dreams

Had a very strange dream last night. The only thing I really remember about it was that I was running.....and enjoying it.

I have a feeling this does not bode well for my couch potato tendencies.

Getting easier

Well - I think the worst of it is over! Food-wise, anyway.

Had Christmas dinner at my sister's yesterday. I'm thinking that it went rather well - both food and diet wise.

Since our mother died my sister and I (and our other siblings) have been trying to decide what traditions to keep and which to discard. Dealing with the traditional Christmas dinner has been the hardest. Like I've written before, food was never a reward for us but we are so used to Mom's cooking that it we are finding it difficult to change our food habits. But we are trying!
The first year we got rid of the traditional turkey - we got the frozen turkey breast instead. This year we eliminated the creamed/sweetened veggies - creamed peas (or green beans), carrots baked in a brown sugar sauce, mashed turnips with molases, brown sugar, butter and honey, and mashed potatoes made with sour cream, milk and butter. Instead we had a roasted root vegetables dish (2 kinds of squash, 2 kinds of potato, onion, rosemary and olive oil) and steamed veggies with a little bit of butter. We still had festive punch, coleslaw, biscuits, gravy and stuffing (but we added cranberries and mandarin oranges to it. My mother would have been aghast!). We also eliminated the cheese and pickle tray. And we forgot the cranberry sauce - - literally, we forgot the cans in the fridge! My nephew didn't even notice. We also added fresh fruit instead of baked goods - a mix of blueberry and raspberry for after dinner tea.
It went quite well, I think. I ate a lot of the roasted and steamed veggies so I think that compensated for the stuffing and gravy. Actually - this is the first time in years that I attempted to make gravy. It turned out pretty good - my nephew and sister really enjoyed it, I just had a little. My nephew ate everything and seemed to like most of it. My sister especially liked the roasted veggies - we think it is a nice winter dish that we'll have more often. She offered to make some instant mashed potatoes but afterwards said that they wouldn't have been necessary - we had plenty and it was all excellent. Except for the coleslaw. Instead of chopping up a head of cabbage I bought bagged coleslaw. Actually - it was broccoli slaw. And it wasn't that great - even with the dressing Mom taught me how to make. I don't think anyone ate much of the slaw.

Since it had begun to snow we decided not to go out afterwards. Instead we stayed in and watched a couple DVDs. Then I helped my sister dye her hair.

An early start this morning. Another snowstorm predicted for later today so my sister wanted to get on the road. She had to drive from St. Catharines to Windsor and didn't want to risk being caught in another storm. So we had a quick breakfast and cleared out. I got back to my apartment around noon. My neighbourhood hasn't been plowed out yet so I've planted myself in front of the tv for football. I'll do my grocery shopping tomorrow when I'm done work.

As I said - the worst is over....food-wise. My big worries were the company Christmas party (which didn't do any damage) and yesterday's dinner. Due to my shift work I've missed 3 or 4 co-workers parties and an at work pot-luck. I'll be spending Christmas day with Scott and his mother. We'll be going to an open house his best friend is having - but since we have to take his mom back to the nursing home we know that it won't be a long day out. Also - my sister and I didn't do any baking this year - no truffles, gum drops, half dozen different kinds of cookies or any cakes. However - she did bake several differents kinds of bread (egg nog, orange, apple, cranberry) on her own.

And the best thing? I weighed myself at my sister's. According to her scale I'm at 207 lbs.

Finally

I'm still not fully recovered from my cold - throat is still scratchy and my sinus is a bother. I'm tired but not sleeping enough.

My weekend was mostly good. Went to visit my sister - took her out for her birthday dinner, a bit of fun at the casino and a drive along the Falls. A nice little getaway.
We also did a bit of Christmas shopping. But since my pay wasn't in yet and I really didn't want to put a lot on my credit card we just window shopped. I did end up buying 2 nutcrackers though.
My mom started a nutcracker collection for my sister's son when he was just a little boy. Every Christmas we try to buy a special one for the collection - like a baseball one (when he was in Little League), a golfer (when he took lessons) or a Sears Craftsman one (when he took carpentry at school). We were at a store looking at the nutcrackers and this year they had "International" ones - so I picked up a London one (dressed like a Beefeater) and a Paris one (beret wearing man in front of the Eiffel Tower). When my sister asked who they were for I told her "Me!"
In January - she and I went to London and Paris. It was in honour of our mother. My mother and I were getting ready to go on that trip in 2007 but a few days before departure my mother suffered a heart attack. Last winter my sister took the buy-out from her company and with some of her money bought us plane tickets. We had a great time - a few minor glitches - but a great, great time.

However - being out in the cold really sapped my strength and I ended up napping on Sunday while she prepared dinner. Since I wasn't working the day shift the next day I decided to stay over and drive back to Toronto in the morning.
On the way back I stopped at Ikea and picked up a few things - mostly candles for Scott's place.

Eating has been good - most of the time. For every splurge I try to compensate for it: mac & cheese at my sister's is made up by drinking more water and having soup for dinner the next day. The buffet dinner & dessert at the casino? It wasn't as bad as it could have been: I had just a tiny bit of sheppard's pie (really - what kind of food is that for a buffet??) but also loaded up on green beans from the Chinese food section, roasted root veggies and corn salad. And instead of the chicken wings or southern fried chicken I had some roast beef. And at work: a co-worker brought in bags of home-made cookie for everyone. Instead of inhaling them then and there I waited a day and had the 3 tiny shortbreads with tea as a snack, and the 2 ANZAC cookies are for today's tea break. And since I'm on the late shift this week I totally missed the pot-luck. Well - there were some leftovers but I just took a couple cookies and a lot of green peppers and carrots to have with my lunch (chick pea roti).

Since I was sick I haven't been to the gym. So when I weighed myself at my sister's I was trying to remember if her scale is higher or lower than the one at the gym. I'm hoping it is close to the same because it had me at 211 - and this was after the casino buffet and mac & cheese!

A couple Non Scale Victories: when my mother and I were in California a couple years ago I bought a pair of jeans. At the time they were a bit tight....and after returning home they became even tighter! They were thrown in the back of my closet until I was looking around for something to wear to the company Christmas party. Since I wasn't feeling all that great I tired them on - thinking my mood couldn't get any worse. Guess what - they finally fit! Well - at least not as snug as when I bought them but the legs were way too long. I had to have my sister alter them over the weekend and I ended up wearing them home because they weren't as tight as they were when I had tried them on the week before.
And this morning I was putting away some laundry when I noticed an Old Navy trenchcoat I had bought. I think it was on clearance or something. Last time I tried it on I felt like I'd been stuffed into a sausage casing. But today it buttoned up without any problems!
I've been looking at the pics from the company party - my clothes look too big. Not the "why are you wearing your dad's suit?" look, more the "too cheap to get it altered" look.
And, in all honesty, I'm wearing hoodies more because my t-shirts are too big. When I got back to work after being sick my supervisor looked at me and said that my weight loss was more noticable. God knows the weight is coming off slowly but at least it is coming off! Finally.

tgif

considering how little I've had to work this week I cannot believed at how relieved I am that it is finally Friday!
Still tired from the cold, still have a scratchy throat and a bit of congestion. But thankfully I'm over the worst of it! This weekend will be 100% better than last weekend.

