Monday, October 29, 2012

October 28th

I didn't write yesterday because I ended up having a pretty busy weekend, so I'm catching up today.

I actually had a pretty decent week health-wise. Didn't QUITE make it to 250 fitness minutes, but I got in about 240 -- and the only reason I didn't knock out those extra ten minutes was that I decided to go for a run on Saturday instead of my (easier) step aerobics. It was a pretty good run and I ended up making my fastest time so far this year. I do much better when it's cold out.

The only bad thing I did was have a bunch of dry red wine on Saturday night, it was so good. Oops.

I don't have much else to report. I'm still hovering around the same weight, which is irritating. I hit my lowest weight again on Saturday, but I'm a pound and a half up from that this morning. I probably need to change up my workouts and eating, but I feel so unmotivated lately. I don't know if it's the weather or what, but I'm just feeling sick and exhausted all the time. I feel like I'm kind of in this half-heartedly... but at least I'm in it, I guess? I've felt this way for a few weeks now.

I'm not writing down my workout or meal plan because I'm at work right now and don't have it handy... I do know I'm making vegan chili (did that last night), mini sliders, chicken pasanda... some good stuff. And my exercise plan seems to be the same every week anyway (probably one of the causes of this plateau.) So, nothing exciting there.

Thinking of doing something to "recharge" for November. Creeping up on holidays always makes me nervous. I want to be excited about this again... and changing it up seems to help. I used to keep a binder where I printed out all my plans for the week and wrote down my food and stuff, but I've kind of stopped doing that now with SparkPeople. I did like it, so maybe I'll start again. Little projects like that help with the motivation for me.

I'm SO CLOSE to that 40 lbs lost mark and I'm so irritated I haven't hit it yet! My goal for 2012 was to lose 50 pounds. I know that expecting to lose 10 more pounds in two months when I've been at a plateau for like, a month now, is probably not realistic, especially given the holidays and all that. But I'd like to lose and maintain at least 40... or even 45.

Maybe I'll work on that binder tonight. I have to do a long workout today because I ended up skipping my step aerobics yesterday -- it was kind of a rough day. I usually try not to work out on Mondays since I don't generally get home from work until almost 8pm, but I'm going to have to tonight. Boo.




Sunday, October 21, 2012

October 21

Wow, what a week! And weekend.

I had a half bad and half great week, health-wise. I kind of had the same problem I did last week where I did great the very beginning, crappy in the middle, and then great again at the end. I was really stressed out and irritable and, as it turns out, I was PMSing. I've pretty much been maintaining the same weight, at 37 lbs lost. I think my body is probably freaking out at the random good and bad things I'm putting into it. 

I didn't do as well on exercise as I planned. A little under 200 minutes. I need to get back up to 250. 

I took Friday off from work and it's a great thing that I did. I think I needed an extra day of break. I've had an amazing weekend, including three fantastic workouts (an hour of step aerobics on Friday, over an hour of hiking yesterday, and a really hard hour of jogging today) and I've stayed on-track, food wise, despite going out to eat twice (once at Granite City, once at Panera.) I don't have a whole lot of time to go into it right now but I had a fantastic weekend and some good night's sleep and some Fall Therapy including pumpkin-buying, autumn-scented candles, hiking in the woods, and ice cold hard apple cider, which I am sipping on right now. I also made some delicious homemade low-fat, low-sugar granola that I'm in love with and will probably make again pretty soon since I have all the ingredients handy. Definitely enjoyed scarfing some of that down while hiking.

I'm trying extra hard to stay afloat and happy because I have some seasonal affective disorder issues (well, who doesn't?) with the daylight changes. I've been really anxious, irritable, and depressed. So I'm trying REALLY hard to not let it get to me, and I know the best way to do that is to stay on track. 

SUNDAY
Artichoke chicken sandwiches
Run, 51 minutes

MONDAY
Baked Goat Cheese and roasted winter squash over garlicky fettuccine
Rest day

TUESDAY
Crispy Quinoa Sliders
Frontside circuit training, 43 minutes

WEDNESDAY
Leftovers
Backside circuit training, 53 minutes

THURSDAY
French onion soup and salad
Cardio Blast, 35 minutes

FRIDAY
Walnut and rosemary chicken sandwiches, salad
Rest day

SATURDAY
Decide next week
Step aerobics, 63 minutes

Saturday, October 13, 2012

October 14th

Writing a day early because I have a busy Sunday planned!

