Week Three Day Six

Today Pippin decided that even though it was Saturday, it was not a sleeping in morning.  As soon as the gym was open, I walked right over to the gym and worked out.  On the recovery stations in between, I was able to raise my knees more and work hard.  Breakfast was 2 pieces of whole wheat toast and 6 oz. of cottage cheese.  Only a short while later, I was hungry.  I had a cup of corn chex cereal and another piece of bread with 1 TB of peanut butter.

For lunch, I had another 2 cups of that awesome black bean salad from yesterday.  It's still holding up well and it filled me up.  I did a lot of work around the house today and also worked on the garage. By two, I was exhausted and fell asleep on the couch.  I woke up really feeling my sore muscles.  Three days of work outs in a row have started to take their toll.  When I got up, I took Pip to the dog park.

I made a decision to relax a bit on the eating this afternoon.  I had a medium chocolate frosty on the way home from the park.  I turned our pop cans in and was able to get Applebees 2 for 20 for Paul and I.  I had their Napa chicken and portabellos with grilled potatoes.  For an appetizer we had the spinach artichoke dip.  For dessert, I had an ice cream sandwich and 1/2 cup of chocolate chips.  Later in the evening, I had 5 twizzler pull and peels.  While I know it was not a red letter day, I am really encouraged by the progress and successes of this week and am not going to beat myself up about one evening.  Things are going really well.

I had 12 glasses of water and put 4728 steps on the pedometer.

Week Three Day Five

Today I really have felt good.  This morning I woke up early enough to walk Pippin before walking over to workout.  I worked out hard and felt so good about doing something physical that got me up and moving before school.

For breakfast, I had 1 cup oatmeal, 1/4 cup raisins, 1/2 ounce almonds.  My morning snack was my usual ounce of almonds.  Yesterday night I took a half hour and made a bean salad.  Now I have never been a fan of beans, but the last week, the taco meat hasn't appealed to me and it's been harder and harder to eat it.  I don't know the individual calorie breakdown of it because I'm not sure what a serving size is or how many of them there are.  Here's the recipe.

http://www.onceuponachef.com/2010/08/black-bean-salad-with-corn-red-peppers-avocado-lime-cilantro-vinaigrette.html

I adjusted it by not adding the salt, cayenne pepper, sugar, olive oil and cilantro.  I replaced the shallots with 1/2 of a large purple onion, and added a tomato to it.  It was FANTASTIC!!!  At lunch, I had 2 1/2 cups of it.  I loved it.

I noticed at school that, while I sat for some of the classes, I had the energy to stand up for a couple of my later ones.  I just felt like movement was easier.

For a snack when I got home, I ate the equivalent of three oatmeal/raisin/white chocolate chip crumbles.  I also had 2 pieces whole wheat bread and 2 TB peanut butter.  After the snack, I took Pippin for another short walk around the park.

For dinner, I had more of the bean salad- 2 cups of it, and a piece of cheddar cheese.

I drank 6 glasses of water and put 10487 steps on my pedometer.

Things feel good.

Week Three Day Four

I rocked this morning.  After a disappointing night last night and a night where Pippin kept growling at the thunder, I was exhausted when that crummy alarm went off.  However, I won a huge victory by getting myself out of bed, walking to the gym, and working out.  Go me!!!

Eating today went really, really well too.  For breakfast, I stopped off at McDonalds for a fruit parfait.  I ate my morning ounce of almond snack.  Though I put lunch off until my prep half hour, I stopped and ate though I had a mountain of things to do.  I had 2 pieces of wheat bread, 1.5 TB peanut butter, and 6 oz. of cottage cheese.  After work, I stuck to my afternoon snack of a piece of string cheese, an apple, and about a cup and a half of baby carrots.  For dinner, Paul and I had a Subway chicken teriyaki sandwich.  In the evening, I had 1/4 C of semi-sweet chocolate chips, but that's the only thing "off plan" that I had.  I added to that 9 glasses of water.

Also, when I got home from work today, I did one of my favorite things.  I walked in, dropped my stuff off, grabbed the harness and leash and took Pippin for our long walk.  I set a new record for my pedometer (since keeping this blog) of 11003 steps.  Though tired, I feel really good about today and am going to chalk this one up as a victory.  As a friend from Curves reminded me this morning, "I'm worth this."

Week Three Day Three

Yesterday was a pretty draining day.  I don't know if adrenaline helped me through day one or what, but I was really tapped out by the time I got home.  Finances are pretty tight right now, so I've been trying not to go shopping, but make due with the food in the house.  (Side note: If people take piano and voice lessons, they had better blasted well show up and pay at the beginning of the month like they're supposed to.  We count on that income.  Ok. Enough said.)  So yesterday after a successful morning (normal omlette and fruit breakfast), morning snack of almonds, lunch of tuna on wheat bread with a side salad (I also had a tootsie roll, a tootsie pop and 4 pieces of licorice.  I still haven't put the candy in the staff room yet.  For some reason, that's hard for me to do.  I'll try again next week.), I was late in getting my after school snack in.  I had errands to run and ended up at Fred Meyer with major hunger pangs.  Not a good time to go shopping.  I ended up getting a pizza for dinner, but didn't succumb to the candy aisle calling me to come over. 

