Operation: FIT

I'll be back after Finals...

2010-04-01T19:34:00.000-07:00

It has been a little over a month since my last post. There has been a lot going on in my life. i.e. serious family illness, month long study abroad trip, and many other things. Right now I'm concentrating on all the huge projects my professors have decided to assign the month before finals. So I'll be back May 10th to post about the latest developments in my life.

A Little Wiser?

2010-02-18T22:16:00.000-08:00

Today is my birthday. I'm hoping that I am hit with instant wisdom, or some kind of clarity in regards to my life but that has yet to happen. Losing weight is still a struggle for me. I thought that once I lost weight that would be the end of me being fat. But I know now that's not the case. I've learned that it's definitely a mind over matter type of thing and my mind and heart as of late has not been in it. I'm not sure as to why but that's something that I'll have to explore in therapy. I haven't lost total hope but it's hard.
Anyway I thought I would update with a post on the weight loss front.

Currently I'm taking three classes which keeps me rather busy. I'm taking Spanish 101 and this summer I'm going to attempt to take Spanish 102 in Spain! I just have to raise the money for the trip.

That's all the news that's fit to print. I start back swimming next week. I have a new waterproof mp3 player so I think I can muster through the monotony of swimming laps from now on.

Confession Time

2010-01-05T19:28:00.000-08:00

So... I have been debating about doing this. I know that I've gained some weight and today I decided to weigh myself to see exactly how much weight did I gain. Well it's quite a bit. I've gained about 31.5 pounds. I know that it's not the end of the world. It's my fault so I won't make excuses. I'm just determined to get that weight off. I do have a bit of fear and trepidation. I just hope that I don't back slide like I did before.

Today was the cardio portion of my workout. I thought it was a bit weird changing the intensity of how I worked out on the elliptical machine but I think that I had a good workout since I was very tired and my feet hurt afterwards. Now on the Body For Life I'm only supposed to do 20 minutes of Cardio and that's called 20-Minute Aerobics Solution
I did change the intensity of my workout minute by minute but I stayed on the elliptical for another 12 minutes. Typically I opt for the weight loss portion of the program on the elliptical so every 4 minutes the resistance changes on the machine so I think the change of the intensity of the workout coupled with change in resistance really helped me burn a lot of calories.

Tomorrow will be a strength training day and the focus will be on my lower body. I had to do some research for some of the exercises. I bought this new book called "The Women's Health Big Book of Exercises: Four Weeks to a Leaner, Sexier, Healthier YOU!"

I figure that I can mix up the exercises once I master some of the ones that I've started to do this week. I don't think I will run out of options. For example, the book lists 23 variations of a push-up and I thought there were only 4 or 5 of them. I'm happy that I made that purchase and maybe I'll look into mixing up the exercises sometime next month.

Workout: Cardio
Meal 1: Cereal and vanilla milk
Meal 2: Chicken and spinach
Meal 3: Banana and peanut butter
Meal 4: Turkey sub on wheat with cheddar, spinach, onions and spicy mustard
Meal 5: Cereal
Water: Eight 8 ounce glasses of water
Foods That I Lusted After: Snickerdoodles from Subway

I'm Serious Now

2010-01-04T12:56:00.001-08:00

Okay okay. I've been saying that I'll blog and get back on the fitness band wagon for some time now. But now I really think I'm back on it. It is the end of the holiday season so I only have to deal with the usual daily food temptation instead of cookies and other non-healthy treats associated with Christmas and Thanksgiving. I just have to get it together with the emotional eating.

As for the exercise portion I've decided to do Body For Life. It's similar to the Operation Boot Camp method. I didn't try it at first because all of the exercises looked so daunting and I was worried about my form. I did a bit of research online and tried to remember everything that I learned in my Body Works Plus Abs class and applied it to my workout today. I still need to practice, and do more research before I do my next round of strength training on Wednesday. As I continue doing this I hope I become more proficient and efficient at weight lifting. The strength training exercises are supposed to be completed in 46 minutes which is a far cry from the hour and 20 minutes it took me to complete the workout today.

Tomorrow is the 20 minute aerobic solution. I think I'm going to like tomorrow since I can probably be in and out of the gym in about an hour. I'm going to get on the elliptical machine which I like quite a bit since I can check my heart rate and make sure that I'm exercising hard enough to get up to the cardio/fat burning level.

In short I feel good. I just need to keep this up through a grueling semester of school.

Workout: Strength Training (Upper body portion)
Meal 1: Cereal and vanilla milk
Meal 2: Sesame chicken with rice (My work place bought lunch for us
today. I only had half of my entrée. I'll do better throughout the
rest of the day.)
Meal 3: Granola Bar
Meal 4: Mesquite Salmon
Meal 5: Slimfast Bar
Water: Six 8 ounce glasses of water
Foods That I Lusted After: C is for Cookie

Happy Holidays!

2009-12-25T22:38:00.000-08:00

I just wanted to wish everybody a happy and healthy holiday season. I'll be back to blog over the weekend.

No More Teachers....

2009-12-13T20:18:00.000-08:00

Well at least for the next 3 weeks. School is out until the Spring semester resumes in early January. I'm possibly going to do the dumbest thing imaginable... Take a full course load while working AND trying to fit in a workout into my already hectic schedule. This will be quite interesting. I'm trying to work on my time management skills. They are horrible, and I think it would make my life easier in all areas of my life. I do have a couple of ideas but I will need to test things out and see what works for my schedule.

For now I will hit the hay since I'm trying to make it to the gym before I head into work in the morning.

I'll Be Back

2009-11-17T17:45:00.000-08:00

I should probably state that I've not given up the weight loss fight. It's definitely been difficult as of late with the onset of new injuries. It's weird because with all that I've learned about myself and how much I've grown this last year you would think that I'd be able to snap out of it or bounce back immediately but I can't. I think it just affirms how much of a mental game losing weight can be. So as of right now I'm taking a break from blogging until after my finals. My last one is on December 9th and at the moment I'm trying to do well where I'm not obligated to take some of them so my focus will be on that. If anyone still reads this blog I would say avoid the posts from July until November. I will dub that as the dark period. Anytime before July is fair game. I started this blog hoping to inspire someone and I feel that some posts aren't that inspirational, especially since I'm in dire need of inspiration myself.

Happy reading.

I'll see you soon.

So Far, So Good

2009-11-02T22:00:00.000-08:00

It's weird how you can feel so full of energy, so positive about losing weight and then a few hours later not so much. I had planned on working out in the morning but my bed was so warm and comfy that I had to sleep in. Some how I managed to make it to the gym after work. I felt pretty good afterwards. I just hope I can keep it up. My right knee began to hurt a couple of hours after the workout. I think I might need to rest tomorrow. I should probably tell you what chondromalacia feels like. Do you remember how it felt to be kicked in the shin by a little kid? Well it feels like that constantly, even after the cortisone shots. I can't help but wonder how much more weight I need to shed for it to make a real difference. I'm in constant fear that each step that I take could possibly bring me closer to knee surgery. I'm going to have to shed some serious poundage and quickly. I'm not going to do anything drastic but I need to keep a steady weight loss pace and try to keep it together mentally so that I don't comfort eat. This will be very difficult since finals are quickly approaching and work will be extremely busy and stressful until the end of the year.
Sunday
Workout: Swimming
Meal 1: Cereal
Meal 2: PBJ on wheat english muffin
Meal 3: One ounce of cheese
Meal 4: *Buffalo cheeseburger, no bun, with sauteed mushrooms, and a salad
Meal 5: One ounce of cheese
Water: Six 8 ounce glasses of water
Foods That I Lusted After: I wouldn't mind a double chocolate chip cookie
* I bought this from Trader Joe's. It already has porcini mushrooms inside of I think that lessened the amount of meat that I consumed.

Monday
Workout: 20 minutes on elliptical, 10 minutes on row boat, strength training
Meal 1: Cereal
Meal 2: Slim Fast shake
Meal 3: Granola
Meal 4: Turkey sub on wheat with cheddar, lettuce, onions, and spicy mustard
Meal 5: Buffalo cheeseburger, no bun, with sauteed mushrooms, and a salad
Meal 6: One ounce of cheese
Water: Six 8 ounce glasses of water
Foods That I Lusted After: Red Velvet cake from Kroger's

New Developments

2009-10-27T03:22:00.000-07:00

Yes I know I was supposed to blog next week but there have been many, many developments going on in my life. I've actually had to write down what courses I will need to take to achieve my degree. It will be very interesting because soon the courses that I will need to take will only be offered during work hours. Also I've been studying for a test coming up and then I have a speech to make this week and I will jump for joy when this speech class is over with. I've also seen the Ortho's for the pain in my knees and the frequent lumbar sprains in my back. As for the lumbar sprains the doctor said that my back is fine. Nothing looks out of the ordinary, I will just need physical therapy to help out with that. Also the doctor get's lumbar sprains too so it was a comfort hearing that I wasn't the only one who suffered from it. As for my knees...well...that news is not so good. I've been in constant pain for about a month and a half so far. I've iced down my knees after a workout but I knew something was wrong when sometimes that didn't alleviate anything. I wrote down my symptoms before I went to the Ortho and the diagnosis is this. I have chrondomalacia in my knees. Basically the cartilage is wearing down and so is my patella(knee cap). I can only dream about high impact exercises at this point. As for even walking, I have to do it in the water. That sucks. I feel like I'm 80 now. I did receive cortisone injections in my knee so that does help but I really have to be careful with the exercises that I do even if I feel that I'm physically capable of doing them. There's no cure for chrondomalacia exactly. I do need to do physical therapy exercises and of course lose weight to help with this. I was going to try to add Step Class to my fitness repertoire but I think that's out for the moment.

On the plus side I get to decrease a pant size last week. I'm officially in the 3x for my bottom half. Actually 3X consists of two sizes a size 24 and size 26. I'm a size 26 at the moment and I'd like to be a size 24 pants by Christmas because that means I can buy jeans and pants off the rack. (Target here I come!) My brother is sick and tired of seeing Old Navy packages arrive every other day.

I have a lot of thinking and planning to do in regards to my fitness and exercise plan. I will write more later this week.

A Change Would Do You Good

2009-10-20T13:33:00.001-07:00

I'm here. I'm actually doing a little better now. I didn't fully
reorganize my life last weekend but I am making quite a bit of changes
since my schedule is more demanding. I think the biggest obstacle for
me as of late is getting to the gym to exercise. Either I'm to tired
after class or I stayed up way to late working on homework that it's a
bit difficult to get up early in the morning. For now I'm just going
to have to suck it up. This strenuous school schedule will end in
early December, and thankfully October is almost over. In my Fitness
for Living class sometimes there's no lecture. My Professor just
wants us to exercise for the duration of the class time and that's
fine by me. I do tend to look like a hot mess when I have to go to my
next class but I guess it's better than rolling out of bed and going
to class in my pj's. So here are some upcoming changes. I'll blog on
Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. Those are my least busy days
of the week. We'll see how that pans out especially since after
Thanksgiving I will be extremely busy at work and Finals will be going
on at around that same time too. YAY!

This Friday I will have an appointment with the Ortho for my back.
It's been over a month since I've had a lumbar sprain so I'm excited
about that. Next Monday I will go to see the Ortho about my knee. My
knees have been bothering me quite a bit. It probably didn't help
that my personal trainer tried to kill me in the gym on Saturday but
that's okay. I did a boot camp workout last Friday and I ran a bit.
It felt good to do that, but my knees are sore and tender. I think I got caught up in the merriment. I probably should have walked quickly but I don't regret it and I made that choice so I'll have to suffer the consequences.

Workout: Body Works Plus Abs
Meal 1: Cereal with two sausage patties
Meal 2: Special K Protein Shake
Meal 3: Turkey sub on flatbread with lettuce, onions, cheddar, and spicy mustard
Meal 4: Low Fat Oatmeal Banana Bread with milk
Meal 5: Cheeseburger, no bun, sauteed mushrooms, and a salad
Meal 6: Low Fat Oatmeal Banana Bread
Water: Seven 8 ounce glasses
Foods That I Lusted After: Cookies! They are everywhere!!!

I'm here

2009-10-07T22:30:00.000-07:00

I did wanted to post that I am around. Currently I'm mulling things around. I'm trying to simplify things in my life so I can devote more time to diet, and exercise. Unfortunately my life right now is beginning to mimic the movie "Groundhog Day" and it's becoming difficult to find the time and energy to work out. To add to that my knees are in quite a bit of pain at the moment. This month would be the earliest time that I can get a cortisone shot. I don't know whether that will help to alleviate the pain. My ortho is reluctant to give me another cortisone shot since I am so young. Also it's been about a month since my last lumbar sprain so I'm due for another one very soon. I'm not looking forward to it but a pattern has been established. I've tried to make appointments to see Ortho's who specialize in the back and knee region but getting time off from work is difficult when you are a reliable worker. I'm wondering if I need to royally screw up just to use one of my vacation days.

This weekend I'm undertaking a huge project. I'm trying to make some changes and overhaul things in my life. So I'm going to put blogging on hold until next Saturday. I have a lot of work that I need to do, a lot of things that I need to think about. I'm fine. I'm just taking a break and I hope by doing this that this will help me continue on my path to a happier healthier me.

I'm Free!

2009-09-21T20:36:00.000-07:00

Okay today I feel much much better. Immediately after I posted yesterday I felt a little lighter, like a weight had been lifted. Which is odd because I didn't know that it was such a heavy burden. Today was a pretty good day. Actually it was great because class got canceled. JOY! I attended the body works plus abs. I didn't like the teacher initially because we did squats for two songs straight and I was a little annoyed by that because I was afraid I was going to hurt my knees. After that little hiccup I didn't mind the class so much. I was amused by the teacher who appeared to be in her 40's but she was in very good shape singing the lyrics to Nelly's "Hot in Herre." Anyway I had fun today. I'm not sure what I'll do tomorrow or if I'll make that my day of rest. I will keep you posted though.

Workout: Body Works Plus Abs
Meal 1: Cereal
Meal 2: Cereal
Meal 3: Turkey sub on wheat with lettuce, onions, cheddar, and spicy mustard
Meal 4: Low Fat Oatmeal Banana Bread
Meal 5: *Brown Rice, mushrooms, bean sprouts, chicken, roti bread, and onions
Water: Seven 8 ounce glasses of water

Letting It Out

2009-09-20T11:34:00.000-07:00

I was reading another person's weight loss blog. She is like me, she suffers from depression as well. I've kind of glossed over it in my blog but I thought that I should address it in detail since I've omitted quite a few things of what it's like to be depressed. So here it goes... I've been diagnosed as having major depression. My parent's noticed that something was wrong with me in second grade which was when I started to gain weight. I've seen a psychologist/psychiatrist/social worker on and off since then. I have attempted suicide twice. Once when I was in 7th grade the other time when I was a Junior in High School. Around June 2008 my Dad told me that I needed to get my mental health and physical health in order. I had a annual check up and then soon after that I started seeing a Psychologist once a week. I've been depressed for quite a while and I still don't understand aspects of it. I know that people who are depressed often have low serotonin levels so I believe the medication that I'm on helps to raise it. I take it daily. If I go a few days without it then I do notice a difference in how I think, how I react and operate in everyday life. There's a stigma attached to being depressed. I think the word crazy comes to mind. Well I'm not crazy per se. I'm eccentric, zany. I might be crazy but I'm not Anne Heche crazy. I have dreams, hopes, aspirations, just like anybody else. The thing is that I'm just sad all the time. I've been told to snap out of it or pretend that I'm not sick. It just doesn't work that way. I can kind of set aside truly depressing thoughts and function like a 'normal' person. But those thoughts and feelings are still underneath the surface, and they never go away but the intensity of those thoughts vary day by day, minute to minute. Those thoughts can be magnified by anything. Mine are magnified by romantic movies, if I have a bad day at work, and other minute things. So when I'm depressed I eat. I eat until I'm emotionally full, and then I feel horrible afterwards but sometimes I'm so depressed that I can ignore that particular feeling. That's the hardest thing about losing weight. You have to eat for nourishment but when you are depressed like me and you are used to stuffing yourself as a way to dull the pain that you are going through it's a hard habit to break. Depression effects every facet of my life. Dealing with whatever mental issues that come way my as a result of weight loss coupled with depression makes getting through the day agonizing. I know you are probably wondering if I am suicidal right now. But I'm not. I've learned the past two times that it would be devastating to my family and I don't want to put them through that. My brother told me once that if I did commit suicide that he would be devastated, that he would never be the same. When you are depressed you don't see how that can possibly be true since everything in your life seems bleak. I do often wonder what my place is on earth, why I'm here, will I make a difference, will I compliment someone's life, etc... I have no earthly idea of what's in store for me. Right now I'm just trying to make it through each day. I'm trying not to let depression get the best of me. I don't want to be back to where I was before I lost 100 pounds. I suppose battling depression is another aspect that I have to battle along my weight loss journey.

Cloak of Darkness

2009-09-19T10:07:00.000-07:00

I'm depressed and overwhelmed with school. That's why I've been absent. I've decided to post something that will be particularly heavy tomorrow. I'm hoping that I can work through this with that post. I want to state everything correctly so I want to take my time writing it.

At any rate I will be back tomorrow. I'm going to make my way to the gym today and really think things through before I reach for something unhealthy.

What's up?

2009-09-12T11:07:00.000-07:00

Okay it's official. I have another lumbar sprain. As a result I couldn't participate in the Great Locomotive Race. This lumbar sprain has to be the worst. I was in the shower crouched down crying hysterically for about 10 minutes today. I couldn't even stand up right, it was that painful. I never thought that taking a shower would be such a chore. I was just so frustrated. I don't think that I did anything jarring to my back. I can't take off anymore time from work since I've exhausted all of my sick leave. I HATE having to wait a week to a week and a half to recuperate. Since the pain was worse and its been about 3 weeks since my last lumbar sprain I think that something is wrong. I went to Urgent Care today and I saw the doctor. He's concerned that I have had that many lumbar sprains as well. He recommends that I get an MRI and see an Ortho. He had a list of recommendations but they are all at the Ortho clinic that I switched from so I have to do some research and find the medical equivalent at the Ortho clinic that I currently receive medical attention. I will call the first thing on Monday to schedule an appointment. I am so sick of being injured that it's not even funny. To top it all off I was told to take a break from exercising for the next few days. My next personal training appointment is on Monday I guess how I feel Sunday night to see if I'm able to workout that day.

The irony is not lost on me that I'll feel better as soon as I lose weight. But I can't exercise at the moment because of my many, many injuries.

Irony sucks big time.

