No More Muffin Top!

Moving day!

2008-04-04T18:42:00.000-07:00

I'm switching to wordpress, if only because I think I can make a prettier blog over there once I have some free time.

Join me. I promise I'll post more often, but then again I often lie. Take a chance! http://losethemuffintop.wordpress.com/

Back in the game!

2008-04-02T14:38:00.001-07:00

After a week of vacation and indifference, I finally jumped back on the treadmill yesterday. It felt pretty good, until I stepped off. My first thought? "Damn, I should have started working out sooner!" After 35 minutes of run/walk intervals, the signs were there: I knew I would be sore tomorrow (um that's today now).

Despite that, I wanted to get some leg work in so I did the first section of the Self Sculpt Sexy Legs Fast workout. I finished that part and thought about moving on...but then realized that since I needed to be able to walk to class, I should stop while I was ahead.

I realized that my hip flexors are super tight again. I NEED to focus on stretching them out, or I'm pretty sure that I'll end up with knee problems again.

BOOK REVIEW!! Well, cookbook review. I had Kathleen Daelemans' Getting Thin and Loving Food out for a few weeks. It was not my favorite cookbook: the organization was somewhat strange, and the recipe I tried did not turn out anywhere near my (admittedly high) expectations. Since I was running out of time, I just returned the book to the library. Unless you're a big fan of her FoodNetwork show, I'd pass on this one.

I just checked out Mollie Katzen's Eat, Drink & Weigh Less and I think I will like it much better than Daelemans' book. I've been dying to try a recipe with bulgur, and her cookbook should definitely have at least one such recipe.

In very UNHEALTHY news, a local Seattle cupcake shop is going to be featured on Martha Stewart on Thursday afternoon. Trophy Cupcake is a favorite for most of us here, if only for inspiration! (During the summer I try to make healthier versions.)

Back to school

2008-03-30T13:30:00.000-07:00

I'm glad that school is starting again even though it means a return to casebooks. I need to be on a schedule again; I respond well to order and to do lists!

I weighed myself after breakfast yesterday (smart, yes?) and was at 153.4 lbs. At least I didn't do too much damage in Vegas!

I'm off to study, study some more, then back here to work out and make dinner.

I'm Baaaaaaaaack

2008-03-28T17:41:00.001-07:00

And BUSY. But I will say this: I didn't eat a lot in Vegas, but what I did eat was BAD. Gelato! TWICE. It was so good, it totally hit the spot both times.

Anyway, vacation is coming to a close so I have to get things all set for new classes (boo). Later gators!

VIVA LAS VEGAS

2008-03-21T23:23:00.000-07:00

I'm going out of town for a few days. Spring break is here at last!! It actually arrived yesterday afternoon, but I've been so busy cleaning, seeing friends, and running errands that this is the first chance I've had to update here!
Phew!

Anyway, I don't think anyone actually reads this, so it's not like it matters, right? But my "bloglines" are going to be CHOCKFULL of things to read when I get back. That does my heart good.

What also does my heart (and stomach) good: spicy black beans and zucchini I made as found on GreenLiteBites! The top is before I added the beans and spices. I love this: I had it for dinner two day in a row with a bit of veggie refried beans in a quesadilla and a teeny bit of cheese to seal it up. So. Good.

Have fun everyone!

Tired.

2008-03-19T10:02:00.000-07:00

My plan: get up early, study, workout, study some more...

It didn't come to fruition. Apparently I was exhausted because I slept in until 8:30am! Of course, that means I lost an hour and a half of studying time.

I just ate some oatmeal (standard fare) and I'm going to get back to work on trust law. And I'm still going to work out later!

Never go in against a Sicilian when death is on the line!

2008-03-18T12:25:00.000-07:00

Topic of the day: classic blunders. The above is pretty well known, as is "never get involved in a land war in Asia." Also a blunder: me, sitting here, writing a post instead of studying!

I don't have a lot of time for introspection today, but I am very obviously doing something wrong with my diet lately. I'm trying to return to how I ate when I was ten pounds lighter, but it haasn't seemed to make a difference. Sigh. Obviously, I need to be better about logging my calories and staying away from nibbles.

But first, I need to STUDY! I have one final left before spring break begins. After I finish my last final (on Thursday) I can refocus on my diet. And then I'm off on vacation!

Today's breakfast: oatmeal (1/2 water, 1/2 skim milk), pear, 1 tablespoon sliced almonds, 1 tsp almond butter, 1 tablespoon honey
Today's lunch: 1 cup turkey quinoa stew, 1/2 sourdough english muffin with pear jam
For dinner, I'm thinking about having sweet potato "fries" with a chicken-chile burger.

What happened? I blacked out.

2008-03-17T14:08:00.000-07:00

Test #1, finished. I thought the quotation from Old School was appropriate; I looked up and 2 1/2 hours had passed during the exam! Panic, panic. I have this weird whole-body reaction to stress before an exam. I had to choke down my oatmeal this morning. I didn't even finish it! And I always feel ill right before my first exam. It usually lessens as the week goes on. I don't remember being that nervous before the LSAT, and I had a lot more riding on my score from that exam.

After I finish a day of studying, I usually let myself unwind a little while reviewing the main topics of a class. While going over joinder rules last night, I watched part of I Can Make You Thin on TLC. I'm iffy on it; while I applaud making people more conscious of what they're eating, I think telling them to eat "whatever they want" sends the wrong message, too. We're so far out of touch with what we should eat that I don't think our bodies will necessarily be able to bust through years of eating processed foods to say, "Roast some beets! Mmmm."

On the other hand, the tips are basic, appealing and not intimidating. The host--some British self-help guru--breaks everything down in concrete rules. He is introducing them slowly, week by week. That's particularly useful for people who have a hard time reinforcing habits on their own. I particularly liked his tip about eating consciously, which is something that I forget to do when I'm eating "healthy" food. Instead of savoring, I speed through meals. I'm almost always studying while I eat, and I'm shocked that I've finished my food already! I tried out his tip of chewing more and setting my fork down between bites at lunch. I still finished my (small) plate of quinoa, sliced apple and a bit of Greek yogurt, but I felt satisfied.

I have another early morning exam tomorrow. Time to get back to studying! I've barely made a dent in the caselaw, and a lot of it is crazy and somewhat contradictory.

Four days...

2008-03-16T10:59:00.000-07:00

And I will have completed this quarter. The light at the end of the tunnel is a beautiful thing to behold. Let's just hope I make it through the damn tunnel. It is looking a little treacherous.

Yesterday, my back hurt so much that I didn't work out. I think being hunched over books and my laptop has finally taken its toll. I have started taking breaks to stretch. Too bad I won't have time to do that when I'm in my marathon exam-typing sessions this week!

This morning, I was going to try putting the banana in my oatmeal (really, I swear!) but the banana was rotten in the middle. Gross! I ended up doing my normal pear & honey oatmeal breakfast, and it was delicious like usual.

I think I'm going to take a break from the thrilling world of issue and claim preclusion in order to work out. Don't worry, I'll be studying on the cardio machines!

Maybe coffee will save me?

2008-03-15T11:17:00.001-07:00

Ack. I slept in. My body apparently heard my brain saying, "You have a lot to do! Many rules of civil procedure to cram! HELLO, do you have ANY idea of the difference between issue and claim preclusion??" and said, "Hey. Chill. I am trying to sleep here."

Yeah, I'm a little crazy right now.

I was going to try cooking a banana in my oatmeal this morning but I chickened out. Also, I didn't really have time to make a second bowl if my taste buds detested the banana flavoring.

Anyway, I don't have time to post much as I need to go to the law library, study, come back, work out, shower, and then drive to my friend's birthday party tonight. Sigh. I'm glad that I said I would go as I always miss their parties, but I am in serious need of some studying.

Supplemental jurisdiction...and groceries

2008-03-14T21:27:00.000-07:00

Wow. I worked out a LOT more today than I had originally planned. Fortunately for me, it felt GREAT! I did Self's legs dvd--the whole thing this time, even the floorwork--for fifty minutes, then followed up with a really intense 35 minutes on the elliptical. I was in endorphin heaven at the end of that! I took some notes with me onto the elliptical and worked on them. It actually worked out rather well.

Of course, since then I have been eating like a crazy person! But with the wonderful addition of a glass and a half of wine, I'm okay with it.

Cheers!

Per stirpes

2008-03-14T11:06:00.000-07:00

Doesn't the post title sound like some crazy sort of disease? You might wonder what on earth it means!! Basically, it refers to a manner of distributing someone's estate after they die without a will (or how to distribute the portion that wasn't covered by the will). But of course every state has a different scheme for where the $$ goes first! Lesson: leave a will or another estate plan, especially you don't have a large family. Or all your money will escheat (that means the state gets it!).

Parceling out fictional wealth has me thinking about meal planning. I was doing alright at the beginning of the week but a few setbacks had me a little lost! I have to run to the store today in between studying, studying, exercising, studying and MORE studying. I'm planning to pick up some different oatmeal mix-ins for a round of experiments. I'm definitely going to try a banana and a Rome apple. I tried Bosc pears this week, and they turned out well! Ripe Bartletts definitely get a little softer, though. I haven't decided what else to make even though I still have Ellie Krieger's cookbook here, and I also picked up Kathleen Daelemans' Getting Thing and Loving Food. I just haven't had time!

Anyway, I desperately need to review trusts. When my brain is leaking out my ears later, maybe I'll hop back online to update about my lunch, etc.

Panic at the disco...scratch that, panic at the law school

2008-03-13T12:52:00.000-07:00

Finals are upon us, rather like the plague.

I had a very random lunch today: spaghetti squash with pasta sauce, string cheese and a FiberOne caramel bar. I was going to make veggie delight for last night's dinner (and for today's lunch), but my remaining zucchini from last week was no longer in good shape. Sigh...the best laid plans.

Tonight is my last kickboxing class. Strangely enough, I'm not worried about working out during study period/finals week. I usually work out a lot during that time, otherwise my stress tries to strangle me in my sleep. I'm already planning to do a DVD followed by a cardiofest tomorrow, and I'll definitely work out before my friend's birthday party on Saturday. Since I have to keep a clear head, I won't be too hung over to work out on Sunday, either! The only questionable day is Monday: I have a VERY early final, and then have to immediately study for the next morning's final.

Yesterday, I had a cupcake as a bribe for 2 hours of studying. Yes, I was bribing myself with food. Yes, I know that was a bad idea. Yes, I am evil for putting a photo of said cupcake on the blog (and yes, I stole this photo from someone else's flickr site. I apologize and bow to your superior photo-taking skillz, unknown person.).

Rules

2008-03-12T09:07:00.000-07:00

I have rules on my mind: Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, the Rule Against Perpetuities (RAP!), personal rules...