Thoughts about the pizza.  #1- there were healthier choices I could have made.  #2- we didn't order from Main Street pizza, which would have been a ton more calories and a much bigger pizza.  #3- I ate half of it and Paul ate half of it.  #4- I wanted to get two pizzas, and only got one and it's gone now.

That whole evening I was craving food constantly and, because I hadn't planned beforehand, my mind kept going back to what was available in the house.  I had a bag of light kettle corn, a cup of baked chips, and 2 pieces of wheat bread.  Oh- and an ice cream sandwich.  Profile: carbs and sweets.  The things that are hardest for me to say "no" to.  I ended the day pretty bummed, but got to bed early so I could work out the next day.  I meant to work out after school, but was tired.  I'll need to do three-in-a-row- Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.  Oh- on the physical activity, I did get up early today, but Pippin was so peppy when we got up that I took him for a walk instead of working out. 

Total water: 8 glasses
Total steps: 8145

Week Two Day Two

Walked to the gym for my weigh-in and coaching session at 5:30.  I got to move more marbles today. Yay!

Breakfast was 2 eggs, 1/2 C cheese, 1 C mixed fruit

I made sure I got my morning snack of 1 oz. of almonds in during the kids' morning recess break.

Lunch was a bit rushed, but I was able to take a few bites, keep working, and take a few bites more.  I had a taco salad.

I ate my afternoon snack of an apple, a piece of string cheese, and a cucumber after school and on the drive to my acupuncture appointment.

It was an incredibly busy day, and I was thirsty, but worried because I had no breaks to use the restroom in.  I drank my 6 glasses of water after school.

For dinner, I had a chicken apple salad.

Then, for no better reason other than I just wanted the taste of them, I ate 4 oreos, 1.5 cups of chips, 1.5 TB of peanut butter with 2 tsp. of honey on a whole wheat hot dog bun.  Ugh.  Fail.

My steps for today: 7458.

Week Three Day One

Monday, Labor Day:

Breakfast: 2 light pieces of whole wheat bread, 1.5 TB peanut butter, 6 oz. cottage cheese

Morning snack: 1 oz. almonds

Lunch: Large taco salad with 1.5 cups pineapple

Dinner: Beef Stroganoff (I was supposed to have veggies with it, but forgot. :(

We had dinner later and I wanted to get to bed early, so I didn't have my second snack of the day.

In the evening before dinner, I took Pippin on a nice long walk around the park and around the junior high school.  My pedometer reading for the day was 5131.  I got 7 glasses of water in.

 Today I was in great head space.  I felt lighter and productive as I worked my various posters for my classrooms.  The walk with Pip was wonderful- I felt that I could move more easily and enjoy that movement.  Tomorrow's the big day and the start of my attempts to balance my work life and stress with taking care of myself.  I feel very centered and ready.  Let's do this!

Week Two Day Seven

Happy Sabbath friends and family!

Being Lds/Mormon meant that today was Fast Sunday.  One Sunday a month we fast for two meals, combine it with a lot of prayer, and then contribute the money that we would have spent on the meals to help those that are struggling financially.  Fast Sundays take self discipline and are tough to do.  Honesty time.  For awhile now, I have only been skipping breakfast.  Normally, I eat after I get home from church at 12:30 and don't wait until dinner to eat.  Today was amazing, amazing, amazing.  Unlike other Fast Sundays, I was barely hungry and was able to skip both meals.  My worry about eating dinner was that I would overeat- making up for the meals that I skipped, but I didn't!!  We had friends over for dinner who are doing a great job at eating healthily, too.  I had a grilled chicken breast, a green salad with red peppers, tomatoes, and green onions.  I had a piece of wheat bread with 1/2 TB butter and then about 2 cups of fruits.   Also, complements of my friend, I had some yummy grilled asparagus and summer squash.  I had three glasses of water with it.  Then our friend made vegan brownies and they were really good.  The texture was different at first, but they were moist and I really likes them.  I had two of them.  Later in the evening, I had a piece of string cheese and a cup of Baked Lays chips.

This day excites me so much.  I think it was such a success and I that didn't end the day with overeating because these past two weeks I have been starting to exercise my self-discipline.  I have been learning to say "no" or "choose a healthier option" more.  I know I have not been perfect about it by far, but I know I am getting better, stronger, healthier.  It makes me feel really good.  I know I'm heading in the right direction.

Tomorrow is my check-in with my coach (I think- I need to check to see if they're open on Labor Day), so I need to report on and review my past week's goals:

1. Write down all my food and activity choices and report back nightly to this blog.
2. Transition back to eating 5 meals a day.
3. Eat whole foods whenever possible.
4. Work out three times a week.
5. Take Pippin on a walk three times during the week.

#1- I have been absolutely honest and have logged everything I've eaten and all physical activity.

#2- I had five meals a day every day except for today, though sometimes I didn't stay away from other foods outside of those five meals.

#3- I did pretty well at this one, but was more successful last week.

#4- Yep, I worked out Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday.

#5- Yep! Pip and I walked Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

For this next week, even though it's more of the same, I'm keeping the same goals.  I need to make sure these are actual habits, not "diet-y" things.  I am adding one more- 

6.  Prepare for and cook a balanced dinner five days of the seven.

Dinner was where I struggled the most.  Tomorrow I will do meal planning and get them ready for the week.