The running around to doctor appointments went fine yesterday . . . mostly.
The first appointment was fine - a quick in and out. Then off to the mall to do a bit of looking about. Then, a few hours later, off to the next doctor. Well - what I thought was the next doctor. Apparently I mixed them up. Showed up at the office only to find it locked up. So I checked my little bits of paper and realized I was at the wrong place. So a quick call and back to the car to make the 20 minute drive to where I'm supposed to be. As I was signing in the receptionist asked me how I was feeling and I replied, "Quite foolish, actually!" A little bit of a wait but I was out of there fairly quickly, all things considered. Made it to the last appointment of the day - and got there early. Not that it mattered. Quite a wait, a quick consultation and appointment made for the test next month.

I was going to go to a movie but was just too tired. So I went home - and couldn't fall asleep. Watched a bit of tv, did a bit of reading and when I finally fell asleep I slept like a log.

Have had a good breakfast, doing a quick load of laundry and getting ready for work. So looking forward to the weekend.

I've been better....

Despite not feelling 100% on Friday I went in to work....and then I went to the company Christmas party.
On Thursday I was debating not going but Scott had already gotten his train ticket. Was talking to Marion and she mentioned that since the party was going to be at a fancy ballroom that we'd be expected to "dress up." hmmm - yet another reason to not want to go!
Now - I'm not much of a "dress up clothes" kind of person so that worried me a bit. I went thru my closet and found a pants suit. When I tried it on I was surprised that it was too big! The pants were loose around the waist and the jacket felt loose too. I felt like those kids at the mall - pant legs bunched up around the ankles and the seat of my pants drooping and a too big jacket. But I figured it couldn't possibly look as bad as I imagined.
The party itself was fun - open bar, hors d'oeuvres, several different food tables and a hot dessert table, an extra long candy counter. Oh yeah, co-workers dressed up, cool door prizes, cigars, blooper reels, a fancy loot bag and far too many digital cameras.
I had 2 glasses of wine and then switched over to ginger ale since I had to drive. I figured the calories in the pop was preferable to those in beer & wine or getting charged for drinking and driving. I had a 2 or 3 hors d'oeuvres - but quit after what I thought was chicken turned out to be shrimp. Didn't have anything from the food tables (Asian, seafood, vegetarian, pasta, beef) - - by the time I got hungry the food had already been taken away. As we were leaving I checked out the candy table - all the good chocolates were gone and all that were left was the wine gums and something called "chicken bones" and little bags of popcorn.

Scott and I left after the last draw (46" LCD TV) and went back to my place. More cigars followed, and a beer or two, and talking way too late.
Saturday morning we went out for breakfast. It was very cold and it seemed to cut right through me. By the time we got to the restaurant I could barely breathe. The drive to Scott's took forever. When we got there I went to take a nap and he went out to run some errands. When he got back I felt a bit better but sounded worse. The next day I felt as bad as I sounded so I stayed in bed while he went to a friend's place to watch football. I ended up taking Monday and Tuesday off work, today was my first day back. Talked to Scott today and he sounds as bad as I did the other day.

I ate pretty good while I was sick: fresh squeezed grapefruit juice (Scott's uncle sent up a box from Florida), chicken soup with rice, grilled cheese sandwich, meat pie. And lots and lots of lemon tea with honey. But - I just didn't eat that much - really didn't have much of an appetite so I just ate when Scott told me to. :-)

But my appetite has returned in force today. I had Red River cereal and grapefruit juice for breakfast. By noon I was starving. A light lunch (chicken wrap, salad) and I was hungry again by 3:30, 4. Naturally, today I forgot to take my snacks!

Tomorrow is another day off work - some tests my doctor arranged when I had my physical. Should be fun, really looking forward to it!

this isn't fun.....

I was feeling fine when I got to work. But around 5pm I started feeling really bad - throat felt kind of scratchy, my sinus is all stuffed up, a killer headache - - even my eyeballs hurt.
Got a mug of tea and popped a couple Tylenol. Felt a bit better.
Jen owed me BIG time for a favour so today she paid me back: a channa roti and a Pepsi. I even had hot sauce on the roti - hoping it would clear my sinus.
Feeling a bit better - I'm tempted to cancel my session for tomorrow morning but I haven't yet. I'll see how I feel in the morning.
Tomorrow night is the company Christmas party. Great time to get sick, eh?

December already???

I'm back.....again.

Everything is good - usual little bumps but nothing major.

• Weight. Totally missed my target loss for November. I was doing quite well until the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday.
• U.S. Thanksgiving: I took Wednesday to Monday off. Wednesday I had a good work-out, ran some errands in town and then headed off to Scott's. We had dinner with friends and then back to his place. Left for Buffalo early Thursday - traffic was much lighter than expected, stopped by a winery in the Niagara region and got to his cousin's in plenty of time. I think I did pretty good food-wise: took it easy on the dip (just a bit instead of big scoops of the stuff. Paula's sausage dip is AWESOME!), just small servings of food (no fresh or steamed veggies available, the squash and spinach were each prepared with lots of sugar or a cheese sauce. Very good but I had just little servings) , a big salad, more water than wine. However - things went off the rails afterwards: while playing Wii with the kids I had a Pepsi, while playing cards with the adults I had a couple glasses of wine, while talking with Paula & Scott after everyone had left - more wine. The next day: lunch at a restaurant, dinner on the road - not a lot of food but not the best kind. Saturday: a good breakfast, light lunch but a late, late dinner - BBQ tuna steaks, beets, crab(?) shells with stuffing, baked potatoes, wine. Sunday: juice and cereal, sandwich and Pepsi for lunch. Dinner was rice and a roast beef sandwich. Monday: cereal and tea for breakfast. Then I headed to my sister's. No lunch, Chinese buffet for dinner - huge salad, lots of chicken, not a steamed veggie in sight, no dessert. The rest of the week has been healthier!
• Exercise: missed 2 trainer work-outs because of the hols but I did do light work-outs on my own (stretching, light cardio, some walking, a bit of running). Have started running on the treadmill again. Worked out with the trainer on Wed. - targeted the legs - a bit sore today - but in a good way.
• Tendonitis: right leg - started around mid-November. For a couple days there it was quite painful and I could barely walk. However - message & ice, and treatments at the chiropractor's helped. Started running again - more at the gym than outside. My right foot was bothering me a bit last week - sort of felt like I had a bruise on the bottom. It's alright now.
• Health: overall things are good. I was talking to my doctor about the results from my physical - the cholesterol, thyroid and other bloodwork came back as being in the healthy range for my age. I had the numbers written down but can't find them now.
• Work: things are good. Not any more stressful than usual. Just found out the GG has let Harper suspend Parliament. But when they come back in January it looks like we will face another election soon afterwards. I think the stress levels just went up!

Today I don't have to be to work until 4pm so I'm just catching up on a few things around the apartment. Am doing laundry right now - 1 load to dry and I'm all done.....for a few days, anyway! A bit of tidying up and then I'll set up my Christmas decorations. I didn't set up any last year but will do so this year.

Off to finish laundry - and fix some lunch.