Hip-Hop and you don't stop

2009-09-11T21:28:00.000-07:00

Today was another hellacious day at work because of my 'sick' co-worker. I got the green light to leave work early since I had to stay late earlier in the week. Since the workload was so large I still couldn't leave early and that put a wrench in my plans to go to the body works plus abs class today after work. I was in a foul mood because of that and when that happens I want to shop, or just go straight home and veg out. Classes tend to be limited on Fridays but I decided to take a deep breath and look for another class to attend. Step Plus Abs II was out since I hadn't mastered or even taken the Step Plus Abs I. Spin Class, NO WAY, ¡No!, Nyet. Latin Impact, when I took this class the last time the teacher kept on whistling at us like we were dogs. So I decided to do something new. I took the Hip-Hop class at La Fitness. I've realized now that I'm not the awesome dancer that I thought I was when I had the moves from Janet Jackson's "If" video down cold. It was fun. The Hip-Hop moves were.... um classic. Yep classic. But I had fun, and it was a good workout.

As for the Great Locomotive Race... I did register for it. I am excited about going. There's just one thing. It seems that I have another lumbar sprain. I've been pretty careful with my back. I've specifically requested exercises with the personal trainer to help strengthen it. I'm a skosh frustrated but I think that I'll have to see how I'm doing tomorrow morning and then take it from there.

Workout: Hip-Hop
Meal 1: Cereal and vanilla milk
Meal 2: Turkey sub on wheat with lettuce, onions, cheddar, and spicy mustard
Meal 3: Sirloin cheeseburger with no bun, sauteed mushrooms and a salad
Meal 4: PBJ
Meal 5: Fiber One Muffin
Water: Eight 8 ounce Glasses of Water
Foods That I Lusted After: A cupcake from Star Provisions

Signs

2009-09-10T20:29:00.000-07:00

Something mysterious has been going on in my life. It's inexplicable. Let me explain. It's been awhile since I've been back at boot camp. Last month I got an invite to The Great Locomotive Chase. I thought I had happened to get the invite by mistake. No biggie. On Wednesday I received an email about the Great Locomotive Chase. It wasn't personally addressed to me so I think that it was sent to more than one person. Thursday I received another email about the Great Locomotive Chase. Again it wasn't addressed to me but something was in it that had me wondering if I should go. It referenced that I should come even people on a short break. I wondered was that particular reference for me? I wouldn't call a 6 month break from boot camp short. I don't think that the invites were all a coincidence. So I'm debating about doing it. I don't have much time to think on it since registration closes at 11:59pm tonight.

Workout: Mystery Shopping!
Meal 1: Cereal and vanilla milk
Meal 2: Slim Fast Bar
Meal 3: Turkey sub on wheat with lettuce, onions, cheddar, spicy mustard, and sun chips
Meal 4: Sirloin cheeseburger no bun, with sauteed mushrooms and a salad
Meal 5: Low Fat Oatmeal Banana Bread with milk
Water: Eight 8 ounce glasses of water
Foods That I Lusted After: Fettucine Alfredo!

All Kinds of Eating

2009-09-09T20:10:00.000-07:00

Apparently I don't just solely comfort eat. I think that I stress eat as well. My co-worker called in 'sick' today and tomorrow so I get to take over her workload. (I'm not sure how you can call in sick a day in advance unless it's surgery but whatever!) I had planned on making another day my cheat day but the temptation was to great. At work we celebrated National Payroll Week and they served us a cupcake. A huge one. It was delicious. I don't see how people can resist cake or any other baked good. I think that it's a sin not to eat it. I do think that I worked out enough where there is a deficit in calories consumed vs. calories burned. The reason why I eat whenever I'm down and out still needs to be examined. I didn't expect to beat this in one day but it would have been nice if I had. Work has been extremely stressful as of late and around November it's only going to get worse so I'll have to find a way to cope and not reach out to unhealthy food.

Workout: 3 miles on the Recumbent bike, 25 push-ups, 25 diamond push-ups, 50 crunches, 50 butterfly crunches and 50 squats
Meal 1: Cereal and vanilla milk
Meal 2: Slim Fast Bar
Meal 3: Cupcake
Meal 4: Turkey wheat on sub with lettuce, onions, cheddar, spicy mustard, and Sun Chips
Meal 5: Low Fat Oatmeal Banana Bread with milk
Water: Eight 8 ounce glasses of water
Foods That I Lusted After: There's no need for that!

You know you want me!

Guess What?

2009-09-08T13:38:00.001-07:00

Last Monday I had my initial appointment for personal trainer. It was fun. I worked up a lot of sweat, and the trainer seemed very friendly. As I was working out some lady came towards me and said, "Good job, keep up the good work." My trainer asked me if I knew who that was and my response was no. How could I have possibly known who that was when my eyes were shut because the perspiration that I had at the beginning of my workout wasn't no longer glistening but pouring down my face? He stated that the woman came by was the comedienne Monique. I was in disbelief. I thought that he had it wrong, and then I thought Monique must have thought I was rude because I didn't say anything. Of course I replayed this two second encounter over and over in my mind. I only know of one comedienne named Monique, but my trainer kept on suggesting movies that she's starred in. The only issue with that was that he was suggesting incorrect movies. In my mind I thought it would be cool to meet her, and the trainer assured me that she would come back around. I went back to my workout and my trainer demonstrated the tricep exercise and then I followed suit and performed it. After I did a rep, I took a mini break and I was getting ready to start on the second rep. Guess who came by during my break? MONIQUE! My trainer introduced me to her and I said I was a big fan and I shook her hand. She said that what I was doing was so worth it. I told her I know and that I've lost 100 pounds so far. Do you know what she did?!? She gave me a hug! How awesome is that? Afterwards I was totally cheesing and really wished that I hadn't sweated so profusely because my cheek was covered in sweat and it brushed against her cheek when she gave me a hug. (Did I mention that she is very tiny now?)

This week I've had some time to think. I figured that I need to get my butt in gear with losing weight. What would be the point of paying for a personal trainer if I didn't use it? Wouldn't it be embarrassing if I stayed at the same weight or possibly even gained weight while I had a personal trainer? My future didn't look as bleak as it has in the past. My knees constantly ache but it's not as bad as it was when I started my break from bootcamp. The pain will lessen as I lose weight. I thought I would never say this, but I'm actually looking forward to another cortisone shot and I will make an appointment for that for the middle of next month. I also thought I better give swimming one more shot. I bought a waterproof headphone system that houses my iPod shuffle and I can listen to music while I swim. If this doesn't help with swimming, I don't know what will. Whatever ailments, fitness accessories or amenities that I have... I still have to keep on trucking.

You can do it Gilly!

Workout: 30 minutes of strength training, 30 minutes on the treadmill
Meal 1: Cereal with vanilla milk
Meal 2: Slim Fast Meal Bar
Meal 3: 1/3 of a turkey sandwich on wheat with havarti cheese, and lettuce (Bought it from Target. I didn't notice that it had mayo on it so I just ate a smidge of my sandwich.)
Meal 4: Granola
Meal 5: *Beef, brown rice, onions, spinach, bean sprouts, and roti bread
Meal 6: Low Fat Oatmeal Banana Bread with milk
Water: Eight 8 ounce glasses of water
Foods That I Lusted After: Starbucks Brownie

More To Come

2009-09-07T20:41:00.001-07:00

I'm alive. There's lots going on in my life at the moment so I PROMISE to blog tomorrow. Since that is the day that I officially start my personal training session. I also have a goal in mind, but I need to devote a little bit more time thinking about it to make sure that it's a reasonable goal.

I will post more later.

Fat Girl Forever

2009-08-29T16:53:00.000-07:00

I am wondering if I will be a big girl forever. Today I went to go have my Microfit assessment done at school. It's a required assignment for my Fitness Living class and because of the hours that I keep and the hours the Recreation Wellness Center has it was just better for me to get it done on a Saturday. The results...... I'm still fat, still unhealthy. In fact the only thing that was 'good' on the paper work was my resting heart rate. It said that I could use more flexibility which I personally think is a load of bunk. I'm pretty flexible. My stomach just gets in the way sometimes. Of course after receiving this news I did the smart thing. It was a cheat day for me, not that I really deserved one, but I ate way to much. My stomach ached afterwards, so I think that's the last time that I do that. I do think that I've come up with a plan to battle the whole comfort eating thing. I have some more thinking to do about it, but all will be revealed in due time.

Workout: Swimming
Meal 1: Oatmeal with milk
Meal 2: Low Fat Oatmeal Banana Bread with milk
Meal 3: Create Your Own Pasta from Romano's Macaroni Grill Bowtie pasta, with alfredo sauce, mushrooms, chicken, garlic cloves, and mozzarella fritta
Meal 4: Low Fat Oatmeal Banana Bread with milk
Meal 5: Sirloin cheeseburger with no bun, sauteed mushrooms, and a salad
Meal 6: Slim Fast Bar
Water: Six 8 ounce glasses of water
Foods That I Lusted After: I can't even look at food today let alone lust after it.

Getting a Grip

2009-08-28T14:49:00.000-07:00

I've had some time to do some thinking today. It's going to be tough inserting workouts into my schedule now that I'm going to school. Which is one of the reasons why I look boot camp so much because I can workout in the morning and then concentrate on the rest of the day. I would literally roll out of bed dress in my workout clothing, drive 8 minutes to the park and go workout. I sometimes feel as if I don't have it in me to continue this journey by myself. My brother said that I'm stronger than I realize, but to be honest I think he's talking about someone else. I thought since there's a possibility that I can't finish this journey by myself that maybe I do need help. So I've gone ahead and made an appointment with the personal trainer. I would have preferred to see Robbie at the location at Ansley Mall but driving 20+ miles into the city and then 20+ miles into Alpharetta for work would have been total insanity. I will be seeing a personal trainer at the gym that is one block away from office. My appointment is Monday at 6:30am which means that I will have to go bed rather early Sunday night and I will head straight to bed after I finish the latest episode of "True Blood". The session on Monday is a bit of a trial period to see if I like the trainer. Things seem a bit more promising for me now.

Workout: Nada
Meal 1: Oatmeal with milk
Meal 2: Slim Fast Bar
Meal 3: Oatmeal
Meal 4: Sirloin cheeseburger sans bun with sauteed mushrooms and a salad
Meal 5: PBJ
Water: Eight 8 ounce Glasses of water

At My Wit's End

2009-08-27T08:52:00.000-07:00

*sigh* I'm not sure why I didn't exercise today. It must be my hatred for swimming. I was online throughout the day looking at clothes online. Imagining myself finally being small enough to wear regular size clothing. Not having to worry if my new top accurately covers my potruding belly, or rolls of fat. I have to do something and soon. I feel like I'm slipping away and I feel that I will just have to accept that my injuries won't get any better, and that I can't possibly get any smaller.

Workout: Nada
Meal 1: Oatmeal with a sausage
Meal 2: Slim Fast Meal Bar
Meal 3: Cereal
Meal 4: Turkey sub on flatbread with lettuce, onions, cheese, and spicy mustard
Meal 5: *Chicken, spinach, onions, bean sprouts, and roti bread
Meal 6: Oatmeal
Water: Eight 8 ounce glasses of Water

Work In Progress

2009-08-26T04:40:00.000-07:00

Taking this Fitness Living course can be likened to being on a Scared Straight program. I've learned about things called Sedentary Death Syndrome, and how your physical well being can ward off chronic diseases and reduce the risks of heart disease, cancer, stroke, cardio-respiratory, and diabetes. The thing is when I comfort eat or refuse to exercise the prevention of diseases tends to be a fleeting thought. For some odd reason I'm frustrated and the taste of fattening food seems to make me feel better. I'm still able to justify my decision with "I'll workout later," or "This might be bad but it's better than what I used to eat." I realize that there is something flawed with this. I'm learning what inactivity and unhealthy eating will do but sometimes I don't care at that particular moment that I'm feeling down and when I begin to think a nice Brownie will make everything all better.

I still have some work to do. I hate going through this mental and emotional process of losing weight.

Workout: Learnin' stuff at school
Meal 1: Oatmeal with milk and a banana
Meal 2: Slim Fast Bar
Meal 3: Turkey sandwich on flat bread with lettuce, onions, cheddar, and spicy mustard
Meal 4: Granola Bar
Meal 5: Low Fat Oatmeal Banana Bread with milk
Meal 6: Chicken pesto sandwich on wheat
Water: Eight 8 ounce glasses of water
Foods That I Lusted After: Pasta!!!

Keeping At It

2009-08-25T20:15:00.000-07:00

I had to go Swimming today. My back is still not up to par yet. The
last thing I want to do is reinjure myself. If I incur one more
injury I will scream. Swimming wasn't so bad today. There was a cute
guy in the lane next to me so sometimes I would race him to the end of
the pool. I'm pretty confident that he had no idea that I was doing
that. To be honest sometimes it wasn't that much of a race since I'm
kind of a slow swimmer and I think that turtles swim faster than I do.
I'm hoping that my back feels better tomorrow because I'd like to
strength train. I'm also contemplating following the Body For Life
regimen until I'm well enough to get back to more vigorous activities
i.e. boot camp and kickboxing. The only thing that makes me hesitant
are the amount of sets and reps that you have to do. They are A LOT!
I think I'd be at the gym for two hours trying to finish up that
workout.

Workout: Swimming
Meal 1: Oatmeal with milk
Meal 2: Slim Fast Bar
Meal 3: Turkey sub on flatbread with cheddar, lettuce, onions and spicy
Meal 4: Banana
Meal 5: Tomato and basil soup and a salad
Meal 6: Low Fat Oatmeal Banana Bread with milk
Water: Six 8 ounce glasses of water

Getting Back On Track

2009-08-24T23:59:00.000-07:00

So far so good. I'm still on track today. There are other positive aspects of learning about Fitness in school. One thing is that my next class is on the other side of campus so that means that I have to huff it to get there in 15 minutes. The other thing is that we actually have a pedometer project where we are wear it for 6 weeks and input all of our steps, and write about what we learned during the project, etc... Today we were able to test drive our pedometers in groups of three. I think that we will have to report about it as well, and my professor gave us the additional task of learning something interesting about the members in our group. I walked with Toni and Denise today which was fun. We had to walk inside because Toni has severe and numerous allergies where I think she is one allergy away from living in a plastic bubble. It was fun, and we walked briskly the entire time for about 20 minutes. After that we were let out early and I was thankfully able to find a parking spot close to my next class. Unfortunately class today was cancelled so I did an internal happy dance and went straight to the gym to go swim. I'm going to work in some strength training this week but it depends on how my back feels.

Workout: Swimming and 20 minutes of walking
Meal 1: Oatmeal with milk and a banana
Meal 2: Slim Fast Meal Bar (Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough is Yummy!)
Meal 3: Turkey sub on flatbread with lettuce, onions, cheddar, and spicy mustard
Meal 4: Tomato soup
Meal 5: PBJ
Water Eight 8 ounce glasses
Foods That I Lusted For: Brownies

Recap

2009-08-24T21:07:00.000-07:00

I should probably recap the rest of the week for you. So here it goes. On Wednesday more irony showed up in my life. I registered for the Fitness Living course at school but I refer to it as P.E. I tried to test out of it stating that I'd lost over 100 pounds doing boot camp, I might not be the picture of health but I know quite a bit about it, etc.... but I think that the University would prefer my tuition money so I am taking the class. We have to do a timed mile several times during the semester which I can run or walk. Also I will have to go and get this thing called MicroFit done at the Student Recreation and Wellness Center for my class. Apparently the $50 that they charge every student each semester has been put to good use. There is a Recreation and Wellness Center on campus where there are several rooms filled with workout equipment, the Recreation center provides free personal training, free group classes, and you can also speak to a dietitian for free.

Thursday it was confirmed that it would be difficult to have a separate workout for me while boot camp occurred. I figured as much but I was hoping for a miracle. My back started to ache quite a bit and I vowed to get back to the gym tomorrow since I felt another lumbar sprain was coming on.

On Friday I stopped feeling sorry for myself and went swimming. My back ached A LOT but I made it through the hour and I did lots of stretches for my back. This didn't help much. After the workout I came home hunched over like the Hunchback of Notre Dame and I couldn't stand upright for about an hour. My heating pad was permanently glued to my backside while I slept the entire night.

Saturday was a day that was devoted to spending time with my Mom since she was leaving to go back to Okinawa, Japan on Sunday. It was a girl's night/day and it was nice. I stretched as much as possible and then later in the day I did a little online shopping, actually it was mostly browsing. I figured I have no choice but to get physically fit with the lumbar sprain, and the surprise addition of fitness living to my course load. I figure that I will have to workout in the morning from now on since I'm to tired after class. I have no choice but to embrace swimming so I'm going to make the most of it. I'm going to buy a chlorine resistant swimsuit, since the chlorine would ruin a regular swimsuit. I have a new swim cap and I also bought a ton of hair care product to make sure that I keep my hair healthy.

On Sunday my back was still hurting, so I didn't exercise. I was happy that I ate well and didn't resort to comfort eating. I also picked out my new swimsuit, but now I have to gather the courage to fork over a lot of money especially since I plan on working really hard to make my new swimsuit feel loose whenever I wear it. As soon as my back feels better I've found a studio where I want to do a kettlebell workout.

Right now I feel better about losing weight. Sometimes I just get in a depressive mode and it's just hard to shake. Unfortunately that means that I have to take a break from blogging, take a step back, and regroup. I'm wondering if I should just blog through that process. I'm leery of doing so since I think I sound like a Debbie Downer and even I can take so much of having that particular mindset. As of this moment I have some renewed vigor, but I don't know when or if my depressive mood will hit. I'm still committed to my goals, but sometimes my commitment wanes and I constantly question it and myself. It's going to be tough doing this on my own. Nothing in life is easy, but I hope that this process is worth it.

Isn't it Ironic

2009-08-18T04:38:00.000-07:00

I know that irony plays out in everyone's life in some way or at some specific point in time. I wish that it hadn't occurred today. I went to the Ortho, to find out what was going on with my knees. Apparently the same thing is still going on but it feels worse. Here's the irony portion. For the pain to stop, I have to lose weight. For me to lose weight I have to do vigorous activities that I hate. My goal was to get the okay to return to bootcamp, and I kind of got the okay. The doctor did give me a note but I think that he gave it to me begrudgingly. Basically the note says that I'm supposed to limit my exercises where I don't put any pressure on my knees for the next 4 weeks. I think that will possibly mean that I will have to have a boot camp instructor tag along with me and come up with a lot of modifications for me to do since I probably won't be able to workout with the group. I think there's a phrase for that, it's called personal training. I don't want for my condition to detract from anyone in the group. I don't know if this is even possible but I'll inquire about it later in the week.