I broke a few last night. I like having a plan, and I was going to eat the Roommate's black bean soup (healthy!) with a mini-panini. I returned from kickboxing high on endorphins, showered, and headed downstairs to find little dots of blue all over my mini panini rolls! So I ate my soup and felt vaguely unsatisfied. I then proceeded to eat some greek yogurt with FiberOne, chocolate chips, Kashi crackers...it was bad. Then I had a glass of wine. Stress eating at its finest, ladies and gents!

For the first time ever, I read the comments on a post at KathEats.com . I was a little taken aback! People were rude. I was shocked! I think of personal blogs as being a part of a person's home, and to me it seemed a lot like walking into someone's house and mocking their furniture and possibly even their children. The complaints seemed to come from a few people who were either upset about 1) Kath's focus on food 2) Kath's devotion to exercise or 3) her posting ONLY about her own life.

Well...it's a blog about her lifestyle of healthy eating and activity. DUH. There were many layers to what was going on--some of the comments were made by people in recovery from eating disorders, and that's a sensitive topic--but eating disorders or not, people were just mean. If that ever happened here, I would immediately make this blog private. But since I'm an attorney-to-be, I'm sure that no one would ever mess with me! I love litigation, and I'm not afraid to beat the crap out of someone in a courtroom.

Today's breakfast: more pear oatmeal! I am going to grab a banana this weekend to see if I like it with oatmeal. If not, I think I might try some frozen berries just to mix things up. Or maybe a Rome apple since they end up being so soft when cooked.

Anyway, I have to get back to studying. We're going over stuff from the beginning of the quarter in Civ Pro II today, and I only have a vague memory of what is going on...

Standards of Review

2008-03-11T10:45:00.000-07:00

I am reviewing some stuff for this morning's civil procedure class, hence the post's title. I am trying to outline all of my classes--it is going to be a close one!

Tonight, I think I'll end up eating some leftovers or I'll have the Roommate make some black bean soup. For lunch, I have some leftover baked shrimp from Sunday night and a teeny little container of leftover roasted cauliflower from last night's dinner. I also have a sliced apple for my afternoon snack.

This morning, I weighed in at 152.4. Fortunately I won't have time to bake in the next 2 weeks so I think I'll probably drop at least another pound or two before I leave for Vegas. I can't resist delicious homebaked goods!

Last night, I squeezed in 18 minutes on the elliptical, then I did some run/walk intervals on the treadmill for 22 minutes. My first interval was 5 minutes--it felt so good to be running! But I made myself stop because I was worried about my knees. Tonight, I have the first of my last two kickboxing classes. We already signed up for next quarter's evening class--yay!

The trusty tan

2008-03-10T09:14:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I ate good food. I think that I ate too much of it, and I can't verify that because I didn't have time to weigh myself. Yes, "springing ahead" threw me off so much that I slept in and had to shower, put on makeup, dress, cook oatmeal, throw my backpack together, and pack a lunch in 30 minutes.

I actually look alright today, as long as you don't look at my face or hair. Har. Lost in the shuffle: my mug of coffee. It is sitting at home right now, wondering where I am...

Today's lunch: leftover shrimp with whole wheat couscous and half a HUGE apple. I will hopefully fit in some light cardio this evening.

The good thing about finals? It means that vacation is right around the corner! And that means I will be fake tanning soon. I really think that Mystic Tan is worth the price before wearing a swimsuit. It takes a few pounds off, visually. :)

Daylight savings: good in theory, pain in the ass in practice

2008-03-09T19:27:00.001-07:00

Losing an hour a week before finals is about to begin? It is NOT GOOD.

What is good? Whole Foods. I try not to go there too often because I get wrapped up in how amazing all their stuff is. Everything is so pretty; the salad bar is amazing, and the cheese selection? Good lord. The only way it could be better is if the U.S. didn't have those unreasonable rules about raw-milk cheeses. I bought mini-whole wheat bagels and some pear jam.

I haven't worked out yet today. I did make a brand new dinner: baked shrimp with feta! That's my bowl, along with the whole wheat couscous I decided to add at the last minute. The recipe is from Ellie Krieger's newest book, The Food You Crave. I love cookbooks with photos; it really helps me visualize the finished product.

The planned meals for the rest of the week:
roasted nutmeg cauliflower (another Ellie Krieger recipe)
pre-marinated halibut (from Whole Foods)
Veggie Delight w/tortilla (recipe on GreenLiteBites)
Black bean soup

This is our last week of kickboxing before the quarter ends. Actually, registration for next quarter starts tomorrow so we have to get our checks ready!

******************* evening update ***********************

I tried a new workout dvd tonight. I wanted to do something, but my back was a little sore. I thought, "OH! Pilates will be perfect!" Netflix sent me Shape's Pilates workout so I thought, BINGO.

Here's the thing: I love that they have you use an exercise band (woohoo resistance). I love that the DVD's profits go to breast cancer awareness.

I also HATE that they have you use an exercise band: 1) when you rent the dvd, you do not get the nifty pink band, 2) when you substitute your own, you realize that either you are a wimp or your band isn't as long because there's NO WAY your band will stretch out that far, and 3) I am simply not coordinated enough to do pilates AND keep track of where my band is. There were these leg lifts when I was on all fours, and I couldn't figure out how the lovely instructor-people were not getting all tangled up in their bands. It was a comedy of errors, people. I still finished the damn thing, but I will not be buying the dvd.

Finals crunch!

2008-03-08T11:17:00.000-08:00

This morning, I woke up in a panic. I *hate* finals time.

So far today, I've had oatmeal made with 1/2 milk, 1/2 water, a pear and cinnamon. I threw a little brown sugar in and stirred in a teaspoon of almond butter. I love the little bits of crunch that the almond butter gives the oatmeal. Fitday.com puts this breakfast at about 320 calories. I'm going to round up and say it was 350 calories.

I've been outlining in my pajamas, drinking coffee. I had a biscotti a little while ago because I LOVE dunking them in coffee. These biscotti are from Trader Joe's, but I love making them from scratch. You get EXACTLY the kind you want that way.

I haven't decided what I'm going to have for lunch. There is still quinoa left in the fridge, chicken burgers I picked up from TJ's yesterday, and mini panini rolls I could use to make a mini-sandwich.

I need to work out, shower, and get back to outlining. I'm thinking about making a baked shrimp recipe from Ellie Krieger's latest cookbook tonight, so that means going to the grocery store, too. Last night, I focused on my lower body so today I'm going to do upper back, arms, and abs.

************* afternoon update ***************
I had a great workout! I did the upper body workouts from Self's Trim & Tone Fast dvd (about 25 minutes), then I hit the treadmill for some walk/run intervals. That was 40 minutes, and I went about 3.25 miles. (I "run" really slowly. :) ) I threw in some more bicep curls and some triceps while I was at the mini-gym since they have much heavier weights available than I have in my apartment.

I'm thinking about doing a really light lunch today. The pub crawl tonight begins early, so that means an early dinner with my friends. With the anticipated alcohol consumption, I *really* want to keep it light! I wish I had the ingredients to make this chickpea & roasted red pepper salad I saw in an old issue of Shape (or was it Self?), but c'est la vie. On fera ce qu'on peut. (I think that's right...my French is rusty.)

Time to grab a shower, call my friend about tonight's plans, and run to the bank for some cash!

Hangover Oatmeal

2008-03-06T09:04:00.001-08:00

Ok, so I don't really have a hangover today. I did drink too much champagne last night. But I am really suffering from a sweets hangover! I made treats for our Project Runway finale night, and then a friend brought more. I had been well-behaved up 'til that point, and everything went downhill. I am helpless to resist cream cheese frosting. I generally avoid it because I will end up eating anything that comes covered with it, and I don't want to find out how far my love for the stuff will push me. I.e., "Why yes I'll have the cream cheese frosting-covered monkey brains!"

Morning weigh-in: 153.4 lbs.

This morning I was a little pinched for time. Staying up past midnight had me ignoring my alarm clock--actually, I tossed my watch across the room and found it when I woke up the second time--and then bolting downstairs to make my oatmeal, then upstairs to put on makeup while it cooled, then back downstairs to assemble my lunch and eat the oatmeal.

I brought more leftover quinoa, a Yo-Plus yogurt, and a HUGE sliced apple for lunch/snack today. The more I think about it, the more I'm annoyed that 1) Safeway doesn't carry Greek yogurt and 2) one cannot seem to find small portion-sized containers of non-fat Greek yogurt anywhere. Yes, I have seen the Fage containers. But they don't count, because they are expensive!

I <3 Oatmeal

2008-03-05T11:32:00.000-08:00

I have truly rediscovered my love for oatmeal. Last year, I was making this oatmeal that involved butter, apples, brown sugar and cinnamon; I think my new version is a little healthier. It is also a near carbon copy of Kath's oatmeal on KERF, but hey, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, right?

With my normal habit of getting stuck on a recipe, I made the taco turkey stew with quinoa again last night. It was so easy to chop everything up, stick on the stove and shower after kickboxing while it simmered away. Note: I wouldn't recommend doing this unless you have a nice roommate who is willing to give it a stir once or twice while you run off to the shower.

We had leftover pizza in the fridge but I have managed to avoid gorging myself on it. I did eat far too many Girl Scout trefoils last night but hopefully still managed to preserve my calorie deficit.

Today's meals:
Breakfast: old-fashioned oatmeal prepared with skim milk, water, cinnamon and a diced pear; topped with almond butter and honey
Lunch: leftover quinoa stew, half a VERY large apple
afternoon snack: the rest of the apple
Dinner: undecided

Thinking about ditching the crutch

2008-03-04T14:45:00.001-08:00

When I first lost 30 pounds, I didn't use Weight Watchers. I used a free calorie counter online. And I'm frankly thinking that I shouldn't be spending all this money each month for something that I only use to log points. I could easily switch over to putting all my food on here, or maybe on PeerTrainer again.

What do you think, Internet? Or do you think I'll go crazy without WW?

Like my mom says, sometimes you have to get rid of something before you find out that you really need it. I just cancelled it. We'll see how things go...

Only two more hours until I'm off to kickboxing class. There's a Wednesday night bootcamp class I'm tempted to try, but I think that 3 days in a row of such high intensity stuff might be too much for me.

Second time's the charm!

2008-03-04T08:57:00.000-08:00

I bought some old-fashioned oatmeal this weekend to try out the KERF version of oats. I made it yesterday using half skim milk, half water and it just didn't look quite the ways hers does! Maybe it was the lack of a banana? (I have a weird relationship with bananas; I have progressed to eating them dried in cereals and raw as long as they are in small chunks with other fruit, but they're just not my favorite thing.)