November already?

Wow - it's been almost a month since I last posted. I haven't been up to much but haven't been lazing about either - but have just been very lazy about blogging. Have been keeping up with reading other blogs - but really haven't felt like I have much worth blogging about.

My weight is still yo-yo-ing around 215 - 217 lbs., my work-outs are still happening. But I have had to stop running these past few days. Because of my weight I have fallen arches, which leads to pain in my shins when I run. Most of the time it is slight and not long after the run it doesn't bother me. But on Monday, while at work, I could barely walk. Tuesday wasn't much better. Today I made an appointment to see my doctor, bought some more A-535 and popped a few Tylenol.

As for the weight: yeah, not happy with the situation. And in all honesty the yo-yo-ing is happening because I haven't been working very hard at losing weight. Foodwise I'll do alright for a few days but then go completely off the rails when I go out to dinner with co-workers or during the weekends when I skip breakfast. And the past few weeks I've even gotten out of the habit of eating several small meals each day. I'll have a light breakfast, morning snack, big lunch, nothing until dinner, no evening snack. Believe it or not - there aren't any unhealthy foods in my apartment - just healthy foods that I'm not eating enough of or eating at the wrong time.
I had a talk with my trainer - he's trying to figure out a way to help me lose weight, so he wanted to know about my eating habits. I told him I don't eat when I'm depressed, I rarely use food as a reward, growing up food was never used as a reward nor was it the focus of holiday celebrations - being with family was the focus. I eat when I'm hungry. Before I would eat whatever I felt like - healthy or not - until I was full. I can't remember ever having an eating binge - of ever feeling like my eating was out of control. I just eat food - sometimes it is healthy, apparently oftentimes it isn't.

In other "me" news: It looks like the double shifts and other overtime shifts are all done for now. But today my company announced country wide lay-offs. In the end almost 300 people will lose their jobs. Right now I'm safe - but we'll have to see what the new year holds. Now that it has turned cooler I have started knitting again - right now I'm working on a lap blanket. Also reading more - several books on the go. I'll tell you - the 7 day loan at the library is going to be the death of me! This weekend a wine tasting tour of the Niagara region is planned with Scott and some friends. I am really looking forward to this.
Will be heading to the U.S. for Thanksgiving - Scott's cousin, Paula, is hosting this year. Scott's mother is doing well - she has her good days and her bad days. She had a fall a few weeks ago - nothing broken, thank god. Scott is fine - work is good, golfing is over for the season but he seems to be coping well. For some reason he is determined to go to Iceland for a vaction. I have no idea where that came from!
My sister is still enjoying school - didn't do as well as she had hoped at mid-terms but she is working hard and is confident she'll pull her marks up. Both she and her son have adjusted to living in a new city and are making plans for the holidays. Although - it looks like he will have to have dental surgery during his school break so that will put a damper on things. He is in the army cadets and was recently promoted. He likes his new school - but I'm pretty sure it is because of the social aspect rather than the learning opportunities.

catching up

Tiger

Handsome isn't he? He belongs to Scott's mother.

Wow - finally a bit of time to unwind!

Thanksgiving was good - - mostly.

Saturday morning I slept in a bit. Did some stuff around the apartment. Did some laundry - a load of jeans......and my cell phone. jeez. so not good.

Went to Scott's - watched some hockey.

Sunday we went grocery shopping - got a turkey breast and all the other fixings. Picked his mom up at the nursing home around 5pm. Soon as we got to the house she wanted to nap - didn't eat much. When we were getting her ready to go back to the home she had a bit of a panic as she was too tired to walk to her wheelchair.

Monday: Scott and I had breakfast, dropped him off in town so he could spend the day with some friends. Then I headed back to Toronto - had to work a 1/2 shift. Yep - loads of fun on the holiday!

Tuesday was a double shift: 4:30am - 7pm. The operator who usually does the early shift was working on the election show so I had to do her shift. Very long day! Voted after work.

Wednesday - another double shift! Went and got a replacement phone.

Today - regular shift at work. Very relaxing!

Not a lot of time spent at the gym. Have done some stretching. Also did some walking, but no running. Was careful with my eating up until I went to work on Tuesday. Still not eating clean but am working on it. haven't done a weigh-in since I don't have a scale at home.

Thanksgiving

Well - the week of evening shifts is over. Thank god. No matter what I tell myself and how I plan I usually end up not eating well. Seriously - I had groceries and everything but I still managed to go off plan.
And this is so the wrong weekend to continue. Monday is Thanksgiving here in Canada. Despite that I have to work a 1/2 shift, then because of the Election on Tuesday I have to work two 14 hour days in a row. Yep - going to be fun. Not only that but I've switched a day off with Brian so it looks like I'll miss another week of training. But I have been working out - just not as much as I need to.

Other good news? I managed to wash my cell phone! Am letting it dry out now and hoping it will be o.k. If not then a new toy for me! Possibly a Blackberry - because on iPhone is just too expensive up here.

And I've baked 2 pies today. What surprised me is that they've got fewer calories/fat/carbs (and more protein) than I thought - considering how much butter and sugar goes into them. It is a crustles Cranberry pie/desert.

I'm off to Scott's now. We're doing Thanksgiving tomorrow and apparently, we have to go shopping!

Wednesday

Well - the work schedule is still undergoing revisions. Partly due to Peter quitting, partly due to switching shifts with Brian while his partner goes overseas (B needs to work the day shift so he can be home with their daughter in the evenings). I had switched several shifts when I remembered TFC's final home game. Hated having to un-switch the shift but he didn't seem to mind too much.
Also - because of the election on Tuesday it seems I have to work a couple of double shifts. 4:30am to 7pm. So not fun!

As for exercise: didn't work out yesterday because I thought I just needed a day off. My shins were a bit sore from all the running on Sunday and Monday. So Tuesday was "lay about the apartment until the last possible second before leaving for work" kind of day. Which was nice - read a bit of the Smithsonian magazine.
Also on a good note - my arms weren't that sore from the work-out on Monday, just a little around the shoulders but that was it.

Today was a session with the trainer. Arm & leg work today: 4 X 12 reps of 30 lb (switching with 20 lbs) while on a Bossu ball, bicep curls with 15 lbs, 40 degeree leg press (190 lbs) , step work and some other stuff. Finished with 4 X 10 sit-up on the bench.
No session on Friday as he's on a day off, on Monday because of the holiday - Wendesday doesn't look good either because of the double I'll be working. And the following Friday is one of the days I've switched with Brian. And I'm pretty sure I'm on a double again the following Monday. yikes! I don't know what is scaring me more - the doubles or missing training sessions.

After the session I ran 2 miles on the treadmill. I didn't push myself too hard as my shins were a bit sore. Stretching afterwards.

Monday

A little bit sore from yesterday's run because I didn't stretch afterwards.

Had a session with the trainer this morning. Today was arm and back exercises - pretty good stuff; but I just know I am going to be really sore tomorrow.
Also ran on the treadmill - almost 3 miles. Not too sure since I accidentally stopped it when I dropped the top to my water bottle. I know I was just under 2.75 miles but I forgot the time. I did the first mile in 16:15, the second in 15:00. I think mile 3 was going to be less - - but....
Oh well.
But I did do some stretching afterwards so hopefully I won't be too sore.