Workout: Nothing
Meal 1: Oatmeal with milk, brown sugar, and bananas
Meal 2: Turkey sandwich on wheat with a salad
Meal 3: Low Fat Oatmeal Banana Bread with milk
Meal 4: Special K Protein Bar
Meal 5: Sirloin cheeseburger with a salad

My First Day

2009-08-17T04:24:00.000-07:00

I decided to make today my day of rest. I had planned on working out after class, but at the last minute another class opened up so I registered for it. I need to figure out how I'm going to work in working out with my new schedule. Morning workouts would probably be the best so I'm not to tired to workout when class ends. This is when boot camp workouts will come in. When I go to the Ortho tomorrow I will see if I can return back to boot camp. I'm hoping that he'll say yes, but I have the feeling that even if he does then I'll have to stay away from boot camp for awhile anyway. I will have to find other ways to streamline things in my life since school has started. I'm thinking that I need to just go ahead and buy stock in Subway since I will be eating much more of their sandwiches. .
Workout: Walking around campus
Meal 1: Cereal
Meal 2: Low Fat Oatmeal Banana Bread with milk
Meal 3: Turkey sandwich on wheat with cheddar
Meal 4: Low Fat Oatmeal Banana Bread with milk
Meal 5: Sirloin cheeseburger with sauteed mushrooms and a salad
Water: Six 8 ounce glasses of water
Foods That I Lusted After: Four Cheese Ravioli

I Can Do Anything?

2009-08-16T19:27:00.000-07:00

I'm a little nervous. School starts tomorrow and I will be increasing my course load this semester and I'm wondering how or if I will have enough energy to fit in my workouts. I do feel that since I've lost so much weight that I can practically do anything if I put my mind to it. Sometimes that confidence can be fleeting. It goes in and out of my life frequently so it's hard to maintain that feeling while I continue along this weight loss journey. But today I feel good. I got in a good workout today, even if I did splash my face a lot while swimming. I felt exhausted and it's been awhile since I've felt that way while swimming. The body is weird. Swimming is good cardio but even if I take a break from it for awhile I still don't feel as winded or tired. I have to wonder if I've permanently upped my endurance and stamina level or if I need to find some way to up the intensity of swimming.

Workout: Swimming
Meal 1: Oatmeal with milk
Meal 2: Special K Protein Bar
Meal 3: Turkey sandwich on wheat with cheddar
Meal 4: Low Fat Oatmeal Banana Bread with Milk
Meal 5: Chicken Pesto Presto with mushrooms, and a salad
Meal 6: Low Fat Oatmeal Banana Bread with milk
Water: Six 8 ounce glasses of water
Foods That I Lusted After: Sugar cookies

Unnatural

2009-08-15T22:13:00.000-07:00

Today was a strength training day today. I went to the LA Fitness at Cumberland Mall and did the Body Works Plus Abs class at Noon. That particular class is taught by one of my favorite instructors. Unfortunately she was not my favorite instructor today. She made us do a lot of lunges and squats so I was in constant fear of hurting my knees. Also the last 15 minutes was supposed to be focused on the abs, and it was. I was expecting crunches but she had us on all fours raising our legs in the position that dogs do when they... well.. you know. I know that we are using our core to stabilize ourselves while we are on all fours but I had my heart set on crunches. I don't think that anyone has ever uttered (or typed) that sentence before.

Later that day I went to a friend's house to celebrate their daughter Zerina's birthday. I had a blast and unfortunately I couldn't resist the birthday cake. It was wonderful. I will have to work out really hard this week to rid my body of the calories from the birthday cake. To be honest I think that it's unnatural to go to a birthday party and not eat cake.

Workout: Body Works Plus Abs and playing with a very active 2 and 3 year old
Meal 1: Oatmeal with milk
Meal 2: Special K Protein Bar
Meal 3: Turkey sandwich on wheat with a salad
Meal 4: Low Fat Oatmeal Banana Bread with milk
Meal 5: Turkey sandwich with provolone cheese and lettuce, multi-grain chips, and birthday cake.
Meal 6: PBJ
Water: Eight 8 Ounce Glasses

Trying to Maintain

2009-08-14T11:26:00.000-07:00

I think that I'm in a better state of mind today. I don't feel utterly hopeless anymore but it's a constant struggle trying to lose weight and stay even keeled mentally. I do have a goal that I'm trying to reach by October and I probably have some catching up to do. I've also put some thoughts into another big goal that I want to reach by the first quarter of 2010. So I just have to maintain and stay even keeled until then.

Workout: Swimming
Meal 1: Cereal and a banana
Meal 2: Special K Protein Bar
Meal 3: Turkey sandwich on wheat with cheddar
Meal 4: Muscle Milk
Meal 5: Sirloin Cheeseburger sans bun with sauteed mushrooms, and a salad
Meal 6: Low Fat Oatmeal Banana Bread with milk
Water: Eight 8 ounce glasses of water
Foods That I Lusted After:

Back In The Saddle Again

2009-08-13T08:39:00.000-07:00

I think that I did pretty well today. I did make it to the gym and I got in a good workout. I worked out on the Nautilus machines, I stretched before and after wards so I'm confident I will not be sore tomorrow. I got kind of a high after my workout. I felt a little better about continuing my goal to lose weight. I must have felt really good because I did the unthinkable. I bought a lot of food at Kroger's so I'd have food for the entire week. Normally I make several trips to the grocery store throughout the week, or I stop by Subway where I've ordered the same thing for about 2 and a half months straight so far.

School begins next week as well so I need to work on getting my meals and snacks in. I have classes in the evening so I will most likely have dinner after class. I try to take a non-noisy, portable snack into class with me such as a protein bar or shake in case I get the munchies and most importantly to keep me awake while I'm in class. I've opted for classes on Saturday in the past, but I'm contemplating registering for classes during the weekday. My favorite kickboxing class is held on Saturdays and I don't want to miss it because I have to attend class. Well I'd like to attend once I'm healthy enough to do that, so weekday classes is my way of ensuring that I'll have the time to resume the intensity of my workout routine.

Workout: Strength Training
Meal 1: Cereal
Meal 2: Banana
Meal 3: Turkey sandwich on wheat with lettuce, onions, and spicy mustard
Meal 4: Special K Protein Bar
Meal 5: Sirloin Cheeseburger sans bun with sauteed mushrooms and a salad
Meal 6: PBJ
Water: Eight 8 ounce glasses
Foods That I Lusted After: Macaroni and cheese
Meal 3:

Happier Disposition

2009-08-12T13:30:00.000-07:00

Okay I feel a little bit better today and I'll tell you why. While I was at work today my brother told me that the family was going out to dinner so that we could meet her cousin whom my brother and I have never met. My mom met her briefly last month but prior to that she had not seen her cousin in 36 years. I'm all for going out to dinner but when my family goes out to dinner they tend to run long and my plan was to go to the gym after work. So the plan was to go to Maggiano's at Perimeter Mall which has good food but it's lacking in healthy options. I arrived early so I decided to check out Macy's next door. It's been a long time since I've been in a department store like Macy's and I could actually buy anything off the rack. When I was younger my mom would buy me the Husky clothing from the Sears Catalog. There was also a plus size kids catalog that I had the option of ordering from and the clothes on the models were unflattering and made them look like adults. I would say by the 6th grade I had graduated to women's plus size clothing. As a child you want to be an adult, not dress or look like one. Now here I was on the ground floor of Macy's marveling at the clothing that I could now wear (on the Clearance rack of course). Calvin Klein, INC, Alfani. I'm not a brand name snob but I can drape my body in Calvin Klein now and I'm not talking about any of his perfumes. I realized that even though my knees ache constantly that I can still do something about my weight. They're not shot (I hope), and I'm not an invalid so I can still do something even if it means swimming all the time.

After I window shopped I ate dinner with my family. I was very tempted to order what I really wanted, the Four Cheese Ravioli. Instead I ordered Chicken Marsala because I honestly don't see the point in ordering a 12 dollar salad at a restaurant. I also had a tiny piece of Bruschetta so I did get some veggies in. As expected the dinner ended late and the gym was closed by the time we left the restaurant. I was going to do some exercises at home but I fell asleep on the couch. Oy.

I have a lot of work to do starting tomorrow.

Workout: Gorging on Chicken Marsala
Meal 1: Cereal with two sausage patties
Meal 2: Special K Protein Bar
Meal 3: Cereal
Meal 4: Chicken Marsala and one piece of Bruschetta
Water: Eight 8 ounce glasses of water
Foods That I Lusted After: Any dish that has pasta in it.

Feeling Sorry For Myself

2009-08-11T04:17:00.000-07:00

That was the prevalent thought throughout the day today. My knees have begun to hurt even more. I went shopping at Target today and standing around while I browsed was very painful. This is the time that my brain decided to run wild with doubt, and tons of other negative thoughts and I scurried out of Target and boo-hoo'd in my car. I'm just so tired of being in pain and it ruling my life in regards to what physical exercises I can or cannot do. If it hurts to stand up while shopping, then how else will my life be limited because of the pain in my joints?

Workout: Nada
Meal 1: Cereal and two sausage patties
Meal 2: Special K Protein Bar
Meal 3: Turkey sub on flat bread with lettuce, onions, cheddar, and spicy mustard
Meal 4: Chicken Pesto Presto with mushrooms, and a salad
Meal 5: PBJ
Water: Eight 8 ounce glasses of water
Foods That I Lusted After: Steak!

Questions and Concerns

2009-08-10T22:54:00.000-07:00

I am a bit concerned about my health. My thoughts are focused on my knees. The pain has seemed to intensify and it isn't just located in my knees it's meandered to the lower part of my thighs now. The gel helps but it doesn't help like it used to. I did manage to go swimming today, so I'm glad that I was able to do something. My appointment with the Ortho is next Tuesday so I'll have to wait until then for a new diagnosis if there is one.

In the meantime I've been thinking about why I comfort eat. What can I do to substitute the need to reach for something tasty, fattening, unhealthy, utterly gluttonous, and sinful? I've noticed that I comfort eat after I've had a crappy day at work or when I'm taking stock of my life. I get some sort of satisfaction from stuffing my face. I feel content, but as I'm doing it I feel wrong and disappointed in myself. I'm trying to mull around things that I can do instead of stuffing my face. Purchasing clothes comes to mind but I'd have to control that urge as well so I can take care of little things like bills and rent.

Workout: Swimming
Meal 1: Cereal with two sausages
Meal 2: Special K Protein Bar
Meal 3: Turkey sub on wheat with provolone, lettuce, onions, and spicy mustard
Meal 4: PBJ
Water: Eight 8 ounce Glasses of Water
Foods That I Lusted After: A vanilla cupcake from Star Provisions

Food Inspiration

2009-08-09T21:24:00.000-07:00

Today was one of those down days for me. I stayed in the house, so therefore I didn't exercise. The only good that came from the day was that I think I have another chicken recipe besides my Chicken Pesto Presto. I watched a large chunk of shows on the Food Network and it inspired me a little in the kitchen. Now the extent of my cooking skills is not much. I can cook things that come out of box very well. I'm excellent at using the microwave. I've only taken one cooking class in my life. In Home Ec the class was so bad that the only cooking that we did was with the microwave and somehow even that got messed up and the teacher gave up on us. So after watching a large block of shows on the Food Network I was feeling a little inspired. I know what flavors I want to taste when I cook something. I just don't know how to blend it or to make sure that there's enough of that flavor or what to do when there's to much of that flavor. At the last minute I decided to fix chicken and I found a relatively simple recipe for Grilled Rosemary Chicken. The only thing is that the recipe called for butter, so I used olive oil instead. Also my brother does not like to keep dried Rosemary in the house, also did I mention that I didn't leave the house? So I remember from fixing my garlic chicken that if I want to the chicken to absorb the flavor quickly you use more of the flavors, also it helps if you broil it as well. I used a TON of garlic, olive oil, sea salt, ground pepper, basil, and a little oregano (we were running low on this in the house as well). My little concoction turned out pretty well. The only thing that I would have changed is that I think that I should have added some mushrooms. I do think that I need to start cooking more and do some more experimentation when it comes to cooking. I love Chicken Pesto Presto but I honestly think it's time that I learned to fix something else. I also made it my cheat day. I was watching the Finale of The Next Food Network Star and one of the contestants makes a mini potato au gratin so I made that. My only regret is that I'm attending a birthday next Saturday and that should have been my cheat day. I suppose if I do cheat that day I will definitely insert a double workout or two into my schedule to compensate.

Workout: Vegging Out All Day
Meal 1: Oatmeal with Milk
Meal 2: Low Fat Oatmeal Banana Bread with milk
Meal 3: Turkey sandwich on wheat with cheddar, and a salad
Meal 4: PBJ
Meal 5: Chicken Surprise?, potato au gratin, and a salad
Water: Eight 8 ounce glasses of water
Foods That I Lusted After: Beef!

Altered Plans

2009-08-08T20:01:00.000-07:00

My plan for today was to put a lot of anti-inflammatory gel on my knees and do kickboxing. Fortunately I overslept and I wasn't able to make it to the class. Why do I say fortunately? Well my knee was feeling good in the morning but by the time the afternoon rolled around it was hurting quite a bit. I'm sure that I would have done more damage to my knees if I did kickbox that day. I did go swimming for 45 minutes. Normally I go for an hour but it was a bit hard for me to concentrate. I definitely made up for that later that night. Company was over at my house and I got to play with, run after, and lift two very active 3 year olds. I kept on telling them that I was old but I don't know if they knew what I meant or if they really cared. That's okay, I had a lot of fun and I burned a lot of calories.

Workout: Swimming
Meal 1: Oatmeal with milk
Meal 2: Low Fat Oatmeal Banana Bread with Milk
Meal 3: Turkey sandwich on wheat with cheddar and a salad
Meal 4: Low Fat Oatmeal Banana Bread with Milk
Meal 5: Chicken Pesto Presto with mushrooms, and a salad
Meal 6: PBJ
Water: Eight 8 Ounce Glasses
Foods That I Lusted After: Chocolate pudding

What's Going On?

2009-08-07T07:54:00.001-07:00

Okay well first off I should say that yes, I am alive. This week I've been trying to wrap my head around things. My injuries, doing this on my own, etc.... In the process I've managed to procrastinate with exercising and on some days not eating as healthily as I should. I'm human and even though I like to think of myself as perfect I'm not. So why am I posting now? Well there are a lot of reasons why... I can't slack off to much otherwise I'll revert back to the habits that I had pre-bootcamp, I want to travel where my weight is not a hindrance or an additional expense to be able to travel comfortably, I'd like to meet Mr. Right and start a family, I don't want anyone to feel sorry for me, I want to be happy and healthy, and I don't want for my size to impact how sociable I am or anything else in my life. My goal for this month is to get the doctor's okay to go back to boot camp next month. Now will that happen? I have no idea. My knees generally feel good, the burning sensation from the tendinitis is at a minimum. The gel arch cushions in my shoes have alleviated the majority of the pain in my feet. The only thing that I think might be postpone my return to boot camp is now I am feeling pain in my knees that I've never felt before. It's minor, slightly uncomfortable, a little unnerving, but it's somewhat constant. I'm still mobile but I'm wondering what else is wrong with me. I have an appointment on the 18th of August with the Ortho so I will find out what's going on with my knees on that day. In the meantime, I put on my big girl panties and worked out at the gym this morning before work. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I did strength training today. I think I did it correctly. I know you are supposed to start with the largest muscle group and move to the smallest. I wasn't sure if abs came before arms or vice versa. I'm pretty sure that I forgot to work my gluteus maximus but to remedy that I will do some squats when I get home. Also I cheated with the workout a little bit, but not really. I chose machines that worked all areas of the arms and shoulders as opposed to finding ones that isolated each muscle. If I hadn't I would have definitely been late for work. I think I'm off to a good start today. Hopefully I can continue it...
Workout: Strength Training and 10 minutes on the Recumbent bike
Meal 1: Cereal with two sausage patties
Meal 2: Special K Protein Bar
Meal 3: Turkey sub on wheat with cheddar, lettuce, onions, and spicy mustard
Meal 4: Low Fat Oatmeal Banana Bread with Milk
Meal 5: Chicken Pesto Presto with mushrooms and a salad
Meal 6:
Water: Eight 8 ounce glasses of water
Foods That I Lusted After: Gooey cheese pizza from Mellow Mushroom

I Pity The Fool

2009-07-31T08:33:00.000-07:00

My back is still hurting today. That put the kibosh on me attending the Bring A Friend Workout for OBC. I did do a little bit of swimming today. I stayed in the pool for about 40 minutes. I was hoping to feel a difference in my back but there was no such luck. On the plus side I did remember to stretch beforehand. Maybe the relief that I'm hoping to feel will come later in the day.

Saturday I have no idea what I'll be doing. To be quite honest I want to do kickboxing. I figured that if my back doesn't hurt and I put a lot of the anti-inflammatory gel on my knees that maybe I would be okay as long as I didn't do any jumping. Of course I'm trying to rationalize and justify why I should do kickboxing tomorrow. I'm just very stubborn and spoiled. I pity my future husband.

Workout: Swimming
Meal 1: Cereal with a banana
Meal 2: Special K Protein Bar
Meal 3: Turkey sub on wheat with lettuce, cheddar, onions, and spicy mustard
Meal 4: Sirloin cheeseburger sans bun with a salad
Meal 5: Low fat oatmeal banana bread with milk
Water: Eight 8 ounce glasses of water

Oh Joy

2009-07-30T23:39:00.000-07:00

Today I went to see the doctor at my medical center at work since my
back was still hurting. I was in so much pain that I yelped when I
had to get out of my ergonomic chair at work. The doctor basically
confirmed that I had a lumbar strain. I hate those things. I suppose
that I'll play doctor today and do a little more research on it. The
doctor said to take it easy and try to stretch a lot, and I can't do
any weight lifting which suited me just fine since I could barely
carry my purse. I'm not to worried about the strain since I know it
will go away in time. I just need to work on preventing them if
that's even possible. I will keep this brief though. I took off the
rest of the day at work so I could rest and hopefully be up to par and
well enough to attend work tomorrow.

Workout: Recuperating from my lumbar strain
Meal 1: Cereal with two sausage patties
Meal 2: Turkey sub on flatbread with lettuce, onions, cheddar and
spicy mustard
Meal 3: Low Fat Oatmeal Banana Bread with Milk
Meal 4: Chicken Pesto Presto with mushrooms, and a salad
Meal 5: Low Fat Oatmeal Banana Bread with Milk
Water: Eight 8 ounce Glasses of Water
Foods That I Lusted After: Cheetos!

So Sickly

2009-07-29T13:49:00.000-07:00

Hmm my lower back is hurting quite a bit today. I guess that's what I get for doing strength training two days in a row. I'll make today my day of rest then. I'm still trying to come up with more things that I can do for exercise. I've also did some more research on tendinitis where it usually lasts about four weeks. My knees still constantly ache but I'm hoping that won't last for to long. If the pain doesn't stop the next time I can get another cortisone shot will be around October and I don't think I can wait that long until I'm able to get more aggressive with the workouts.

Workout: Watching "So You Think You Can Dance"
Meal 1: Cereal and a banana
Meal 2: Special K Protein Bar
Meal 3: Turkey sub on wheat with lettuce, cheddar, onions, and spicy mustard
Meal 4: PBJ
Meal 5: Healthy Choice Pizza(Yuck) with a salad
Water: Eight 8 ounce glasses of water
Foods That I Lusted After: A real pizza instead of the faux pizza that I had for dinner.