Anyway, I tried again this morning and this time followed Kath's instructions instead of the Quaker box's. It worked! The oats were creamier. I also peeled most the skin off a pear, diced it, and threw it in with the oats and milk. The pear softened and absorbed some of the cinnamon I threw in. Absolutely delish! The only problem was that it took me so long to eat the bowl--in the healthy eating world this was great--but in the carpool world, VERY annoying to my fellow carpoolers!

Today's lunch is a slice of the Safeway pizza The Roommate made last night along with the remaining Veggie Delight from Sunday. I also brought a sliced apple for a pre-kickboxing snack.

Girl Scout Cookies show up at the wrong time...

2008-03-03T22:56:00.000-08:00

and my willpower comes to a shuddering stop.

Let's focus on what I did right today:
- I stayed away from the free lunch and ate my "Veggie Delight" (recipe from GreenLiteBites)
- I picked up Ellie Krieger's new cookbook from the library and devoured it like a 13-year-old boy with Daddy's Playboy
- I pre-measured my oatmeal for tomorrow morning, have set the coffee pot up for an automatic start, and packed my gym bag

Ah. Today wasn't a *total* loss. And tomorrow will be even better!

I found a number of intriguing recipes today while playing around on the internet, and many of them involve sweet potatoes (mmmmm). I'll be trying some of those later this week. And I think I'll likely be buying Ellie Krieger's cookbook for myself. There are far too many recipes I like for me to copy down!

Group classes are great

2008-03-01T12:13:00.000-08:00

Don't get me wrong, I think that exercise is great "me time." I love to walk by myself, listen to music, and puzzle through all the things that are on my plate.

BUT I also LOVE group classes! I push myself harder, try new things, and meet new people. It's truly one of those simple pleasures in my life. Today, I tried a body toning class at a new group fitness place in Seattle called Community Fitness. The class was good--it went by incredibly quickly. If classes at the university gym don't fit into my schedule next quarter, I will likely start using this more and more!

I think that my arms and legs will be sore tomorrow. I might try the Zumba or NIA class at CF tomorrow unless I'm so sore that I can barely move!

This morning's weigh-in put me at 153.0 lbs. We'll see if this little bump on the graph evens out by Monday...

Emotional eating

2008-02-28T11:01:00.001-08:00

Oh, was I ever in a wretched mood last night! I ate several fancy dessert glasses full of double-churn ice cream and read on the couch as a "remedy." I know that I should not use food to feel better, but the sick thing is that it worked. I relaxed a bit, went to bed early and I feel much better today.

Daily weigh-in: 153.2 lbs. Fortunately, I ate pretty well most of the day yesterday so the ice cream didn't trip me up too badly.

I indulged a little this morning. A friend brought homemade cinnamon buns in, so I had half of one (they're about half the size of a store-bought one). This of course means that I need to behave myself the rest of the day! The lunch I brought to school is very healthy: the last of the quinoa, some carrot salad, and an apple. Tonight I plan on having more of my sweet potato & squash soup and maybe making a spinach and sauteed bell pepper quesadilla (with one tortilla, not two).

Something new!

2008-02-27T09:14:00.001-08:00

Daily weigh-in: 153.8 lbs (I think this is temporary)

Instead of eating more quinoa for lunch, I made a carrot salad that I saw posted on KathEats. I realized that it wouldn't be enough for lunch, so I decided to shake things up and bring some Yo-Plus, too. We'll see how it goes.

Kickboxing was okay yesterday. I didn't have that much energy, and I'm still having some health problems. At some point, I realized that my hamstring was really sore--just on one side! I kept going but I was a bit more gentle than before. I've signed up for the Self Challenge and I'm going to try to do the strength workout today. I'll probably go a bit easy on myself because I don't want to be as sore as I was this weekend!

Breakfast was 1/2 a sourdough English muffin with 1 teaspoon of almond butter and a packet of Simple Harvest oatmeal. I gave and got a short nonfat mocha from the cafe; I desperately needed something chocolatey that I could sip. Lunch will be the carrot salad, Yo-Plus, and an apple. We'll see if that holds me, or if I need to add more protein to the mix!

I'm not sure what I'll have for dinner tonight. Last night I found my butternut squash soup a little lacking, so I cooked two sweet potatoes and mashed them in with the soup. I had 2 small bowls, adding different spices each time. I think I liked the curry powder concoction the best. I still have a ton of soup left so I might eat that.

Wake-up call

2008-02-26T09:04:00.000-08:00

It never fails to amaze me when I'm thrown off my game. This time, I sat back afterwards and thought, "Oh, that's why that happened." And I felt better about it. Other times, an afternoon meltdown would have presaged another and another and another, all getting worse because of the guilt. But instead, I woke up this morning and thought, "Obviously, I need to plan my meals today. Also, I need to go stock up on veggies." And the first thing I did once I went downstairs was to write a note to myself about all the tasty, healthy options that are waiting for me in the fridge.

I'm not going to post this morning's weigh-in because it's not entirely accurate and because I'm not going to guilt myself about it. Instead, I'm going to relax and focus on these goals today:
1. Go to sleep EARLY tonight. It'll make me feel so much better.
2. Have fun at kickboxing.
3. Pick one task at home (sorting/filing, finishing application, etc) and one only; complete it.

It's going to be a good day.

**********************************************************
Today's meals:
B: Simple Harvest oatmeal, 1/2 English muffin with almond butter
Snack: Fiber One caramel & oats bar
Lunch:
Snack: (planned) sliced apple
Dinner:

Finals/Vegas countdown

2008-02-25T09:01:00.000-08:00

Sometimes time flies by so fast that it scares me a little--seriously, where has the time gone?? I need to start studying with finals in mind...and I still don't have a job lined up for this summer.* At least vacation is coming up, and with it more and more motivation to work out. I want to look decent in my swimsuit!

I was right about this morning's weigh-in: 152.6 lbs. I knew that my weight would go up. Instead of being down on myself, I'm trying to see it as a reminder to stop snacking so much. I did work out each day this weekend despite being very sore from my workout on Friday. Yesterday, I used the elliptical for 30 minutes, lifted some weights (biceps, triceps, rows and lat pulldowns) and then walked on the treadmill for 15 minutes.

Class is beginning so I have to run.

* For a second-year law student, this is pretty close to catastrophe. Not as bad as being a 3L without a job, but still, it's troubling. The stressful emails from the Career Center are about to start plaguing me...

A hit-and-miss weekend

2008-02-24T22:26:00.000-08:00

I have a feeling tomorrow's weigh-in will not please me. I have not planned well, so I've had to rely on meals procured on the run (including snacks from a coffee shop). I over-indulged several times, but fortunately I did balance some of that out with light meals.

I tried part of a new DVD--Shape's Bikini Body Transforming workout. I am *still* sore, and I did that workout on Friday!

My efforts at making spaghetti squash cakes did not go so well; I don't know what was off, but they didn't seem to cook well all the way through. Maybe the squash was in the fridge for too long?

I'm tired...I'll post more tomorrow.

Too much wine

2008-02-23T10:24:00.000-08:00

Last night, I went to An Event/Fundraiser. We were all dressed up, and I thought I looked pretty good...then I saw a photo someone took! I hope to god it was the angle, but I looked puffy. It definitely made me realize that I need to spend more time on my arms!

Because the Event was last-minute, I had to spend most of my day getting an outfit together. Still, I knew I wouldn't have too much control over the menu (cream sauces ahoy!) so I made sure to work out before I left. I tried a new DVD through Netflix yesterday: Shape's Bikini Body Boot Camp "Transforming" workout. It has three different workouts on it, and I tried the strength workout. It had my heart rate up, and my legs are sore today. It's probably for the best that I hit the treadmill afterwards; if I hadn't, I think that I would be hobbling today.

I made 2 miscalculations last night: drinking too much wine and not having something filling before we left! Then, when we went out after the Event wrapped, I didn't grab water and a piece of fruit. It left me SUPER hungry later that night...and I ended up eating a cheeseburger from McDonald's. I haven't had one of those in years.

This morning's weigh-in was 151.6 lbs. It's sunny out, so I might go for a walk instead of going to the gym. Today, I want to go grab some food storage containers from Storeables or the Container Store so I can keep my whole wheat flour in an airtight place. (Did you know that whole wheat flour goes rancid after a while?)

The natural oils found in whole grain flours, including cornmeal, make them susceptible to rancidity. Store all whole grain flours in plastic bags in the refrigerator or freezer where it will keep for about a year. Keep it in bulk in an airtight container or place the entire flour bag into a ziplock bag and seal. To test if the flour is rancid, just smell it! If it is, throw it out.

So that's on my list; also on my list is grocery shopping. I want to try the spaghetti squash cakes from GreenLiteBites and also this little carrot salad I saw on KathEats. I need to run by TJ's to pick up some more of their fabulous nonfat greek yogurt, and I might get a new bag of whole wheat flour while I'm there.

Endorphins are my favorite

2008-02-21T22:56:00.000-08:00

Kickboxing is becoming more and more difficult. She is really, really pushing us. It's great. I think I burned even more calories than normal today!

Today went well food-wise until I got home. The temporary hunger block from a hard workout disappeared and I was ravenous! I tried the tofu shirataki noodles...NOT my favorite. Yes, they resemble noodles, but the consistency didn't please me. I might try them again sometime. I'm working hard to get over my resistance to tofu.

Tomorrow's plans have changed completely. I hope that I manage to fit a workout in, because at this point I'm not sure it will happen.

Thursday!

2008-02-21T08:55:00.000-08:00

Everyone loves short work weeks. I am no exception! It's particularly nice that it's Thursday because my bedtime last night was much later than normal.

Yesterday, I had errands to run after studying. By the time I returned home, the mini-gym at the apartment was crowded. It stayed that way for quite some time, and since we were expecting friends later that night I just couldn't manage to do it.

I ate well during the day, but then a last minute stop at the grocery store derailed me: I bought ice cream for our friends (2 for 1 deal on Safeway slow-churned, damn them) and then indulged in something that has been obsessing me for over a week: sourdough bread. I looked to see if they had small individual loaves, but all they had were the family-sized ones. Instead of putting it off--or realizing that I could have purchased sourdough English muffins for better portion control--I bought a San Francisco-style loaf. And yes, it did taste as good as I thought it would.

Did I mention that we are trying SmartBalance? I really like it! I try not to forget that it's best used like real butter, i.e. sparingly, but it's nice to know that it might have an effect on my cholesterol.

I weighed myself this morning, but since the scale was on carpet and not the bathroom floor I'm not going to count it. I looked down and it read 150.6 lbs. It was obviously, if delightfully, wrong!

Today:
B: plum and Simple Harvest oatmeal
L: leftover taco turkey quinoa stew
S: chopped pear w/1 Tbsp 0% TJ's greek yogurt, 1 tsp honey
S2: sliced apple in lemon juice
D: probably veggie chili over spaghetti squash

Goals:
1. Drink lots of water!
2. Go to kickboxing
3. Stay away from the ice cream in the fridge.

