Confession: Chili and Other Setbacks

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I fell off the horse.  I've not been monitoring my calories, and waaaay over eating.  I know this, because I feel like crap right now.  My tummy is screaming at me.  Here are the things I let derail me:

1) Andrew's birthday was Feb 6 and we celebrated all week with multiple special birthday dinners with friends, family members, and the customary romantic dinner at a steakhouse on my dime.  I took this opportunity to treat the week as though it were my birthday.  Not good.

2) This past weekend Abby and I took our moms with us on a weekend away in the San Juan Islands where Abby made fresh-baked bread, her mom made scones topped with her own freezer jam, and my mom kept the wine flowing.  Despite the 13 miles I covered over the weekend, it was not enough to come out ahead calorie-wise.  Also not good.

3) Most recently, our office threw its second annual chili cook-off.  Eight competitors, including myself, entered their best recipes.  First prize is not much more than bragging rights, but we get a great turn-out because we have many accomplished home cooks who know their stuff and like to go toe to toe.  It's a peer-voted blind taste test, so each "judge" must taste all chili versions in order to really make a fair choice.  I am very thorough in my research prior to casting my vote.  Granted, I had maybe only 3 tablespoons of each kind, but it really adds up when you think of how rich a chili can be.  And one word: beans.  Needless to say I'm hurtin' right now.

So with all of those confessions out on the table, I'm kind of relieved that I won't be able to give you a stats update tomorrow.  Instead of weighing myself tomorrow morning, I'm getting up super early to run from my house into work.  It is a long story, but come March 1 I will no longer have my wonderful garage parking spot in my office building and so I'm testing out different commute options.  I do have a bike, and I know the bus route, but I think running the 3.9 miles from home to work is my top choice.  When all is said and done, it will be 7.8 miles total.   I know I can do this, because I did an 8-mile loop on Guemes Island on Sunday after taking a wrong turn on one of the island's four roads and ended up halfway up the length of the island instead of running along the south shore like I'd planned.

Wish me luck as I'm trudging up the east side of Capitol Hill tomorrow.

Weekly Update

I am not happy to give today's update.  As you can see, I gained almost an entire pound and it all went straight to my ass.  I used to say I am lucky because I'm an all-over weight gainer without some unfortunate localized telltale area.  No, folks, I was wrong.  I apparently do have one and it's my ass.

I made some bad decisions over the weekend, drinking a lot of wine, eating sweets, and generally eating too much, resulting in feeling bloated and over-salted.  So despite my best efforts to get out and be active every day, my poor diet choices came back to bite me in the... well... ass.

Today I made sure I got out and pounded the pavement for five miles at lunch.  I took a coworker with me and she had me sprint the last two blocks, which I hate doing but it feels awesome as soon as I stop.  Plus I don't want to look like a sissy.  Overall, it felt really good and I didn't feel sluggish, so maybe I'm on the mend.  Here's to a better update next week.

Coffeemate and a Check-In

This morning I woke up and I was a little sore, undoubtedly from yesterday's spill.  I don't feel like running today.  I'm not gonna.  I'm tired and my ribs/everything hurts.  I feel like it's hurting more as the day progresses.

Today is day-two without Coffeemate, and so far I'm not really missing it.  My co-worker Jeff calls it "white death."  I have to admit, that was part of my decision (maybe the nail in the coffin) to give it up.  I think I might be able to go cold turkey, but I'm not going to commit to that route just yet.  I think I need a full week of success before I call it out as a sustainable goal.

So I've been getting Jillian Michaels' e-newsletter, and one of her articles was How to Take Off Those Last 10 Pounds.  Her advice is simple, direct, and not at all what I want to do.  But I'm going to try... at least a little.  I drink plenty of water and I work out (but I guess I could more), and I try to stay away from processed foods, but the drinking and the salting are where I definitely over-indulge.  I am going to try really hard over the next several weeks to cut down on both A LOT and see how I feel.  I typically eat about twice the recommended sodium in a day, so this will be an interesting experiment.

still at it

 Wow.  I didn't realize it had been ten days since I last checked in.  I have no idea if anyone is even reading this and would notice.  Just in case, here I am confessing my fitness ups and downs to the cyberspace void.

Please enjoy the Strange Days album cover while I tell you a little bit about the past week and a half...

Since we last chatted, I went away for the weekend, ate really rich foods, drank a lot of delicious wine, beer, and cocktails, and probably gained a few.  I had a great time doing it.

Monday I felt bloated and sluggish, so I went for a run at lunch and then an hour long walk in the evening.  It was a great way to kick off my slowly escalating fitness obsession.  Tuesday I showed up to the step n sculpt class feeling tired, but I powered through.  I took the easy road on some of the drills, and by the end of the class my guilt had gotten to me, so I spend 20 minutes on the treadmill to compensate for not giving it my all when I had the opportunity.

Yesterday I had a breakthrough.  A running breakthrough.  I dragged myself to the gym at 5:15 to power it out on the treadmill.  I decided I wouldn't set a goal - I'd just go until I needed to stop.  I plugged in my ipod, pushed the quick start button, and let my endurance guide me.  I felt so good I did four and a half miles before I started to feel done.  I decided to round up to the nearest mile, and push through five whole miles.  It was phenomenal.  I feel like I've really overcome my knee issues.