Alone?

2009-07-28T10:48:00.000-07:00

I know that you're not supposed to do strength training two days in a row. I had my gym bag prepared for swimming today. The only thing was that I forgot to pack a towel, which apparently you need after you swim. I'm thinking of going to the Bring A Friend workout with OBC this Friday. I'd have to see if modifications can be made for me on that day.

I'm beginning to think that maybe the reason why I'm feeling so unmotivated doesn't solely rest on the fact that I'm doing exercises that I don't enjoy but the fact that I'm not working out in a group. I'm kind of doing this all on my own now. It's weird how you think you can do anything with the right people surrounding you, but you can't do anything when no one is around.

Workout: Strength Training
Meal 1: Cereal with two sausage patties
Meal 2: Special K Protein Bar
Meal 3: Turkey sandwich on wheat with cheddar cheese, and a salad
Meal 4: PBJ
Meal 5: Steak and a salad
Water: Seven 8 ounce glasses of water
Foods That I Lusted After: I'd love some Chicken Alfredeaux from Copeland's

Get Over It

2009-07-27T22:23:00.000-07:00

You know how you set a goal for yourself one day and you feel so
optimistic about accomplishing it. You just can't wait to tackle the
task and you've actually decided what you are going to do to
accomplish it and you've even set aside a time to work on it. Today I
felt much better about losing weight. I printed up a detailed
exercise regimen online. I was going to try a new workout this week
and enlist people to exercise with me. I felt more positive. Then
something as small as having to stay late at work kind of killed it.
I didn't want to sweat it up at the gym today. I did do some strength
training at home though. I think that the new exercise regimen that I
printed up seems rather daunting. The exercises listed I will have to
look online somewhere to see what they look like. The regimen is
about 4 days of strength training, and consists of mostly using
dumbbells and barbells instead of the regular workout machines. I
prefer using the workout machines which is located in it's own section
in the gym. The dumbbells and barbells are located in what I like to
call Testosterone City. Where you have to fight over the equipment,
guys stare at themselves (and you) intently in the mirror as they
exercise, and you have to search high and low for the equipment you
want to use because people don't put them back in there proper place.
I guess I'm going to have to get over these pet peeves, and hang ups
if I want to continue to lose weight.

Workout: Strength Training
Meal 1: Cereal with two sausage patties
Meal 2: Special K Protein Bar
Meal 3: Turkey sub on wheat with lettuce, onions, cheddar, and spicy mustard
Meal 4: PBJ
Meal 5: Chicken Pesto Presto with mushrooms and lettuce
Water: Eight 8 ounce glasses of water
Foods That I Lusted After: Gnocchi!

Lost?

2009-07-26T15:29:00.000-07:00

Wow. I can't believe my adventure has come to a close. I absolutely loved my vacation. I've realized a few things. I need to take charge of my well-being. This trip has been hard to remain true to my meal plan. I still need to work on resisting temptation, and I need to make more time to exercise and to eat well. It's also hard sticking with a meal plan when you are around people where that is not their own priority. I noticed that I tended to fall in line in regards to that and I shouldn't. Starting Monday I need to get it in gear. This is kind of a pep talk for myself, since it has been hard as of late to actually get to that point. I might have to try a new strategy, or tactic. I'm just going to take it a day at a time, and try to find what has happened where I've lost the motivation to eat well and exercise. I feel like something in my brain is no longer connected. In some respect I feel like I've given up hope but I'm still holding out hope where I reach that point of complete motivation and dedication to my goal(s). I'm just not sure how to reach that point again, if I'll ever reach that point again, what, why, or how things went wrong.

Eating My Way Around Germany

2009-07-25T14:54:00.000-07:00

*sigh* Unfortunately it looks like I won't be able to see my friend Melissa today. I was really hoping to see her since the last time I saw her was about three years ago. It's okay. The plans for going to Belgium or the Netherlands have changed. We decided to stick to going into Aachen which is appropo since it is the sister city of Marietta, the city that I live in. It has been over a decade since I was last in Aachen. The basis of a lot of our trips in Germany were often shopping excursions that my mom wanted to go on. I remember the last time we went my mom wanted to go to the Laura Ashley store since she heard that it was closing down. Since Melissa didn't make it back to Germany her husband was our tour guide. When I was in Germany the one thing that I hated the most was that people would walk everywhere. Walking is boring to me, and why would you walk if you had a car? But in Germany it is the best way to get around. We walked A LOT today. We parked our car and the shopping district was about half a mile away from where we parked our car. Then we walked throughout the entire shopping district. The streets were made of cobblestone so you had to make sure you planted your foot correctly so you wouldn't trip or slip anywhere. I'm sure while you did that you probably used some muscles that you don't normally use. While we were walking I made sure to hoof it. I remember when I was larger I walked very slowly and I know that is aggravating people who are fast walkers. I felt I was able to keep up with the crowd in the shopping district. I think another reason why I was walking quickly was because I didn't put on any of my anti-inflammatory gel today and I wanted to get the pain over with as quickly as possible. I felt that I got in a good amount of exercise today. I definitely blew it with what I ate today. While I was here I've fantasized about moving back here but that would be extremely hard since there is no bad food in Germany, and all of the meals are exceptionally good but they are not that healthy for you. When I get home on Monday it will definitely be a shock to me going back to my regular cuisine and I won't have any excuses for not being able to exercise.

Workout: Navigating Aachen on foot
Meal 1: Spaghetti Carbonara with a Belgian Waffle with ice cream
Meal 2: Special K Protein Bar
Meal 3: Gnocchi Boscaiola with porcini mushrooms
Water: Eight 8 ounce glasses of water
Foods That I Lusted After: :-) I'm really good.

Don't I Look delicious?

Geilenkirchen Here I Come!

2009-07-24T13:44:00.000-07:00

Today it was very hard getting in a workout. I asked the concierge at my hotel about the swimming pools in the area. There is one that is very calming, but there is a hitch. They prefer for you to swim in the nude. I told my mom about this and she told me to go for it, but I'm a prude so I didn't. Also my mom and I were busy trying to straighten out the paperwork for the damage to the vehicle. After that My mom and I drove to the city of Geilenkirchen which was about a three hour drive to see my friend Melissa. Melissa was trying to catch a Space A flight out from the US back to Germany. Now Space A stands for Space Available. If you are lucky enough to be in the military, or a spouse of a military member you can essentially get on a flight to anywhere for a small fee provided that there is enough room for you on the aircraft. Sometimes it doesn't workout because certain people have priority over a person who wants to take a vacation. Unfortunately for my friend Melissa that was the case for 4 days straight. I'm really hoping that she is able to get a flight out tonight and then I can see her tomorrow in the afternoon. In the meantime her husband Kevin put my mom and I up for the night. We met their dog George who is the best dog ever. He was very friendly, playful, and very cute. I took great delight in seeing George try to jump up on my Mom who is afraid of all animals no matter how friendly they are. George was adamant about making her his friend but after her many shrieks and shooing him away George had to give up on her. Gelienkirchen is about a half an hour drive from The Netherlands, and Belgium. There might be a possibility that my mother and I will drive there before driving back to Wiesbaden tomorrow. That's what I miss most about Germany, just being able to go to another country on a whim. It's so wonderful.

Workout: Not A Whole Lot
Meal 1: Cinnamon Roll
Meal 2: Turkey sub on wheat with lettuce, onions, spicy mustard, and a Fanta
Meal 3: Kinder Schokolade
Meal 4: Pork chops and a salad
Water: Eight 8 ounce glasses of water
Foods That I Lusted After: I'm good

Making friends is exhausting!

Cheating Never Tasted So Good

2009-07-23T13:57:00.000-07:00

I had an awesome workout today. I went to the gym on base and I worked up quite a sweat. I wanted to apply all that I've learned with strength training and have a good workout at the gym. Also the fact that I was working out in a facility with hot military men was just a bonus. I did three sets with reps of 12. I started with the largest muscle group first and then worked to the smallest. Then I started to get somewhat confused and I wasn't sure if my stomach section was smaller than my arms so I'm not sure if I even did the last portion of my workout correctly but I still felt good afterwards. After that I got on the elliptical machine and worked out a little bit on that. I was going to do it for 20 minutes but for the display to work you have to do it at a continuous pace otherwise it will stop all together. That was a bit difficult to keep going. My natural inclination is to go very fast but it was to much. I hopped off of the elliptical machine and then finished up on the treadmill. After that workout I had no idea what we were going to do that day. My mom surprised me by taking me into Frankfurt and Kelkheim which is where I grew up. It was very exciting. In general I don't talk much about Germany or my life there. I'm not sure as to why. Sometimes I feel as if I'm boasting. Since I don't say a whole lot about where I grew up, a lot of people are under the assumption that I hate it there. That is not the case whatsoever. My mom was completely surprised how I remembered the route to our home in Kelkheim, and I told her many stories about how I was into a ton of mischief that she had no idea that I was into when I was growing up. It was so much fun taking a trip down memory lane. Now my mom also wanted to go to the infamous Chicken Farm as well. I hadn't eaten since 10 am that day and I was famished. We were on our way to go grab something quick to eat before we made the long drive to the Chicken Farm when some idiot decided to fling his door open without looking while we were driving alongside their car. Thankfully no one was hurt. It was a small fender bender. The time that it took for the police to arrive so we could file a report took about an hour and fifteen minutes. The ordeal was a bit trying with the language barrier and all. After the entire ordeal I didn't want that snack after all. My mom still wanted to go to the Chicken Farm even though I thought for sure we were going to call it a day and head home. My stomach was growling thoughout the entire car ride, and I even sped walked when I saw another couple getting ready to enter the restaurant at the same time that my mother and I were entering. I just wanted to make sure that we were seated first, and therefore the eating process would begin as soon as possible. The food at the Chicken Farm definitely made up for the car accident and it was worth the wait. This is the only food that I was looking forward to for my trip to Germany. Now if you don't want to have a stroke while reading this then go to another website now.

The appetizer was French Onion soup. It's not the stuff from Campbell's or Progresso soup in the can. It's made from scratch, I think the onions or on steriods or something because the onions in the soup were HUGE! A slice of thick bread covered the soup. It definitely wasn't Texas toast but you get the idea of how big the slice of bread was. On top and underneath the bread was aged Gruyere cheese. As soon as your spoon hits the bread in the soup it just breaks away so easily. If you haven't had any French Onion soup at the Chicken Farm or France then you haven't had French Onion Soup period. Next is the entree.. Half of a chicken (yes I did say half), with fries, and apple sauce. The chicken is roasted on a spit in the same room that you are in. It's not roasted in a mechanical rotisserie, but it's actually roasted on a iron rod on a hearth made from stone. Now the apple sauce is not dessert. It is actually there to compliment your french fries. I know that it sounds weird but it's delicous. It isn't Motts applesauce but is definitely better than their applesauce. It is made from scratch, and you might be leery that you will find apple chunks in there but you won't. The fries are piping hot when it's served. The chicken and the fries are served in a straw basket that is lined with a napkin. It is a treat just to see it. The chicken falls off of the bone. The chicken and french fries comes straight from the hearth and fryer so there is absolutely no chance that it is even luke warm. Now whenever I have chicken that has a bone(s) going through it I still have meat left on the bone. My mom on the other hand just left bones on her plate. Did I mention that you receive a lemon scented wet nap with your meal? Which you will definitely need afterwards since you will be using your fingers to pick every single morsel of meat off the bone. The meal was stupendous. If you ever go to Germany and you do nothing else, definitely come to eat at the Chicken Farm. Every time my parent's come to visit Germany they always go to the Chicken Farm. They have been going for 20 years so far and any kind of restaurant that has customers who have been that loyal have got to be doing something right.

I figure that I'm going to have a good time while I'm here. I will try to keep that within reason and not go overboard. As my trip will draw to a close soon it is back on track since I know that I can do much better with dieting and exercising.

Workout: Strength Training, 8 minutes on the Elliptical Machine, and 10 minutes on the treadmill.
Meal 1: Blueberry muffin
Meal 2: Special K Protein
Meal 3: Chicken, french fries, apple sauce, Fanta and french onion soup
Meal 4: Penne Carbonara
Water: Four 8 ounce glasses of water
Foods That I Lusted After:

Vacation Eating

2009-07-22T18:19:00.000-07:00

I left Tuesday afternoon and I arrived early Wednesday morning. I was supposed to be a day of exploration unfortunately I'm not 7 years old where I can bounce back from a 6 hour time change but I'll get to that tidbit of info in a moment... As soon as my Mom and I arrived in Germany we put our luggage in the rental car and headed to Wiesbaden Post. I got a temporary ID Card so that I can do things on the post including working out. My mother and I purchased souvenirs and other things that we forgot to pack on our trip and then grabbed a bite to eat at a Italian restaurant. I love the Italian food here. Fresh ingredients, absolutely authentic. If it's good in Germany imagine what it would taste like if I was in Italy?!? Now I've heard horror stories about the Euro being used here so I didn't want to order to much and have to sell a kidney for a meal. I was only going to order an entree but then the waiter asked about a salad and I said sure. I thought this was free like how meals in the US have salads included. That was not the case. I thought at the very least got some veggies in, and different lettuce leaves with a balsamic vinaigrette were used as opposed to my usual Spring Mix with Caeasar Yogurt Dressing. I thought it would be best to try to get in a small workout in the hotel room so I got down on the floor to do a ton of crunches. I got to about 52 and rested for a second and woke up about 4 hours later. I've learned yet another lesson in my fitness journey. Don't exercise in a reclining, seated, or laid back position when you are completely exhausted. Since I took that unexpected nap in the early evening I couldn't really do any exploration. Most shops close at 8pm in Germany and the only thing that is left open is the Casino and restaurants. I don't gamble so the next logical choice was to eat. I went to a German restaurant that my Mother and I walked to for dinner. Now this is an absolute first. It is a rarity when I walk for somewhere for dinner. The most walking I do for food is from the parking lot to the food extablishment's entrance. But it was a very cool walk. There were many, many shops along the way and my mother and I took a chance and settled on a restaurant that looked like it was comfortable and there were quite a few people sitting outside eating so the food must have been good. The waitress asked if I wanted a salad and my immediate response was yes. In hindsight I should have asked what kind of salad but I didn't. The waitress stated she would bring it out with my meal. Well my Mother had ordered an appetizer of Goulash soup earlier and that was when my Jagerschnitzel with mushrooms came out in addition to the salad the waitress was referring to earlier. So I had two salads at that meal, plus the schnitzel with mushrooms. I'm trying to get a grasp on this whole salad thing though. I did look at the menu thoroughly and it did state that the salad came with the entree, but I think that there is a conspiracy about inserting salads onto the meal tab and I will definitely get to the bottom of this.

Workout: 52 crunches and a light nap
Meal 1: One roll, one ounce of cheddar, and a granola bar (Airplane food)
Meal 2: Gnocchi with mozzarella, a salad, one glass of Fanta(Orange-Lemon)
Meal 3: Special K Protein Bar
Meal 4: Two salads, schnitzel, and mushrooms
Water: Eight 8 ounce glasses
Foods That I Lusted After: My Mom's Spaghetti Carbonara. I was looking at it very intently as I was eating my gnocchi.

Getting Situated

2009-07-21T15:30:00.000-07:00

I think I did okay today in regards to the food that I ate. I'll admit, I really did want to get a cookie or some other baked good at the airport but I didn't. I really did enjoy my flight. Apparently a touch screen on the headrest in front of you is a common thing on most airlines that fly internationally. The only difference with the Lufthansa flight was the the movies were free! My mom flew into the country on Delta and the movies on her flight were 5 dollars a piece. The pillows had real feathers in them. I was initially supposed to fly Continental Airlines but my flight was delayed so I was put on Lufthansa. The plane itself was plush and very colorful. I would have given an arm to be pampered in First Class. I did have to get a seatbelt extender for the flight. I try to be discreet when I ask for it. The Flight Attendant had the audacity to come up to me after I had asked for it and she was very loud and actually put the seatbelt on me. I know that I'm big but I have been fastening seat belts for over two decades now and I am pretty confident that I have the hang of it. Basically she drew attention to the situation when I was trying to prevent that. I will post more later of course. I am still adjusting. Not really sure if it is Tuesday or Wednesday. If it's day or night.

Workout: Walking around Atlanta Hartsfield Airport for hours on end
Meal 1: Oatmeal with milk
Meal 2: 1/2 a turkey sandwich on whole grain with 1/2 a cup of French Onion Soup
Meal 3: Cinnamon Oat Bran Muffin
Meal 4: Chicken Breast with a roll, 1 ounce piece of cheese, mashed potatoes (Airline Food)
Water: Eight 8 ounce glasses of water

If there are any spelling errors, it is because I am typing on a authentic German keyboard and there is a difference between a German keyboard and an American keyboard.

She's Flying!

2009-07-21T15:04:00.000-07:00

As I type this from my Crackberry I am sitting on a Lufthansa plane to Frankfurt, Germany. If you haven't flown Lufthansa then you need to do it asap! In Coach they have real pillows, a nice, plush, soft, and fluffy blanket. Did I mention the touch screen monitor on the head rest where you can choose from a selection of movies and some of them have yet to be released to video?!?

I will post my meals later as soon as I'm settled in.

Somewhat Back On Track

2009-07-20T05:56:00.000-07:00

I think that I did pretty well today. I still wasn't very hungry today, also I'm busy trying to get ready for my trip to Germany tomorrow! I attended the Body Works Plus Abs class today after work. My head wasn't entirely in it because the crazy instructor had the class doing A LOT of lunges, squats, and pliés . I would have to say we probably worked 25-30 minutes doing that. I took breaks in between to see if my knees were okay and to just give them a break from that constant motion. I was a bit down about this but I completed my workout anyway. I'm really hoping to strength train a lot so I can manage the pain that comes with tendinitis. I was very tempted to go to kickboxing on Saturday but I resisted that temptation. One thing that you should probably know about me is that I'm pretty stubborn, and do things the way I want to do it. I would LOVE to go back to kickboxing but I don't want to get chronic tendinitis or damage my body any further. I suppose that I'll have to be patient and just wait.

Workout: Body Works Plus Abs
Meal 1: Cereal
Meal 2: Oatmeal with milk
Meal 3: Chicken sandwich with cheddar, lettuce, onions, sauteed mushrooms, and a caesar salad
Meal 4: Special K Protein Bar
Water: Seven 8 ounce glasses of Water
Foods That I Lusted After: A cheese burger!

Awful

2009-07-19T05:42:00.000-07:00

I'll keep this brief. I blew it today, but maybe not entirely. I had Red Velvet Cake again, but I wasn't that hungry so I didn't eat a whole lot today either. On the other hand I didn't drink as much water as I should have. It's a chore to get in all my water over the weekend. I save my last bottle of water for the end of the day and I get so caught up talking on the telephone or watching tv that I forget to drink it. I'm working on it though. Crystal Light is a life saver. I wouldn't be able to consume the usual 8 glasses of water if I didn't have it at my disposal. I'm surprised that I drink as much water as I do. My drink of choice before was a Sprite but I haven't had one since October. If I did have one I'd be sick to my stomach. Anyway I've had my fun this weekend. No more Red Velvet Cake or any other sweets. Tomorrow is a brand new day. I just have to resist the temptation.