Happy in February?

2008-02-20T09:02:00.000-08:00

Usually, February is the dreariest month. The first few weeks definitely felt "blah" to me. But lately, things are feeling better. I think that's why the fact that yesterday's weigh-in was a bit of a fluke doesn't bother me too much. Today's read 152.0 lbs.

This morning, I was in the mood for something different so I made a pear oatmeal recipe I found in one of the cookbooks I checked out recently. It turned out pretty well! It calls for walnuts but I used almonds on top instead and cut waaay back on the amount of toppings.

Today's planned meals:
B: pear oatmeal
S: sliced apple
L: leftover turkey taco quinoa (YUM)
D: unsure...maybe leftovers

I'm very happy about that turkey quinoa. I still have 8oz of ground turkey waiting in the freezer, and I have to figure out what I'm going to do with it.

Fidel steps down, and so does my scale

2008-02-19T09:10:00.000-08:00

It's a weird day all around, everyone. My daily weigh-in was 151.0 lbs (I should go to bed feeling slightly hungry more often). I'm pretty sure this is an outlier.

I'm getting a free lunch today; to offset the calories, I'm going to pick whatever vegan option is offered. I also brought healthy snacks to keep points low, all of which should be core foods. I think that we're going to try and get to the gym a little before kickboxing tonight so that we can do some weights. Since I'll be wearing a swimsuit soon, it seems like the right thing to do.

Daily goalsetting has been lacking of late, so here goes:
1. Go to kickboxing
2. Focus on core foods
3. Drink lots of water

Breakfast: simple harvest oatmeal
Snacks: apple, cup of grapefruit slices, FiberOne bar
Lunch: free lunch, apparently will be sandwiches
Dinner: taco turkey stew w/quinoa (recipe from GreenLiteBites)

*************************
Evening update:
Things went really well today, I think. I treated myself to a Wyder's pear cider with dinner, and I LOVED the recipe from GreenLiteBites. Fortunately, I had leftover squash before it finished cooking or I might have inhaled half of the entire pot. I have plenty of leftovers for lunch.

Kickboxing was SO HARD tonight. She did so many high intensity intervals in a row that I thought my heart was going to shoot out my chest. If she does it again, I'm going to have to say something. Everyone in the class was half-heartedly doing stuff and she kept saying, "Come on, ladies!" (I might have glared at her a little, but COME ON. If my super-fit friend is sucking air, we need a second in between squat-jumps and mountain climbers to let our heartrates slow.)

President's Day

2008-02-18T11:21:00.000-08:00

I am back on coffee, and I think I might have overdone it this morning. I'm feeling a wee bit jumpy...

I don't have class today, so instead of a quick package of oatmeal I cooked an egg and had it with a slice of whole-grain toast, half of which I smeared with black currant jelly. I think this weekend has convinced me that I need to attend farmer's markets more often!

Daily weigh-in: 153.0 lbs. (it was 152.9ish)

***
Later afternoon update:

It was another mellow workout today. We walked up a sizeable hill in our neighborhood, shopped at a local organic grocery store, and walked back down. I realized that, after several hours of studying, I had not had a real lunch! I quite seriously had two cookies. (Embarrassing.)

Dinner was a chicken breast with a lemon herb sauce over brown rice and some instant mashed sweet potatoes I decided to try on a whim.

Summing up the week

2008-02-17T22:02:00.000-08:00

Wow, it's Sunday night already?! I had intended to do some studying this afternoon, but our planned day of fun ended up going ALL day long. It was great, though! My friend and I went to a previously unexplored part of the city, walked along the water (brr, it was cold), went to a farmer's market, wandered into tons of shops, had a great lunch, and then went to a local mall and found GREAT deals.

Yeah. Awesome day.

I didn't weigh in this morning. I'll leave that for tomorrow, and I doubt that it will be a great weigh-in. That's alright, though. It's well worth it for the fabulous day I had.

Long weekend, yay!

2008-02-16T22:38:00.001-08:00

If you're going to eat chocolate, have the kind you'd take home to meet your
parents. ~ Victoria Moran

I started reading Victoria Moran's Fit from Within: 101 Simple Secrets to Change Your Body and Your Life--Starting Today and Lasting Forever. I really like Lesson #6: "Focus on Living a Quality Life." She suggests making your life richer through simple things, including eating quality food. I think it's a positive sign that I'm craving more veggies and whole grains lately; the food on Kath Eats Real Food and Green Lite Bites is inspiring me! I can't wait to try roasting a spaghetti squash.

Yesterday I went off plan to have dinner with a friend. I did make a point to do about an hour of cardio (elliptical, a little jogging and some walking). After we walked around, shopping, we were starving and ended up eating hamburgers. We did share some French fries rather than each having an entire order, and I did not have any alcohol. (I haven't had any alcohol or coffee for over a week now.)

This morning's weigh-in was 154.0 lbs. It was a very late weigh-in this morning. I slept in incredibly late (10:30am!!) for no particular reason. I ended up eating lunch rather than breakfast (leftover shrimp & gnocchi) and had roasted butternut squash, a tuna steak (from a pre-prepared package) and a scoop of the roommate's couscous for dinner. I've been snacking on clementines all day, too.

I've been toying with the idea of switching to the Core plan on Weight Watchers, but I'm so fond of many of my recipes that the idea seems daunting. I am going to try to increase the number of core foods that I eat in the hopes that it will be the best of both worlds.

Friday!

2008-02-15T08:22:00.000-08:00

Hurray! 3-day weekend ahead...

I went to kickboxing last night but was a bit lacking in energy. Has anyone ever gone to a class, done the moves, but felt like you had a so-so workout?

My weight is back up a little today. Very confusing! 154.2 lbs. But I did do 28 pushups yesterday.

Have to run--busy day ahead!

Rock steady

2008-02-14T09:05:00.001-08:00

Daily weigh-in: holding steady at 153.2 lbs.

Mood: neutral. Could go either way.

Update:
V-Day ended up being fun. A few of us single girls hung out, split some takeout, and watched an 80s classic. There's nothing like watching Flashdance after kickboxing. Our instructor had us doing "high knees" for about 2 minutes, and I thought my lungs would explode! Watching Jennifer Beals tape up her feet and dance around made me think I should have pushed myself even harder.

Things were going well...

2008-02-13T23:20:00.000-08:00

And then I suddenly remembered that I hadn't taken my antibiotics tonight, and they're supposed to be taken with a meal. Of course, I had already had my dinner. I had a ripe pear on hand; hopefully that will be enough to prevent the pill from tearing through my abdomenon like that creature in Alien.

I did work out a little tonight after running errands, reading, and making dinner (my favorite recipe EVER from Self magazine, shrimp and peas with potato gnocchi). I did run/walk intervals on the treadmill for 36 minutes...not too bad.

It's late--time for bed!

Things are looking up!

2008-02-13T10:31:00.000-08:00

My body seems to be adjusting to the drugs, yay! Only a little nausea here and there. It is also my fourth day without coffee, and I'm looking forward to going back on it. But this challenge is like running: I always say, Well I've made it this far, why don't I try another day? Last year, I didn't drink coffee for over a month using this method. I don't particularly want to do it again, but I'm sure that it would be good for me in the long run.

I went to kickboxing last night and felt much better. I love endorphins! And now for the weird part...my morning weigh-in. 153.2 lbs. I know!! I am confused as well. I was worried that it could be water weight but I always drink a ton of water after kickboxing. We will see if it sticks or not.

Yesterday, I ate about 24 WW points, and 3 of those were APs (activity points). I'm going to try and do the same thing on Thursday (not swap out all of my APs).

Today's menu:
B: simple harvest oatmeal, Yo-Plus yogurt
S: sliced apple
L: salmon patty, 2 mini wheat pitas, 1 Tbsp mustard, cucumber slices, and red-leaf lettuce
D: not sure yet.
Dessert: decaf tea with one biscotti

Today's goals:
1. Stick with the meal plan :)
2. Remove stress by completing some chores
3. Do at least 30 minutes of cardio tonight.

Tentatively better

2008-02-12T09:02:00.000-08:00

I woke up this morning feeling tired but better in general. Of course, I haven't had an antibiotic since 6:30pm last night, so maybe that is why. I'll be holding my breath a little when I take my next one at lunch.

Today's goals:
1. Go to kickboxing.
2. Prep tomorrow's lunch tonight (salmon patty!)
3. Go to bed EARLY.

Today's weigh-in: 155.2 lbs. Again.

Honestly, I think I need to log things into WW immediately after eating them. I woke up this morning remembering that I forgot to specify that I wanted a nonfat Chai, and suddenly this thought pattern ran through my head: "Does that cafe use 2% as the default? Or whole? Wow, if it was whole milk I *definitely* dipped into my Flex Points. I bet they use whole. Why can't they be like Starbucks and give everybody 2%? That cafe sucks." And so on.

Ahoy!

2008-02-11T21:44:00.000-08:00

Since I still wasn't feeling up to working out tonight (yeah, my body still hasn't adjusted to the antibiotics), I decided to do another grocery run. This time, I hit Trader Joe's. As usual, the Tiniest Trader Joe's Ever was running low on items.

I did find some salmon patties, though, as well as some eggplant parmesan patties. I thought that both would be good for lunches this week. I also grabbed a box of biscotti, thinking that a nightly snack with a cup of decaf tea would be perfect for me. Fortunately, they didn't have the oatmeal cranberry dipping cookies! They are my favorite and come in a HUGE tub.

Tomorrow is kickboxing class. I'm planning on as long as things are at "meh" or above. If I'm experiencing nausea, all bets are off.

I have a new hero

2008-02-11T11:43:00.000-08:00

I want to eat like Kath. So healthy! I am inspired, and I am already trying to figure out how I can run by the Tiniest Trader Joe's Ever (TTJE) tonight to copy her meals.

I am feeling better today. Maybe all those doses of Yo-Plus helped my body even itself out, maybe I've just adjusted to the antibiotics, maybe the illness this weekend had nothing to do with my stomach problems, but HURRAY. I was eating so much to try to keep up my energy, and that was NOT good for me. (Gatorade is chockfull of flavorless calories.) It resulted in a lackluster trip to the grocery store where I bought nothing useful. Sigh.

Every once in a while, I find myself drinking way too much coffee and I do a detox. It is truly one of the most horrible experiences--you would not believe how crabby I get--but I am drinking far too much lately. Because I'm a wimp, I'll likely try to step down my intake by mixing in some decaf soon.

Goals for today:
1. Work out!
2. Eat yogurt.
3. Go to the store for lunch supplies.

