Week 4: Weigh In

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So I’m not super psyched about this weigh in. I could tell on Friday that I wasn’t going to see a loss this week. And it’s not because I’ve done anything wrong. My eating was great, the most calories I ate in a day was 1520, and that was a day when I ran 3 miles. I exercised more than last week. It was a good week. Until I got my period on Friday. I get so bloated and have horrible cramps for days whenever my monthly visitor shows up. I’m still in the midst of it, so I knew my weigh in would suck. I would have been fine with losing nothing, but of course, I gained a pound. Whatever. I’m at 197.5. I’m sure next Monday I’ll see a substantial loss since all of this water weight will be gone, but I don’t have to be happy about it right now.

So there you go. My stupid scale.

Anyways… I remember saying something about taking “progress pictures” every four weeks. It’s been four weeks, but I don’t feel like I’ve made much progress. Yes, I’m cranky. I’ll get over it. I took pictures, because I know I would regret it if I didn’t. I regret not taking any at my highest weight because I’m about 30lbs down from that and being able to see the difference would be really motivating. So I want to be accountable and keep my word.

Yuck. Just a note… I picked those clothes because they’re tight and I’ll be able to easily see progress when I take pictures with them in the future. Not because I think they look good or flattering. I’m not that deluded. Lol. I bought that t-shirt a couple of years ago and have maybe worn it once because it never fit. I like it though. And the shorts are my gym shorts from middle school.

So there you go… my weigh in. I guess the upside of weighing in on Mondays is that they already suck, so a bad weigh in doesn’t ruin a good day. Here’s hoping the rest of the week is better! 🙂

Suck It Up, Princess

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See that picture? The one up there ^ ? That was totally me on the treadmill today. Minus the TuTu. I got on, did my usual warm-up and started running. 30 seconds into it I wanted to quit. My boobs hurt, which means it’s almost that time of the month. In normal clothing just doing normal things it doesn’t bother me at all, but even in the tightest of sports bras, any slight movement feels like someone punching me in the chest. Now, I’ve never actually had anyone punch me in the boob, but I’m sure that’s what it would feel like. Usually when I get on the treadmill, after my warm-up I run for 5 or 6 minutes and then start doing intervals. Nope. One minute and I wanted to quit. If anyone was around for me to whine to I would have sounded something like this…

“My boobs  hurt.”

“My left calf is sore”

“I don’t want to do this.”

“Wahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!”

Alas, no one was around to hear me bitching, so I didn’t. Well, at least not out loud. I decided I would at least do a mile, because quitting after less than half a mile is pathetic, and I did not like the idea of having to make up the leftover two miles sometime later in the week.

Apparently around the 3/4 mile mark my boobs got the memo that it was time to put up or shut up and stopped hurting, and I did my scheduled 2.5 miles without shedding any actual tears.

In other oh so exciting news… I did level one of the 30 Day Shred yesterday. It was alright, and I’m sore today, but I don’t know if it’s for me. I’ve always found that I get bored with DVD workouts because there’s no variation. With running I can change it up however I like, but a DVD is the same every single time you do it. So we’ll see. I’ll give it another chance, but I might just stick to yoga and running for now.

Have a great Thursday everyone!

Unexpected Workout

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So, it’s lunch time and I’m standing in my kitchen making veggie wraps (yum!), when I see my neighbor’s dog go running down the back alley and out to the street. I looked at their yard and no one was outside and nobody seemed to notice him escape, so being the dog loving person that I am, I put on my flip flops and ran outside. It took me a good ten minutes to finally catch him because he apparently thought we were playing a game. I eventually had to pick him up and walk with him back to their house. He’s not huge by any means, he’s only about 8 months old, but he’s a German Shepherd and I would guess he weighs about 25-30lbs. Between carrying him and running after him I got a pretty good workout. And now I want a puppy. Lol.

My furnace was fixed yesterday afternoon, so I ended up going for a run after I watched The Biggest Loser. Nothing makes you feel lazy like watching people bigger than you ride 26.2 miles on a bike. I’m undecided about what to do for exercise today. I want to go for another run, but my right calf/shin is kind of sore, and I’m always afraid of pushing it since I’ve had shin splints before, and they were not fun. I might do yoga, it would definitely help stretch me out. If only my cat would leave me alone while I do it. Any sort of downward dog type pose and she feels the need to run under me and flop over onto her side. I guess if nothing else it’s motivation to not collapse because I would crush her.

