Thursday, June 26, 2008

I just did an hr long Latino/African dance class off of Fit Tv with MaDonna Grimes as the instructor and I had so much fun! Not to mention burning 600 calories. something I usually can only do with several workouts or feeling halfdead when I walk out of the gym. I did this in my living room and it was fun and new and awesome. Everytime I have tried to do a dvd off netflix or something like that I haven't liked it so I thought maybe this type of thing was just not for me. I think maybe I just tried the wrong ones.
Happy Birthday Honey! Not that you read this. heh.
I thought I posted this yesterday but it is not here. :(

Hey all, tomorrow(actually now today) is my husband's birthday and I think it would be fun if he got emails from people (even strangers to him) wishing him a happy one. If anyone is game send to jasonshappybirthday AT gmail.com (changing the AT to an @ sign of course).

Thank you to anyone that does it, I think it could be fun. *grin

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Day 7 of no caffeine or alcohol! Also:finally answered comments from Friday so check that out if you want.

No headaches anymore, had a grizzly bear of one last night and had to take more motrin even though I tried to avoid it. The pain was so bad I couldn't go to sleep so I gave in-
What I am really buzzed about right now is I had just about argued myself into skipping my workout today (planned weight training) but went out there and did some anyway. I doubt it was anymore than 20 minutes at most, which is paltry but I DID it. I wasn't feeling that boost though that I wanted from the workout which was definitely a let down. So I knocked out an assignment for my online class (bane of my existence right now) which made me feel amazing and then I went and did a 30 minute yoga workout I had recorded and LOVED IT. It was great! I cannot stress enough how awesome and FREE-called Namaste Yoga on Fit TV, I am definitely recording the series now and will do it as much as humanly possible. The sequences were not too difficult but got my blood pumping and lifted my mood. The woman's voice leading the class and the people demonstrating were soothing and beautiful, very nice. I turned the FIOS guide on to find Fit Tv to make sure the whole thing recorded and a show called Shimmy was on and it was belly dancing. I didn't hesitate, just jumped up and did it and LOVED IT too! That is now being recorded as well. That one I only did 15 minutes of (caught the end) and it was wearing me out but it was actually fun, something that has been missing lately. Two wins for Fit Tv, will be trying all star workout as well, it has boot camp classes, kick boxing you name it. If you can get this channel I recommend it.

Friday, June 20, 2008

So Day 2 of no caffeine or alcohol is going well.

But let me backtrack a bit.
Thank you all for your kind comments regarding my grandmother, she is doing as well as can be expected but...it is just not a good situation and it is not going to be a good situation. Kada, I hope your Nan improves as well, so sorry to hear she is having a hard time.
I haven't posted anything because our son came down with a fever Tuesday night and then by Wednesday noon it was almost 103 and I started wigging out. I had it in my mind somehow that his brain would boil if he got any hotter (not sure where I heard that) and tylenol was not bringing it down. I put him in a lukewarm bath and brought it down about a degree and the doc called back in and we got him in at 4:30 that day, our doc's office rocks on the sick child appts. The old one was terrible. By that point I had already called my husband crying (I got less than 5 hrs of sleep and was so worried, not a good combination) and he came home from work and took him to the doctor. After I had already called him I calmed down and could have done everything myself but it was nice to be rescued I have to admit.

I have done an hr of power yoga twice this week and it felt great and it amazed me AS ALWAYS (when will I learn) how sore it makes me when I don't practice for awhile and how great it makes me feel. I am trying a sort of break from alcohol and caffeine for awhile, not sure how long really as we go on vacation soon and I am already getting pressured about drinking-maybe I will just tell them no, what a novel idea. The alcohol is not a problem but boy howdy I sure am wanting coffee today, it is creepy how often I have had these little whispers to just go make a cup and how it is silly to go without it. That is obviously a problem. What do I hope to gain from this? Hopefully better sleep and a more alert state with more energy.

Another note of weirdness: Yesterday I felt huge, just unwieldy and gross, hard to explain. Apparently I was bloated up about 2 inches through my midsection. I swear my body is so strange, even my new bigger clothes were not fitting and today they are loose. Bizarre.