Daily weigh-in: sure enough, I'm back up! 155.2 lbs.

Go check out Kath's website. It's amazing, and the photos will make you want to replicate everything she eats. It is also making me want to buy cool bowls so that my food will look as delicious as hers! Sadly, Simple Harvest oatmeal just does NOT look as great as hers.

Sunday

2008-02-10T17:05:00.000-08:00

I'm still having problems with my antibiotics. Thankfully, I only have 7 more days of them left. Hopefully my body will adjust before then! I keep downing Yoplait's "Yo-Plus" yogurt (I like the blueberry-pomegranate but frankly don't think it tastes much different than normal blueberry yogurt) in the hopes that it will counteract whatever is going on.

I haven't worked out since Friday. I am planning to workout tomorrow if things are a little more under control.

Pass the gravy, I hear it tastes great ladled over insanity

2008-02-09T23:06:00.000-08:00

It was one hell of a party, y'all. Good lord. Last night (Friday) was chock full of miscalculations. I'm sure I will told more about what happened tomorrow. It was fun, though. It's not often you have a drunk married friend ask, "Which fireman do you want? How 'bout the one in the skirt?" My response: "There's more than one in a skirt. In fact, all but two are in kilts." (Yes, a roving gang of firefighters showed up WITH BAGPIPES to a bar at about 1:30am. Yes, we talked to them. Yes, I looked like an idiot dancing around to said bagpipes.)

Yeah, a lot of crazy stuff went down. And I don't remember all of it (apparently I wrote an email about tatertots at 3am). And it involved so many ounces of beer and a shot of something--I am so stupid, and I think I recall a rum and Diet Coke as well--that I am actually reluctant to log that onto my WW tracker. I'm afraid that putting that much alcohol on my log will trigger some sort of crazy meltdown at WW headquarters, a hand will extend from my computer screen and slap me across the face.

SOOOOOOOOOOOO. I didn't weigh in this morning because 1) I didn't get up until 10:30am (that's 7 solid hours of sleep, people) and 2) my antibiotics are eating my insides. I WISH I had a hangover compared to this! The pharmacist warned me of possible side effects, but this is just...ugh. I felt so ill and rundown that I went back to bed at 1pm and slept for 2 solid hours, which is something that I NEVER do. Someone told me that eating yogurt can help, so I've been downing Yo like a maniac. Hell, I've just been eating anything that looks like it could help.

I would make some daily goals for tomorrow, but everything is contingent upon the tummy settling down. So much for working out 6 days this week.

Things that get to me

2008-02-08T09:01:00.000-08:00

FACT: I am an emotional/bored eater. I eat when I'm tired, and since one almost always feels tired when sad, I think that you can see where I'm going with this. Since working out releases endorphins, it helps me stay on plan.

The issue that keeps putting me in a bad mood? The fact that I did not get a summer job through On-Campus Interviewing (OCI). For non-lawyers and non-law students, it's like going through sorority recruitment, feeling like you really connected with several houses, and then not getting even one bid. I'm not as disappointed as I could be; I was a close second on many of the decisions, and I lost out to friends. (Much better to lose out to a qualified, wonderful person than to some of the personality-lacking people you meet in law school sometimes.)

Still, it messed with my self-esteem. And while I love my friends, it definitely sucks to hear them talking about all the parties and goodies the firms lavish on them...while I am still unemployed for the summer.

Anyway, this is only peripherally related to weight loss, so I'll move on: I keep pulling myself up by my bootstraps, working out, taking my antibiotics (OH YES: I found out that I have a sinus infection and have to take these horse pills 3X a day--and even so, I went to kickboxing last night), and doing my thing. I think that counts for something, right?

Daily weigh-in: 153.8 (woo! slowly but surely going down)

Daily goals:

1. Work out with my friends this afternoon.

2. Keep lunch/snack points to a minimum.

3. Drink glasses of water in between the beers tonight.

Tonight is going to be a blast--it's our mid-program celebration since we're halfway done with law school!

American Heart Month

2008-02-07T10:48:00.000-08:00

Another good reason to do lots of cardio this month: it's American Heart Month!

Despite the fact that heart-shaped things will be everywhere, I personally will be skipping the boxes of chocolate this month. It's not nice to load one's heart down with fat and cholesterol :)

DOH!

2008-02-07T09:11:00.001-08:00

I wrote a post with daily goals, a daily weigh-in, and ruminations about having "resickened." Then Blogger ATE IT.

I don't have time to do it all over again so:
Daily weight: 154.1 (based on scale's wavering between 154.0 and 154.2)
Daily goals:
1. Drink lots of water
2. Go to kickboxing, even if sinuses feel like they're going to explode
3. Keep post-kickboxing meals within points range.

I didn't do push-ups yet today. Why? My sinuses would have gone nuts.

Tired? Yeah, me too.

2008-02-06T09:08:00.000-08:00

Last night's kickboxing class was exhausting. I didn't have much energy, and I was paranoid about my knees. I think my fatigue was contagious, because 2 of my friends looked tuckered out during the class, too.

I was shocked to see that my weight dropped a bit: 154.0 lbs this morning. I think it might be some kind of water-related fluke, but it still makes me happy!

Today's plan is for REST. I still have leftover problems from last week's cold, my arches hurt from wearing heels on Monday, and I've worked out 5 days in a row. I might fit a little yoga in if possible, though!

Today's goals:
1. Keep within WW daily points.
2. Go to bed early!
3. Streeeeeeeetch, focusing on calves and hip flexors.

February goals

2008-02-05T11:58:00.001-08:00

I love lists. I love goals. Therefore, I love lists of goals!

February:
1. Do at least 1,000 cardio minutes this month.
2. Get back below 150 lbs. 149.9 counts!
3. Do at least 20 pushups and 50 crunches (alternating days).

I'm well on my way, cardio-wise! I've already done 92 minutes since Sunday.

Today, I weighed myself and I'm not quite back to last week's weight. Stupid Super Bowl! 155.2 lbs.

I need heavier weights

2008-02-04T22:32:00.001-08:00

I realized tonight that my little 5-pound weights might be adequate for some of the DVDs I do, but they are not getting it done for my arms. Granted, my shoulders are incredibly weak and might get a little tuckered out when I used those, but my biceps are BORED.

Our apartment has a little gym with some weights, and tonight I did hammer curls and some tricep extensions with 15 pound weights. So much better!

I'm going to challenge my roommate to an escalating pushup challenge. Both of us have weddings to go to this summer, and both of us will be wearing sleeveless dresses. The idea: every other day, we try to fit in as many pushups as possible. Today I did 25. Granted, that was on my knees but my arms feel stronger already!

Tomorrow night is kickboxing. I am so happy to be well again and able to go.

Somebody's got a case of the Mondays

2008-02-04T09:01:00.000-08:00

Super Bowl + falling off plan = 155.6 lbs.

Today's lunch
Leftover bean-beef tortilla bake
sliced apple
Fiber One bar (if I get really hungry before lunch)

Today's goals
Drink LOTS of water
Do a total of 25 pushups (already did 12 this morning)
Do at least 40 minutes of cardio tonight

Today, I am wearing a ring that my mom's best friend gave me. I call it my "no complaints" ring. My mom's friend is still alive, but she has had breast cancer twice, had her hip replaced and was recently told that the chemo/meds regime she is on is failing to beat back her pancreatic cancer. Despite this, I have never seen her complain. She has been a loyal and wonderful friend to my mom, so when I wear this ring I remind myself, "No complaining today. Just work hard."

Damn brownies

2008-02-03T22:16:00.000-08:00

My Super Bowl goals went to hell in a handbasket.

I've already planned out my meals for tomorrow so I'll be back on track as of tomorrow.

Time to regroup

2008-02-02T22:30:00.000-08:00

Illness always messes me up. I fall off the exercise wagon, I start eating tons of empty calories, and suddenly I'm in a bad mood and cranky about my possible success.

Why I can do this:
1. I lost 30 pounds before. I can get this new weight off again--I've proven myself before.
2. I have two nights of scheduled exercise a week already. I just need to get people involved in my plans again. (Joined Traineo.com in the hopes that my friends will, too.)
3. I have to. My cholesterol is too high, and I want to have a healthy life.

50 days til Vegas/Spring Break

2008-02-01T11:05:00.000-08:00

Every day...scratch that, every day that I remember, I change my screensaver to say "51 more days til VEGAS!" I also keep shots of previous trips to Vegas up as my background to remind me of one of the reasons I work out and eat healthy: POOLSIDE TIME APPROACHES.

Sadly, I'm still tired/stuffed up. I want to curl up on the couch and watch Martha Stewart. I weighed myself this morning, and two days of being off-plan PLUS TOTM = 156.0 lbs. Yesh.

So, my plan for today includes:
1. Cleaning. It needs to be done to get rid of germs, keep me focused, and prevent possible guests from running into the night, screaming about slobs.
2. Apply for a research assistant position. I need the money. And the possible networking that can come from it.
3. Do a light workout: arms and then some light cardio.
4. Pick 2 healthy recipes to take for the Super Bowl party.
5. Pick a healthy recipe for tonight's dinner that uses up some of the things sitting in my fridge right now (leftover low-fat tortillas = crazy lots of possibilities!)

I'm going to do it. Really. I'm going to get up, off this chair.

*Sneezes. Coughs.* Sigh.

Like staring through the window of a locked bakery

2008-01-31T18:21:00.000-08:00

When I first hurt my knees, I was training for my first 10k. For a long time afterwards, I would actually become upset when I saw other people running. Weird, huh? I think I was afraid that if I couldn't run, I could never really be fit. I was incredibly jealous of everyone else who could run.

I cannot wait to have a job again, and more importantly, decent health insurance! I am going to get some orthotics and maybe even consult with a physical therapist to make sure that I approach running the right way.

What brought on all this? While my roommate is off at kickboxing class, I'm sitting here with my Sudafed--the real kind, thank you ever so much--and my Kleenex looking at different workouts online. (Sidenote: for some reason, I can't click through to the workouts featured on the opening page of www.fitnessmagazine.com . How crappy is that website?) I'm experiencing a little of the angst I had when I first hurt my knees, even though I know that I'm being irrational: I'm going to feel better soon, and I'll be back to working out asap. But it's funny--when I'm not working out, my healthy eating falls apart completely. Sigh.

The good news? I've figured out that I 1) miss working out when I can't (yay!) and 2) need to work on controlling my eating when I'm not working out (meh). Ah, new goals :)

Am sick.

2008-01-31T09:05:00.000-08:00

I have been working out consistently for about 5 weeks now.

And, of course, now is when my sinuses decide to lead the charge into Sickville. I have a sore throat and feel like my head is going to explode. My knees also hurt, and this is either from the cold or from running. I really hope it's from the cold. I would rather be sicker than I think I am than start facing problems with knees. (Have I just outed myself as as desperate, denied runner? I think I have.)