Today I went to my morning step class, which focused a lot on strength training and general toning.  I know my butt is going to hurt tomorrow, and it's going to be great.  At lunch I decided to use my free time to return to the gym and pound out three more miles on the treadmill.  I've burned a thousand calories today.  That's right.  Starting to feel like the old me again.

Here's the kicker:  I gained weight and I'm not losing anything.  It's really frustrating.  I'll check back in after this weekend and hopefully I'll have a good number to throw at you.

Yesterday:

Total Calories: 2009

Net Calories: 1223 (246 under)

H2O Intake: 64 oz

Total Exercise: 60 min

Cardio: 60 min

Balancing Indulgences

Sometimes it's ok to drink 4 glasses of wine in an evening.  Sometimes it's ok to have little extra snacks outside of meals.  Probably best not to do both in one evening.

Regrets and Regressions

The past week has been one long over-indulgence and disregard for what I know is good for me.  in addition to enjoying the culinary side of life in excess, I ignored my promise to my body to stop eating wheat products.  When I stepped on the scale a few days ago I confirmed what I already knew: much of my hard work was undone.  I was even chided by my wii fit, not that I didn't deserve it.  You can see how puffy I am in the picture; most of it is due to wheat consumption.  I regret my absence of will-power and lack of determination to stay on track, and the way my body felt as a result, but we're here to admit our mistakes and move on to focus on positive progress, so let's look ahead.

Sunday evening I paid for what I've done with a long walk in my neighborhood, and then vowed to do better the next day.  I did.  I got some brisk, low-impact exercise in at lunch, skipped snacks and sweets, drank no empty calories, and had a lovely (gluten-free, thankfully) sushi dinner.  I feel a whole lot better today.

Yesterday:

Total Calories: 1627

Net Calories: 1424 (45 under)

H2O Intake: 40 oz

Total Exercise: 45 min

Cardio: 0 min

The Power of NO

I haven't been really losing weight at the rate I'd like to, and I have a ways to go.  I know a big part of the reason is I've been too lax on my indulgences, so today I practiced my ability to say no.  So far today, I've said no to girl scout cookies, cheese (and you know how tough that is for me!), and cream and sugar in my coffee.

Rather than feeling deprived, I feel strong and in control.  I'm proud of being able to choose my long term goal over immediate satisfaction.  It's not always easy for me.  And because I was able to deny those midday indulgences and go to the gym, I can enjoy a glass or two of wine this evening, absolutely guilt free.  Folks, I've just traded up.

shame

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I must shamefully admit, I haven't been that nice to my body this week.  In addition to skipping my workouts all week, my dinner last night was a collection of passed appetizers from Seastar (so delicious!!), and I had an undocumented number of glasses of white wine, followed by two double-shots of espresso in Bailey's.  I feel awful, both in spirit and physically.

In about an hour I'm going to run across the street to the gym in an attempt to try to redeem myself in some way.

quick and dirty

I'm embarrassed about how bad I was to my body over the weekend.  I ate fast food twice, drank A LOT, and sat around snacking.  I don't regret it, but I'm well aware of how my body is affected.  I felt ill.

Just out of curiosity I estimated what I ate on Friday night, and it ended up being more than double my calorie allowance.  Ugh. When I think about how often I did something like that over the past couple years, I cringe.  No wonder I gained back 15 lbs.  Sheesh.

I don't have the stats for yesterday, but I did jog for 40 minutes, so at least I'm redeemed a little in that way.

does ping pong count?

 

I know I said I was going to try out that exercise last night, but I didn't.  Instead, I went out with a couple girlfriends and ate tons of Mexican food and had three drinks. 1500 calories later, I started to feel a little guilty and started wracking my brain trying to figure out if I could count any activity of the evening as exercise.  We did play ping pong for a bout a half an hour at the second bar we went to.  My calorie tracker says 30 min of ping pong is worth 150 calories.  Hey - I'll take it.  I am not under the delusion, however, that it at all counts as cardio.  Bad Monica.

Yesterday:

Total Calories: 2357

Net Calories: 1660 (411 over)

H2O Intake: 56 oz

Total Exercise: 70 min

Cardio: 0 min

a delicious nemesis

Yesterday I had a great day, workout-wise and eating-wise.  Mid-day Wednesday was gloriously sunny and crisp so I took the opportunity at my lunch hour to go out and run.  It was fantastic.  Plus, I'm still sore from my work-out the day before.  In that sense, I feel really good.

After work yesterday, in an effort to stay away as long as possible while my man hosted the fellas for poker night, I went out with some folks to belltown for a light dinner... and drinks.  The whole evening I thought to myself, "edamame, curried cauliflower, and sushi aren't so bad but these cocktails are gonna get me!"

Even with that in mind, I enjoyed three gin and ginger ales during the course of the evening.  They were fantastic.  When I 'fessed up to all of last night's indulgences on the Daily Plate this morning, I noticed I was 600 calories over my recommended intake - about 3 gin and ginger ales, I'd say.  I knew it.

This is just further confirmation that I need to cut down those cocktails that go down so easily and stick to wine, which is under 100 calories a glass and would have cut the impact of my "oops" in half.