Mini vacation - but not from the gym!

So my mom and I are in Bethlehem Pennsylvania for a working-vacation this weekend. Yesterday was the first day in a while that I didn't do anything active (after I got out of work, I had a six hour drive ahead of me!) and we had Chinese food for dinner, so I definitely wasn't feeling too happy with that. However, I DID outline two cheat days for myself - days that go over the amount of calories MFP has determined I should consume (1200 p/d), so I suppose it's not too horrible.

Today has been a pretty good day in terms of activity and it's not even half over yet! We started our tour-de-casinos after a light breakfast (a banana and a fiber bar and a cup of coffee) and then came back to the hotel and went to the gym for a while. I did weights for 15 minutes, elliptical for 30 minutes, and two miles on the bike in 12 minutes.

After the gym we went out to lounge by the pool. My biking has left with me an unsavory shorts-tan on my thighs, so I'm hoping that exposing my upper thighs whilst wearing a bathing suit will help even things out. I read my Kindle for a while and then went into the pool and did ten laps and lazed around for a while.

We're about to head out for our next round of casinos, then do some shopping, then some Linner (lunch+dinner), then another round and probably back to the hotel for some R+R before our final round (at midnight. Ew).

I am SO happy that I made sure to get a hotel with a free breakfast, a gym, and a pool. This is turning out to be a pretty fun pre-Vineyard vacation. And a not altogether unhealthy one either!

Minutes not miles

So I've been [obsessively] using My Fitness Pal to track what I eat and when I exercise. It is SO wonderful. Every day when I click the "update entry" button, it tells me "If every day was like today, you would lose X in 5 weeks." Most of the time, it teeters around 15 pounds...which is pretty damn encouraging. Meaning that if every day was like today, I would lose the thirty pounds I want to lose in 10 weeks. Though that doesn't seem realistic.

However, I HAVE made drastic changes in my diet and exercise.

Although I started working out again as soon as I was able to walk and didn't keep track of anything, I find that keeping track really helps me make more conscious decisions about what I eat. Earlier this summer, I felt like nothing made me full. I was always having cravings and always snacking. I felt horrible about myself.

Now I find that even though I'm consuming less than 1200 calories a day and burning more than half of that a day in exercise alone, I never feel hungry.

Maybe it has to do with the fact that my days are fuller and I am spending less time in my apartment. Maybe it has to do with the fact that I always want to have "calories remaining" at the end of the day. Whatever it has to do with, I like it.

I've already lost 2 pounds in the last week, breaking the 160 barrier and hopping down to 158. Not that that is acceptable in any way. It is still disgusting. But it is also encouraging.

One thing that MFP has opened my eyes to is the fact that in their book, minutes take precedence over miles. When I work out, I tend to measure my work out by the distance I go. I would do the elliptical for 2 miles and then be done. I would ride my bike for 10 miles and then be done. But MFP doesn't want to know how many miles I did. They just want to know how long I did it for.

I suppose it has to do with heart rate and yadda yadda, but it's pretty interesting to me. I think there should be some hybrid of the two to more accurately measure my work out. After all, I could walk 1 mile in an hour or 5 miles in an hour..it depends on my speed. Of course, there are some brackets in MFP that allow you to rate your activity as light, moderate etc. Sometimes I'm just not convinced they do my sweaty routines justice.

In any event, I'm feeling good (and wet - a thunderstorm interrupted my post work-out walk around Ring Road!)

Work-out Recap

So, I've mapped out my plan in the last entry. Today was my first day actually counting calories with My Fitness Plan and so far, so good.

I wasn't REALLY monitoring my food intake prior to this, though I have been eating a LOT healthier since school let out. For the last few weeks, here is my typical diet:

Breakfast: Fiber bar

Lunch: yogurt with nectarine, raspberries, strawberries, health nut mix

Snack: iced tea, chips and salsa

Dinner: something like pizza or pasta or a Lean Pocket or a sandwich etc

Also for the last few weeks, I have been maintaining my 10 miles a day / 5 days a week goal. Three weeks ago I biked 50 miles, two weeks ago I biked 50 miles and went to the gym three days that week, and this past week I biked 60 miles and went to the gym twice.

I've been biking a lot of beautiful trails and tomorrow will return to the Cape Cod Canal trail for an absolutely stunning 14 mile ride up and down the canal. I will make sure to post pictures :)

Originally, I was hoping to lose 10 pounds by the time I left for Martha's Vineyard. I expected my sudden change from inactivity to super exercising to have a much more drastic affect and the pounds to plunge to death, but no go on that one. I have been consistently working out and taking better care of my self for three weeks, and while I certainly feel a lot better and look a lot tanner, the scale is one rotten little nay-sayer keeping my spirits down.