Workout: Strength Training
Meal 1: Cereal
Meal 2: Low Fat Oatmeal Banana Bread with Milk
Meal 3: Chicken Pesto Presto with sauteed mushrooms, and a salad
Meal 4: Red Velvet Cake
Water: Four 8 ounce glasses of water
Foods That I Lusted After: I'm horrible for putting something here, but I'd like some Macaroni and Cheese

I'm Working On It

2009-07-18T00:33:00.000-07:00

Well today was a good day, right up until dinner time that is. My brother fixed Red Velvet Cake for the entire family and I won't lie. It was delicious, scrumptious, moist, and delectable. I don't know if I have a craving for sweets or the fact that I haven't had Red Velvet Cake in such a long time. I've noticed that sometimes no matter how positively you try to think about things, negative thoughts override my positive thoughts. I try to think about how I feel more comfortable traveling because I've lost weight, the new clothes that I can buy now, and the new me that I've discovered in the process. Sometimes this thought process works and sometimes it does not. This means that I still have a lot of work to do and my struggle with weight loss won't be ending anytime soon.

Workout: Yoga
Meal 1: Granola Cereal
Meal 2: Chicken Breast with sauteed mushrooms, and a caesar salad (Ate at Pappadeaux's)
Meal 3: Low Fat Oatmeal Banana Bread with milk
Meal 4: Chicken Breast, sauteed mushrooms, and Red Velvet Cake (Leftovers from Pappadeaux's)
Water: Eight 8 ounce glasses of water
Foods That I Luted After: I'm good

My knee feels okay. Every now and then I feel a twinge of pain

One Day At A Time

2009-07-17T09:56:00.000-07:00

I think I did okay today. I wasn't that hungry either. Actually i was a little hungry, I was just to lazy to cook. I swam in the pool for a full hour and it was hard to concentrate doing that. I splashed my face with water quite a bit which in turn went up my nose. That is always jarring whenever that happens.

I'm still trying to figure out the details of my workout regimen when I say adios to swimming. For the non-strength training days I thought I would do yoga or pilates. Cat from bootcamp suggested trying the elliptical machine. I don't know why I haven't given that I shot. I like to master things quickly when I do them but I just thought the elliptical machine looked to complex. For the sake of my health I'll have to put that fear aside and just go for it. I know that when you try to lose weight that you have to switch things up. I had no idea that injuries were the things that helped you to switch up your workout.
Workout: Swimming
Meal 1: Cereal with a banana
Meal 2: Special K Protein Bar
Meal 3: Low Fat Oatmeal Banana Bread with Milk
Meal 4: Sirloin cheeseburger on a wheat kaiser bun with sauteed mushrooms
Meal 5: Low Fat Oatmeal Banana Bread with milk

Issues

2009-07-16T23:48:00.000-07:00

Something happened today. I resorted to comfort eating. I wasn't even hungry when I did it. Why did I do it? I have a theory. I'm unhappy. I abhor swimming now. I hate the prep work for it, I don't like waiting for an empty swimming lane, and I hate the solitude that you are in when you exercise. I don't think I should do anything that I hate. I don't LOVE to exercise but I do like to do exercises that I enjoy. I can only do certain ones because of my injuries. I think that I'm going to have to put the kibosh on swimming. If I do, next week will be the last week that I do it. I'll probably do strength training three or four times a week, and something else the rest of the week. I also think that possibly I'll have to eat leaner as well. I suppose to balance out the comfort eating is to make today my cheat day. I had planned on having glorious Italian food but that will have to wait.

Workout: Yoga
Meal 1: Cereal with a banana
Meal 2: Special K Protein Bar
Meal 3: Oatmeal with Milk
Meal 4: Turkey sub on wheat with lettuce, onions, cheddar, spicy mustard, and two fudge brownies :-(
Meal 5: Low Fat Oatmeal Banana Bread with milk
Meal 6: Sirloin cheeseburger on a Kaiser Wheat Roll with sauteed mushrooms and a salad
Water: Eight 8 ounce glasses of water
Foods That I Lusted After:

Germany Bound

2009-07-15T13:43:00.000-07:00

I'm preparing for my trip to Germany next week. I can't wait! I've bought quite a bit of Protein bars to bring with me. As for water I think I'm just going to buy a case while I'm there. I will have to share with my Mom so I'll have to see about rationing that out. For my other snacks I think that I will grab a piece of fruit, actually I'll grab a piece of fruit from the breakfast at the hotel. I might have to double up on the Protein Bars since I won't be bringing any of my Oatmeal Banana Bread with me. I think that I'm mostly worried about lunch and dinner. They have a sandwich shop on base but I don't know how often I'll be on base to get my usual Turkey sandwich. I don't think that they have sandwich shops like they do in the US but I'll definitely keep a look out in case there are any. Unfortunately there isn't a gym or swimming pool at the hotel but they exist nearby. I've researched about the pool, but I'll see if I can find some info on a gym.

Workout: Strength Training
Meal 1: Cereal with two sausage patties
Meal 2: Special K Protein Bar
Meal 3: Turkey sub on flatbread with lettuce, onions, cheddar, and spicy mustard
Meal 4: Low Fat Oatmeal banana bread with milk
Meal 5: Chicken Pesto Presto with tomatoes, mushrooms, and a salad
Meal 6: Low Fat Oatmeal Banana Bread with milk
Water: Eight 8 ounce glasses

In complete darkness we are all the same, it is only our knowledge and wisdom that separates us, don't let your eyes deceive you.

-Janet Jackson

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«.·°·.¤Gillian¤.·°·.»
(.·º(¸.·¨* *¨·.¸)º·.)

Perv Central

2009-07-14T13:35:00.000-07:00

I went swimming today. It was okay. I managed to stay in a straight line for the entire hour that I swam. The only reason why I was able to achieve that was because I had to share a lane with someone. To mix up my routine a little I decided to go to another LA Fitness gym. This time around I went to the Dunwoody one. I think that it'll be the last time that I go there for swimming. There were four lanes instead of the usual five, parking was an absolute nightmare, and I think that particular gym is the headquarters for perverts. When I finished up my laps in the pool, the stairs that I use to exit and enter the pool are directly in front of the jacuzzi. There were about eight gentleman in the jacuzzi right when I was getting out of the pool. I stayed in the pool trying to pretend to catch my breath, I fiddled with my googles, and my swim cap. After 5 minutes of doing this I just gave up and got out of the pool. If I could have run out of the room without fear of slipping on the wet floor I would have done that. I just don't like to be looked at when I'm in a swimsuit. My brother suggested that I seek out a non-pervert pool to go to, after I gave him the stink eye I asked him how would a girl go about finding non-pervert pools?!? I'm pretty sure there's no directory online that exists for that. Maybe I should make one up and post the perverts pictures, the infractions of their pervy behavior, and tips on how not to come off as a pervert when you're trying to get your swim on.
Workout: Swimming
Meal 1: Cereal with two sausage patties
Meal 2: Special K Protein Bar
Meal 3: Oatmeal with milk
Meal 4: Turkey sub on flatbread with lettuce, onions, cheddar, and spicy mustard
Meal 5: Chicken sandwich with cheddar, lettuce, onions, sauteed mushrooms, and a caesar salad
Water: Eight 8 ounce glasses of water
Foods That I Lusted After: Fettucine Alfredo

Incentive?

2009-07-13T13:16:00.000-07:00

I'm still very sore today. I'm making this day my day of rest and I'll continue to workout the rest of the week. I noticed that it's taken me twice as long to walk from my car to my office building. I'll be okay. I should be fine by tomorrow. It is quite possible that I actually have something that will work as an incentive for my weight loss journey. I just got an invite for a reunion in February of next year. It's called the Okinawa Reunion (I graduated High School in Okinawa, Japan), not necessarily a high school reunion but I think a lot of my classmates from my graduationg class will be there. It's being held in Vegas. I'm kind of iffy about attending. I would go without hesitation if the reunion were being held the same weekend that Kylie Minogue would be performing in Vegas. During my high school years I was constantly made fun of because of my weight. I do not talk to anyone from High School at all. I've closed that chapter of my life. I don't really have a desire to associate with people who made fun of me. My brother said that I should let that go. That children at the age were going through their own issues at that time. I can't help but think, I thought all kids were taught to treat people the way that they want to be treated. Even when I told certain classmates with a school counselor in the room that being made fun of hurt my feelings they still continued to do it. I noticed that I've blocked out a lot of memories when it comes to my childhood. I think that there is a direct correlation between not remembering the details of my child and my constantly being made fun of. Do I want to go to Vegas in February? Absolutely. Do I want to go to Vegas and see people who made my high school years a living hell? Not so much. I'll admit that it would be nice to rub it in their face all that I've accomplished this past year and that I'm doing just fine. I'd prefer to wait until I'm completely svelte, and married to a Count, Prince, or CEO of a Fortune 500 company.
Workout: Looking at clothes on OldNavy.com
Meal 1: Cereal with two sausage patties
Meal 2: Special K Protein Bar
Meal 3: Oatmeal with milk
Meal 4: Turkey sub on flatbread with lettuce, onions, cheddar, and spicy mustard
Meal 5: Chicken Pesto Presto with tomatoes and sauteed mushrooms
Water: Six 8 ounce glasses of water
Foods That I Lusted After: Pizza

Sore All Over

2009-07-12T18:31:00.000-07:00

When will I ever learn? I truly need to stretch before and after I workout. I do it whenever I'm in a group class but yesterday I did not and now my body is aching. Actually it's my quads, it must have been those deep squats that we did. Normally when I forget to do this and I'm sore I stretch as soon as possible and that normally offers some relief. Unfortunately today it didn't. I suppose that I'll just have to wait and see how I feel tomorrow. I was able to exercise today. I went swimming.... again. Even when I take a break from it, it's still hard to get back in it. I don't like it as much anymore. So I need to find another exercise that captures and holds my attention.

Workout: Swimming
Meal 1: Granola Cereal
Meal 2: Special K Protein Bar
Meal 3: Low Fat Oatmeal Banana Bread with milk
Meal 4: Turkey sub on flatbread with lettuce, cheddar, onions, and spicy mustard
Meal 5: Low Fat Oatmeal Banana Bread with milk
Water: Eight 8 ounce glasses
Foods That I Lusted After: A cheeseburger

Being Personally Trained

2009-07-11T13:36:00.000-07:00

I worked out at the gym with the personal trainer today. It was grueling and I worked up quite a sweat although I think it had something to do with the gym being humid in general. The workout started with a 5 minute warm up so the trainer and I walked up and down the mall a few times. Then we got into the harder stuff. First we started off with squats, and these aren't your regular squats. A stability ball was placed behind me and I had to squat really low and have my tuchus touch the ball. The trainer Robby had to hold onto my hands because I was squatting really low. Then he got an even smaller ball and placed it behind me, and after I gave him the crazy eye I did another rep of squats. My knees in general felt fine. I had a small amount of burning but then again my knees always burn so I wasn't that worried about it. Next he had me lay on the stability ball and put two dumbbells in my hands and I had to do a rep of chest flys. I was afraid that I would pop the ball but surprisingly I didn't. He gave me three pound weights so that was relatively easy for me to do. When I do the body works plus abs class I usually grab the 10 pound weights. But since I knew that I'd have to balance on a large ball I thought it would be best to keep that tidbit of info to myself and not tell Robby. After those exercises we did plyometric type exercises. We did the plank, and a few exercises that I forgot the nams of but they worked the gluteus maximus, quads, and hamstrings. When we were done with our exercises I went back to Robby's desk to have a chat where he did a sales pitch even though I told him yesterday that I couldn't do it. I politely sat through it and then declined. If I could afford it then I would do it but for now I'll have to utilize books, magazines, the internet, etc... to help me lose weight efficiently. It seems as if his focus is on strength training which is exactly what I'll need to help get over my tendinitis so that is a bit ironic there. After the personal training session I had to do cardio so I walked on the treadmill. I had to go slow on the treadmill. I couldn't keep up but sometimes my knees buckled underneath me as I was walking. I yearn to do cardio kickboxing but I need to squash that feeling and take it easy until my next Ortho appointment next month.
Workout: Strength Training and 20 minutes on the treadmill
Meal 1: Cereal
Meal 2: Chicken caesar salad
Meal 3: PBJ
Meal 4: Lean Cuisine pizza with a salad
Meal 5: Low Fat Oatmeal Banana Bread with milk
Water: Eight 8 ounce glasses of water
Foods That I Lusted After: Macaroni and cheese

In complete darkness we are all the same, it is only our knowledge and wisdom that separates us, don't let your eyes deceive you.

-Janet Jackson

(º·.(¨*·.¸ ¸.·*¨).·º)
«.·°·.¤Gillian¤.·°·.»
(.·º(¸.·¨* *¨·.¸)º·.)

I'm Back!

2009-07-10T14:06:00.000-07:00

Okay I was a tad bit dramatic earlier this week. My life is not over. I don't have any damage to my ligaments, I don't have to wear a brace or have any surgery. I just have tendonitis which is an inflammation of the tendons. The anti-inflammatory medicine that I take orally is available in a gel form that works instantenously when I rub it on my knees. I do have to take ibuprofen instead of the other anti-inflammatory medicine. I'll look for the gel caps in bulk size since I'll be taking that for quite awhile. I do have to cool it with the aggressive workouts. The PA said that I could do a boot camp workout once a week. She also said that kickboxing is good but that I shouldn't do that for awhile and that a better alternative would be boxing. Also the PA who saw me is from Germany and I let it drop that I was going there to visit and that I had lived there for awhile and I don't think it's a coincidence that I got three sample tubes of the anti-inflammatory gel instead of one!

After my appointment I had lunch and then I went to go workout. I went to the LA Fitness in Buckhead to go swimming, unfortunately they do not have a gym at that facility. But they suggested the Toco Hills, Ansley Mall, or the Perimeter location. I have no idea where the Toco Hills was, and the last thing I wanted to do was get on I-285 because you only get on that interstate if you want to get stuck in traffic or you want to get into a car accident. So I chose the Ansley Mall location. I signed in and went straight to the women's locker room since there is a hall that connects the swimming pool to the women's locker room. I looked around and I didn't see a hall anywhere. I went back out into the lobby to speak to the person at the front desk but they were on the phone. Out of the corner of my eye I saw an ominous figure wearing a black shirt and pants approach me. That can only mean one thing. Sales pitch from a personal trainer. UGH. The trainer approached me and asked if he could help me with anything and I told him that I was told that there was a swimming pool here. He confirmed that there wasn't a swimming pool but that maybe he could help me anyway with my physical fitness goals. I told him that I do boot camp and he kind of scoffed at that so I immediately told him that I've lost 100 pounds because of that to shut him up. I also told him that I couldn't afford personal training so his sales pitch would be pointless. But he was cute and he had a southern accent and he said that he wanted to help me with my fitness goals so I relented and went to his desk to talk to him. Essentially he told me the best way for me to lose weight is to do more strength training which I already knew and then proceeded to get down on the floor and demonstrate some of the exercises and I let him know I've done those before. I must have been the most frustrating potential client ever. Then he said that he knows that I'm not going to buy a personal training package and that he wanted to help me. So I relented and made an appointment for the next day. I still think that he'll make a sales pitch tomorrow but we shall see. After that meeting I drove to a LA Fitness where I was positive they had a swimming pool. I swam for about an hour. I notice when I haven't swam for awhile it's tougher for me to stay in a straight line. Inevitably that lead to me splashing water in my face while I tried not to go into the next lane or hit the wall. There's nothing more fun than having chlorinated water tickle your nasal cavity.

Workout: Swimming
Meal 1: Oatmeal with two sausage patties
Meal 2: Special K Protein Bar
Meal 3: Chicken sandwich with cheddar, onions, mushrooms, and a caesar salad
Meal 4: Cereal
Meal 5: Turkey sub on flatbread with lettuce
Water: Eight 8 ounce glasses of water
Foods That I Lusted After: Pizza!

Bracing Myself

2009-07-09T11:03:00.000-07:00

I wonder how much weight I've gained this week. My jeans still feel
loose and baggy. The button hasn't popped off when I button so I
guess that's a good thing. I'm mentally preparing for myself for my
Ortho appointment tomorrow. I'll find out how much damage I've done
to my body. I have the feeling that I will have to make the swimming
pool my new favorite place. I'll have to come up with ways to make it
more fun and possibly invest in a waterproof mp3 player.

Workout: Non
Meal 1: Cereal and two sausage patties
Meal 2: Special K Protein Bar
Meal 3: Chicken sandwich with cheddar, sauteed mushrooms, and a caesar salad
Meal 4: Oatmeal with milk
Meal 5: A Salad
Water: Six 8 ounce glasses
Foods That I Lusted After: Breyer's Natural Vanilla Ice Cream

Pain, pain go away

2009-07-08T04:10:00.000-07:00

I didn't exercise today. I actually think that it's best to describe the pain that I'm in. It feels like my knees are constantly burning. The anti-inflammatory meds don't relieve the pain at all. I cooked dinner and I had to stand up for about 15 minutes and I could not wait to sit down. I think that this pain is worse than before I was diagnosed as having inflamed joints. When I walk it feels like their are pins and needles in my joints. To be quite honest I'm afraid to exercise now. I don't know how I'll feel when I do it. If standing has aggravated my condition, wouldn't frantically kicking my legs while I'm swimming do the same thing too?

I'm kind of at a loss at this point and I probably won't know what to do until I have my appointment on Friday.

Workout: Nothing
Meal 1: Cereal with 2 sausage patties
Meal 2: Special K Protein Bar
Meal 3: Turkey sub on flatbread with lettuce, onions, cheddar, and spicy mustard
Meal 4: Low Fat Oatmeal Banana Bread with milk
Meal 5: Lemon peppercorn chicken with brown rice, and a salad
Meal 6: Low Fat Oatmeal Banana Bread with milk
Water: Six 8 ounce glasses
Foods That I Lusted After: A cheeseburger

Bad Gilly

2009-07-07T14:01:00.000-07:00

Oh I was a very bad girl today. Tres horible. The pain in my knees is progressively getting worse so I didn't exercise today, and to make matters worse I ate two vanilla cupcakes as well. I'm not going to beat myself up on the blog to much because I'm already doing it quite a bit mentally already. I just can't believe that I completely overdid it physically last week. I suppose that I was just very excited to finally be able to participate in kickboxing again and now I don't know when or if I'll be able to participate in that again. The ironic thing is that I was reading an article in my Women's Health Magazine about staying motivated to workout and it said that you should do exercise that you like and now it seems that I can't do that for the time being. I've made an appointment so I will see the Ortho on Friday, the Doctor that I like will be out of town so I will be seeing the PA that works with him. I have a feeling that I have some ligament damage. I've read up online that is hard and takes a lengthy time to heal that kind of damage. Right now I'm hoping that I still have cartilage in my knees.