Happy Wednesday! I definitely wrote Tuesday first. I apparently don’t know what day it is. 🙂

Hiding Under The Covers

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Brrr! Yesterday I noticed that my house was ridiculously cold, so of course, being the cold hating Canadian that I am, I just turned up the furnace a few degrees. Apparently that’s a stupid thing to do when your furnace is broken and turning it up just makes it blow cold air all night. Even though it was mostly like colder inside my house than it was outside (and remember, this is Canada, so the outside was freakin cold too), I didn’t think to go check to see if the furnace was working. I’m going to say that the cold caused temporary brain damage. That’s my story. I’m sticking to it.

Anyways, this morning my mom realized that something was wrong with the furnace. She thought it might just be the pilot light, but apparently not. Her boyfriend has stopped by a few times, and I just heard him downstairs talking to someone, and it didn’t sound all that serious. I meanwhile, am hiding under my covers because few things in life make me more cranky than being cold.

I really wanted to go for a run today, but my treadmill is in the basement, and it feels like the arctic circle down there. It honestly wouldn’t surprise me if a penguin ran by being chased by a polar bear. It’s that cold.

Weigh In: Week 3

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I was not looking forward to this weigh in. Don’t get me wrong, I did everything I was supposed to this week. I tracked all of my calories, ran four times, drank a lot of water. But I felt really bloated all week. I thought I would see maybe a 1lb loss, but more likely no loss, or even a slight gain. I just felt huge. That feeling was probably because of eating more salt, but it lasted for a really long time, and I was very discouraged. However, like a good little blogger I got up this morning and weighed myself. And fortunately, I’m happy to say I was wrong! 🙂

Whoo hoo! Down another 2.5lbs to 196.5! It’s less than I was hoping for this week, but as long as I’m still losing, I’m happy.

I also took my measurements again this week, and I’m pretty happy with those results too. I take measurements on my chest, waist and hips, all of them at the biggest parts. I last took them two weeks ago, on March 8…

Chest – March 8: 39.5″ March 22: 39″ = Down .5″

Waist – March 8: 39″ March 22: 37.5″ = Down 1.5″

Hips – March 8: 44.5″ March 22: 43″ = Down 1.5″

Total Lost: 3.5″

I can live with that 🙂

I hope everyone has a great Monday!

Bad Habits

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I’ve said things before about how the last few months haven’t been wonderful for me in terms of eating healthy and exercising. Part of it was because of a change in my routine from being back in school, but a big part of it was a change in lifestyle.

I started smoking in the fall of 2008, mainly because pretty much everyone I worked with at my new job smoked, and it just sort of happened. I gave it up for quite a long time without any problem, and then around the end of November of 2009, when I had a bunch of stuff due for school, and finals coming up, I started again. It was a way to relieve stress and I guess I thought it would be better than turning to food. I told myself I would quit when finals were over, but of course I didn’t. I started going out with my friends more, and drinking and smoking just seem to go together.

I didn’t realize how much smoking was effecting my health until I started trying to exercise again. I could barely breathe, and was only able to run about half the distance that I had only a couple of months earlier. I was really angry and disappointed in myself, but it wasn’t enough to make me quit.

I guess the light bulb went on the day I realized that I had basically smoked an entire pack in a day. I was disgusted. When I started smoking I would go through a pack maybe every two weeks. I knew if I kept it up much longer I would never be able to quit. So I quit while I could. That was two weeks ago on Wednesday, and I haven’t had one since. It’s been difficult. I live with my mom and she smokes, so I’m always tempted when I see her smoking one. I think the only thing that has stopped me is that I’m back to eating healthy and exercising, and smoking just doesn’t have a place in my life anymore.

While I Catch My Breath

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I read a lot of blogs. Specifically, blogs about weight loss, healthy eating and an active lifestyle. The other day I read a blog post on one of my favorite blogs about Interval Training. Basically what it is and alternating intense exercise with moderate exercise for a certain amount of time. You can do 30 second intervals, 60 second intervals or whatever time increment you choose.