Well, I had a really, really terrible week. I'm refusing to even weigh myself because I don't want to see the damage I've done. I think I will wait another week before I weigh in. I haven't been that stressed out in a long, long time and although I tried to manage it healthily, I didn't. I'm feeling really disappointed in myself which is a terrible feeling. My goal was 250 fitness minutes, and I only made it to 171. My week started out great, I felt like I could handle the stress and got to see my favorite poet in the world perform right here in Madison, which was an incredible and emotional evening. But gradually the stress got to me and I just sort of shut down. Had three really bad days. One night I even drank and ate pizza with one of my friends. But Friday I picked myself back up and finally worked out again and it was HARD (I've really gotten used to working out 6 days a week and taking 3 days off really hurt my stamina!) and then today I menu planned, had a torturous trip at the grocery store and cleaned my entire kitchen (and apartment) which makes cooking less of a chore. My workout today was easier than yesterday's and now I feel much better. Made chicken tacos for dinner tonight that were super delicious and I'm just going to have a nice relaxing evening at home. I'm also taking next Friday off so I'll have a long weekend next week, and I'm already looking forward to it!


SUNDAY
African peanut stew over brown rice
Step Aerobics, 63 minutes

MONDAY
Rest day
Leftovers

TUESDAY
Grilled chicken sandwiches (grilled chicken, spinach, tomato, mayonnaise on a toasted bun)
Frontside circuit training, 43 mins

WEDNESDAY
Leftovers
Backside circuit training, 53 mins

THURSDAY
Baked Goat Cheese and Roasted Winter Squash fettuccine
Spark Cardio Blast, 35 mins

FRIDAY
Leftovers
Rest day (I might do cardio kickbox if I feel like it)

SATURDAY
Decide next week
Walk/run, 50-ish minutes

Sunday, October 7, 2012

October 7th

I had an okay week, and a really nice weekend. Why does the weekend go so quickly? I could really always use one more day. 

I've actually gained a pound since last Sunday, but I'm okay with that. I had a really odd up-and-down week, weight-wise. Last Sunday I hit my lowest weight, at 39.4 lbs lost. Now I'm at 38.4 lbs lost. 

I've had a lot of challenges this week with eating out and stuff. I wouldn't say I made good choices, but I made "better" choices. 

I had a rough start to the week and skipped two workout days, but then I made up for one of them on my rest day, so I still wound up doing 274 fitness minutes this week. It feels odd to me now that reaching 1,000 minutes in a month was such a challenge; it seems really natural to me to be aiming for at least 250 minutes per week. Which is a great thing, of course! I've just gotten so used to working it into my daily schedule that it feels odd to not work out. 

I had a couple great ups this week, too. I had an incredible jog on Thursday. I'm not sure why, but I had a lot of energy and ended up doing the fastest run I've done in a LONG time on that route. I shaved a solid 4 minutes off of it. I completed it in 49 minutes. I think the fastest I ever did it (a couple years ago) was 46 minutes. 

I felt chaotic and busy yesterday - it was a good day, but I was all over the place. I did my step aerobic workout and it was really hard (probably because I didn't start it until 8 pm) and I was just sort of cranky.

So today I took myself on a short hike at a park I haven't been to in a long, long time. I have a lot of memories of this particular place, some good and some bad, and I had a really, really relaxing, nice time. I went really far away from any other people. After a while, I just sat in a tree and hung out and listened to music, and it was really what I needed. I can get myself so wound up about things and I haven't felt that relaxed in a while. I'm also going to do some yoga tonight after the food baby in my stomach settles (I just ate dinner.) I wasn't sure what I was going to do for my workout today and I think I made a good choice.

Tomorrow I get to see Andrea Gibson, my favorite poet, perform at a coffee house here in Madison. I'm really excited and, oddly, anxious about it. I'll be out of the house pretty much all day because I'm going there straight from work, so I'm trying to plan something to bring to work to eat for dinner, too.

Here's my menu/exercise plan for the week.

SUNDAY
Zucchini and spinach calzones
Hike & Yoga 

MONDAY
Leftovers
rest day

TUESDAY
Veggie pad thai
Frontside circuit training, 43 minutes

WEDNESDAY
Portobello mushroom and red pepper sandwiches
Backside circuit training, 53 minutes

THURSDAY
Leftovers
Cardio kickbox, 25 minutes

FRIDAY
Herbed chicken parmesan and broccoli
Cardio Blast, 35 minutes

SATURDAY
Decide next week
Step Aerobics, 63 minutes