Workout: Zip
Meal 1: Cereal with two sausage patties
Meal 2: Nutrigrain Bar
Meal 3: Special K Protein Bar
Meal 4: Chicken sandwich with cheese, sauteed mushrooms, caesar salad, and two cuppy cakes
Meal 5: Turkey sandwich on flatbread with lettuce, onions, cheddar, and spicy mustard
Meal 6: Granola Cereal
Water: Six 8 ounce glasses of water
Foods That I Lusted After: The Red Velvet cupcake

Infirm

2009-07-06T10:20:00.000-07:00

Today is designated as my day of rest. My knee is hurting way to much to workout and I'm feeling really bummed about that. I wonder what's wrong with my knee now. I've iced it down three times today and the only relief I feel is when my knee is numb. I feel like I can't catch a break sometimes. I'm trying to remember all the reasons why I decided to lose weight in the first place. To be honest they kind of fall by the way side if I'm unable to do the main component of losing weight which is exercise. I suppose now would be the perfect time to make an appointment with the Ortho and see what the heck is wrong with me. Maybe I'll have to go lean again and do yoga and pilates to continue to lose weight.

Workout: Nada
Meal 1: Cereal with a banana
Meal 2: Special K Protein Shake
Meal 3: Turkey sub on wheat with lettuce, onions, spicy mustard, and cheddar
Meal 4: Oatmeal with milk
Meal 5: Chicken Pesto Presto with roma tomatoes, mushrooms, and a salad
Meal 6: Granola Cereal
Water: Six 8 ounce glasses of water
Foods That I Lusted After: Fried Cheese Sticks with marinara sauce
Mood: Depressed

Take It Easy

2009-07-05T09:30:00.000-07:00

My knee is still hurting today. I contemplated not working out but somehow I made it to the gym to go swimming. I went to the gym in Kennesaw but I think that will be my last time going to that particular gym. It's becoming a pervert hang out. The jacuzzi sits right next to the pool and sometimes people in the jacuzzi just glance at the people in the pool every now and then. This one particular perv decided that it was best to stare for about 45 minutes straight which totally creeped me out. Then of course he got into the pool with me, and then stared at me as I got out of the pool. It was so creepy that I bypassed using the communal shower and went straight into the ladies locker room.
I suppose that I need to look into making an appointment to see the Ortho again. I'm wondering if I should just start dating an Ortho so that he can look at my knee for free. Seeing the Ortho all the time is becoming mentally, physically, and financially draining. I thought the whole point of exercising was to make yourself healthier. I've had more appointments this year than in years when I was completely unhealthy. I would understand seeing the Ortho all the time if I were a professional athlete but I'm just a girl who is trying to live a happier, healthier life by losing weight. Maybe this is a sign that I need to slow down and take it easy.
Workout: Swimming
Meal 1: Granola Cereal
Meal 2: Turkey sub on wheat with lettuce, onions, cheddar, and spicy mustard
Meal 3: Low Fat Oatmeal Banana Bread with milk
Meal 4: Bison burger with cheese, sauteed mushrooms, and a salad
Meal 5: Low Fat Oatmeal Banana Bread with milk
Meal 6: PBJ
Water: Six 8 ounce glasses
Foods That I Lusted After: I'm good

Happy 4th of July!

2009-07-04T18:47:00.000-07:00

Happy Fourth of July everybody. I hope you had a good one.

I overdid it today. Food wise? Just a skosh. Fitness wise? Absolutely. I did kickboxing today. Some weirdo in class requested more drills during the workout. So that's what we did. One of the drills was jumping with a partner and slapping each other high five and I had the brilliant idea of participating. I jumped up and down with my partner. I felt fine during and immediately after the class. Five hours after the class ended my left knee started to hurt quite a bit. I pray that I've just irritated my knee just a little bit. I iced down both of my knees and took some of my anti-inflammatory medication for good measure. If my knee still hurts I will probably swim instead of strength train tomorrow.

I don't think that I did to bad with my meal plan on the 4th of July. My brother fixed the spread but I'm a picky eater so I really didn't eat anything that he cooked with the exception of the banana pudding. (Yum) I made my own Independence day dinner which consisted of a bison burger, sauteed mushrooms, and a salad. It was delicious, and to be honest I would have loved to have french fries but I was to lazy to fix them.

Workout: Cardio Kickboxing
Meal 1: Granola Cereal
Meal 2: Low Fat Oatmeal Banana Bread with Milk
Meal 3: Chicken Pesto Presto with roma tomatoes, mushrooms, and a salad
Meal 4: Low Fat Oatmeal Banana Bread with milk
Meal 5: Bison burger with cheese, sauteed mushrooms, banana pudding, and a salad
Water: Six 8 ounce glasses of water

Emotional Rollercoaster

2009-07-03T09:44:00.000-07:00

I did strength training today. It was a good workout but I feel like I could have had a better workout. I was in the exact same room that I was in yesterday doing my kickboxing workout. Those feelings of self-consciousness resurfaced as I was working out and it made it difficult to concentrate. The instructor even had to help me to do the exercise to work the triceps. I just wish that this weren't an issue for me at all. It's so depressing sometimes. While I was in Memphis for my Family Reunion I mustered up the courage to wear a sleeveless shirt but I don't know if I'll be able to do that again. Sometimes I feel like I can do without all these emotions that comes with losing weight.

Workout: Bodyworks Plus Abs
Meal 1: Granola Cereal
Meal 2: Blueberry Muffin
Meal 3: Turkey sub on wheat with lettuce, onions, cheddar, and spicy mustard
Meal 4: Low Fat Oatmeal Banana Bread with milk
Meal 5: Chicken Pesto Presto with roma tomatoes, and mushrooms
Meal 6: Low Fat Oatmeal Banana Bread with milk
Water: Eight 8 ounce glasses of water
Foods That I Lusted After: Banana Pudding

Pretty Ugly

2009-07-02T08:57:00.000-07:00

I abhor the way that I look. I look like the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man. I did kickboxing today and the blubber on my arms throws off the momentum when I'm doing hooks, upper cuts, or jabs. My belly is slightly smaller but it's still ginormous. The fact that I get to look at myself in the mirror while I workout makes things worse. I wish someone would do away with those. What's the point of having them in the room where you exercise? If you need to make sure that you are using perfect form when you exercise wouldn't the instructor help you out in that department? I was so self conscious about my appearance that I purposely stood behind one girl while we were working out. Unfortunately she was the girl who left her spot every five minutes to get a drink of water so she wasn't any help. I was tempted to tell her that she should try drinking a glass of water BEFORE class but I kept my mouth shut. I wish that I didn't have to go through all this body issue crap. I already have to go through it just being a woman it's 10 times worse going through it being a big woman.
Workout: Cardio Kickboxing
Meal 1: Granola Cereal
Meal 2: Low Fat Oatmeal Banana Bread with milk
Meal 3: Turkey sub on WHEAT with lettuce, onions, cheddar, and spicy mustard
Meal 4: Special K Protein Bar
Meal 5: Mesquite Salmon with a salad
Meal 6: Low Fat Oatmeal Banana Bread with milk
Water: 6 Eight ounce glasses
Foods That I Lusted After: Papa John's Pizza. Management at work was kind enough to buy everyone in the department pizza today and tomorrow and I will not be having any of it. :-(

At least you weren't hit by lasers from three Proton Packs!

Culinary Heaven/Dieter's Nightmare

2009-07-01T22:23:00.001-07:00

Today I went swimming and it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Well...it wasn't bad at all. But I'm definitely not going to go back to swimming 5 times a week.

I'm contemplating not posting what I eat while I'm in Germany. If anyone were to read what I ate while I was in Germany, their arteries would harden. I'm definitely going to indulge during the trip. My mom wants to go this restaurant called the Chicken Farm. I remember we used to drive for about an hour to get to this place. The meal that I ate was an absolute feast. It would start off with a salad. I ignored this part since I still did not like Veggies. In fact I didn't get into salads until I was a Sophomore in High School. The healthy appetizer was French Onion Soup, it was made with bread as thick as Texas Toast, and covered in Gruyere cheese. Then came the Entree. A fresh whole chicken. They would put it on your plate and cut it up right in front of you. Now I didn't eat the whole chicken because I had to share with my brother. Chicken wasn't the only entree, you also got a plate of French Fries, and you could always opt for beef shish kabobs that would actually cook on a spit in a open fire right behind you. For dessert I would always have the apple sauce. The portions that they serve the food are very large. If I do eat there, which I'm sure that I will, I'd like to have some of that scrumptious French Onion soup. I won't go overboard with the portion size. Also I think that I might have figured out how to enjoy German cuisine but eat healthily at the same time. I need to do a little bit of research to make sure that I'll have access to this food.
I hope that I'm not over planning as opposed to actually enjoying myself while I'm on vacation.

Workout: Swimming
Meal 1: Granola cereal
Meal 2: Low Fat Oatmeal Banana Bread with milk
Meal 3: Special K Protein Shake
Meal 4: Turkey sub on flatbread with lettuce, onions, cheddar, and spicy mustard
Meal 5: Chicken Pesto Presto with roma tomatoes, mushrooms, and a salad
Meal 6: Low Fat Oatmeal Banana Bread with milk
Water: Eight 8 ounces glasses of water
Foods That I Lusted After: A nice juicy cheeseburger

Movin' On Up

2009-06-30T20:13:00.000-07:00

Today I decided to make it my day of rest. To be honest I had no idea as to when I would be taking a break. I prefer to take it later in the week. I just want to workout as much possible and then take a break in the middle or towards the latter part of the week as opposed to taking a break earlier in the week and having 4 or 5 days straight of working out. Today in particular I just did not want to workout at all. I don't know if this is normal because I've been feeling this a lot as of late. But I before I decided not to exercise today I at least thought out what exercises I would do for the rest of the week, so I don't feel to guilty for not wanting to workout. Tomorrow I'll go swimming, I'll do strength training or kickboxing on Saturday. If I can get up at 5am then I'll do strength training on Friday. Thursday is kind of a question mark but I'm sure that I'll figure out something.

I think that I need to do some more physical testing in regards to my knee. I'm pondering attending a big a friend workout for Boot Camp. I need to let the instructors know before hand so that some modifications can be made.

On Sunday I was watching an old episode of The Biggest Loser for inspiration and motivation. I want to do some of the intense workouts that the contestants do. I think that I'll have to borrow some of my brother's Men's Health books so I can learn how to exercise like that. I do NOT want to talk to a Personal Trainer at the gym because I have the feeling that I'll be getting a sales pitch if I do talk to them.

Workout: Watching my Netflix rentals
Meal 1: Granola Cereal
Meal 2: Special K Protein Shake
Meal 3: Turkey sub on flatbread with lettuce, onions, cheddar, and spicy mustard
Meal 4: Low Fat Oatmeal Banana Bread with milk
Meal 5: Lean Cuisine Pizza with a salad
Meal 6: Low Fat Oatmeal Banana Bread with milk
Water: Seven 8 ounce glasses of water
Foods That I Lusted After: I'd kill for a PBJ sandwich right now.

Breaking News!

2009-06-29T04:14:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I feel that making plans is completely pointless. I was going to attend the Body Works Plus Abs class at the gym in Dunwoody today. That particular class is extremely popular and it was packed to capacity and there wasn't any equipment for me to workout with. I quickly ran through a listing of exercises I could do. Swimming-I wrinkled my nose and grunted. Step Class-I would be nuts to do that with the shape my knees are in. Spin Class-My tush would be hurting after that one. Walking on the treadmill-BORING. So I decided to revisit the idea after I mailed my Peachtree Road Race number that I sold on eBay for $51.00. After I went to the post office, I checked the gym schedule and there was a kickboxing class on Piedmont road. I put the pedal to the metal and drove like a madwoman to get to the class since it was starting very soon. I reached the parking lot of the gym and I sat in my car for a beat and thought, do I really want to exercise today? The answer was no. But then I thought to myself stop being such a big baby and go and workout. So I did. The female instructor I would describe as...sadistic but kinda fun. As part of the workout we actually had to run laps in our exercise room. I did not like that and I tried to jog lightly and even cut across the middle of the room so I wouldn't put to much pressure on my joints. The only way to describe the instructor is militant. She yelled at us quite a bit, and when we weren't showing enough enthusiasm when we were doing front kicks she made us run more laps. It was a good workout. I was a bit self conscience of my body while I was working out. Having meaty arms and thighs tends to slows down the momentum that I muster when I'm doing the kicks and punches. I don't feel like I look like everybody else when I workout, and that's kind of hard to wrap my head around that. I feel like that makes me stand out in a bad way and my weight already does that, now I just call attention to how I can't move because I'm overweight.

Now for the big news.
I am going to Germany next month for a few days. When I went to the post office today, I was also there to submit my passport application. I'm excited. I didn't bother to renew my passport because I used to have to buy a seat in first class so I could sit comfortably and those seats are not cheap! I just gave up on traveling because of my size. My goal is to be down one pants size by the time that I go to Germany for vacation. Well I was able to wear my awesome Old Navy crop pants in size 26 on Saturday. It was a little snug, but hopefully with all this kickboxing that I've been doing they will be loose very soon. If I can make it to a size 24 in pants by the time my vacation rolls around that would be awesome. I'm also wondering if I should start trying on size 16/18 shirts now too. I'll wait for a moment before I do that. I don't want to be disappointed if I try it on to early. I'll be bringing my trusty laptop with me to Germany so I can continue to blog while I'm away. I seriously doubt that I'll be eating anything healthy while I'm there. The challenge will be exercising while I'm there. I don't know if I'll have access to the gym in the town of Wiesbaden. My mom is taking me to Germany and it looks like we will be staying at the hotel for military members. I am to old to take advantage of my Dad's military benefits so I'm kind of in an interesting position. I've asked my brother to help me look for a place where I can go swimming. I wouldn't mind not working out for 5 days, but I can't help but think how my body will feel if I resume working out after not doing it for awhile. So that's my incentive for working out until I go on vacation July 21st. I just have to stay motivated the entire month and that is going to be tough.

Workout: Cardio Kickboxing
Meal 1: Cereal with a banana
Meal 2: Special K Protein Bar
Meal 3: Turkey sub on flatbread with lettuce, onions, cheddar, and spicy mustard
Meal 4: Chicken switch with cheddar, lettuce, onions, mushrooms, and a caesar salad
Meal 5: Low Fat Oatmeal Banana Bread with Milk
Meal 6: Oatmeal with milk
Water: Six 8 ounce glasses of water
Foods That I Lusted After: Pizza!

Motivation or Lack There Of

2009-06-28T03:19:00.000-07:00

UGH. I had planned on doing strength training today with the Body Works Plus Abs class. Unfortunately I overslept, so I opted for Yoga at the new LA Fitness in Kennesaw. I didn't want to make Sunday my free day because that would mean I'd have to workout 5 days straight. Yoga today was definitely not an easy workout. I was really sweating 20 minutes into the workout. I was stupid and I didn't take the anti-inflammatory drugs until an hour before the workout, so the medication didn't kick in until the workout was over. I'm still struggling with getting up and working out. I'm trying to enlist my brother to workout with me but sometimes he prefers to workout alone. I can't think of any favors that he owes me, so I think that I'll have to put on a sad face and shed a tear or too to get him to workout with me. I MIGHT have another incentive to workout because something big is going to happen within the upcoming weeks. I'm lining up some ducks in a row before I reveal the news.

Workout: Yoga
Meal 1: Granola cereal
Meal 2: Turkey sub on flat bread with lettuce, cheddar, onions, and spicy mustard
Meal 3: Slim Fast Shake
Meal 4: Low Fat Oatmeal Banana Bread with Milk
Meal 5: Chicken Pesto Presto with roma tomatoes, mushrooms, and a salad
Meal 6: Low Fat Oatmeal Banana Bread with Milk
Water: Six 8 ounce glasses of Water

Some Optimism

2009-06-27T19:05:00.000-07:00

I gave kickboxing a try today and I had a lot of fun. I had to be a little light on my feet while working out today. I felt pretty good but I felt positively wiped out afterwards. It was kind of a struggle to keep up with the class especially when my feet started hurting. I still need to get the gel insoles for my shoes and hopefully that will make a big difference. I think that my body will have to adjust to this kind of cardio. But I think that I'll be able to return to boot camp soon if my body can hold up during a kickboxing workout.

Workout: Cardio Kickboxing
Meal 1: Granola cereal with a banana
Meal 2: Special K Protein Bar
Meal 3: *Beef, onions, bean sprouts, mushrooms, and roti bread
Meal 4: Low Fat Oatmeal Banana Bread with milk
Meal 5: Chicken Pesto Presto with roma tomatoes, and mushrooms
Meal 6: Low Fat Oatmeal Banana Bread with milk
Water: Eight 8 ounce glasses of water
Foods That I Lusted After: Mellow Mushroom pizza

Feeling Ambivalent

2009-06-26T18:52:00.000-07:00

It is becoming increasingly hard to get motivated to work out. I don't know if it's because of lack of options, or that I had a small taste of freedom for the Family Reunion. Maybe I need a break... It's a big question mark for me at the moment. I wish I had an answer to my question. I'm beginning to feel like I'm slipping. I think it's a good idea to start doing more aggressive exercises to see what my body is capable of doing. I'm thinking of trying kickboxing tomorrow. I just have to make sure that I take the anti-inflammatory drugs prior to working out.

Workout: Yoga
Meal 1: Granola cereal and a banana
Meal 2: Special K Protein Bar
Meal 3: Turkey sub on flatbread with lettuce, onions, cheddar, and spicy mustard
Meal 4: Baked manicotti and a caesar salad
Meal 5: Oatmeal with milk

Stabilization

2009-06-25T13:32:00.000-07:00

I think I'm doing okay today. I had planned on working out this morning but my workout got pushed back until the evening. My intention was to swim but as I was entering the gym the ropes that designate lanes were gone and the pool was filled with a bunch of women. That only means one thing. Aqua Fit. Even though I said that I would never do that again, I went ahead and did it again. It was....interesting. Apparently Aqua Fit is a spectator sport because people literally stopped whatever it was that they were doing and peered through the glass walls into the pool and just stared at us. I made a point to ask a fellow aqua fitter about the spectating and I made sure that I was visible when I pointed back at the people who were staring at us and that did the trick. The crowd dispersed fairly quickly after that. I'm not sure if I'll do Aqua Fit again. I was slightly winded afterwards but not as winded as compared to kickboxing or boot camp. Tomorrow I will try to eat healthy.

I'm taking my parents out to a nice Italian restaurant to celebrate the commencement of the Summer semester. The restuarant really doesn't have anything healthy to eat. Actually scratch that, the restaurant doesn't have anything healthy that I'd like to eat. We'll see how I do diet wise tomorrow.

