lessinayear

Was out of town this weekend for a family trip to Ohio. Long story, but suffice it to say that it had to be done, even though it meant 15+ hours in the car for very little ultimate reward. Anyway, it’s done, and I’m back.

Didn’t get to do much exercising over the weekend at all (Saturday managed a good walk, but my main activity all weekend was sitting in a car). Didn’t eat terribly, but not great either. Don’t you wish restaurants offered better options? Even salads are fatty in restaurants! (Overall, can’t complain, though I did have a couple of meals that as I was eating them I could feel myself bloating!)

In good news, I did lose three pounds last week. As little as I did exercise, that makes me pretty sure it was water weight/bloating that caused the gain week before last, but whatever. I still need to get my act together and get back to the gym in a dedicated way this week.

Not a lot else to report, really… Just sort of checking in since I was MIA since midday Friday. Hope everyone’s Monday is off to a good start!

I’m still nursing my wounded foot from the long weekend. It sucks, because I can’t really be on my feet for very long - which is ruling out my cardio at the gym. Boo! I feel sluggish and I want some elliptical action!

Anyway, I’m giving it at least today to hopefully heal up a bit more (I’m still bleeding through the bandages with just normal walking around the office and such), and maybe by tomorrow I can get back in the gym.

At least I’ve eaten pretty well this week. I did indulge with a brownie last night for dessert with friends (my boyfriend and I made dinner for some “couple friends” who have a new baby over at their house, and they provided dessert as a followup to our buffalo salmon, broccoli, and new potatoes - it WAS a tasty dinner!), but otherwise it’s been a pretty moderate week on the food front. The past couple of days I’ve gone out for lunch with a friend and we’ve split a sandwich on both occasions, so I’m really doing a lot better with my portion control issues.

Anyway, other than this hole in my foot, I’m doing well, not a lot to report. Happy mid-week to all!

I set up a challenge for the month of June - an attempt to lose 10 pounds. I set up the challenge mostly because I knew my grad school course, on top of full-time work, on top of personal obligations, was going to make it REALLY hard to stick to a healthy eating or exercise plan. And I was right… But having the challenge kept me accountable, gave me something very concrete to shoot for, and offered me some great support from my challenge buddies (yay team!).

So I just weighed in to see what the June outcome was… And I did NOT lose 10 pounds. During June, I lost five pounds - half the goal.

BUT, you know what? That last pound that I’ve lost since Sunday’s weigh-in (actually half-pound, but I only count in “wholes” and round up when I get the .5 on the scale - lol) puts me at 199. Welcome to Onederland!

I’m very glad to be out of the 200s again. This time for good. I promise y’all. More importantly, I promise myself. I feel really motivated about being down into the 100s, even if I’m just barely there. I can’t wait to wrap up tomorrow’s final class (YIPPEE!) and head to the lake for swimming and skiing and Frisbee and all the other exercise that I’ll get there, as well as some relaxing with my boyfriend, his family, and other friends.

I’m feeling good this afternoon, y’all - hope you all are too!

I’ve been a little quiet the past couple of days. No blogs, because I’ve been trying to get my work done for the conclusion of my summer class. THANK GOODNESS it’s over this coming Thursday, July 2. But, less cool is the fact that basically my entire grade in the course comes down to that day — I have to give my in-class presentation that day, as well as turn in a short and a long paper, all at once! So yes, I’ve been stressing. This weekend has been full of homework, and freaking out about homework, and more homework…

Anyway, I got up early this morning to get back to work on my long paper (the biggest source of stress) and decided a Sunday that begins at 6:30 a.m. can’t get much worse…might as well go ahead and weigh-in. I was nervous about this week. I’ve had a couple of maintain weeks in a row that have disappointed, and I didn’t get to the gym toward the end of the week like I’d hoped (partially school and partially an unexpected visit from an out-of-town friend Friday that changed my plans). I also had wine with said friend, so I figured those calories might have messed things up…

But I sucked it up, got on the scale, and… 200! I’m down 2 pounds! (OK, just between us, it was ACTUALLY 199.5, and a big part of me wants to just go with 199, but I’ve been rounding up, so I’m going to keep with that… Just SO CLOSE to the success of Onederland!)