I keep looking at success pictures on the r/loseit site and feeling desperate for my own success pictures, yet fear I will never have any exciting enough to post. I'm not obese and the most I could ever lose is probably 40 pounds. These people are losing 70+ pounds, so their pictures are extreme and extremely awesome. I'm happy that I never let myself go enough that I would need to lose 70 pounds, but I want my own success pics, too, gosh darnit! Some day.

So now my new goal is to lose 10 lb by September 1. Sounds reasonable, right? And with MFP by my side (and on my phone) it looks like I will definitely be able to meet that goal, as long as I don't sprain another ankle!

This shit is legit: Starting Over [for realz]

Yesterday was the first full day I was able to go about my life without crutches, an air cast, or a brace since my sprain. It took far too long for that little bugger to heal, but I didn't let it me slow me down [that much]. For two weeks, I hopped around on my left foot like a moron and by the third week I was able to hobble which turned into a limp which gradually turned into a fairly steady gait. I was also able to get back on my bike during week 3, which was a welcome activity compared to the sedentary weeks before it.

I am happy to report that I have been in full swing since regaining my ability to walk.

I am determined to lose at least 10 pounds before September 1 and have re-signed up for myfitnesspal.com -- I am watching my food consumption and exercising.

MY PLAN OF ATTACK

a) 10 miles a day / 5 days a week. This 10 miles can be walking, biking, elliptical or a combination of the three. I am just trying to get to 50 miles a week with exercise.

b) 1200 calories a day / 5 days a week. I enter my food into mytfitnesspal and it tells me how many calories I have consumed as well as how many I can consume for the rest of the day. The number increases depending on how much exercise I get. I am also giving myself 2 cheat days a week. Not so that I can "go crazy" and eat whatever I want, but two days where I'm not counting calories and obsessing over my consumption.

For instance, here is my "Diary" from today.

As you can see, I did a ton of cardio, which allowed me an 628 calories for the day. However, I haven't eaten anything else and am still 670 calories under my maximum for the day. Cheers to that!

According to the website, if I had a day like today every day, I would weigh 145 in 5 weeks. That would be a total loss of 15 pounds in a little over a month, which is crazy awesome. Not that I have the leisure to have a day like today every day. And hopefully I will have a lot LESS leisure because someone will hire me for a full time job in the near future! But still, seeing that data is both interesting and motivating!

c) weekly weigh-ins to keep me on track. I will do my first weigh-in on Wednesday morning.

d) weekly progress pictures. I will take pictures from the front, side and back. If looking my flab in the eye isn't motivation enough, I don't know what is!

e) keeping up with this damn blog again!

What are my motivators?

I started re-reading old blog posts from when I was doing the no-carb diet. While that was obviously unreasonable and didn't work out, I realized that I was 152 pounds in those entries and trying to lose weight. Now I have broken 160 and wobble between 159 and 162 on a daily basis. The thought disgusts me.

I've also started following this site - a sub-reddit dedicated to weight loss. The before and after pictures are SO incredible and inspiring.

Just in general, I have felt uncomfortable in my body since last September when I moved back on campus and began the steady scale climb.

Alright, time to bare it all. Here's the skinny:

Weight: 160ish (haven't weighed myself in over a week)

Bust: 38"

Waist: 32"

Navel-area: 36"

Hips: 45"

I will post pictures soon. Stay tuned!

Summer Goals

Every summer, I write a list of goals for myself. In fact, this is something I do about once a season. Most of the time, the lists include "Stop spending so much money!" "Read more!" and "Exercise more!"

My list this summer is more specific. Here are my summer fitness goals:

1) Do something active for at least 30 minutes a day

2) Be able to bike 50 miles by the end of the summer

3) Be able to run around Ring Road without stopping (2 miles)

4) Lose 10 pounds

I think those are certainly all attainable goals. Though I have always sucked at running and I'm a bit concerned that this ankle business may take its toll on that goal, but it doesn't hurt to try!

Now I just have to get on the mend so I can make sure the other goals can all be checked off on the list :)

Summer lovin: Week 1

...had me a blast. Emphasis on the past tense.

Last week I started up with my biking again and was really getting into the swing of the things.

Sunday - 8 mile bike ride at the Res with my dad

Monday - 25 mile bike ride at the Nashua trail with Kate & Steve

Tuesday - 15 miles around campus

Wednesday - 4 miles around campus

Thursday - 15 miles around campus

Friday - 3 miles around campus

Saturday - severely sprain my ankle

Yup. And now I can barely get around on crutches (I suck at them, btw), never mind walk and never mind bike :( As soon as I stepped off the curb and injured myself, the first thing I said was "How am I going to bike???"