And so today will be my second day of not working out. I am also going to skip 2 of my 3 classes. Believe me, I HATE doing this. But I've learned that skipping now usually means better grades later. The sooner I get well, the more effort and concentration I can bring to my reading and classtime.

Until I'm well, it's ColdEeze and hot tea, REPEAT.

The death of a dry-fit shirt

2008-01-30T09:06:00.001-08:00

In high school, my gym teacher required that we wear cotton socks and cotton shirts to work out in.

Yeah, that wasn't so great! A girl like me sweats a lot when she works out (I try to push myself pretty hard in almost every workout) and I prefer the wicking capabilities of higher tech fabrics than cotton.

Sadly, it became apparent last night at kickboxing that one of my older shirts, a much beloved running shirt from Adidas, is no longer wicking. How apparent: Sweat Patches! Ugh. Fortunately, I believe in rewarding myself. Fortunately, I am trying to reward myself with everything but food. Therefore, I will be rewarding myself with a new workout tee when I reached 152 lbs, which is the weight I was before my weight jumped six pounds in a month.

This morning's weigh-in: 154.0. (it was 153.4, but that was on the carpeted floor. I was so excited that I had to doublecheck on the bathroom floor, and OF COURSE it was wrong. Oh well.)

I might be switching up my plan for this week. Kickboxing yesterday focused on our butts, and since I was already sore from my lower body workout the day before it was torturous! Also, my normal winter sinus problems *might* be morphing into a winter cold. My new plan for tonight is to drink decaf tea and stay warm. If I feel better this afternoon I will do something light, like a slower-than-usual walk or some yoga.

Happy weight loss to everyone!

Last night's exercise

2008-01-29T09:05:00.000-08:00

I might have overdone it last night. I have Self's Sculpt sexy Legs fast out from Netflix and I need to get it back in, so I did almost that entire workout. Then, I decided to do some run/walk intervals since I hadn't done any for a while. It was time to try 3 minute intervals of running instead of 2 minutes. I ended up doing 16 minutes of running (out of a total 32 minute workout).

Hopefully I still have some energy left tonight for kickboxing!

Daily morning weigh-in: 154.2 lbs.

Ahoy there, Internet!

2008-01-28T15:33:00.000-08:00

Well, don't you look pretty? It's been a while, hasn't it? Did you change your hair?

Yeah, so the last six months sucked. I don't know what it was: difficult classes, family problems, lack of motivation or what, but I packed on some pounds. It's really uncomfortable, Internet. I don't like knowing that maintaining a weight loss for 2 years means nothing when you start stress eating.

Anyway, I'm getting back on track. The highest weight I've recorded in the last six months is 158 pounds. I've been working out like a fiend and changing my eating habits back to where they were before, and I seem to be clocking in at around 154.6 currently. Why, oh why, does it take so long for the weight to come off?

This week's plan:
Monday: Self's "sexy legs" dvd (45 min) plus 30 minutes of cardio
Tuesday: Kickboxing class (if not cancelled due to snow/ice)
Wednesday: upper body weights of some kind plus run/walk intervals
Thursday: kickboxing class
Friday: BREAK? or just cardio
Saturday: BREAK or cardio (depends on Friday)
Sunday: circuit plus run/walk intervals

I'm back to using Weight Watchers. The goal is to transition back into not using any of my weekly points, slowly but surely.

The GOAL: Get back to 145 before my Vegas trip, which is March 22. Can it be done? I am going to work out like it's a certainty!

The Call, she was too strong

2007-06-07T14:40:00.000-07:00

I joined WeightWatchers online. After my sudden, shocking weight gain (153 pounds? From WHERE?) I felt the need to try something new. Thanks to WW, I have a completely new appreciation for vegetables. Either you eat them on the WW plan, or your stomach threatens to jump out of your body and beat you to death for not eating.

Things are going well despite the unholy stress spiral that is finals. I've finished two and I have one left, one that promises to bring me Glorious Death in the Trojan style (go watch 300 if you don't know what that is).

But I weighed myself this morning and I'm down to 146.8. That's the miracle that comes from working out to fend off stress while trying to save your weekly points for a weekend bender.

Stress-eating extravaganza!

2007-05-30T22:01:00.000-07:00

Finals. Stress. German chocolate cake with cream cheese frosting. Need I say more?

Auditions!

2007-05-25T10:46:00.000-07:00

I used to obsess over what, if any, workout DVDs I should buy. I hated the thought of buying a bad DVD. And then, I realized that every town in the U.S. has a handy way to try out new workouts: the public library.

I've tried yoga DVDs, Self DVDs, etc. Some have been great and I've gone on to purchase them, some of them have been...well, extremely odd. Recently, I tried Crunch's Yoga-Pilates "super slim down" DVD with Ellen Barret. I really like it, as I'm still recovering from some foot problems. It's a nice combination of yoga and pilates.

No wonder I like it so much!

2007-05-15T18:25:00.000-07:00

I have a favorite drink, one that I fall back on whenever I'm out. I love amaretto sours. I find them tart and sweet and refreshing, and there's nothing better to have as a cocktail. I usually indulge when I've had a really hard day (like today) or when someone else is picking up the tab on a special occasion (rare).

When I came back to school from the happy hour, replete with satisfaction from having my favorite drink, I entered it on fitday.com. Well, I tried to anyway. But fitday only has info for a whiskey sour. I tried google, and got widely varying responses. But the sad fact is that an amaretto sour is loaded with calories. As with every drink, the calories vary depending on the bartender. I was sitting at a table, not watching the bartender, so I have no idea how he made it.

A little of my glow from having what I wanted is gone, but not all. I'll simply save the amaretto sours for special days, and from now on, I definitely will not be having more than one!

Spicing things up with circuits

2007-05-13T17:06:00.000-07:00

Sometimes, I get bored with the same old, same old, so I'll start throwing strength and cardio workouts together in strange combinations. When I belonged to a real gym, I would do cardio circuits, too.

If you subscribe to Self or Fitness, they'll occasionally suggest doing one or two minute bursts of cardio in between the strength moves. It burns more calories, effectively turning your strength workout into a cardio workout, too. This time, I did 45 minutes of Taebo, but every 3 minutes I'd stop the tape and do a move from the Self Challenge strength workout for this month. It stretched my workout to a little over an hour, which meant that I kept my heart rate up for that long.

These are particularly fun to do outside with a friend or two. You can set up stations along a track: push-ups, crunches, lunges, etc. You run a 1/4, do an exercise, etc. Some people set them up as relays.

New incentive: workout gear!

2007-05-12T16:11:00.000-07:00

A few summers ago, I dearly wanted a pair of retro-looking PE shorts from Athleta. Athleta isn't carrying them anymore, but I did find these from Hind. I've decided that they will be my reward once I've hit 143 pounds again. They're a bit of an incentive in themselves--any woman in her right mind would want her legs looking amazing in those!

What was old is new again

2007-05-10T14:35:00.000-07:00

Dealing with an injury is no fun. Trying to crosstrain on a limited budget and a broken bike is also no fun. Finding your old TaeBo tapes in the closet and deciding to mix it up a little? Kinda fun. Fun that hurts a bit the next day.

I used to do TaeBo with my friends in college. It has been about 3 years since I've really used them--I used to be able to the advanced tape all the way through, go me!--and I only did 30 minutes of Advanced Tape 1 last night. But it was difficult, I sweated, and it was something different than using the exercise bike.

I really need to find a cheap way to replace my bike's tires. A friend of mine works for REI so I think I'll ask her for advice.

Time to go stretch out--every time I sit for more than 10 minutes, my muscles get a little bit more sore!

Habits

2007-05-07T08:46:00.000-07:00

I find that a lot of people think, "I'll lose the weight, and then I can do..." They rarely acknowledge the fact that once you lose the weight, you have to keep it off. That means keeping up with a healthy diet and exercise. This is the main reason that "diets" like Jenny Craig or Atkins don't work for very long (unless you want to keep eating prepared frozen meals or a ridiculous amount of fat and meat).

I think that the answer is finding the things that you are willing and able to do for the rest of your life. While looking for ideas on how to finally manage to workout in the mornings, I found this article on how to add habits to your life. Some excerpts:

To create a new habit there a only a few steps and these are steps we all
possess the firepower to do.
1. You have to decide on what you want to be a habit. It is important that you be as specific as possible. A habit of drinking more water is problematic whereas a habit of drinking 6 glasses a day is easier to install.
2. You have to set up triggers to help you remember the action at the time you want to do it.
3. Once you have remembered you have to be able to motivate yourself to act.

Regression and progress

2007-05-05T14:33:00.000-07:00

I'm ashamed to say that I hit a bit of a snag recently. I hurt my feet--damn you, plantar fasciitis--and found myself snacking on chocolate chips when I couldn't find anything else to assuage my chocolate cravings. Sigh. I took some time off the cardio but kept on doing some yoga and Self Challenge workouts just to keep from becoming solid blubber.

I did try a brand new recipe from Self, though, and it was a winner! The chicken confetti pasta salad from CookingLight was not so great and I will not be posting that. But the shrimp, pea and potato gnocchi from Self truly is fabulous. I think it's the simplicity of it, plus how the rosemary smells when you throw everything into the oil.

From Self via Scott Conant's New Italian Cooking
Makes 4 servings.
3/4 lb large shrimp (about 30 pieces), peeled and deveined
2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
2 tsp chopped fresh rosemary (I used dried)
1 tsp chopped fresh parsley (again, dried)
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
3 cups frozen potato gnocchi (I used a box, all I could find)
1/4 cup fresh peas
1 tbsp thinly sliced green onion (forgot this but didn't make a difference)

Toss shrimp with 1 tbsp oil, rosemary, parsley, red pepper flakes, and garlic and refrigerate 3 hours (or if you're scatterbrained like me, 30 minutes)
Bring 8 cups well-salted water to a boil; add gnocchi. Drain when gnocchi float (about 5 minutes), reserving 1/4 cup liquid.
Combine remaining 1 tbsp oil with shrimp, peas and green onion in a large sauté pan over high heat; season with salt and pepper. Add gnocchi and pasta liquid and cook until shrimp are pink and just cooked through, about 5 minutes. Serve warm.

Nutritional analysis per serving 332 calories, 8.7 g fat (1.2 g saturated fat), 39.9 g carbohydrates, 23.8 g protein, 4.2 g fiber

I'm reading The Skinny: How to Fit into Your Little Black Dress Forever currently. It's too soon to write a real review, but I like the basic ideas. They're not telling me to eat a percentage of this or a percentage of that, which is GREAT. Basically, it seems to be about awareness, which is the heart of creating healthy habits.