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

After posting Friday and then going in to start yoga in our bedroom I received the news that my grandmother was taken to the hosptial and my mother had jumped in the car and sped up there that morning. All I knew is she would not wake up and her boyfriend was scared and called my mom to ask what to do. I found out later initial impressions were CHF (congestive heart failure). My mind immediately raced through what would happen as I am quite familiar with CHF, most of my patients have it in the hospitals. The fluid must be managed through diet, some type of drug therapy, and sometimes a fluid restriction. My mom tells me, "You were right, they put her on a 2 gm sodium diet" and for a brief instant I felt angry but I knew that had no place in the situation. Why the hell am I going through all of this heart ache and stress to get this degree if my own family does not believe I know what I am talking about? Same thing when she was going through chemo and needed to restrict sodium and numerous other people close to me-no one listens and no one seems to credit me with being the expert, which despite my seemingly constant need to down play my achievements, I am. Like I said, brief instant, mainly I was just overwrought about my grandma, the loveliest soul I've ever met and a big influence on my life.
My mom stayed up there over night and came home at noon Saturday-they believe it was secondary to the meds she was on (something else I suggested) and not actually her heart, in other words not a primary case so something that can be treated a lot easier. Very relieved.
Ate like crap all weekend and then yesterday ate fairly well and did an hr of yoga again so I am sore all over today. Diet mentality was taking hold again so I surrender and know that I have to make IE work for me, I have no other choice. My other choices are compulsive over eating or dieting, both of which drive me nuts. Oddly enough they both go hand in hand as well.
Cooked a meatless dish for dinner last night and Husband ate it with no complaint and said it was good. It is almost vegan except for the feta cheese but I bet you could sub out some nice chopped olives for the cheese to retain the briney salty flavor. I'll post it later when I feel better, right now I have a pounding headache and just want a cup of coffee and the couch. Hate feeling like a slug, I got so much accomplished yesterday. Hurumph.

Friday, June 13, 2008

Are we there yet?

I've eaten well for two days (yesterday was sort of a miss) and worked out a bit here and there so why am I not magically fitting back in to my clothes yet? This is what my silly brain seems to think will happen. Um, no, it took about two months to grow OUT of the clothes so I don't think that will be fixed in a few days. Our beach vacation that has been planned for practically a year is coming up in 3 weeks and I am more flabby and unable to fit into anything than I have been since losing the baby weight two yrs ago. Argh.
BUT! I am getting nicely visible back muscles, shoulders and arms are looking good and my legs feel strong again. Nevermind the giant ugly bruise by right knee caused by a loaded barbell swinging down onto it off the bench. I am sure it will still be there, my bruise and me hanging out on the sand with a Modelo in hand.
On my calendar today is some form of cardio or alternative exercise like yoga but I have yet to do anything but sit on the computer and it is getting hotter by the minute. Like M@rla our temps are consistently around 100 degrees F here and if I don't get out there before ten it is miserable.
I did lift Wed. morning and then rode my bike around the block. That was followed by moving furniture around my mom's new apt and then swimming at her friend's pool. It had a diving board and I dove over and over-haven't done that in at least ten yrs and wasn't sure I would remember how. We had great fun and it was way better than standing around getting waterlogged. I made potato salad yesterday but our mayo looked sketchy (rarely eat it) so I threw in lite sour cream instead of it tastes pretty good though a little....sour creamy, haha!
Have venison steaks marinated in the fridge, may pick up some corn to grill as well and serve that with the potato salad. FIL is coming to stay the weekend and Husband seems to want to cook for him though I would rather get take out then worry with someone else's opinion. I do not feel guilty over that, heh.

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Oh my goodness, I must have been slacking on the fiber, I am just FOUL today and that is all I'll say about that.
Another great day, ate well and spent several hrs reading a great book and I just got back from a quickly paced 30 min walk. I intended on maybe lifting weights too but I feel too shaky and I have promised myself I will do it in the morning. I feel good right now though and that is what matters. I need to wear my pedometer and see how far since I lengthened the distance by adding in two more loops I used to leave out through the neighborhood.

Tonight was turkey Tuesday on the menu so we had a dish I had already made Sunday. We had turkey bratwurst and extra lean turkey bacon cooked so I chopped that up and added it to whole wheat spiral pasta with a 2% Italian three cheese mix and sauteed sweet peppers and onion. Mixed that together with basil marinara sauce and baked it for about 25 minutes. Turned out great, in fact describing it just made my mouth water, maybe that's the low blood sugar talking. Threw the marinated shrimp stuff from last night into a flat-out wrap with some shredded 2% cheddar and spinach leaves for lunch, I am trying for more variety now but I was worried about leaving the shrimp for too long.
Gotta drink my little 3 oz yogurt (post workout recharge, low cal and has good mix of electrolytes naturally) and then tackle my school work. Boo.

I'm not dropping scale weight but since I cleaned up my act my body looks and feels a lot more like I am comfortable with and I am feeling good.

Monday, June 09, 2008

And with no preamble or semblance of cohesion...