Workout: Aqua Fit

Meal 1: Granola Cereal

Meal 2: Low Fat Oatmeal Banana Bread with Milk

Meal 3: Turkey sub on flatbread with cheddar, lettuce, onions, and spicy mustard

Meal 4: Special K Protein Bar

Meal 5: Chicken Pesto Presto with roma tomatoes, mushrooms, and a salad

Meal 6: Low Fat Oatmeal Banana Bread with milk

Water: Six 8 ounce glasses of water

Foods That I Lusted After: Anything with beef!

Where is The Love?

2009-06-24T11:19:00.000-07:00

UGH. I was going to do some exercises at home today. My schedule has been a little packed since we are understaffed at work, and then you have to factor in that I'm taking a course in one month that is normally completed in three. I am utterly exhausted. I actually fell asleep before I could workout today. This is kind of raising a red flag for me since I haven't been feeling the love for diet and exercise as of late. Tomorrow is another day. I'll be alarmed if I don't do any exercise tomorrow and stuff my face with cheetos.

Workout: Being Comatose

Meal 1: Cereal and a banana

Meal 2: Special K Protein Bar

Meal 3: Turkey sub on flatbread with cheddar, lettuce, onions, and spicy mustard

Meal 4: Chicken Pesto Presto with Roma Tomatoes, mushrooms, and a salad

Meal 5: Oatmeal with milk

Water: Six 8 ounce glasses of water

Foods That I Lusted After: Cheetos

Off Kilter

2009-06-23T10:55:00.000-07:00

Wow, who knew that a couple of days not doing your regular routine would throw you off so much. It's becoming a chore to exercise. I'm not sure if it has to do with the last few days of fun that I had or if I'm stressed out from the class that I'm taking or maybe it has something to do with the fact that I went swimming again. I can't seem to pinpoint it. Sporadically I feel a little bit of discomfort in my right knee. I wonder if it has something to do with the PA that I've seen initially for my Ortho appointments, or the fact that there appears to be a one inch gap in between the joint in my knee. I thought that since I'm not in as much pain as before that maybe I should kind of test the waters. I've been contemplating Cardio Kickboxing. I can pretty much figure out the modifications that I need to make on my own. I just don't want to do any permanent damage. I don't think I'll find out what my limitations are unless I test them out.

Workout: Swimming

Meal 1: Cereal with a banana

Meal 2: Wheat thins

Meal 3: Turkey sub on flatbread with lettuce, onions, cheddar, and spicy mustard

Meal 4: Special K Protein Bar

Meal 5: Chicken switch with mushrooms, onions, and a caesar salad

Meal 6: Oatmeal with Milk

Water: Eight 8 ounce glasses of water

One Foot on the Fitness Train

2009-06-22T14:43:00.000-07:00

If I gained weight during the family reunion I don't think that I gained to much. My jeans still fit me. They aren't snug, but they are slightly loose. I'd like to decrease a pants size by the end of next month. It seems that clothing opportunities increase as you decrease in size. I think I did better food wise today. I'm waiting for my bananas to ripen before I fix the Low Fat Oatmeal Banana Bread. I'm glad that I added this to my diet. It feels like I'm eating a treat and either it has to be low on carbs or my body really burns it up whenever I go swimming. I'd like to fix it this week but there is a problem where people in my household keep on eating the bananas even after I tell them not to touch, look, or eat them. Then I have to start all over again and wait for the bananas to ripen, thus the vicious cycle of the disappearance of the bananas continues.

I think that I'll be brave and go swimming tomorrow. When I had my hair done on Thursday I got a few more tips on how to take care of it after I go swimming. I've also bought anti-chlorine swimming shampoo and conditioner, and my third swimming cap. If this doesn't work then I'll need to taper off on the swimming and dedicate myself to spin class. My last day of my Human Communications class is this Thursday so when I'm done with that I'll resume my physical therapy. I have a time frame earmarked for when I'd like to return to boot camp but that hinges on how well I'm feeling.

Workout: Yoga
Meal 1: Cereal
Meal 2: Wheat Thins
Meal 3: Turkey sub on flat bread with lettuce, onions, cheddar, and spicy mustard
Meal 4: Special K Protein Bar
Meal 5: Lean Cuisine Pizza and a salad
Meal 6: Oatmeal
Water: Six 8 ounce glasses
Foods That I Lusted After:

Logic and Reason

2009-06-21T12:22:00.000-07:00

Perhaps I shouldn't attend anymore Family Reunions. I kind of blew it food wise today as well. I didn't workout because my back really started hurting. Tomorrow I'll get back on track. I blew it when my family went to Chili's. It's been a few years since I ate something there and I was in the moment of the Family Reunion euphoria so......I had a cheeseburger, with fries, and the White Chocolate Molten Cake with vanilla ice cream sans raspberry sauce. All is not lost, I did opt to put the cheeseburger on a wheat bun not that will make a HUGE difference. I guess I thought if I was going to be made I better make it worth it. My brother got a cheeseburger as well but he had steamed veggies with his. That takes a lot of will power. The only veggies that I want to go with my cheeseburger are onions, mushrooms, and ketchup.

Workout: Walking around the airport

Meal 1: Granola cereal with milk

Meal 2: Special K Protein Bar

Meal 3: Cheeseburger, fries, White Chocolate Molten Cake

Meal 4: Oatmeal

Water: Eight 8 ounce glasses of water

Foods That I Lusted After: The last thing I should be doing is lusting after food.

Roly Poly

2009-06-20T18:29:00.000-07:00

I had a really good workout today. My brother, Dad, and I piled into the car and drove into Memphis to take advantage of our free guest pass. I did srength training at a cardio pace. I called the gym that I was visiting before hand if there were going to be lunges, or squats and the lady on the phone said that there would be but it would only be for a stretch of maybe one minute at a time. I can handle that. No problem. The workout is very similar to the Body Works Plus Abs class that I attend at LA Fitness. We normally get a bench, and two sets of dumbbells. For the 24S.E.T class we added a barbell to it. That was pretty cool. I had a really good workout. The woman that taught the class had to have been in her 60's and she kept up with the class, she didn't stop at all, and she really kept us motivated throughout the workout. Now the person that I spoke to earlier may have been misinformed about the workout or possibly talking about another instructor. Sometimes the lunges and squats were done for the entire song that definitely lasted for over a minute. I was able to keep up pretty well. Surprisingly my knees didn't really hurt. The instructor also had us step up and down on the bench as we did bicep or tricep curls. I chose to remain on the floor just in case. My knee was feeling good, but I didn't want to over do it and injure myself. That happened all before 11am. Then it went downhill from there. After the workout we went back to the hotel, showered, got dressed, and moseyed to T.O. Fuller Park to have a family picnic. I've never seen a picnic in my life that has ever had healthy food and this was no exception. I was really hungry and I wasn't sure how long I would be trapped in the 90+ degree heat without food. I talked with my brother about the situation and he said you're celebrating with family and it's okay to eat. So I opted for a hamburger and some spaghetti. I had intended that to be my cheat meal but plans kind of changed. Later that evening we drove to Tunica, Mississippi to Harrah's Casino and ate at Paula Deen's Buffet. Now I have to preface that I didn't heap full size portions on my plate. I put more of a sampling of each piece of food on my plate and it was delicious. Since I've derailed I'm not sure if I will rein it all back in tomorrow or if I should just enjoy myself within reason.

Workout: 24S.E.T
Meal 1: Granola cereal with milk, and one sausage
Meal 2: Special K Protein Bar
Meal 3: Hamburger and spaghetti
Meal 4: Mac and cheese, hoe cakes, mashed potatoes, buffalo chicken wings, ooey gooey butter cake, cupcake, and two cookies
Meal 5: Special K Protein Bar
Water: Eight 8 ounce glasses of water
Foods That I Lusted After:

I'm here!

2009-06-19T16:08:00.000-07:00

After a few false starts today i.e. the car not turning over right when my mom, brother and I are headed to the airport, a battle of who knows more about cars (that would be me), and a security breach at the gate, I finally made it to Memphis. I got off the plane and went to get my luggage at the baggage carousel with my mom and brother. My dad had arrived in Memphis earlier in the day and I hadn't seen him since January. I was standing with my brother at the opening of where the luggage is burped out of it's hole and I saw my dad on the other side looking at me from the other side of the baggage carousel. He had this silly grin on his face that I rarely see and I would just have to assume that it's because he's proud of my weight loss. I told my brother that I thought my Dad was proud of me, and he responded that everyone in my family is proud of me but that it would be better if I listened to what he had to say sometimes. That's asking wayyyyyy to much and will probably never, ever happen.

Eating well here is going to be tough. The Free continental breakfast lists breakfast as sausage, biscuits, gravy, and other breakfast items. They didn't specify on the hotel website. I really hope that it's a multi-grain cereal and a banana there. Tonight we are meeting at a restaurant called The Gay Hawk Restaurant. I googled it and they don't have a website, but they do have a Myspace page. There isn't a menu on their myspace page but there are pictures of the food that they serve. Fried chicken, black eyed peas, ham, rice, and a sign that says, "Chitlin's every Saturday." So it is safe to say that I won't be eating anything there. I got the menu for the picnic that we are having tomorrow and my brother glanced at it for half a second and said that it looks like he won't be able to eat anything there. I think that the people at Subway will know me very well by the time I fly back to Atlanta on Sunday.

I have my free guest pass to the gym. Tomorrow I'm going to do the Strength and Endurance Training class that goes by the name of 24S.E.T. I called to verify what kind of workout it would be. Essentially it's the same as the Body Works Plus Abs class so I'm perfectly fine with that. I'm not sure what I'll be doing on Sunday. I obviously wasn't thinking clearly while I was packing because I tossed in the gel seat cover for the bike, but I think that will remain unused in Memphis.

Water: Sweating like a pig in Memphis
Meal 1: Oatmeal with mlik and a banana
Meal 2: Low Fat Oatmeal Banana Bread with milk
Meal 3: Turkey sub on wheat with lettuce, onions, cheese, and spicy mustard
Meal 4: Special K Protein Bar
Meal 5:
Cheese, crackers, and half of a strawberry
Meal 6: Chicken Caesar Salad
Water: Eight 8 ounce glasses of water
Foods That I Lusted After: French Onion Soup

Diagnostic Testing

2009-06-18T13:33:00.000-07:00

Today I had my Ortho appointment. My doctor was very nice and personable. I let him know that I needed to be fixed so I can go back to doing more intense exercises. He completely understand since his wife participates in boot camp as well. Now there's been a change in my diagnosis. I have inflamed cartilage in my knees, knee surgery is not necessary, my feet are just fine but I will need to wear gel cushioning from now on, and I do not have arthritis. I will have to do the PT exercises from before. I'm not looking forward to that since the require a lot of time to complete. I got a cortisone shot in my left knee. It honestly took 3 seconds to do. The injection in my right knee took about 15 seconds to do. Now I can go back to bootcamp when I'm ready. Mentally I'm ready, physically maybe not so much. He did say that until I lost more weight modifications for boot camp will have to be made. No hills, lunges, or squats. If I want to work my quads and hamstrings then I will have to squat but my back would have to be against a stable surface. I'm excited now that I have a glimmer of hope.

Now I might not make my goal this month. I can't exercise today now that I've had a cortisone shot. Tomorrow might be out of the window too but I really hope not. I didn't get to eat lunch today. Today was a grueling day trying to prep for the trip that I just wasn't that hungry.
Workout: Packing up for my trip
Meal 1: Oatmeal with milk
Meal 2: Special K Protein Bar
Meal 3: Low Fat Oatmeal Banana Bread with milk
Meal 4: Chicken Pesto Presto with roma tomatoes, onions, mushrooms and a salad
Meal 5: Low Fat Oatmeal Banana Bread with milk
Water: Eight 8 ounce glasses of water
Foods That I Lusted After: Ravioli in an arribiata or marinara sauce.

Nervousness

2009-06-17T14:58:00.000-07:00

I'm a skosh nervous about my trip for the family reunion. We're going to Memphis, Tennessee on Friday and I have a feeling that it will be a struggle for me to find healthy food. I mean Memphis is known for it's barbecue and I've also been informed that there is a Paula Deen buffet at the Harrah's Casino in Tunica, Mississippi. I will actually be holed up in a hotel in Horn Lake, Mississippi which is 30 minutes away from Memphis. The casino is 20 miles away from Memphis. My mom would like to eat at Paula Deen's buffet especially since they will have be serving Seafood on Friday and Saturday. If my mother could she would have scrimp (or shrimp), crabs, or lobster everyday. Plus Paula Deen's cooking is awesome because there is a pound of butter in just about everything. I'm going to bring some protein bars with me. I figured that I would buy a case of water while I'm there. If there's nothing to eat then I'll have a Wendy's salad, or a sandwich from Subway. I don't think that it'll be hard not to succumb to temptation. We're going to have a picnic on Saturday and if I go off of previous picnics then there really won't be any healthy options for me to eat. I don't like barbecue, and I'm allergic to a lot of seafood already. I just have to get people to respect my dietary wishes and be supportive of my plight to lose weight.

Anyway that's all for now. I'm going to be busy this weekend but I will try to post something when I get a chance.

Workout: Breathing
Meal 1: Cereal with a banana
Meal 2: Special K Protein Bar
Meal 3: Oatmeal with milk
Meal 4: Turkey sub on wheat with cheddar, lettuce, onions, and spicy mustard
Meal 5: Lean Cuisine pizza with a salad
Meal 6: Low Fat Oatmeal Banana Bread with milk
Water: Eight 8 ounce glasses of water
Foods That I Lusted After:

Issues

2009-06-16T22:15:00.000-07:00

My right knee is feeling a little better. It still feels .... weird. It's hard to explain but maybe I'm just not used to feeling well. Sometimes the pain comes and goes. I've noticed now that I have to make sure that I take my medication at the appropriate time otherwise I'll be in greater pain. I can only go about 45 minutes in the pool before my knee really starts to hurt so I try to swim the entire time as fast as my body will let me.
Unfortunately the method of combing my hair straight up before putting the cap on did not work. I'm going to take a break from swimming for this week since I'm getting my hair did on Thursday. The chlorine plus the chemicals that will be put on my hair to make it straight will just be way to much for my hair. I have some other methods that I'm going to try out. Chlorine removal shampoo and conditioner, putting conditioner in my hair before I swim or wearing two swim caps while I swim. We'll see if those methods work later on.
Workout: Swimming
Meal 1: Cereal with a banana
Meal 2: Wheat Thins
Meal 3: Special K Protein Bar
Meal 4: Turkey sub on wheat with lettuce, onions, cheddar, and spicy mustard
Meal 5: Chicken Caesar Salad
Meal 6: Oatmeal with milk
Water: Eight 8 ounce glasses of water
Foods That I Lusted After: A double angus cheeseburger from Krystal's.
Foods That I Lusted After:

Pain, Pain go away.

2009-06-15T21:57:00.000-07:00

Okay I made it to the gym today. I went swimming. I just might want to learn how to embrace it at this point. My knee is feeling much better, but it still feels weird. At points throughout the day it felt like there were pins and needles inside. My knee did start to burn when I got halfway through the workout so I made sure to ice them as soon as I got home. I wonder how long I'll have to do this to relieve the pain? I iced it for a little over 10 minutes but that didn't feel like it was enough.

I made an appointment with another Ortho for this Thursday from Jim's recommendation. This particular Ortho is a doctor and he's an Orthopedist for the Atlanta Hawks. So I'm excited about that. Unfortunately the appointment means that I have to drive into the city and his office is located near the airport. I even have pause driving to the airport to pick up my parents (whom I love with all my heart) so you can only imagine how I feel about driving down there to have some dude feel up my knee.

Oh I also think I found a way to prevent my hair from getting wet while I'm swimming. I wear a swim cap but water just seeps in there. I read online that you should comb your hair and then put the cap on. I think that I'll look like a female Don King once I finish combing my hair. Hopefully I won't scare any of the women in the locker room.

Workout: Swimming
Meal 1: Cereal and a banana
Meal 2: Wheat Thins
Meal 3: Turkey on wheat with lettuce, onions, cheddar, and spicy mustard
Meal 4: Special K Protein Bar
Meal 5: Lean Cuisine pizza with a salad
Meal 6: Low Fat Oatmeal Bread with milk
Water: Six 8 ounce glasses of water
Foods That I Lusted After: A cheeseburger

Subpar

2009-06-14T15:47:00.000-07:00

I didn't make it to the gym today. My knee was still burning but it appears as if the sensation has lessened. I'm grateful for that. I hope I can make it to the gym tomorrow. I'll still probably go if I don't feel up to par. I'm still trying to figure out how I'm going to have ice packs with me after I workout to ice down my joints. I suppose that I can bring them with me already frozen and see if the gym will let me stick them in their freezer. I hope that they'll accommodate me. I know people feel funny about having stranger's ice packs in the freezer right next to their frozen peas
Meal 1: Oatmeal with Milk
Meal 2: Special K Protein Bar
Meal 3: Turkey sub on wheat with lettuce, onions, cheddar, and spicy mustard
Meal 4: Oatmeal with Milk

I'm just not that hungry today.

Water: Eight 8 ounce Glasses of Water
Foods That I Lusted After: N/A

Some Clarity

2009-06-13T07:11:00.000-07:00

If cheating were a sport I would have earned a gold medal today. I think that it's safe to say that I have the concept of a cheat day down pat. I went to a pool party that was held by Felix for the Operation Boot Camp Instructors. I had an absolute wonderful time. I was able to meet a lot of the Instructors and a lot of them read my blog and encouraged me to keep going and asked me questions about my struggle. It rejuvenated the way that I feel about how far I've come and if I should keep going. The whole knee thing has bogged me down. I had a heart to heart with my brother at the party while I was shoveling Carrot Cake in my face. He feels that I've already thrown in the towel on the entire situation. So he suggested that I get a second opinion. I spoke with another instructor Jim and got a recommendation for another Ortho. I'm going to try to see one this week before I attend my family reunion. My knee felt fine earlier today but I stood up quite a bit at the party and it began to hurt after that. In fact my knee feels like it's on fire and it's not the typical feel that I've had before. After the party I had my gym bag ready to go so I could work out. I didn't want to exacerbate my condition so I didn't. I'm hoping that I'm well enough to exercise tomorrow, but we'll see.