Riding lawnmowers and maid service: another way to rack up excess pounds?

2007-04-27T22:32:00.000-07:00

Oh, spring cleaning. It always has the power to make me vaguely ashamed that I didn't do a better job cleaning during, well, the entire rest of the year.

But emptying, cleaning, and reorganizing your closets, thoroughly scrubbing your sinks, and moving furniture to vacuum all the accumulated dust and pollen does have another benefit besides a sparkling home that smells faintly of bleach. It is a bit of a workout. This is why all women with overweight husbands should sell the riding lawnmower and make sure that their husband is out there, pushing that mower once a week. It's a chore--and it's good for the cardiovascular system.

Hits and misses

2007-04-25T11:43:00.000-07:00

I enjoy trying new recipes. If I had my way, that's what I would do for a living. But since there's not a lot of positions available for a self-trained cook/recipe-tester, I guess I'll have to finish my ConLaw reading...

This weekend, I tried two different recipes: an Apple-Ginger Oat Bran muffin from an old issue of Fitness, and a black bean and couscous salad from CookingLight. The first recipe intrigued me: it called for nearly no fat. Fat binds baked goods together--and it does such a tasty job, particularly when you use butter. Mmm. This recipe called for 2% milk (which I didn't have) and extra light olive oil.

Frankly, even if I used 2% milk instead of nonfat, this muffin still would have tasted blah. It was soft, moist...but just lacked any sort of flavor. I've made other light muffins that end up with the same calorie count (around 150) that are much more flavorful. There's a Cran-apple muffin I'll post another time that is delicious. But these just didn't hit the spot.

The other recipe is good: perfect for packing in lunches, and it survived several ingredient swaps that happened because I just wasn't paying attention: "No rice vinegar? Uh...sure, I'll just use that white wine vinegar instead! Red bell peppers are $2 a piece!? Green will be just as tasty." I'm not going to run out and buy rice vinegar to make this again, though. It's good, but it's not one of those recipes that I can't wait to make again. Good things about this recipe: large serving size (2 cups), lots of fiber, easy and quick. Despite that, I'll be making my curry chicken pitas for the rest of the week--if I can just remember to cook the chicken tonight!

As part of spring cleaning, I have been going through my old issues of Self and Fitness, tearing out recipes. I have a gnocchi and shrimp dish I hope to make this weekend. Let's hope it turns out better than those muffins!

Emergency rooms, migraines and distractions all around

2007-04-19T19:23:00.000-07:00

When life is going well, obstacles inevitably pop up. This week has been a failure as far as working out goes; I slept in every morning only to find my efforts to work out in the evening fruitless. First, I had to meet my roommate for grocery shopping. Then, a classmate and friend fell and hurt her ankle; there was no way I was going to have her take the bus to or from the ER! Then, today, my vision started to go crazy and I found myself in the midst of a migraine while in class. I spent the rest of the afternoon trying to sleep it off.

The good news? This is a speed bump. Next week will be better. I'm not going to abandon my goals just because of one bad week.

I have also found out that Ben & Jerry's lowfat version of Chocolate Fudge Brownie is extremely delicious, especially if you're sharing it with a friend.

If the way to hell is paved with good intentions, what about the road to health?

2007-04-15T10:43:00.000-07:00

I think the answer to that one is patience. Patience and perseverance. Patience, perseverance, and surprise. Surprise and fear...wait, that's a Monty Python sketch!

I recorded a loss this week...and then I held my drink tickets for the Gala in my hand and thought, "Well, I need to get my money's worth, right?" Oops. So much for the low-calorie Diet Cokes I planned on imbibing. There's nothing worse for weight loss than alcohol, unless it is drinking lots of alcohol when you haven't had a proper, filling dinner.

And THEN someone mentions Tater Tots, the best drunk food ever. And you find yourself wondering who you have to beat up to get a plateful of Tots.

Yeah...this weekend didn't go so well. I had calorie-laden Long Islands, Tater Tots at 2am, and then a hangover brunch that involved chorizo and eggs. But I think I've relearned a valuable lesson--a lesson that I need to learn about once a year, apparently--about planning ahead. If I had thought to have a good meal before the party, if I had alternated alcohol with water, I would be much prouder of myself right now.

Beating myself up about this serves no purpose. Instead, I'm going to work on my homework and then go work out.

Stalling out

2007-04-13T09:15:00.000-07:00

This last week has reinforced to me how important it is that I learn to wakeup earlier and work out. I slept in, then promised myself that I would work out later in the day. Of course, life intervened: finishing my reading and review took longer than expected, which meant arriving at home hungry and tired.

Today, I'm going to try and inspire myself a bit by cleaning and filing. Nothing makes things seem more possible than a clean slate--or clean room--to work with.

Finding healthy, easy-to-transport lunches

2007-04-08T09:02:00.000-07:00

One of the keys to weight loss is avoiding unplanned meals, especially those in restaurants. Being a student living on loans, it's especially important to me to avoid spending money. I almost always bring my lunch to school.

My favorite lunch foods:

1. Any cold pasta or grain salad (i.e. Quinoa Caprese)
2. Sandwich fillings plus a pita half--I tried Curry Chicken Pitas recently and really liked them.
3. Apples, oranges, pears: I usually slice or peel these and put them in a plastic bag for easy snacking. You can avoid brown apples by putting some lemon juice on the apple slices.
4. Soup-at-hand: if they're on sale, they're only about a dollar--and very convenient. Just watch your sodium intake the rest of the day.
5. Leftovers from a healthy meal the night before.
6. Hummus and carrot sticks (or green pepper slices)

I'm always looking for new ideas. If you have any, be sure to comment!

Venti he go? Coffee secrets of a savvy Seattle girl

2007-04-05T23:09:00.000-07:00

Someone told me that once you start living a healthier lifestyle, it's like noticing a new kind of car: suddenly, you see people doing unhealthy things (or that particular model of car) EVERYWHERE.

One of the first things I did back in the size 16 days was to switch to nonfat milk when ordering lattes and such. Not knowing much about calories, I took my best friend's word for it when she said that ordering a tall--not a grande--nonfat latte would save me some money and some pounds. She was right: Starbucks' nutrition site says that the difference between a tall whole and a tall nonfat latte is 80 calories.

And then, I looked at the whipped cream. I live in Seattle, and Starbucks is everywhere. Don't get me wrong, I love them. I love that you can go to a Starbucks in Kansas City (not the airport though, Starbucks doesn't run those) and get roughly the same quality of coffee as at the original store down by the market. I also like that they offer employees stock options and health care, but that's for a social responsibility sort of blog, not this one.

So, yes I love Starbucks. But sadly, you have to give up some things when you're trying to be healthy. I cut down to once a week: I went to Starbucks on Friday mornings to celebrate the weekend's arrival and had a tall vanilla nonfat latte. Mmm. And every single time, I would see the same people ordering venti Frappucinos WITH whipped cream. "Okay," I thought, "Maybe they are ALL on graveyard shift and this is dessert? Don't judge, don't judge...okay, I'm judgmental. I have to judge."

At Starbucks, adding whipped cream to ANY drink adds at least 100 calories. A venti caramel Frappucino is 530 calories with whipped cream. If those people would switch to even a tall caramel Frappucino with no whipped cream (assuming this is a weekly, not daily ritual), they would lose a pound in 11 weeks JUST by changing that behavior, assuming they held everything else constant.

I've been drinking more than one espresso drink lately. Law school encourages excessive coffee consumption. But I found out a very interesting secret: Starbucks has a SHORT coffee cup. They don't advertise it, but it is 8 ounces of deliciousness. That is 4 ounces less than the tall; granted, the calorie difference isn't a lot. But like the example above, it may be enough to add up to a loss. Also, I have learned that you can get an Americano with room, then add a bit of nonfat milk and cinnamon for a tasty, caffeinated treat (around 15-30 calories depending on the amount of milk you add).

The new goal for the rest of this month is to cut out coffee treats, for the sake of my wallet and my waistline. Since the ultimate goal is one latte a week, I think I can let it be a tall :)

A so-so kind of day

2007-04-04T21:21:00.000-07:00

Evenings are such a minefield. I respond well to schedules and being busy. Being at home with nothing to do but chores, I tend to nosh mindlessly. But tonight, I stopped before too much damage was done.

Again, I couldn't manage to rouse myself to get up for more than a twenty-minute yoga workout this morning. Someone has suggested that I schedule my workouts and post them somewhere above my desk, just to try and jar my brain into thinking of this as a duty, not something I can beg off. I may do just that. I also need to come up with a better incentive structure. Being a bit of a cheapskate, it is hard for me to promise myself pedicures, clothes, shoes and vacations with any degree of sincerity. Where's that altruistic, anonymous benefactor who will bribe me towards fitness? Do such kindly souls exist? Would someone actually give me a trip to Greece to celebrate reaching my goals?

Hello? Anyone out there? Nah, didn't think so.

I am NOT a morning person

2007-04-03T22:10:00.000-07:00

Today was another attempt and another miss at getting up early to exercise. After dragging myself home after a very long day, I spent most of my evening doing more research and reading, not noticing how quickly the time was going by. Now I'm irritated at myself for not working out today.

There is a nasty cold hitting my classmates. Having been sick a lot in the last six months, I only hope that my immune system is going to adopt a "been there, done that" attitude and bulldoze past it.

Now: I am going to bed early and getting up early to work out. Otherwise I'm going to have to buy this.

Habit-breaking, habit-forming

2007-04-02T11:43:00.000-07:00

One of my goals this year is to become a morning exerciser. This quarter, this has been made more challenging with 9am classes. If I want to work out, shower, eat breakfast, and catch the bus in time to make it to the law school with a bit of breathing room, I either have to do a short workout (i.e., 20-minute yoga DVD) or get up REALLY early. This is made more complicated when my roommate, who gets up after me, is already using the shower when I get back from my workout.

But the real problem isn't the shower: I have the hardest time getting out of bed at 6am! I've been slowly trying to push back my wake-up time, but I have this unfortunate tendency of falling back asleep. Even putting my alarm across the room hasn't nipped this habit in the bud.

On the habit-forming side, I am having some success resurrecting an old, kind of weird habit: Pulling off pieces of food--like cheese from pizza or a quarter of a cookie--and throwing them in the trash before I can eat them. I know it's weird. But when I hit my first plateau two years ago, I started doing this at work and the scale started to budge again. It is best to do this only with snacks and treats.

At first, I was horrified at myself for "wasting" food by not finishing what I started to eat. We're all taught to clean our plates as children. (By the way, I think this is the worst thing that you can do as a parent. By all means, withhold dessert, but making your child eat past satiation sends the wrong signal. They learn not to listen to their bodies saying, "Hey, I'm full, you can stop eating now.) But then I realized that eating something I didn't need or want wasn't a waste--it was just another step towards a healthier, fitter body. So I'm going to continue to pick pieces of granola bar off of my snack and throw it away, pull cheese off of entrees at restaurants, and leave things on my dinner plate.