I've decided to plan our food like a menu, I've planned two weeks of menus for a hospital including all three squares with diet restrictions met-surely I can do this for our home to make my life easier. So far I've just settled on entrees-Sunday-venison or duck, Monday-seafood or meatless, Tuesday-Turkey, Wednesday-Chicken, Thursday-Beef, and then Friday can be leftovers, take out or dining out. I figure to have leftovers made into salads or other incarnations for lunches and will be making fritattas, whole wheat pancakes and steel cut chewy oatmeal for breakfasts.
Tonight I thawed some precooked, detailed shrimp and marinated them along with sweet bell peppers, baby portabellos, and gorgeous locally grown tomatoes in a sun dried tomato lite vinegarette dressing with extra vinegar, olive oil, garlic, a dash of sea salt and fresh cracked pepper. I let that sit for a few hrs and then served it on vegetable rice pilaf. We each had a small plate and felt totally satisfied. I got a ton of wonderful produce at Costco of all places, much of it grown here in Texas, fresh, with no disgusting coating of wax or chemicals. I did buy a ton so it has been fun to feast on fruit and veggies today. Our son ate two sandwich baggies of grapes all by himself and shared an asian pear with me at breakfast. He is a fruit lover so that is no surprise but he is also enjoying salad with me which makes my heart glad.
I kept him home today and we had a wonderful time, a welcome cold front came in along with dark skies and high winds. He helped me to make a cup of coffee (balanced on his little chair) and then we set up tents in the living room and watched Sound of Music. It was every bit as lovely as it sounds.
Just went for a slightly longer walk and did it in less time so I must be improving though it doesn't feel like it. Tomorrow the wee one goes back to school so I'll be hitting the garage to hoist hunks of metal in a repetitive fashion.

An idea of what I ate today for kicks:

Afore mentioned chewy oatmeal (vastly different than old fashioned oats) with a squidge of honey and a whole wheat english muffin with a slice of dark red tomato and a vegetarian sausage patty. I got halfway through the sandwich and was full so I wrapped the plate in plastic wrap and put it in the fridge. Oh and I had about a cup of grapes.
String cheese and a large asian pear.
Flat out wrap bread with chipotle hummus, sweet peppers, tomato and honey ham.
Strawberries
Bowl of Fiber One raisin bran type cereal with lite vanilla soy milk.
nonfat Fage yogurt with dried tropical fruit sprinkled in and a squirt of honey.
Shrimp dinner I already talked about-

I won't bore you with this all the time but I have to say I am pleased with what I ate today and am looking forward to each day going forward.
Hungry now so I think I'll go scrounge up a nutritious, tasty, snack.

As soon as I can figure the video thing out I'll be doing that sometimes but I have yet to tackle it. Stuff and nonsense.

Sunday, June 08, 2008

So I'm evolving again.

Is anyone really surprised? I don't know why I am surprised ever time the new wears off and I get bogged down and am not sure how to fix it. I then find the NEW BEST THING and am off and running again. Why do I try and force myself to be someone that sticks with the same thing for very long?
I came to the realization today that it is A-OK for me to change my mind continually as long as I am still heading in a postitive direction and it hurts no one else. Intuitive eating feels too aimless for me, it lasted for a month this time and I am taking away some very important lessons. I hate to come across as totally ditching the endeavor or that it is not valid or wonderful, it is, but my curse or blessing (depending on how you look at it) is to have a driving need to change constantly, to evolve, to try new things.
I am not digging how I am feeling about my body or my health or my energy levels lately, and I definitely need a recharge.
Not sure what to try next, so far this year it has been vegetarian eating and intuitive eating, we'll see what I land on now. As always, nothing unhealthy or too restrictive. Vegetarian eating was too restrictive and intuitive eating too loose. I have discovered I need structure but too much kicks in disordered thinking.
Accepting myself apparently means to be okay with the fact that I am not that accepting. Hmm.

PS Weights workout again today, so two this week-want to shoot for three though I am thinking I have to get my wake up schedule under control in order to hit my workouts like clockwork. Been working on that and am naturally waking up fairly early now so that should be "no sweat". Ha.

Monday, June 02, 2008

Worked out this morning (full body weights workout) and just got back from my walk. I'm listening to an audiobook that is really enjoyable-a Janet Evanovich romantic comedy/mystery type story. It's cute and the mile and a quarter speed by without me even thinking about it really.
My overachieving nature says that is not a long enough walk but I am proud that I am just doing it at all and I think it will be a good addition. Time permitting we are going to start going as a family too and that will be good for the spirit as well.
I am thinking I will start doing some video posts, it will help me to be more realistic and not get twisted to see myself as I really am and a lot of the time I could talk about things that I just can't seem to type out into words. I hope that won't be too lame for anyone out there. Mainly I'll probably just talk or show things I've found and I plan on adding some workouts in as well, I always liked that on other people's pages. It sounds like more work that might be a deterrant but I actually think it will encourage me to post more often.

Guilty pleasure: Torchwood

Almost done reading French Women Don't Get Fat-great read actually-I wasn't sure what I would think. Lots of intuitive eating principles but with more structure and lots of great recipes. I also bought her book French Women for All Seasons. She talks a lot about eating and living for seasons and how it makes items that come into season (like strawberries or tomatoes for example) so exciting and pleasurable when you wait for them to be fresh and local. That's a simplified version of a great concept that I am bumbling-maybe I'll do a vid post about that. Also, Sally writes very well about this type of idea-actually a lot of what the book says is how she is currently living and succeeding. If you don't read her page, you should start. I'm just saying.