Weight is pretty well the same. Which is good since I didn't have a good food weekend. I've signed up at MyPlate and according to their charts I'm eating too many carbs. so that's what I'm trying to keep track of now.

C25K

I've been running at the gym - usually over 2 miles (intervals) in 30-35 minutes. I've heard about the C25K program so I thought I'd try that while runing outdoors.
Of course, being me - I wait until autumn to do it - but what the heck? Beats running in the heat, I suppose.
So - looking at the program I see that the first week of training has you run/walk (intervals of 60 seconds:90 seconds) for about 20 minutes. I do almost double that (with a longer running interval) every day. You know where this is going, don't you?

This morning when I woke up I thought I'd try the C25K run at a park near me. Got there around 8 a.m. and did the first training run. It was a bit tougher than I thought it would be - - uneven path, having to deal with the iPod, water and keys, and just the fact that I tried to push myself as hard as I do in the gym - with out the luxury of having anything telling me how fast I'm running or walking.
But I made it thru the first run and still felt pretty good. I was on a main path for a while but did several loops in an empty parking lot. Ended up doing the 5 min. cool down walk on an uphill.
Made a few adjustments: used the drawstring on my pants to tie my keys down, put the iPod in my bra.

Then I did another run. This time I took it a bit easier - didn't try to walk as fast and relaxed when running. Found another parking lot at the base of a really steep incline. Instead of running up that I opted to do loops in the parking lot. Even the slight incline at one end of the lot was noticable to me. So I did 6 of the 8 running portions in this lot and on the 7th run I started back towards my car. Had a slight incline but it felt pretty good to run that.
At the end of that run's 5 min. cool down walk I was still a good distance from my car. So I thought "What the heck - I'll do another run."

This run was a slower but still pretty good, I thought. I was really relaxed but not tired. No soreness or difficulty breathing.
so - I did a week's worth of suggested training in one day. yikes! Will start Week 2 of training later this week. If the weather is good I'm going to do it outside again. And I'll only do 1 training run per day!

Had breakfast when I got home. Off to see if I can get my haircut. Have to work this afternoon.

Friday

I was so sore all day Thursday! I hadn't lifted weights for over a week because my trainer wanted me to concentrate on cardio while he was on vacation. But Wednesday we worked on upper body. I felt like such a wimp because I had the darndest time doing reps on the easy exercises. And I really felt it on Thurs. - my poor arms! At bedtime I just put some A535 on and popped a Tylenol.
However - my neighbours decided to have a drunken screaming match at 2:30 a.m.! Somehow I managed to fall back asleep only to wake up at 6:30 a.m. when I heard my cell phone. My trainer had texted to cancel our 9 a.m. session.
did I get up and get an early start on the day??? No - I managed to fall back asleep for a bit - then I listened to my iPod until it was time to get ready to go to work.

There was store bought cake since it was Peter's last day. Chocolate and vanilla - not a lot of taste but yet still very sweet.
Lunch was Japanese.
The afternoon was pretty slow - until an hour before the shift ended when it seems I just got slammed with a ton of stuff. Come on people! It's Friday for God's sake!

After work I just wanted to go and curl up in bed and read or listen to my iPod. Instead I went to the gym, did a warm-up and some stretching and then ran for 2 miles. If I had been able to keep that pace up I would have been able to do 3 miles in 45 minutes - down 2 minutes from yesterday. But I was just bagged. So I took a very long hot shower and headed home.

Called my sister. Read a bit. Talked to a friend.
I even lit some candles - quite a nice touch to the evening.

3!

Today was a strange day. I felt a bit off (perimenopause SUCKS) and the weather didn't help - cold and rainy and overcast. I didn't make it to the gym before work so I packed my kit and took it with me, figuring I'd go after work. However, during work I kept thinking that I didn't want to go for a run...or even go to the gym at all.
But that kind of thinking is the one that got me into this big fat blobby mess so when I finally got done work (I had to do some overtime) I went to the gym, did my warm-up and some stretching and hopped on the treadmill.
The first few minutes went by a lot faster than usual. At 35 minutes I was going to stop but thought I'd add another 5 minutes. At 40 minutes I looked at my distance, saw I was at about 2.5 miles and thought "I'll see if I can do 3 miles." So I did. The last few minutes were tough but I did it! 3 miles in 47 minutes - not that I'll win any races with that but at least I can do it.

Took a quick shower and headed home. Tonight there are 2 things worth watching on tv - the Canadian Leaders debate (the leaders of the 5 main parties) are having their English language debate (last night's debate was in French) and of course the U.S.'s Palin/Biden debate.

217 - running

Didn't make it to the gym yesterday morning so I went after work. It was a tough run - only 25 minutes but it seemed to last longer! Some stretching and I was out of there.

Watched The Biggest Loser and surfed around a bit. Went to bed shortly after midnight but I couldn't fall asleep until after 2 a.m.

Awake at 7 and got ready for the gym.

A good work-out with the trainer - upper body stuff. Such a weakling!
Had a 35 minute run afterwards. Much better than last night - I even kicked up the speed a bit. Friday's work-out is at 9 so maybe I should do my run before.

wrap up

stole this idea from Andrew's blog.

This month's exercise totals:

Sessions with personal trainer: 8 (checked at the gym Wed. a.m.)

Elliptical: 50 minutes

Treadmill: 484 minutes

I've pretty well given up the elliptical in favour of running. But I really want to increase my running time - I'm going to try add 5 minutes each week.

I am getting better - now I'm hitting the heart rate my trainer wants and I've changed the running/walking ratio. Not loving running yet but am feeling better about it.

Last Friday I wrote that I want try do some runs. So I've registered for a couple of 5k runs:

This is scheduled for Dec. 28th.

This one is March 29th.

218 - update

So - didn't lose the 5 lbs like I wanted to. Although, because last week wasn't the best of weeks, I really didn't try. But - I did lose 2 lbs - which is better than a gain! And once you consider that it was my TOM - I'm surprised I lost that much.

Had a fun weekend - on Saturday I went to Scott's. His cousin, Paula, was visiting and Scott wanted to have a little dinner for her. He picked his mother up from the nursing home, another cousin dropped by and we all sat down to a nice bbq dinner. A lovely meal - steak, chicken, potatoes, asparagus, radish, salad, wine.
We took his mom back to the home and then sat around and visited for quite a while.
On Sunday we had a nice breakfast and Paula went for a visit at the nursing home. Scott and I headed into town to run some errands (I got to drive his new truck) and watch some football.
Back to the house to fix leftover dinner and watch the last quarter of the Sabres game. Then I headed back to Toronto.

Today I had a work-out with my trainer. (He had a very nice tan from his vacation - Cuba, I think). A lot of leg work. Leg press: up to 250 lbs! That is way more than my own weight. 40 degree Leg Press - it's been a while since I've done this but I lifted more than last time.
I also ran for 1/2 hour - not as long as I wanted but I managed to keep a good speed and a good heart rate.

