Come on Meal the Noise

Well, kids, I am wiped. Long day, and lots o painting (to be continued tomorrow, and the day after that, and the day after that, etc etc!)

The good thing I did today was...putting myself first. My friends had told me that lunch was on them, and when I got to their place there was a giant pizza from Costco sitting in their kitchen. Lunchtime came around and my one friend was still prepping the wall so I went home to eat lunch instead!

And I thought ahead and before I left to go back, I brought a dinner for later. So I had all my own meals today, instead of having pizza twice in one day. Noice.

And the water I drank today! An incredible amount ... 148oz!! I had a few glasses before I left this morning and I just kept filling it back up over and over when I was painting and working and all that. Yeesh!


Breakfast:

*10 strawberries
*toasted arnold’s sandwich thin with I Can’t Believe spray
*1/2 cup cottage cheese

Snack:

*gala apple

Lunch:

*turkey burger on arnold’s sandwich thin, 1 LCL wedge, romaine lettuce, ketchup and mustard
*cup of veggie crunchers
*can of V8

Dinner:

*salad: spinach, 2 LCL wedges, pom seeds, acorn squash and garlic&herb chicken

Meal Good, Inc.

Pretty relaxed day. Lunch with a friend – indulged a little at Panera.

I just finished an 8 minute abs video (via YouTube) … it was okay. I’m trying to do the moves correctly, and I sorta feel it in my stomach but I feel it most in my neck and I know that’s not right. I don’t know how to not strain my neck, even when I am using stomach muscles. I can feel the stomach muscled contract and work and everything, but my neck still tenses up and I’m making sure I’m breathing, etc. Is it just because I’m beginner and have literally no muscles to start with? Meh. I’m gonna stick with it but I feel like I won’t make much progress if I keep feeling it in my neck moreso than my stomach. I’ve tried to change it and I don’t know how! AGH!

Also, had spinach twice today to try and help make up for yesterday’s lack o the green stuff. :-)

So far I've had 68oz. of water today, but I’ve got one more 20oz refill to go – so by day’s end we’ll be at 88!


Breakfast:

*2 cups spinach cooked down with a clove garlic and tbsp butter with:
*3/4 cup egg subst.
*30 pom seeds (what’s a serving of these things anyway?)

Lunch:

* @ panera: you pick two: sierra turkey sandwich and French onion soup (with an apple!)

bad news – other than choosing the apple as the side (yay me!) none of those things are healthy options. They aren’t the worst but they aren’t the best. Good news – I didn’t eat everything. There was a little left of the sandwich and about half the soup.

Dinner:

*salad: spinach, 1 LCL wedge, pom seeds and baked acorn squash (diced in 1 inch cubes, covered in a little EVOO and S&P and then baked in the oven at 375 for 40 mins)

I Meal the Earth Move (Un.dah.Mah.Feet.)

Today was crazy busy!! And I’m sad to say, I forgot about my spinach goal completely today – it flew my mind so I didn’t eat any today. But I DID think of another goal that I’ll adopt along with the others, so that kind of (not really, at all) makes up for it? Ehhh? Crickets chirping!?!?!

So I got up at 5:30 in the godforsaken am to get to my temp gig on time, managed to make myself a gigantic breakfast that was actually kind of spread out over the morning – I ate the oatmeal at 6:30, the V8 in the car (so 7-7:50ish) then the cottage cheese around 8am. It was a progressive breakfast through major streets of the dc metro area.

Lunch was half-hearted, I’ll admit. Not at all creative. Tasty, yes. Filling – actually, surprisingly, yes. But well-planned…I’d say not so much.

I did get in about 30 minutes of brisk walking today on a break, which was nice. It definitely helped since:

The gym got cut short today. I got off at 2:30 (an hour later than I was supposed to) and hurried home to get to the gym before I met some friends at 4pm. So I cut my workout short. I did 11 minutes on the treadmill for warm up, three machines, then some jump rope and abs stuff. I alternated rope, abs, rope, abs. I was still there for almost an hour but I didn’t get back to the other machines like I would have liked to.

**which reminds me, because I'm literally adding this after I've posted/written everything else: my new goal! I want to do abs work everyday. Whether it's 3 reps or 250 reps. I don't even know what a low number or a high number would be, really. But I want to get better at this, it's by far my least-worked muscle and the one that needs the most help**

So I race home, quickly check email (more on that in a hot minute) and jump in the shower and head out to meet some friends. They just bought a condo so I went over to see it. We ran some errands and then went to a CHINESE FOOD PLACE for dinner. AGH! Read ahead to see if I was good or bad :-)

Oh, and water. 76oz today. Same as yesterday!

So – I just want to take a second to thank all of you lovely lovely commenters – not only for the jeans thing (which I TOTALLY wore again today. Bangin’) – but just in general. I love to hear from you because you all keep me going and I get inspired and ideas every day from you. THANK YOU! For realsies. Internet Hugs.

Whew! So 5:30am to 9:30pm, I’m just now home and sitting, and it’s lovely. Just like you.