So I was reflecting on how that was the case, and I have a few thoughts. First, one of my personal struggles with weight loss is portion control. If you put it in front of me, I’m GOING to eat it, whether I’m hungry or not, whether I want it or not… I’ve REALLY been working on that. For me, I think that’s almost a bigger deal than exercise — recognizing that if I’m not exercising as much, I don’t need to eat as much… And I DID think about that a lot this past week. I knew, for example, that I wasn’t going to be able to make the gym Wednesday because of some meetings and deadlines at work, so I adjusted my food intake accordingly. Even Friday, when my plans to go to the gym turned into a lunch with wine with a friend, since I knew I was drinking some calories, and not exercising, I adjusted what I ordered for my meal, how much of it I ate, and also what I had for dinner that night…

And holy crap! It worked!

I know this isn’t rocket science, but it’s a pretty powerful reflection for me this morning. I feel really re-motivated by seeing that scale movement, and I’m SO happy that I just have to make it through Thursday’s final summer class and then I can throw myself more wholeheartedly into my exercise without the distraction of grad school for more than a month. Anyway, hope everyone has an equally eye-opening, inspiring Sunday!

Spent the weekend at my mom’s house visiting with her as well as a friend from middle/high school days who was in town for the first time in several years. It was a good — if fast — visit.

Just got home and decided to get the weekly weigh-in over with… Yay! Two pounds lost! That’s pretty much the speed I want, exactly what I’m looking for… I’m pleased. I’m also more or less on pace to meet my 10-pound challenge for June. Yay!

Not a whole lot else to report. I’m not feeling great today — a little queasy for no clear reason — so I’m going to see if I can find something light and bland for dinner, and then jump into all the homework (stupid grad class!) I’ve neglected for the past few days.

Wishing everyone a good Sunday night…

Hope everyone (stateside, that is!) is having a good Memorial Day holiday. I know I’ve enjoyed the three-day weekend!

It was a great weekend…on a lot of levels. Friday I got off work early and my boyfriend took me out for sushi. There’s a really good sushi place in Knoxville (believe it or not!) called Nama. I rarely go because it’s prices are a little steep, but… Sweet boyfriend had a gift certificate he’d been saving, so we indulged! After lunch we did a favor for a friend who’s getting married next month — drove to the church where her wedding is and from there to the reception site to “test run” her directions. It was a LOVELY afternoon for a ride in my convertible!

Saturday was also really pretty… We slept in (blissful) and dropped off boyfriend’s mandolin at the music store for restringing, grabbed lunch, watched a movie…

Sunday was the best. We got up and went to the gym (he’s not a big gym-goer, but he’s a good sport about it when I ask him to go with me), and followed up 45 minutes on the elliptical with about an hour in the pool. Not intense swimming, but a few laps, and some water treading and such, as well as some restful floating. And then one of my best friends called and he and his wife and daughter were going to be in town for dinner, so we joined them for a tasty meal and a great visit.

Today has been a lazy day, but food-wise it’s been good, and I’m about cap off the day with a healthy dinner of edamame (yum!). I sort of “cheated” and weighed myself again today, and, sure enough, I was down a pound from yesterday… But I’m not going to record that loss; just wait and see what next Sunday brings and try not to obsess too much about the scales in the meantime.

A good start of the week to everyone…

I work full-time (and then some…). I do some volunteer work regularly. I’m also in the process of working on my master’s degree. I’ve had May off from school, but I’m taking a summer class that’s super-intense and condensed in the month of June. There are pros and cons to this: I get a whole class over with in just a month instead of dragging it out over a whole semester! But — I have to condense a whole class into a month versus a whole semester!

Basically, I’m going to be BUSY. Swamped, in fact. And that makes me nervous on the healthy lifestyle front. If I didn’t have obligations like work and school and volunteering and family and friends… Sure, I could workout all the time and eat really well! But when I’m booked nonstop from 6:30 a.m. till 10 p.m., that’s a lot less convenient.

I know we all have busy lives — families, jobs, kids, significant others… How do we balance our obligations to others and the commitments we’ve made with our own needs and the commitment to oursleves and our health?