Muffin top at the bar

2007-04-01T13:57:00.000-07:00

Nothing is worse than putting on one of your tighter, more revealing tops--the ones that are supposed to make you feel cute for a night out on the town--and noticing a wedge of fat hanging over your waistline where there wasn't one before. I'm heading back towards my healthier weight, but I am still lacking the muscle tone that I once had.

I think that my roommate is having similar issues because today our trip to the grocery store was extremely healthful in nature. We bought fish, lamb, tons of veggies, whole wheat pitas and nothing fattening or sugary in nature, except for some chocolate chips for a friend's birthday treat. Hopefully we can keep this up!

The pitas are for a curry chicken pita recipe I saw on CookingLight.com. I'm hoping that it will be as tasty as it looks!

Book review: 5-Factor Fitness by Harley Pasternak

2007-03-31T16:59:00.000-07:00

Harley Pasternak has better credentials than most trainers out there. He has the celebrity clientele and a Master's in Exercise Physiology. He apparently has actually researched. But still, I don't know if I buy his philosophy. For one, he claims that you can be healthy only working out 25 minutes a day. Would that it were true!

I haven't entirely finished the book yet but I've scoffed repeatedly. I know that we're constantly learning more about the human body, but even the government has revised its recommendations for the amount physical exercise up, not down! Granted, it is the government but this is still contrary to everything I've ever heard outside of those ridiculous "tone your abs in five minutes a day!" commercials.

Mr. Pasternak holds up Halle Berry's transformation in Catwoman from hot to hotter as an example of what 25-minute workouts can do. Again, I'm skeptical: Halle Berry had to train in martial arts for her scenes, so I'm relatively sure that the shape of her body had something to do with the hours of capoeira she practiced as well as Mr. Pasternak's program.

Despite all this, perhaps I should suspend disbelief and try his program. I just can't believe that five minutes of cardio will keep my cardiovascular system in any kind of optimum health...

Yesterday's weigh-in

2007-03-31T16:46:00.000-07:00

Starting weight, 06/2003: 175 lbs.
Last week's weigh-in, 03/15/2007: 149.6 lbs.
This week, 3/30/2007: 147.2 lbs.

I swear, being busy is the best way for me to lose weight. My kryptonite is snacking--no time to snack means losing weight!

Spring cleaning, with a side of Quinoa Caprese

2007-03-31T16:34:00.000-07:00

I always get excited when spring starts popping up, and it's not just because we actually get more sunlight here in the Pacific NW. I get excited because I automatically eat better. I adore all the summer fruits; I love picking berries, and summer salads are the best! Olive oil and vinegar tastes good on everything, and everyone automatically feels skinnier anyway without all those bulky sweaters and coats, don't they?

In honor of the coming warm weather, I'm already breaking out my summer recipes. This one was originally in Shape magazine a while back. (In May 2006, I believe.) It's light and tasty. Quinoa is an amazing grain: it is chock-full of protein and pretty low on calories to boot. It works well as a substitute for couscous, bulgur, rice, etc, and it's pretty cheap to buy at Trader Joe's. (It can be incredibly expensive elsewhere, so be sure to comparison shop.) Equally important: WASH IT. You have to get the bitter coat off of it.

Quinoa Caprese
1 cup quinoa
14 oz. chicken or veggie broth
1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
3 ounces fresh mozarella, diced (or the mozzarella balls, cut in half)
1 cup torn basil leaves2
1/2 tablespoons lemon juice1
1/4 tablespoon garlic oil (OR heat some olive oil with smashed garlic cloves in it for a few minutes)
salt and pepper

Rinse the quinoa thoroughly (IMPORTANT, especially if the quinoa isn't prewashed)
In a medium saucepan, bring the stock to a boil. Add the quinoa, reduce heat and simmer about 12-15 minutes until the liquid is absorbed. The quinoa should be tender. Transfer to a large bowl, let it cool down to room temperature.
Stir the cherry tomatoes, basil, and mozarella into the quinoa.
With a whisk or fork beat the lemon juice and oil together. Pour over the quinoa and toss well. Season to taste.

You can serve this over some spinach leaves; arugula would work, too. I like it without, too!

New sites

2007-03-22T10:10:00.000-07:00

I found some new sites today. I've been using Fitday.com to track calories for some time, but just found out about these:

Calorie King: another calorie counting site
Fitness Jumpsite: a way to tell exactly how many calories you burn!
Calorie Lab: another website that does calorie counts
iVillage health calculators: calculate your BMI, etc

Oh, Vegas.

2007-03-20T23:14:00.000-07:00

Oh, indeed. Vegas is all hustle and bustle, bright lights and spectacle. And it is also about eye-popping amounts and quality of food. I couldn't resist...at least not all the time.

Despite that, I feel much more relaxed and able to take on things now. Like so many other women, I turn to food when life feels difficult (or boring). It's a shame that, unlike men, women get fat when they're not content. Of course, I find it difficult to believe that all the very overweight and obese men I saw in Vegas this weekend are living deliriously happy lives.

I did manage to walk a lot, avoided mindless snacking, and shared my dessert. Sadly, sharing a piece of the creamiest NY-style cheesecake I've EVER had is still pretty bad...My post-vacation weigh-in tomorrow morning is likely not going to inspire smiles.

But things are looking up: I have new workout DVDs to try, courtesy of the library; the weather is slowly improving, making outside workouts compelling again; and I am ready to spend the rest of my vacation scouring my CookingLight cookbooks for tasty new recipes to try!

Incentives are important

2007-03-15T09:14:00.000-07:00

Muffin top: 1) the tasty part of a muffin or 2) the extra bit of fat that rolls over the top of your pants, resembling the top of the muffin.

In the interest of getting myself back on track, I'm setting up a incentive structure.

For every week that I work out 5 times, I can treat myself to a latte.
If I stay within my calorie goals for 25 days of the month, I can buy a new CD or DVD.
For every 5 pounds I lose, I can purchase a new piece of workout clothing or equipment.
If I reach my goal weight, I can purchase this dress or something similar at Banana.

And the true incentive: a new swimsuit if I complete the Self Challenge in better shape than I started it!

Apple Harvest Oatmeal (tweaked)

2007-03-13T09:57:00.000-07:00

1/2 cup quick-cooking oatmeal (NOT those packets of instant)
3/4 cup water
1/4-1/2 Tbs. butter
One medium apple, cored and diced
1/2 Tbs brown sugar
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
Dried cranberries, golden raisins, whatever is on hand

Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat.
Add the diced apple and cook until soft, about 2 minutes.
Add the cinnamon and brown sugar; cook until dissolved.
Add the water and cranberries/golden raisins; bring to light boil.
Add the oatmeal and cook for two minutes.
Remove from heat.

For extra protein, you can add almonds. I usually add a little bit of nonfat milk.

The SELF Challenge

2007-03-13T09:48:00.000-07:00

Last year, I half-heartedly did the SELF Challenge. I was already in pretty good shape, despite my knees still rejecting my every attempt at running. This year, things are different. I started the Challenge with the best of intentions. Those intentions went quickly south when some family members had some issues and disappeared completely when I was hit with the flu.

Sometimes, life just does not cooperate with a girl on a mission.

Today, I have to study for my next (LONG, TORTUROUS) exam. But to prove to myself that my health is still a priority, I'm going to make time to work out today. I'll be doing at least 35 minutes of cardio AND the Self Challenge's strength workout.

I started out the morning with my favorite breakfast; well, my favorite breakfast that doesn't count waffles or french toast: Apple Harvest Oatmeal. I've tweaked this recipe to accomodate a single serving, and taken out a few items I don't have on hand. I'll post the tweaked recipe later.

Starting over, yet again

2007-03-12T21:56:00.000-07:00

Three and a half years ago, I graduated from college. Like so many other college graduates, I was bewildered, confused, and overweight. Having been chubby for several years, I finally packed on about fifteen or twenty pounds during my senior year bringing my weight to somewhere over 170 pounds (from my best estimates, around 175). But I didn't know that then; I was so focused on my lack of a post-grad job that I didn't notice my weight creeping up until I tried on a pair of size 14-16 pants...and they were tight.

Unlike so many others, my weight loss journey didn't actually start there. There was never one moment when I decided, "This is the time." It sprung from a series of unintentional decisions and lucky situations. My new roommate (now known as ex-roomie) after graduation joined my gym; I started going more. She drank nonfat milk; I switched from 2%. She subscribed to Glamour; I started a subscription to Self. My dad sent me a BBQ.

That first summer, I lost about 7 pounds. Suddenly, things clicked: I was not destined to be overweight. I could be healthy! Ex-roomie started running, and I started--slowly--to jog a few minutes at a time with her.

The good things only continued: I found a job with a bunch of health-conscious men who provided valuable information gleaned from losing weight and starting running programs. They were always supportive and never judgmental. I signed up to run a 5k, and then starting training for a 10k. When I got below 150 pounds for the first time since my senior year of high school, I started to cry. While on the scale. At the gym. Needless to say, people were cutting some startled glances my way!

Of course, disaster struck: my knees developed "patellofemoral pain syndrome" or some such nonsense. I kept working out but I wasn't able to do the activity I had become addicted to; yet, I managed to keep off the 30 pounds I had lost. I was

When I left my job to head to law school, my weight was steady around 142 pounds. I bid a fond adieu to Ex-Roomie, packed up my things and found myself without a gym buddy, without a truly regular schedule, and with a stressful seven months ahead of me. I did alright at first. The exercise was the first to go, but I was so busy the first few weeks that I actually lost weight because I simply didn't have time to snack. I didn't feel great, energy-wise, but I thought, "Hey, I'll work out, eat on a regular schedule, and I'll be happy and healthy."

And then, I adjusted. And all that lovely muscle shrunk, taken over by more and more padding. I sunk back into the habit of eating when I was bored, of not eating healthy portions, of relying on sweets when I was in a bad mood.

I have two finals left before this quarter ends, and I have gained back the weight I lost at the beginning of fall quarter, plus five pounds. It sounds so ridiculous: five pounds. But what matters is NOT the weight: it's how I feel. I am tired and stressed out, and I'm not making healthy choices. I have high cholesterol; even when I lost the 30 pounds, my levels were too high. My family has a history of diabetes and high blood pressure.

I am starting this blog because, yes, I don't want to regain those 30 pounds (for one thing, losing and regaining weight is as bad if not worse than not losing weight at all). But it's about more than that: it's about being stressed out and still making healthy decisions.

I'm making a (semi-)public declaration here: I'm getting back on track. Starting right now.