Last week I read in the comments section of someones blog that she hated drinking water. I sort of felt sorry for her.
Back when I started working out and began drinking more water I really hated it. Water just seemed so blah and tasteless - it seemed like such a chore to drink as much as I was supposed to. I was drinking 1 can of Pepsi a day and felt deprived when it was gone and I was back to drinking water. I used to flavour water with Crystal Light or other low-calorie mixes. Now when I have a Pepsi I find that it tastes weird. And when I try the low-calorie stuff I find that it doesn't taste that great - it is too sweet and it has an aftertaste that isn't pleasant. So now my drink of choice is water. Sometimes with a slice of lemon but usually just plain water. Lord knows I'm in deep trouble if some study says it causes cancer or something like that!
And somewhere else someone said that when she ate out she could feel the grease from the fries coating her mouth. I thought that was an exaggeration. Until it happened to me last week. It really wasn't pleasant. Another time the fries were so salty that they were inedible.
Who knew that I could be a food snob? Now I prefer veggies steamed - - no sauce or cheese, maybe a little bit of butter and salt & pepper. When I do eat steak (or any kind of meat) I find that I don't need sauce for it.
And I'm eating foods that I didn't much like before. Scott puts beets on the bbq. Paula put radishes in the salad. We had asparagus on toast with our breakfast the other day. A favourite snack is edamame with a little bit of salt. Obviously the broccoli I've had before was grossly overcooked. When it is steamed it is fine.
I've finally tried sushi - not too bad, although I prefer the veggie kind.

more bad

So - Wednesday was awesome. A goodish work-out (didn't get to do step work or sit-ups but did do evrything else I had planned), a goodish run (added 5 minutes to my usual time) and goodish work (supervisor back from vacation).
Thursday.....not so good.
My TOM started. So no gym.
And today is worse. So, no gym.
And I'm really missing it. I may not miss the step work or other cardio that much but I'm falling behind on my running dammit!
I had hoped to go to the Running Room this weekend and take part in a clinic but I'll have to see how I feel in the morning.

Last night was laundry night. Since I had already gone through the jeans I decided it was time to go through the closets and decide what stays and what goes. Apparently - quite a bit goes. Some t-shirts that I didn't especially like because of the fit - didn't fit well then and doesn't fit well now. go figure. Also got rid of sports bras that just weren't doing their job. And a few sweaters. The stuff I've kept is stuff that I like, can fit right now and is good enough for work.
And I have an additional pile of long sleeved shirts that have to be washed an ironed for when it turns cooler. So I'm good for a while, I think.

I picked up a Runner's World magazine the other day. It had an article about beginning runners that I thought would be interesting. There was a fascinating article about a guy who amputated a leg so he could keep running.
There was also a little bit about Terry Fox. When I read it I thought it could have been written better. The article just said he was an amputee who was running across Canada to raise money for cancer research. Actually his run was called the Marathon of Hope - for the simple reason that he ran a marathon each day. Yes, over 26 miles each day (sometimes more). He had only 1 day off while he was running - and that was only because he was asked to take the day off.
I hoping that next year I'll be able to try 5K or 10K runs.

the bad....and the good

The past few days haven't been very good - exercise or eating or just in general.
Monday night I went to bed shortly after midnight - - and woke up around 2:30 am when the upstairs neighbour started moving furniture about. I tried the usual "What the hell?" said in a very loud voice. Perhaps he thought I was talking to myself so he didn't stop whatever he was doing. So I had to rummage the entryway closet to find my mother's cane. A few pokes on the ceiling with that and he stopped his business.
Unfortunately I couldn't get back to sleep right away and that seriously impacted me on Tuesday. I just felt so tired and cold and achey - - like I was coming down with a cold. So I stayed in bed as long as possible and read and tried to stay warm.

Today was the first day back at the gym. I did my usual warm-up, then some jumping jacks, running on the spot, sit-ups on an exercise ball and some squats. Then I ran for 34 minutes - intervals of 2 minutes of running, 1 minute of walking. Today I managed 2.15 miles.

Eating-wise I haven't been very good - Pepsi & ginger ale while at Scott's, also a glass or two of wine. Have also eaten out - - and not the healthy stuff either!
But I have been drinking water. And eating more fruit.
What surprised me today was that I haven't regained any weight!

Another good surprise? Clothes! While at Scott's I noticed that my t-shirts are hanging on me. They are the Just My Size brand, size 22/24 (3X) relaxed fit. They were comfortable before - still are - but now they are really hanging. Today, (while delaying going to the gym) I noticed that I was running low on clean jeans. So I thought I'd try on some stuff in the closet to see if I could get out of doing laundry today. Apparently I can! I tried on 7 pairs of jeans - 5 of them I can fit into comfortably, 2 are still a bit too snug. Hopefully I'll have the same luck with the few polar fleece pullovers I have packed away.

All in all, despite a few missteps, things have been good. After today's work-out I feel pretty good. And strong.

Andrew - Believe it or not I'm not really obsessing about the weight - that's why I told him I'd lose 5 lbs instead of more. Perhaps I should of told him I wouldn't regain any? But 5 lbs seems like a safe, doable goal.

back to work

I had a good weekend - a little bit of overtime on Saturday but out of town until shortly before work on Monday.
Went to Scott's and helped him a bit - - since he is currently without a car. We rented "Sweeney Todd" on Saturday, Sunday we visited his mother at the nursing home and took her out for lunch, then we watched NFL. He fixed up a nice BBQ - potatoes, beets, squash and hot dogs. My contriution was coleslaw. He's doing good - not as stressed as before, just a bit worried that he'll be short staffed this week with a reporter at a conference in LA.

However - it was not a good weekend exercise-wise. Some walking but no cardio or running. Oddly enough I really felt strange that I didn't have a chance to exercise - like I was wasting time or something. Didn't get back to Toronto in time to go to the gym before work so I shall be off first thing in the morning.

My trainer is off this week. He wants me to continue losing weight while he's gone. He seemed a bit disappointed when I said I'd lose 5 lbs. I think that is a safe weight to aim for.
I've been planning my work-outs this week. He said he wants me to do cardio and not worry about weight training. In the past I took that to mean that I do elliptical or treadmill. But over the weekend I realized that I'm really going to have to work harder. So I'll be doing some exercises that he's had me do during our sessions.
Unfortunately - they're the ones I don't especially like: stepping on the stairs while holding weights, the side-to-side shuffle on the steps, running on the spot, jumping jacks, etc. And then running on the treadmill - I think I'm going to have to double the time spent on that. And he mentioned he wants me to work on sit-ups - - on the bench, not the ball. Plus I still have to do the stretches that the chiropractor gave me.....I've been slacking on those lately.

Well, off to bed now. I'm on the afternoon shift until Wednesday and I've got a lot of stuff to do before work. Thursday and Friday I'm back on the day shift and I'll only be able to get my work-outs in before work.

220 - Finally!

jeez - it certainly took long enough to lose that first 10 lbs, didn't it?

Reading other blogs I see that a lot of people give themselves rewards when they hit certain weight loss goals.

So I decided to do that too. However - since I'm trying to stick to Crazy Aunt Purl's Mid Year Resolution I don't want to go out and buy anything right now. What to do? Check the stuff that I've bought since the MYR started and sort of re-gift it to myself. Yep - I'm kinda cheap. ;-)

I bought the scarf in July - just before the MLS All-Star Game here in Toronto.