The upcoming adjustment to my schedule worries me. I think about yesterday when I had a pretty easy, open day. I was able to leave work for a while in the afternoon and go on an hourlong walk. I was able to leave work right on time, go by the grocery and pick up stuff to make dinner, and head home to make a healthy, homemade, veggie-filled meal. I had time to relax as well as get things done around the house, help my boyfriend with a project he’s working on, respond to some e-mails… And still got to bed about 11 for a good night’s sleep. I’m anxious that in June, work will inevitably pick back up, and/or I’ll have to use the “slow times” for homework, not walking or the gym. I’ll head to class when work is over, and sit in there for 4+ hours, two nights a week, and not have time to cook; I’ll just have time to grab Taco Bell on the way home, stay up doing homework, and collapse into bed, not feeling well-rested…

I’m also being a little whiney and pessimistic. It’s just hard to feel like I’m on a good start, and know that a pretty big roadblock is just ahead. I’m going to spend some time over the long weekend trying to figure out how to schedule things efficiently so I have time for everything and everyone that’s important to me — including ME!

I’ve decided to do a weekly weigh-in. I know people have different thoughts about how often you should weigh yourself, but I’ve decided to do once a week on Sundays. Daily is just all too much for me–there’s too much daily fluctuation in weight for that to be meaningful to me, and it’s also harder to see progress, I think. I hope if I do it weekly I can chart a steady pound-or-two progess along the way to my goal.

So today was the first weigh-in, and I’ve lost a pound. Not earthshattering, but what I’m looking for. I want healthy, sustainable loss, that allows me to live a little (yes, I did have dessert after dinner this weekend when my boyfriend’s parents were buying!), not crazy, rapid weight loss that will pile back on in twice the time when I stop starving myself.

So, a little celebration, and a lot of work to go. On to next week!

This weekend my boyfriend and I are taking a trip to his parents’ house. It’s just a couple of hours away, so the travel is not a big deal. The challenge comes from the fact that we’ll be off our routine, so it will be harder than usual to exercise and I won’t have as much control over food options.

Tonight, for example, I know we have dinner reservations at some relatively nice restaurant. That’s not a big deal; my guess is that I can find a nice salmon salad or similar on the menu. Tomorrow, though, will probably be a day of dining out, and perhaps not in places that offer the healthiest choices. Part of the difficulty is that I don’t eat meat (besides fish), so when most people can order the relatively healthy grilled chicken sandwich… Me, not so much. I have to order the not at all healthy grilled cheese or fried fish sandwich. You get the idea…

The upside is that, if the weather cooperates and it doesn’t pour rain all weekend, we’ll probably go hiking out to a waterfall on Saturday, and maybe up into the mountains a bit. And that will be awesome!

We have a lot of travel coming up over the next several months, so I’m just going to have to get myself in the mindset for it, deal with the food as best I can, and keep the exercise routine as stable as possible. It’s about maintaining my own focus, and not letting myself make excuses for why I “can’t.” This time excuses are not an option!

My boyfriend has come a long way, healthy-eating-wise, since we’ve been together. Pre-me, he ate fast food at least 10-15 meals per week, and that’s a conservative estimate. I also want to be clear that I don’t mean a reasonable fresh sandwich from Subway or something — I mean Krystal hamburgers and chicken wings and french fries…

I’ve never much been one for that kind of food, or for eating out in general. I’d much rather cook at home. And I’d much rather have something fresh and healthy than fried and fatty.

Our first few meals together were…interesting. It was hard, because he’s a meat-eater and I’m a pescatarian (I eat fish/seafood occasionally, but no other meat). I wanted to try innovative ethnic recipes, and he wanted to stick to “meat and potatoes.”

But last night I realized how far we’ve come. I e-mailed him before leaving work to see what sounded good for dinner. I was prepared for him to say he didn’t know, and I was going to offer a quick pasta dish or maybe baked fish… But he surprised me and said he’d been looking at recipes (my boyfriend?! who hardly knew how to turn on his stove six months ago?!) and thought it might be fun to try something new (my boyfriend?! who wants the same things over and over?!). He suggested a seared tuna steak with pineapple-jalapeno salsa. Yes!

Even though my weight is not where I want it to be, I’m glad that we are both eating better these days, and it’s nice to have someone to cook and share good, healthy, nutritious food with.