Workout:
Meal 1: Oatmeal with milk
Meal 2: Cheeseburger on wheat with cheese, lettuce, onions, red potatoes, and carrot cake
Meal 3: Special K Protein Bar
Meal 4: Turkey sub on flatbread with cheese, lettuce, onions, and spicy mustard
Meal 5: Oatmeal with milk
Water: Eight 8 ounce glasses of water
Foods That I Lusted After:

My Brand New Knee

2009-06-12T15:39:00.000-07:00

Today I decided to test drive my new knee. I felt pretty good. I ran down a flight of steps at work. My knee didn't pop or click when I walked. I felt more stable. I decided that I would go swimming for my workout today. I hadn't done it in a few days, and I was excited about my new swim cap being the end of my hair woes. I changed into my swimsuit, did the pre-pool shower, and then I got into the pool. I started to swim. Now it takes me about 4 laps to warm up when I swim, but after I swam those 4 laps I began to notice that I couldn't really flutter kick, and to top it all off my right knee hurt like crazy. Apparently I was doing such a terrible job swimming that a lady got out of the jacuzzi and suggested since I was new to swimming that I get swimming gloves and flippers and in a few weeks I would be able to travel through the water rather speedily. I politely let her know that I had been swimming for quite awhile and that I just had a cortisone shot in my knee. I just kind of feel like giving up at this point. I'm at my wit's end with this. The Ortho said that I would feel much better 24 hours after the shot. Which I did for a very brief moment. It just seemed to amplify the pain. I'm trying to be patient but if I'm supposed to feel some relief and I don't then what do I do next?

Workout: Swimming
Meal 1: Cereal
Meal 2: Low Fat Oatmeal Banana Bread with Milk
Meal 3: Special K Protein Bar
Meal 4: Turkey sub on wheat with lettuce, onions, cheese, and spicy mustard
Meal 5: Portobella veggie burger with sauteed mushrooms, and a salad
Meal 6: Low Fat Oatmeal Banana Bread with Milk
Water: Eight 8 ounce glasses of water
Foods That I Lusted After: Pizza

Giving It A Shot

2009-06-11T09:45:00.000-07:00

Well.... Some way. Some how I made it to the gym at 6 am for Spin Class. I used my gel seat cover. The verdict? It was slightly less painful than the last time that I was on the bike. If you have a gel seat cover you have to make sure that you are firmly planted on the seat so that it will stay. My gel seat cover had a mind of it's own and I had to stop several times to make sure that it was aligned correctly, or to put it back on because it came off. I found myself mentally checking out in spin class. So I figure that I have about two choices. Either I can become a spin class groupie and just become accustomed to being uncomfortable on the bike, or not. I'm leaning towards not. Maybe when I am much, much, much, thinner but not at this time.

After Spin Class I hightailed it over to the Ortho. Again the appointment didn't take that long. Essentially the only two options were cortisone shots or physical therapy. Physical therapy takes an hour to do and I would have to do it daily and I just don't have that time right now. That's not factoring in the cost of the appointments which is pretty expensive even though I've met my deductible. My mind was made up. I got the cortisone shot in my right knee. Now the Ortho said that he would see how this knee does before he injects my foot or my left knee. My right knee is where I have the most pain. It was really gross having a needle pierce my skin and inserted into my knee. I really had to make myself calm down before I screamed or kicked the Ortho in the face. I managed to suppress that urge and it was over with in about 15 seconds. I asked if I could still participate in the Peachtree Road Race and the Ortho said that it is possible but he does not recommend it especially since the course is very hilly. I'm going to adhere to what he said and not participate. My co-worker sold her Peachtree Road Race number on eBay and she got 90 bucks for hers. I'm hoping to match that amount and that would be a profit of 57 bucks! The cortisone should start working in about 24 hours. Right now my knee just feels weird. It's not an everyday occurrence when a needle is stuck in between my joints. I've started to limp a little bit as well but hopefully I will not be limping tomorrow. For me to prevent any more inflammation of the joints I will actually have to ice down my joints after each workout. That is going to be..... interesting. I just like to exercise and go but that is going to go out the window for now. As for my knee clicking in and out of place. The Ortho said that it was from damaged cartilage which unfortunately does not regenerate. The only way to fix that is with surgery. I am not in any rush to go under the knife anytime soon. I think that I'll just have to wait and see how my knee feels before I make a definitive decision on that.

Workout: Spin Class

Meal 1: Cereal and a banana

Meal 2: Low Fat Oatmeal Banana Bread with milk

Meal 3: Special K Protein Bar

Meal 4: Caesar Salad, Chicken Burger on wheat with cheddar, lettuce, onions, and mushrooms. (Known as a Chicken Burger at Cheyenne Grill but it's really a Chicken boob.)

Meal 5: Low Fat Oatmeal Banana Bread with Milk

I just wasn't that hungry today.

Water: Eight 8 ounce glasses of water

Foods That I Lusted After: Krispy Kreme dougnuts! I saw the sign lit up indicating that they had hot doughnuts and I started salivating.

Resting Is Fun

2009-06-10T15:58:00.000-07:00

I'm a big chicken. I WAS going to get up early and go to the gym before work and do a Spin Class. What did I do? Nada. The middle of the week seemed like an appropriate day to rest since I've earmarked Thursday for Spin Class, Friday will be Body Works Plus Abs, and Saturday will be .... something snazzy. I'm not sure what I'll do Saturday but I definitely want to work out that day. I've designated Saturday as a cheat day and I think it's best that I do something physical to work off all the calories, and carbs I'll be consuming that day. I'm not making it an all day cheat day but I'm (always) in the mood for Italian food and it's definitely not gonig to be healthy.

Tomorrow is the big day. I get to go to the Ortho, have some strange dude touch and poke at my knee and hopefully make it all better. I'm not to keen on having a big needle being pushed in between my knee joint. I've heard some horror stories. My co-worker said that her cortisone shot lasted three weeks. If I get it, I hope that's not the case for me.

I just want my pre-inflamed joints, and pre-early arthritis life back. I don't think that's to much to ask.

Workout: Watching "So You Think You Can Dance". It was quite a workout.
Meal 1: Cereal with a banana
Meal 2: Special K Protein Bar
Meal 3: Turkey sub on flatbread with lettuce, cheese, onions and spicy mustard
Meal 4: Low Fat Oatmeal Banana Bread with Milk
Meal 5: Chicken Pesto Presto with mushroom, onions, roma tomatoes, and a salad
Meal 6: Low Fat Oatmeal Banana Bread with Milk

Water: Eight 8 ounce glasses of water
Foods That I Lusted After: Breyer's Natural Vanilla Ice Cream

Pumping Iron

2009-06-09T15:41:00.000-07:00

I put in for a vacation day today. Unfortunately that doesn't mean that I can take a break from exercising even though I would really, really like to. I went to the Body Works Plus Abs class again. I went to the gym in Kennesaw and I had a fun teacher so the class was very enjoyable aside from doing squats and lunges. She might have been trying to kill me but I can't be certain about that.

While I was off I took Joye's advice and purchased a gel seat cover for the bike. I really hope this thing works. It's squishy which it's kind of fun to just pinch randomly. I'd like for it to feel like I'm sitting on a fluffy pillow when I'm on a bike but I think the seat cover will come pretty close to that. Now I have to work up the gusto to give it a try. I'm shooting for tomorrow but we'll see if that happens. Also I'm due for a day of rest and I don't know when I would like to take one. I would prefer four consecutive days of rest this week but I'll be a sport and only take one

Workout: Body Works Plus Abs
Meal 1: Oatmeal with milk
Meal 2: Low Fat Oatmeal Bread with milk
Meal 3: Turkey sub on wheat with lettuce, onions, and spicy mustard
Meal 4: Special K Protein Bar
Meal 5: *Chicken, spinach, mushrooms, onions, bean sprouts, and roti bread
Meal 6: Low Fat Oatmeal Bread with milk
*Ate at Real Chow Baby
Water: Eight 8 ounce glasses of water
Foods That I Lusted After: I really, really, really, want a PBJ right now

Climbing A Mountain

2009-06-08T15:38:00.000-07:00

Today was a enormous feat to finish my workout. I just really did not want to do it. I contemplated cutting the workout short but I stuck it out. I don't know why I was so resistant to finishing the workout. I did take my medication for my joints later in the day so that it would last through the workout but my knees were still killing me. I don't think that's a good sign. I can't wait until my appointment on Thursday. Hopefully I can be cured soon.

I'm going to buy a bicycle gel seat cover and give Spin Class a try this week. I really hope the seat cover works. The gyms normally schedule a lot of them each day so it would be very convenient to take a class. I'm just hoping my tuchus will be okay through the duration of the class.

Workout: Swimming
Meal 1: Cereal and a banana
Meal 2: Low Fat Oatmeal Banana Bread with milk
Meal 3: Turkey sub on wheat with lettuce, cheese, onions, and spicy mustard
Meal 4: Special K Protein Bar
Meal 5: Portobella veggie burger with cheese, and a salad
Meal 6: Low Fat Oatmeal Banana Bread with milk
Water: Eight 8 ounce glasses of water
Foods That I Lusted After: Beef!

It's Go Time!

2009-06-07T09:36:00.000-07:00

First off I noticed that I've had a spike in hits on my blog so thank you very much for reading it. I have been slacking with posts as of late. I'm taking a Summer class and you would think that a communications course would be easy, but it's not.
After I finish this class I'm going to do a little revamping of the blog. Nothing major. I'll be adding more tags to the blog posts so that you can filter things more with ease. Once that Nike widget is fixed I'll put it back up as well.

Okay I don't feel so down and out about solely being able to swim at this moment. For the sake of my luxurious mane it is possible that I will have to become a spin class junkie. You think I'm exaggerating but I'm not. You have to sign up for the class 30 minutes prior to the start of class. Fights have broken out because people weren't able to get into the class with their favorite instructor. One gym that I go to has put a whole new spin on signing in, they hand out lanyards and this is your way to get into the class. I'm pretty low key except when I'm having my drama queen moments but that is way to much drama to go through just to exercise. Even Lindsay Lohan would say that's to much and she thrives on it!

I know that I could have made better food choices last week. If I want to reach my goal this month then I'm going to have to kick it into high gear. Also I will be flying to the family reunion on the 19th. I don't know how comfortable I'll be in that airplane seat, but I'm bound to be more comfortable than I was before. If I can lose about 50 pounds between now and the Friday after next that would be awesome.
I will have to put some thought into what I will do for exercise while I am there. The hotel does have a swimming pool but it'll probably be hot and the pool will be filled with little tater tots wearing their swimmies and waterproof diapers.

On a positive note I think my present swimsuit is a tad to big for me. I've bought another one but it's snug and I'm afraid I'll pull to hard when I put it on and yank out a stitch or something. I have to do a bit of shimmying to get into it but I think after I reach my goal this month I will be able to really wear it. It's also a black swimsuit which means it's slimming and you can't go wrong there!

Workout: Swimming
Meal 1: Oatmeal with milk
Meal 2: Special K Protein Bar
Meal 3: Turkey sub on flatbread with cheese, lettuce, onions
Meal 4: Low Fat Oatmeal Banana Bread with Milk
Meal 5: Chicken Pesto Presto with Roma Tomatoes with mushrooms, onions, and a salad
Meal 6: Low Fat Oatmeal Banana Bread with Milk
Water: Eight 8 ounce glasses of water
Foods That I Lusted After:

I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings

2009-06-06T12:32:00.000-07:00

Well today is my cheat day. I'm attending the boot camp graduation as my brother's guest and it will be held at Mellow Mushroom which is my fave! Now normally I try to work in the required amount of vegetables even on a cheat day but I didn't feel like it. There was pizza with green peppers available but I can't handle spicy food. My brother said that green peppers aren't spicy. But my tongue and the roof of my mouth beg to differ.

I'm a little scared about the appointment on Thursday. I don't know if I'll get cortisone shots right then and there or if there are any other options available for me.
I did feel as if the Physician's Assistant was rushing through the appointment the last time. I suppose that he might see this kind of thing all the time but on Thursday I'm not going to be rushed through the appointment and some resolution will be worked out in regards to the inflammation in my joints. I'm just adamant about getting cured, or being fixed, or whatever phrase you want to use to describe this. I've been in kind of a funk the past few days. Swimming is a good form of exercise, I just feel that my options have been stripped from me. Swimming has wrecked my hair, I can't get a mani or pedi because the chlorinated water will obliterate it. I miss boot camp, and cardio kickboxing. I want to go do this 2 hour work out called Pure Energy at this gym where a few celebrities train. (I'm really hoping to run into Janet Jackson.) I can't really do walking as exercise aside from it being painful it seems my right knee shifts in and out of place whenever I walk which I'm going to guess is not normal. It's just so frustrating only being able to do one thing. I'd like to have swimming as an option, not as my sole choice.
Workout: Swimming
Meal 1: Oatmeal with milk
Meal 2: Slim Fast Shake
Meal 3: Two slices of italian sausage pizza
Meal 4: Turkey sub on flatbread with cheese, lettuce, onions, and spicy mustard
Meal 5: Oatmeal with milk
Meal 6: Low Fat Oatmeal Banana Bread with milk
Water: Eight 8 ounce glasses of water
Foods That I Lusted After: I'm good

Just Say No To Veggies

2009-06-05T11:04:00.000-07:00

Well I've gone ahead and made an appointment to see the Ortho next Thursday. I'm so ready to get back into other workouts. I feel stunted having to swim all the time. Now Yoga is cool but to achieve weight loss with yoga you have to eat rabbit food. I'd rather do intense workouts and allow myself to have some freedom meal plan wise. I know that I won't last eating rabbit food because I hate it with a passion. Inside this 28 year old body is the 7 year old who was not allowed to leave the dining room table until she had finished all of her vegetables but ended up stuffing her carrots into a napkin to throw away or discreetly giving them to her brother to finish off. (Sorry Mom and Dad)

Workout: Yoga
Meal 1: Cereal with a banana
Meal 2: Special K Protein
Meal 3: Low Fat Oatmeal Banana Bread with milk
Meal 4: Turkey sub on flatbread with cheese, lettuce, onions, and spicy mustard
Meal 5: Chicken Pesto Presto with red tomatoes, mushrooms, and onions
Meal 6: Low Fat Oatmeal Banana Bread with milk
Water: Eight 8 ounce glasses of water
Foods That I Lusted After: Mac and cheese

More, More, More

2009-06-04T13:50:00.000-07:00

I went swimming today. I am debating about what exercise I will do this weekend. I want for it to be intense but I'm pressed for time because I have a lot of things to do this weekend. Ideally I would like to Cardio Kickboxing. I can probably do the squats, but I won't be able to do the jumping, and I'm not sure how my knees will fair when we have to stand on one leg and kick our other leg out. That hasn't stopped me from practicing that at home. I scare the bejesus out of the cats because they round the corner and they see a chubby foot and leg being kicked in their direction.

On a sad note I think that I won't be able to participate in the Breast Cancer 3 Day. I'm just not physically ready to do all of that walking. I'm also debating about the Peachtree Road Race as well. I can complete it. I'm ready to do it physically and mentally. I will probably be very sore even if I walked it. I figure that it would take me about two hours to complete if I can keep up the pace. Now the question is do I want to get up at 5am and walk in 80 degree weather for two hours? Not so much. So we will have to see about that. Plus the next physical event that I'd like to participate in would be Nike Women's Marathon but I won't be able to participate in that until 2010. As soon as I'm physically well enough I'll look at other events to participate in the very near future.

Workout: Swimming

Meal 1: Cereal with a banana

Meal 2: Special K Protein Bar

Meal 3: Low Fat Oatmeal Banana Bread

Meal 4: Turkey sub on flatbread with cheese, lettuce, onions, and spicy mustard

Meal 5: Chicken Tuscany Melt from Subway

Meal 6: Low Fat Oatmeal Banana Bread

Water: Eight 8 ounce glasses of water
Foods That I Lusted After: Krispy Kreme Doughnuts because tomorrow is National Doughnut Day

Questions

2009-06-03T15:20:00.000-07:00

Sometimes when I workout I push myself harder to show people around me that I can workout just like people who are more physically fit than myself. I have no idea of why I do this. Maybe this as a result of me sitting on the sidelines because I was overweight? I guess this shows that I have a competitive spirit. I can't help but wonder does it really matter why I do this or is it yet another issue that I have to work through? Who knows? Perhaps I'll have an epiphany about this issue when I'm much older. The universal sentiment is that the only person I have anything to prove to is myself.

Sometimes it is hard to believe that I've lost 100 pounds. I remember when I was contemplating losing weight that the entire task seemed daunting. I thought even if I lose 100 I'd still be big, so what would be the point? On top of that it would probably take a very long time to lose that particular amount of weight and I'd still have to 100 more to go after that. That's why losing weight seems so daunting to me sometimes. I'm trying to press on. It's still a struggle to get to the gym after a hellacious day at work and school. I still heart carbs and I wish I could eat them all day every day. Does anyone who has lost a significant amount of weight prefer a big slice of pizza over salmon and a salad? Because I don't and that worries me. I guess I'm asking is it okay for me to feel this way, is it all about the choices that you make during your journey, or is it an indicator that I might be prone to gaining all the weight that I've lost?

Workout:
Sitting in class, wondering when it would end
Meal 1: Cereal with a banana
Meal 2: Special K Protein Bar
Meal 3: Turkey sub on flatbread with lettuce, cheese, onions, and mustard
Meal 4: Lean Cuisine Lemon Basil Chicken and a salad
Meal 5: Oatmeal with milk
Meal 6: Low Fat Oatmeal Banana Bread with milk
Water: Eight 8 ounces of water
Foods That I Lusted After: Fries from Krystals

The Way We Were...

2009-06-02T12:36:00.001-07:00

Yesterday I decided to keep it healthy. The restaurant that I have a gift card to is La Tavola Trattoria and my gift card is for $50 now that is entirely to much for me to use on one meal although I have to say it would be fun trying to consume that much food. Not to mention I'd have to drive about 30 miles to eat at this particular restaurant and I do not venture into the city that often. So I will save my gift card for another day.

I feel that I need to make some changes. I'd like to up the intensity of my workout. Dare I say, I'm thinking about giving Spin Class another try. Holly from the medical center at work suggested that I put a towel on the bike seat and maybe my tuchus wouldn't hurt so much. I'd like to take a break from swimming or at least decrease the times that I swim. I just need to do something different exercise wise. I hate being limited by my injuries so I'm going to schedule an appointment with the Ortho later this month. I just want to go back to working out aggressively or a better way to put it is the way things used to be. Going swimming where people stare at you through the glass window when they enter the gym is not my idea of fun. The swimming pool at the gym doesn't feel like it's solely for swimming, it also feels like it's for perverted lookie-loos to congregate. I wish that it could be instituted that people who are there for that reason wear a scarlet 'P' while they work out. I hate being ogled while I'm in my swimsuit. Now I know how Gisele Bundchen feels. It's truly a curse.

It's a curse looking this good Gilly.

Workout: Swimming
Meal 1: Cereal
Meal 2: Special K Protein Bar
Meal 3: Turkey sub on flatbread with cheese, lettuce, onions, and spicy mustard
Meal 4: Oatmeal with milk
Meal 5: Chicken Pesto Presto with roma tomatoes, mushrooms, onions, and a salad
Meal 6: Oatmeal with milk
Water: Eight 8 ounce glasses of water
Foods That I Lusted After: Macaroni and cheese!