My trainer certainly was happy I finally hit 220 - - although it was quite a bit later than he would have liked.

He's on vacation next week and he asked me what my weight will be when he comes back. He joked that since I lost 2 lbs in 2 days that maybe I'd lose 20 lbs while he was gone. At least I hope he was joking!

I decided to try for a 5 lb loss. I'm very confident I can do this. The gain this week was because I ate lunch at work - due to a breaking story we had to do live updates so I couldn't leave the building for my usual salad and snack from Loblaws. So I ended up eating pasta from the caf and that night I also had a whole wheat pita with my dinner. I'm back to mostly clean eating and it paid off at today's weigh-in. Next week I'm on the afternoon shift so I'll be able to take my lunch in - when I work the day shift I usually go to the gym for my work-out or cardio and fixing lunch is the last thing on my mind. Hopefully I'll get better about that now that fall is here.

Today was my cheat meal - Japanese and a Pepsi. I felt so good about the scale that I was tempted to have a slice of pizza for dinner. But then I thought "Why??!!??" Then I realized I was still full from lunch so decided to have a protein shake instead. Maybe I'll put chocolate syrup in instead of honey - that's about as dangerous as I'll get tonight!

One of the freelance guys gave his two weeks notice today. That will change the schedule that was just posted for the weeks leading up to the election. So maybe I will be getting some overtime - although I've been lucky so far - day shift on Election Day. Yeah baby!

shoes

This is why I was late for work this morning.

I've been meaning to buy a new pair since I started running. Finally did it today.

Had a short run (2 miles) in them after work, did some stretching and now, a couple hours later, my legs aren't as sore as they were when I ran in the other shoes.

physical

Went for my physical this morning. Apparently I haven't had one in 4 or 5 years. yikes!
Had the bloodwork done back in July. The doctor said the results were good - nothing to worry about there.
He's happy that I've lost a bit of weight, that I'm exercising on a consistent basis and that I'm eating healthier. A bit of a downer - he says that according to the BMI my weight should be about 145 lbs. to be in the "normal" range. I doubt I'll ever hit that weight and I'm certainly not going to make myself crazy trying to get to that number. I'll keep plugging away and let my body determine when I'm at a comfortable weight.
During my last physical I had to have an echocardiogram; it said that I had a slightly enlarged heart. He's going to set up an appointment to see how things are now.
Will also have to have some tests for cancer. One of my brothers died from cancer and a sister has had a couple bouts with it as well. So he's setting up an appointment for me to be screened.

My allergies aren't bothering me very much so we've decided to not do the shots - - it's been a while since we've done them anyway. When I have a reaction it is usually taken care of with OTC drugs but when it comes to the point where they don't help then we'll start up injections again.

Went from the doctor's office straight to the gym for a session, followed by a 20 minute run.

Afterwards I came home and watched part of the Champions league matches, had lunch and did a load of laundry. Then off to work.

Had hoped to go get running shoes today but the laundry took longer than I thought. Perhaps tomorrow morning before work.

221.5 - slowly

The few days at the cottage were great.
Monday we hung out for a bit and then went to play golf. The first I've played all year - and it really showed! Rented a movie, Michael Clayton - quite good.
Tuesday - another lazy day: some reading, a BBQ, wondering around town for a bit.
Wednesdy - a good work-out and then back to work.
Thursday - went to the gym for a bit.
Friday - a tough work-out (ended with me running 2 minutes, 30 second rest. And then 30 minutes on the treadmill) and then off to work. Japanese for lunch. Ran some errands after work.
Saturday - TFC game (1-1 draw with Columbus). Most of the game it was raining. Not fun at all. Came home to change and then out the door again for a friend's 25th wedding anniversary party. Then off to Scott's.
Sunday - oy - a very late night of chatting with S and his cousin. Late start to the day - had a very nice (and expensive!) breakfast in town, then pub-hopping so he could watch some NFL. Not my favourite sport - but a bit of fun.

Today - 8am work-out. Leg press - 220 lbs. Almost my weight! A good work-out - ended with my trainer saying I was going to run. I was scared he wanted me to run the length of the gym again but noooo. I was to just run as long as possible after hitting a heart rate of 160ish. So after 15 minutes of intervals doing that I then had to run another 1/2 hour. jeez. Tell you one thing though - I sweated out the beer I drank over the weekend!

Still not liking the running too much. Perhaps because of the leg pain it causes - soreness up the shins and sometimes along the sides of the legs. It isn't constant - just annoying. It was worse at the beginning but then I started doing some stretches and it's not as bad now.

I am a bit disappointed with the weight loss - I've spent the last month trying to lose the 7 lbs. I re-gained during my bout with insomnia. Hopefully I'll be under 220 by the end of the week.
And I never even got around to that personal challenge I set up for myself.

Finally finished Becoming Jane Austen.
Have started on Shingwauk's Vision.

gone

The overtime shift at work started out fine yesterday. Not a lot for me to do - but during the 6 o'clock newscast some of the icons weren't working properly. After the show I tried to fix it but couldn't. After dinner I tried again but the system wasn't accepting the changes. oh joy.
I had to work on an info board - no problems there. Then I was writing an email to a co-worker explaining what went wrong. When a producer came in I realized we were close to air time. So I went to set up the system.......and it CRASHED in spectacular fashion. I tried rebooting twice: the first time didn't work, the second one froze partway through. So CER had a go. It worked - so I had graphics for the last 3 minutes of the show.

And now I'm heading out of town for a few days. A friend has rented a cottage and I'm off to golf and hang out and hear about his misadventures with the locals.

More fun

Yesterday at the TFC game I was talking to a co-worker, James, about the schedules. He said that since I got out of working the last election that I'm going to have to work this one. I told him no - the supervisor will have him work it as he likes him better. ;-)
We're going to find out in the upcoming week as the Prime Minister just called an election for Tue. Oct. 14th.
If I do have to work election night (as opposed to just a regular shift) then I can look forward to some overtime. Then again - the shifts might just be switched around and I'll be on evenings while we do rehearsals.

Other news -
Went to the gym this morning for a run. Did a weight check before I did my warm-up: down to 221 - a loss of 3 lbs. hmmm.
Did a 1/2 hour run, some stretching afterwards.

I think the gain from the other day was water retention from the salt on the potato wedges or the wings. Well - won't be making that mistake again!
I have found that food tastes different now - I'm not enjoying stuff like Wendy's or even donuts. It just tastes too greasy. And even Pepsi tastes different.
Eating way more fruit and veggies than before. Don't really miss stuff like fries or bread like I thought I would. Although - I do miss spaghetti, so I'll be glad when I'm allowed to eat pasta again.
I'm cooking more than I did before. And I'm even planning on making soups - which is something that I usually fixed from a can. Now canned foods are too salty for me.

disappointed

224. Yep - up a pound. Perhaps it was the Pepsi on Wednesday, or the chicken wings on Thursday. Either way - it isn't good.

Friday's workout was rough - ususal stuff, and it ended with my trainer having me run up and down the gym for 2 minutes, followed by a 45 second rest - for 6 times. I managed to finish without collapsing or tripping over a treadmill. Then he had me run for another 1/2 hour on a treadmill.

