, I am ready to get moving again!

I made it to yoga last night, but I failed to log my day. Things were just too busy. This morning, I went to my barbell class, which is seriously a relief to be back into! I sucked, and I struggled, but I made it through, and I am so glad I did! Lunchtime was a good walk out in the sun--chilly but beautiful, and nowhere near as cold as last week! I won't be able to walk every day this week, but I'm definitely going to do it as much as I possibly can!

Log: 

Exercise:

• Barbell strength class with Tracy at the Apex gym
• Lunchtime walk: 2.06 miles

Nutrition:

• Breakfast: spinach and mushroom frittata, 2 pieces of Applegate Farms chicken sage sausage, tea with milk and raw sugar
• Lunch: a small piece of grilled NY strip steak, grilled asparagus/peppers.mushrooms, 1/2 a sweet potato, and a small red pear
• Dinner: knitting night at Panera--1/2 a chicken soba noodle salad and a small fuji apple
• Snacks: ugh, a little fun-size Butterfinger

Stats:

• Steps: 11,049
• Calories: 1204 consumed, 543 burned
• Weight: 190 lb

200 Calories

Sometimes it's really helpful to have a visual. This image is what 200 calories worth of many common foods looks like. If you've never counted calories, it's pretty eye opening! (Click here for the full resolution image.)

Pretty Thing From My Walk

Pretty Thing From My Walk

Poor, confused magnolia blossoms!

Day 157: Man, Is It Cold!

Today was harder than yesterday. I was up most of the night coughing--every time I would start to fall asleep, I would have another coughing fit. This always happens to me at the tail end of a cold, and it's pretty awful. I was so exhausted this morning that there was no way I could go to my barbell class. I LOVE that class, and I haven't been to it in two weeks. It's chafing--my body is standing in its own way. I am beginning to understand why the hippie always gets so mad when he's sick: it really starts to feel like a self-betrayal after a while! This kids had a rougher time today, too. Everyone was tired and grumpy all afternoon. Early bedtimes all around today. I am determined to get some better rest tonight somehow.

I did manage to get outside and walk at lunchtime today, though it was FREEZING! It was beautiful and sunny, but so windy and cold that I didn't make it quite as far as usual. When my fingers started burning, I decided it was time to head back inside. Once again, I finished my steps in the house last night while logging my food for the day--that's starting to feel like a pretty efficient use of my time. :-)

The funeral for my aunt has been scheduled for Thursday, so I skipped knitting tonight to get some things ready to go for that. I should be able to make Zumba tomorrow night, but I'll be driving Thursday morning during my barbell class, and I'll miss Friday's Zumba class for sure. Maybe I'll take some workout gear with me to my mom's house and try to make time to get something in there, even if it's abbreviated. We'll see what the schedule allows.

 

Log: 

Exercise:

• Lunchtime walk: 1.6 miles in the freezing ass cold

Nutrition:

• Breakfast: steel cut oats with chopped walnuts and 1/2 a banana, tea with milk and raw sugar
• Lunch:1/2 a chicken breast with roasted red peppers, BBQ sauce and cilantro, roasted cauliflower with lots of garlic and rosemary, 2 clementines
• Dinner: grilled salmon, 1/2 a baked sweet potato, grilled asparagus
• Snacks: ridiculously good French cheese and a few cracked pepper table water crackers

Stats:

• Steps: 10,848
• Calories: 1410 consumed, 238 burned
• Weight: 190.5 lb--numbers heading South, as desired!

Pretty Thing From My Walk

Day 156: Re-Entry to Real Life

Today was the first day of the new normal routine. Finn's in a new school, Kieran's back to his school, and the hippie and I went back to work on something resembling a normal schedule. I got some bad news today--my Aunt Gail passed away. She's been sick a long time, but it's still so very sad. That means that the new normal routine is likely to be thrown for a loop if I need to leave town this week for a funeral, which is almost certainly in the cards. That's just life, right? Adaptability is key.

We've been going to the gym as a family on Monday nights for a while now--the kids get some playtime in the kids center, Jason does his weight routine, and I go to yoga. Jason decided to skip that for a couple of weeks, given the madness that new years resolutions always brings to the gym, so the boys and I went without him. This means we're late eating dinner and getting them to bed, so we often stop for takeout for them on the way home so they can eat the minute we walk in the door. It was all good for me eating healthy today until Kieran didn't finish his dinner--and then I finished it. Granted, I was starving, but that quarter of a Chick-Fil-A chicken sandwich, and the handful of fries I ate was probably not my best choice ever. What a calorie bomb! I think there's crack in whatever batter they put on that fried chicken... The yoga class, I will add, was AMAZING. All that stretching felt really good after a break, and man, is that ever the right way to ease back into working out!

