checking in today

Lately I've been great with my eating - I still indulge a little, but I've really kept it in check.  I've made changes like pouring myself a glass of water when I wanted a second cup of coffee (with cream and sugar, of course), and I've limited my portions to half of what I was eating before, which was a lot.  I like to eat, I like going out to restaurants, and when something is delicious, it's easy to just keep going rather than setting it aside and boxing it up to go.  Not anymore - I've become so much more portion-conscious.

I've also taken to eating a morning snack at about 11.  I've found that it helps two-fold: If I go to the gym at lunch I feel stronger during my workout if I'm not starving, and if I have lunch with a friend, I'm much better about stopping when I've eaten a reasonable helping because I'm not starting from a rumbling tummy.  Today I ate a dressingless version of Ina Garten's grapefruit and avocado salad.  It's not low cal, but it tasted fresh and I don't feel guilty about it.  I figure as long as I get some cardio in, I'm good to go.  It's a glorious day today and a run to the Fremont Bridge and back might be just the ticket.

I'm finding that while I'm doing great with the diet portion of my life, I need to step it up with the work-outs.  I'm not getting 30 minutes every day like I want to.  Maybe it's every other day, or every two days.  Some of this is my busy schedule, some of it is my own lack of motivation on a given day.  Yesterday I did 40 minutes of strength training but zero cardio.  My goal is to make the cardio constant and the weights an additional bonus.  The trick is getting into a groove and making the time.

Friday is my monthly weigh-in.  Hopefully I'll have some good numbers to report to you.