Last night my sister called - school is good for both her and her son, new place is ok. But they weren't coming to Toronto for the Lantern Festival - have to make plans for a different weekend. That's too bad - I had hoped to take my brother to the Toronto FC/Chivas USA game today (since Scott has opted not to go this week).
TFC lost 3-1. A lot of people didn't want the game to be played because 9 regular players are missing from the starting line up due to International duties. The keeper, Greg Sutton, is off because his wife just had a baby. Amado Guervara was gone for his national team - Honduras. Today's team included someone called up from Vancouver Whitecaps and one of TFC's scouts! There were only 3 on the bench for subs!
Right now I'm watching Canada vs. Honduras in a World Cup Qualifier - it's in the 70th minute and things aren't looking good for Canada. The game is taking place in Montreal at the new Saputo Stadium. The field looks like crap - all torn up because of rain and lots of other matches.

Have to work tomorrow - an overtime shift I agreed to ages ago. Don't want to work it now but have to as I haven't been able to get anyone else to do it! I have Monday and Tuesday off as vacation days. I'm heading out of town - Scott has rented a cottage for a couple weeks so we're going to hang out for a few days. So far the only thing on the agenda is a golf game on Monday.

delayed

I had a bunch of errands to run after work last night.
Only managed to finish one: checking out a natural food store. Bought some stuff. *ouch*

Then I had to decide what my cheat meal would be.
Pizza? NO - had that over the weekend.
Wendy's burger? No - last time I had it I didn't enjoy it very much.
Chinese? No - I'm going to the Chinese Lantern Festival on Saturday and will no doubt eat there.

KFC? Oh god no! I just knew that meal wouldn't sit well.

I decided to go to Island Foods. Due to the dent the natural foods place put in my pocket I had just enough cash to get a channa (chick pea) roti. I decided the cheat part of the meal would be a Pepsi. And a small bag of organic popcorn.

Got home in time to catch the start of Bones. Afterwards I read a bit.

Today I had steak and eggs breakfast. Managed to do a load of laundry before work.

Lunch was the delayed cheat meal: chicken wings and potato wedges. And water, since I had the Pepsi last night. Snack was yogurt with strawberries and granola.

Made it to the gym after work - 1/2 hour run.

Protein shake for dinner.

223 - Progress

At an unofficial weigh in on Monday I was about 224.5 - so a loss of 1.5 lbs. Yay!
Thanks to clean eating and protein shakes. And running. Jeez - it isn't fun but at least it is effective.

Was talking with my trainer - he was surprised that I had an hour of elliptical and running on Monday, and was glad I came in for half an hour yesterday. So happy in fact that he had me run for half an hour today - instead of the 20 minutes that he started me with.
And the protein shakes have paid off! Today I leg pressed 220 lbs! Wow - that is almost my weight. I started out at 140 lbs, then 180, then 200, then 220 for 2 sets. Awesome! My trainer was really impressed with that - he asked me what I was doing. hee!

Met with my nutritionist - he cautioned not to fixate on the scale as the best indicator was measurements. (Haven't taken measurements in a while). And after telling me I got the wrong multi-vitamins he suggested other ones - one of which is plant based, which is good. He also suggested I start taking fish oil and add flax seed to my diet. He is glad that I'm eating better, sleeping better, have less stress (hopefully!) and that my back hasn't been giving me any trouble.

I've managed to eat clean today. But tonight is going to be a cheat meal because I have some errands to run but mostly because my favourite show is having their season premiere tonight. But back to business tomorrow!

better

Had a good night's sleep last night. When I woke up this morning I checked my iPod and thought it was 7:30 but apparently it was the wrong time! When put on my glasses and checked the alarm clock I found out it was actually 8:30.
Got up and went to the gym - regular warm-up, stretching and a 30 minute run on the treadmill.
Afterwards I had a berry smoothie with wheat germ and protein. Then off to work.

bad bad bad

Saturday -
Drove to my sister's. Had to stop for lunch on the road - had a salad.
Ran some errands, took several loads of stuff to the storage place.
Pizza and Pepsi for dinner. OMG - it's been ages since I've had pizza. So good. And the Pepsi - I've really missed that. I must have drank a litre of it.
Went out to run yet more errands. Hung out with our brother for a bit - got Frostys at Wendy's.
At home watched a bit of tv but very tired so off to bed.

Sunday -
Leftover pizza and Pepsi for breakfast. hee!
More packing and stuff to storage. Cleaned out the basement and pantry.
Left for Toronto around 7. Dinner on the road.
Got to apartment around 11 - surfed a bit, then to bed.

Monday -
Awake around 8, breakfast around 9. Cleaned up the apartment a bit.
To the gym around 1. Unofficial weigh-in: up 1 lb.
20 minutes on elliptical. Then 20 minutes on treadmill, 10 minute break, then another 20 minutes on treadmill. It's a bit harder to keep my heart rate up - sped up the treadmill a bit, increased the incline. That helped a little.
At apartment was hungry but low on groceries. Dug around the freezer and saw all those berries I froze a few weeks ago. So I fixed a smoothie - blueberries, rice milk, chocolate protein, wheat germ - - so good.
Slow day at work.
Dinner - edamame, salad with cranberries and sunflower seeds, another blueberry smoothie.
Back to work for the rest of the shift.


Not a good weekend diet-wise - too much pizza, fast food. Not enough salad.
But that is usually the way when I visit my sister - too much stuff to do and not enough time to do it in.

looking back

I've been reading some of my old posts - a few things that popped into my head:

• Vegetarianism. When I started this blog I said how I wanted to be a vegetarian but that has changed. I've decided that right now getting my health back is the priority. Perhaps I'll be able to change my ways when I get things under control. But during my brief foray into it I found I did like some of the soy milks - but the almond milk and rice milk are better, I think. I did eat some veggies that previously I always avoided.
• Exercising. I'm getting better at this! The work-outs with the trainer are awesome and will continue for a few more months. I found that when I was going through that bout of insomnia earlier in the month that I missed exercising and was glad when I got back to the gym.
• Exercise log. Decided to do that just to see how I'm doing each week - this is separate from the exercise I do with the trainer. Right now it is eliptical but will branch out when I feel this becomes a solid habit. There was an obvious break during the insomnia - which lead to a huge weight gain.
• 100 Push-up Challenge. This was something I wanted to do but opted instead to work on doing sit-ups. My trainer does have me do push-ups during our sessions - sometimes against one of the weight machines (12 - 15 reps) or while on the Bossu ball (usually 8 reps).
• I watch way too much tv.

223.5 - guess what

Down 2 lbs. Yay. Go me! blah blah blah.

OK - it's great that I'm down. Obviously the few changes I've made have paid off (of course if I'd worked harder at it I'd have lost more). I'm feeling a lot better, even sleeping better. But the big news today? RUNNING....well - more like jogging - but that doesn't seem cap worthy.

That's right - all the squats, jumping jacks, 3o second bursts of running in place, leg presses (now with deadlifts!), step work, elliptical, etc, etc, etc - has paid off.....for my trainer. Today that sneaky bastard got me on the treadmill.