Breakfast:

*pumpkin oatmeal (I took a quaker instant pack – cinnamon roll flavored – and added pumpkin puree, just as a quick addition kinda deal)
*can of V8
*cup of cottage cheese

Lunch: (on the go at work)

*half a peanut butter sandwich on homemade wheat bread

Snack: (on the way to the gym)

*gala apple

Dinner:

*steamed mixed veggies and brown rice (occasionally dipping lightly in some delicious mystery sauce of some kind)

PS - To my GLEEKS, did you watch last night? And did you totally cry when they sang Lean on Me? JUST ME?! Because I totally cried. And then I downloaded the cast's version of Lean on Me this morning and was listening to it driving into work and I started tearing up AGAIN! I had to switch to a different song because I didn't want to walk into work with my mascara running :-P

Food Awakening

Okay, I didn’t go to the gym today. But I did do 30 Day Shred. Back to Level 1, though! I could definitely tell a difference in my ability to do things, but it was still hard. (TWSS!)

Tomorrow will be another gym day. Going straight from work – work being temp work because I STILL don’t have a freaking job...

(speaking of which, today marks my 11th month of unemployment. THIS ONE GOES TO ELEVEN. Ha – normally a hilarious quote except for in this context. And things aren’t looking good so I’ll probably make it to a full year. This is depressing, and it’s a damn good thing I have my weight loss efforts to keep me going right now and distract me)

debbiedownertangentsayswhat?

What? So. Right. The gym. I’ll go there tomorrow.

I’m still working on water. After I finish this refill, I’ll be at 76oz.

Breakfast:

*cup/glass of milk
*zucchini/yellow squash frittata (egg subst. with 1 LCL wedge and some ketchup)

Snack:

*gala apple

Lunch:

*cup veggie crunchers
*sandwich: grilled eggplant, roasted red pepper, and spinach on an arnold’s thin with tzatziki sauce

Dinner:

*bite of salmon soufflé that my mom made
*mini pizza (arnold’s thin, split between the two: 2 or 3 tbsp marinara, 11 pieces of turkey pepperoni, stringed-string cheese on top)

Oh I also opened up the pomegranate! I tried a couple of seeds, they're tasty! Very sweet. Gonna have to do a lil research to find some fun ways to eat them - as in recipes, not like "eat them while on a rollercoaster". Or maybe that's a bad example because eating anything on a rollercoaster seems like a bad idea.

Hey wanna hear something crazy and off-topic about myself? So I love rollercoasters - I was on one once that was so scary and I screamed so loud I burst a blood vessel in my eye. How ridiculous is that!?!? It's a testament to the ride, for sure, but I just couldn't believe it could happen. How deliciously nerdy.

ATTENTION UNIVERSE

So, remember that time I mentioned in a rather off-handed manner that maybe I could fit into a certain pair of size 18 jeans? (like 5 minutes ago in the post below, if you're not getting it) 

Just for shits and giggs I get them down from my I'll Fit In These One Day Bag (IFITODB) and slide them up one leg...

....hmmm, the blood to my legs doesn't feel constricted....

slide up the other leg

....I don't feel like a sausage casing...

bring them up over my hips

....I can actually BRING THEM up over my hips...

and button-ed up the button.

I AM WEARING SIZE 18 JEANS.

I'm smiling. This is when it gets fun.


(and yes, I also zipped up the fly. I figured I could leave that part out, but I didn't want anyone worrying that I'm strutting around all day with the barn door wide open)

Challenge Wednesdays - Week, Um, What week is this?

Well despite my confusion over how many weeks along in the challenge we are, I'm doing well. Is it week three or week four? I can't figure out what the exact start date was.

Hopped on the scale this swell AM (sing to the tune of Party in the USA, it works!)
with a prayer, a yawn or two
welcome to the land of HOLY CRAP
Am I gonna fit in...

....those size 18 jeans I have?

Hahaha, Jack Sh*t I am not, that's for sure. I did a lyrics change once to Mambo #5 but it was about being in London (last summer for an internship - I've never been happier in my life) and it was the most ridiculous thing ever. But fun. And who doesn't love Mambo #5! I feel like Michael Scott (The Office) for still liking that song.

Okay I shouldn't delay the results any further, since they're good!

224!

That's 2.4 pounds down from last week!

And so far in the challenge, I've lost either 8 pounds or 10 pounds, depending on the start date.

I'm proud of how I'm doing so far, but everyday I tell myself "Don't rely on these results - don't think you're going to get them every week just because. You have to work for them. And if you don't feel like working then you won't get results. It's not always the most difficult thing in the world but it isn't a cake walk either. Oooh, cake? No, self, focus! Just think about today, or plan for the next couple of days. That's it."

I think during SWL1 I spent too much time thinking and writing things like "This time next year I will be thin and fit and I will be turning heads and this and that...." and looking back, it was like I assumed that I would just keep going and keep losing, I was expecting results without focusing on the work it would take to get there. Thinking about going to the gym and winning internal battles with myself about food is enough for one day, thinking about doing it for 5 months or 6 months straight, that's overwhelming - even if I am doing well right now.

This time around if I catch myself daydreaming about being in Onederland (and staying there) or dating or writing that 100-pounds-lost post...I stop myself. I don't want to think about it too much. That's not to say I won't get there, but I'm not thinking of it as a foregone conclusion. Just because I'm motivated today doesn't mean I will be 7 months from now or even two weeks from now! I can't and I won't take it for granted.

Okay, well now that that little tangent is behind us, I have to set some goals for this week. Hmm.

*keep tracking water - I think I'm drinking more now that I have actual numbers to look at
*make something out of that acorn squash I have, and finally peel/open that pomegranate!
*go to the track (I kind of like it there)
*eat spinach every day this week