Tonight, because I apparently felt like torturing myself, I decided I would try the interval workout. My workout consisted of intervals alternating 60 seconds of running at 6mph and 60 seconds of walking at 4mph. I found it very challenging and had to stop for a few seconds a couple of times to drink some water and will away the cramp in my side that did not RSVP for the party but showed up anyways. Jerk. I’ve never felt that exhausted after only 30 minutes, but it felt really good. It’s nice to know that when I’m short on time, or patience, I can do a quick workout that packs a lot of punch. Has anyone else tried interval training? What did you think?

Weigh In: Week 2

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Now, I’m not sure if there’s anyone that actually reads this blog at all, let alone enough to notice that there was no week one, but I’ll explain anyways. On March 1, 2010, I decided that I’d had enough of slowly putting all the weight I lost last year back on, and something needed to change. My “starting” weight was 205lbs. In the first week I lost 3.5lbs.

I meant to take a picture of the scale this morning so I could post it, but I forgot, and I’ve eaten so it wouldn’t be the same number. Anyways, I weighed in at 199lbs, giving me a 2.5lb loss for this week. I’m super excited to be under 200 again. My lowest weight last year was 189.5, which I got to around the end of the summer. After I started school I maintained for awhile, and then around finals I kind of gave up. Luckily in the 6-ish months that I wasn’t doing anything I only gained 15lbs. I easily could have gained back the entire 35 that I had lost.

My original starting weight in March of last year was 225.5lbs. I thought that I would be a lot farther along than 26.5lbs a year into it, but at least it’s something. I hope to be back at that lowest weight by my first April weigh in (April 5), which gives me a good goal to work towards.

How am I planning to achieve my weight loss goals you ask? Good question. 🙂 I’m going to do exactly the same thing I did last year, that worked really well for me. I don’t do any specific diet. I cut out as much junk food and crap as possible, eat a lot of fresh fruits and vegetables and try to avoid packaged food. I keep a food journal to track what I’m eating which really keeps me focused and motivated. And I exercise. I’m lucky enough to have my own treadmill so my goal is to use it 4 or 5 times a week and also do some strength training.

I’ll be weighing in every Monday, taking my measurements every two weeks, and taking progress pictures every month. I’ll also try to remember to take a picture of my scale from now on. Thanks for reading! 🙂

Nothing Material

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I feel like every time I put even an ounce of trust into someone, they let me down, and I’m left wiping my tears and wondering what went wrong.

The guy I talked about in my last post… We met and started talking, and I asked if he had Facebook. He said no. A few days later he sent me an email, and on a whim I plugged his email address into the Facebook search engine. His profile came up, and the “In A Relationship” status smacked me in the face pretty hard. He spent the rest of the night reassuring me that he was single, he just never goes on facebook, and forgot to change it. Eventually, because I’m a huge idiot, he had me convinced.

Two days ago he went from texting me constantly and calling me fairly often, to barely doing either. I’m not a moron. Something has changed. But all he’ll say is that he isn’t looking for anything, and only wants to be friends. It’s a far cry from what he was saying a few days ago, and I have no idea what happened.

Against my better judgment, I trusted him, and now I’m hurt. I often wonder if there’s something about me that attracts crappy guys, or if I just give them too many chances because I feel like I can’t do any better. This guy was no Prince Charming. Average looks, average intelligence, overall average. And yet, I didn’t walk away when my guy was telling me to.

I started writing this post a couple of days ago, and in the mean time I’ve found out that he’s back with his ex-girlfriend. And he never even had the decency to tell me. At one point I called him and he said he was in the middle of something and asked if I would call him back in half an hour. I did, and he didn’t answer. I haven’t heard from him since. He’s a coward, and a douche bag. I’m done letting myself settle for less because I believe I’m not worth more.

One Angry Little Fishy

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Sorry I’ve been MIA for awhile. Life caught up with me in a big way. I have a lot of posts planned for the next few days… some great, some… not. To give you an idea, I have news about university, and a lovely dating story. I almost wish it happened before Valentine’s Day so I could add it to my list of worst moments. Here’s a little teaser for that post. I just changed my Facebook status to…

if you’re going to lie to me, at least be good at it. I get no satisfaction out of the truth when a paste eating first grader could find it.

Oooh. Intriguing, no? I’m trying to make the best of this. Plenty of fish in the sea and all. But that’s hard to do when your little fish bowl is feeling awfully empty.

Anyways, that’s all for now. I promise I’ll be back soon.