I got lucky today at work--my friend Sonya was in the office and went walking with me! Given her presence and the cold, we went pretty fast around the trail, too. I wish she was around more often for that, especially because she's a happy, upbeat person--it's nice to get a) company, and b) a dose of positivity like that in the middle of the day. To finish steps, I took a page from my mother's book, and walked back and forth in the house while entering my food into MyFitnessPal, and then while talking to my brother on the phone. Before I knew it, I had walked over 12 thousand steps, which is awesome for me. I hope I can keep up with these trends.

 

Log: 

Exercise:

• Lunchtime walk: 1.84 miles
• Hatha yoga at the Apex gym with Beth

Nutrition:

• Breakfast: steel cut oats with chopped walnuts and 1/2 a banana, tea with milk and raw sugar
• Lunch:1/2 a chicken breast with roasted red peppers, BBQ sauce and cilantro, sauteed zucchini and shallots, 2 clementines
• Dinner: turkey and avocado wrap with smoked gouda, cucumbers and honey mustard dressing
• Snacks:1/4 of a Chick-Fil-A chicken sandwich and a handful of fries

Stats:

• Steps:12,204
• Calories: 1494 consumed, 480 burned
• Weight: 191 lb--back where I left off in November!

Pretty Thing From My (Weekend) Walks

Day 155: Pushing Past a Crappy Cold

I woke up this morning feeling like boiled death (again), so I took it slow for a couple of hours. But in the end, it was clear that our whole family REALLY needed to get into the woods, so I powered through and went with the boys to Hemlock Bluffs for a good walk in the woods. So very glad I did--I felt a lot better afterwards. I am definitely not 100%, but I think the past couple of days of good eating and getting outside again is helping. Dear universe, please let it be helping! I'm definitely ready for bed.

Log: 

Exercise:

• Family hike at Hemlock Bluffs: 2.72 miles

Nutrition:

• Breakfast: baked eggs with kale, chicken sage sausage, herbs, and parmesan, 2 cups of tea with 1/2 tsp raw sugar each and 2% milk
• Lunch: turkey, smoked gouda, and avocado wrap on whole grain and flax seed tortilla, cut up veggies with ranch, 1.5 clementines
• Dinner: roasted pork loin, sauteed swiss chard with brown oyster mushrooms and garlic, 1/2 a large baked sweet potato
• Snacks: TJs pumpkin rooibos tea with honey

Stats:

• Steps: 9,566
• Calories: 1247 consumed, 396 burned
• Weight: 192 lbs

Pretty Things From My Walks

Since I've been blogging, I have taken some lovely walks, and I am still taking pictures of pretty things that I see along the way. Here's the collection of what I have posted since November 11th:

Day 154: Happy New Year!

Hey, y'all. I am not dead, I swear, though I did take a break from all the tracking over the holidays. I knew I was going to keep moving but eat indulgently, and my goal was to stay active, to mostly maintain my weight, and to feel no guilt about it. So this morning, with a bit of dread at how much I might have slipped backwards and how much farther I may have to go to work off those indulgences, I stepped on the scale for the first time in weeks. I am happy to report that I am now at 192, just a pound more than the weight I previously recorded here. At one point in early December, I hit 189, but then you know--Christmas.

So now it's the new year, and my only goal is to keep going with the start toward a healthier self! Sadly, I am starting this year off with a nasty cold, but as soon as I can shake it off, I plan to get moving again! I forced myself to get up and get to the grocery store and the farmers market, so I am stocked up and prepared for some healthy cooking. I find that my best success comes when I plan and prepare meals before the week gets started. I cook or prep it all ahead of time, so there's only assembly to do to get a meal into a lunchbox or onto the table. Here's what's on the menu for this week:

• Asian stir-fry with skirt steak, Napa cabbage, shitake mushrooms, bean sprouts, ginger, and scallions
• Leftover pork loin (I made roasted pork with rosemary and garlic for New Years) with baked sweet potatoes and sauteed Swiss chard with brown oyster mushrooms, garlic, and lemon olive oil
• Radish top pasta from The French Market Cookbook
• BBQ chicken with roasted red peppers and cilantro
• Grilled salmon with roasted cauliflower and steamed asparagus
• Spinach and mushroom frittata
• Steel cut oats with pecans and dried blueberries

I can't wait to get back to healthier eating, and I think part of that is because I did let myself indulge over the holidays. I didn't go TOO far, but I ate things with butter and sugar and carbs galore, and I drank the sparkly wines and the cocktails here and there. And don't get me wrong--I enjoyed the heck out of all that--but I am definitely ready to get back on track. I want to eat vegetables, and I am dying to get moving! I want this cold to go away ASAP so I can get all my working out in this week coming week! As of tomorrow, I am back to tracking everything again, and hopefully I will see my goal weight in 2016.