I was then piggybacked / wheelchaired into the hospital, had xrays and received an air cast and crutches. And now I'm stretched out on the couch with my foot propped up against a bag of frozen peas and a delicious pizza being served to me by my maid, Arthur :)

Getting around with only one limb is annoying and surprisingly exhausting. I have to keep finding creative ways to maneuver myself around. Taking a shower was quite a challenge. I had to sit on the edge of the tub and swing myself in and then brace myself against the tub and prop my knee up on the shelf to keep the pressure off my ankle. And let's not even talk about how ridiculous it was for me to try to get dressed. Geez. Definitely makes me appreciate my ankle so much more now that I can't use it!

So here I am and here I'll be for a while. I'm hoping to start walking a little bit by tomorrow. My ankle originally swelled up to like a baseball and now the swelling has subsided a bit, though it's still all bruised and puffy.

Tomorrow I'm going to try to learn to drive with my left foot so I can head back to campus. This is my life.

Day 12:

So this weekend that did not happen was definitely not full of burgers and french fries and cake. Though I must say that my mom made a concerted effort to not have carbs in the house.

But now that it's over, I'm happily jumping back onto the no carb wagon.

Food for thought

Breakfast: 100 calorie yogurt

Snack: petite carrots; bottle of water

Lunch:

Dinner: will be trying out a Pepper-jack grilled chicken with succotash recipe from food network. I'm pretty pumped that grilling season is upon us! Gives me a lot more options for meat & veggies :)

I am going to have my third weigh-in tomorrow, and I must say that I'm not really looking forward to it. I'm having a fat day today and just don't feel good about my body. I know that I absolutely need to start complimenting my diet with exercise, but I just don't have time, dammit!

Next up: going for my first bike ride of the season! It will be magical!

Day 11: eff the wagon

So my Thursday shaped up pretty well, diet-wise.

This weekend, on the other hand, is going to be a hot mess. I'm going to just pretend it never happened. Thus I say: F*** THE WAGON! Imma eat flan.

Food for thought

Breakfast: yogurt

Lunch: low fat ham, string cheese, carrots

Snack: handful of almonds

Dinner: I made this Spicy Cashew, Celery & Shrimp stirfry and it was OMG good. Seriously. We ate all of it. Seltzer; 1/3 of a Hershey's bar; one white Russian.

I also forgot to weigh-in this morning...whoops. However, I must report that my jeans are feeling a bit more comfortable than they were when I first started this thing. Of course, that comfort will soon end with Easter weekend on the horizon. I will do another weigh-in on Monday morning. Or Tuesday morning. We'll see.

One of my coworkers is starting The 17 Day Diet, and I must say I'm a little skeptical. Though she claims that she will lose up to 10 pounds in 2 weeks. (Is that even healthy?). The diet seems VERY limiting. It pretty much lays out your daily menu. Not for me.

I tried to look up "no-carb" recipes with no luck. Instead, I started researching low carb recipes on foodnetwork.com (my heart's home!) and have found quite a few that are actually no carb (like the one we had last night). I'll keep posting them as we try them!

Day 10: annnd off the wagon

No, this is not a seesaw. This is my life. Up and down with this diet like there is no tomorrow. And I'm not proud of it.

One thing I've definitely noticed is that my sugar crazings have skyrocketed. I've never had much of a sweet tooth, but since I've been (trying) to cut carbs, I just feel like I need a sugar cap at the end of every meal. I've been having super cravings for chocolate and ice cream and other such goodies. I'm going to guess that it's because carbs traditionally have a bit of sugar in them, so cutting that out of my diet also cuts a significant portion of sugar from my diet. Makes sense, no?

I took both of my weekly cheats today. Too bad. I was doing so well yesterday and up until 6 p.m. today...

Food for thought

Breakfast: 100 calorie yogurt; 1 cup of almonds

Lunch: seltzer; one cup of black quinoa with peppers and onions in a citrus zest; one cup of kale soup

Dinner: feta, spinach & black bean quesadilla; chips & guacamole

After dinner: one sugar cookie; one chocolate chip cookie; one bottle of low calorie Gatorade

So I was doing pretty well until the evening time. Being around people who aren't on the diet is bad for my diet. I'm pretty good when I'm by myself regulating my own meals or with someone who keeps me in check. But it's really hard to resist when someone tempts me with a trip to a restaurant...because we all know that I'm a social being straight to the core. And let's just be honest: I. love. food. Which is why this is hard.

Which is why I have to try harder.

Tomorrow is a new day...

Day 9: back on the wagon

If I were on the Oregon Trail and had been kicked off for overindulgence of rations, here is the day where I run after the wagon, catch up, and jump back on.

Food for thought/p>

Breakfast: green tea; light red velvet cake yogurt

Lunch: spinach salad with tomato, mozzarella, grilled zucchini, carrots, bacon bits; water bottle

Dinner: deli turkey; carrots; seltzer

And, in the spirit of Medieval Sims (which I will be obsessively playing whilst on duty tonight): HUZZAH!