Today's session started with me doing jumping jacks for 30 seconds, then step work while holding 10 lb weights (10 for each leg X 5 sets), leg presses [140 lbs for a warm up (15), 160 lbs for 15 reps, then 190 lbs for 12 reps and then dropping to 170 for 10 reps (2 sets)], then hip extensions 4 sets at 15 reps - holding the last one as long as possible.
About 45 minutes into my workout my trainer said "Alright, let's go upstairs."
Approaching the steps I had a moment of dread thinking that he was going to make me run them again. But no, up the steps.....and to the treadmills.

Absolute fear on my part - - I wasn't sure if it was because I was scared for my back and my weak ankle or because I really couldn't come up with an excuse for not doing this. But I've made a point of not turning down a challenge from my trainer so I stepped on the machine and did what he said. Intervals of 1.5 minutes - starting with a quick walk, then a slow jog. Tried to keep my heart rate at 130 bpm when walking and around 150 bpm when jogging - so speeds varied from 2.6 - 2.9 when walking and 3.6 - 3.9 when jogging. He said he was going to ease me into it so he only had me "run" for about 20 minutes.

But it was awesome! I wasn't as akward as I've always thought I'd be. And my back and ankle were fine - no problems. I was still able to talk with my PT while walking. And I was sweating like you wouldn't believe.

Apparently I'm a lot like Andrew (ajh). In yesterday's comment he said, "I was so like you. I never thought I would run, but my PT talked me into it, and I became an addict. Keep perservering, there is no doubt in my mind it is the best cardio around for calories burnt. It is really, really hard at first, but does get easier. A real mental battle too.
But listen to your body and don't overdo it to quickly!"
Well, maybe in the being talked into it part (and yes, it is excellent cardio) - but the addiction part - we'll wait and see.
And trust me - no need to worry about me overdoing it!

BTW - Dietgirl had a link to an amazing post by Marla about how weight lifting has changed her attitudes towards herself and her weight loss efforts. It is great stuff - go read it if you haven't already.

Looking around

While reading various blogs there were a few things that stuck with me:

• the other day MizFit asked her readers to do one thing that scared (I almost typed scarred!) them. For me it is running - don't know why, just never really appealed to me. Add in the fact that I sometimes have problems with my back doesn't help.

A couple years ago I took a martial arts class. Guess what the instructor had us do as part of our warm-up? Running! Because of my weight then (which is about what I weigh now) running (barefoot, on a hardwood floor) was difficult - my left ankle was quite weak which didn't help.

So, I decided that RUNNING would be included in my next visit to the gym. And I did it. One minute at an easy pace, 5 minutes going a bit faster, then 2 minute intervals. total time: almost 20 minutes.

• this post about fair food at Escape from Obesity came at an interesting time. I wasn't able to read it until Tuesday - after the weekend where I avoided going to a Toronto FC game because their home field is on the grounds of the The Ex - which is in full swing now - because I know I'm not strong enough to avoid the fried foods. And because it really had me craving an Indian Taco.

OMG - maybe that is what my doctor meant when he said I'd be craving carbs but I so wanted one. I thought about it while at work, while grocery shopping...... and while at the gym, for crying out loud! Oh - I knew the deep fried fry bread was a killer. And the chilli couldn't be good either. Or the cheese. Or the sour cream. The tomatoes and lettuce were good - but not enough to offset everything else.

What to do? I thought I could use it as a cheat meal but, you know those things don't taste good unless you have a nice cold Pepsi with them. I lasted 24 hours before I caved. I went to Wendy's and had a Taco Salad. I didn't eat all the tortilla strips or the ranch dressing - so I saved a couple hundred calories there, and OMG the carbs - but good on the protein. Although I'm going to treat it as a cheat meal anyway. I didn't order a Coke though - bottled water costs the same so I opted for that.

And there was a great post on watermelons today!

• Shauna had the most hilarious post about her latest exercise adventures. If I wanted to take the classes she does I'd have to switch gyms - which I plan to do after my current contract is up.

But the boxing-type stuff she's doing now? I so want to give that a try! There's a boxing room at my gym - a punching bag, speed bag and some other stuff. That is going to be my reward for myself once I lose my 10%. Nothing like bashing away at something to get rid of all my pent up frustrations!

And in the comments someone mentioned fencing - another thing I've wanted to try! Hmmm - I'll have to decide when to reward myself with that! "calculated stabbing" - HA!

I'm thinking about going back to the martial arts class when it starts up again this fall. I really enjoyed the class but hurt my back when I did a fall wrong. When I was feeling better a lot of other stuff got in the way and I used them as excuses for not going back. But maybe I need something other than the gym to keep me on this "healthy" track? Of course - right now money is a bit tight - the trainer at the gym, chiroprator, nutritionist, new shoes, gas, groceries. Hopefully I'll be able to squeeze the money out somewhere! At least I won't have to worry about buying a uniform!

And I want to start swimming again. I'm not a strong swimmer but I manage to keep my head above the water. Andrew was worrying about his running mojo being gone - but he rides his bike 20 km and swims 80 laps like it is nothing! Man - if I could swim 1/10 that I'd be happy!

Oh well, off to find a pool. ;-)

Me and the travelling pants

Saturday -
Woke up, did some stretches, had breakfast, ran a few errands and then headed to my sister's.
Got there around 5. Hung around until it wasn't so stinking hot and then went and grabbed some stuff for dinner. Green salad with grilled chicken and feta/tomato/olive oil salad.
Befored dinner we tested our blood - mine was 5.7, which was excellent. Although I think it was due to the fact I hadn't eaten very much that day.
Watched some tv, surfed a bit and went to bed.

Sunday -
Eggs and 1/2 slice of toast for breakfast. Trying to organize the house as a realtor was coming to look at it. Got the foyer, living room and bedrooms done. Kitchen is as hopeless as ever! Afterwards we ran some errands. Went to the LCBO and got boxes to pack stuff in.
Dinner - cheat meal - Chinese buffet. Not a vegetable in sight! Fruit was of the fried pineapple variety. And a Coke! First one since Wednesday.

Monday -
Eggs and slice of toast. Small yogurt with grapes.
Off to dentist. When got home went thru a couple closets and got stuff ready for charity.
After dinner I was going to drive back to Toronto but sooo tired. So took a wonderful 2 hour nap and then surfed a bit. To bed around midnight.

Tuesday -
Awake at 5:30 a.m. as sister had to drive to St. Catharines to enroll her son in his new school and pay deposit on new apartment. Had 2 small yogurts for breakfast. Grabbed a bottle of water. I left at same time as they did since I knew that if I went back to sleep I'd never want to get up. Due to construction and detours it took forever to get to Toronto. Working the late shift.
Dinner was grilled chicken on a salad with raspberry vinagrette. Yogurt and berries for dessert.

The new diet is going o.k. - - meaning, of course, that I'm not following it religiously. Just starting to eat eggs. Really have to sit down and plan a menu as it seems I'm having salad and chicken an awful lot.
I have lost a bit of weight - I can tell by the way certain clothes fit.
Remember a few posts back that I wrote about the great jean purge? I bagged them up and put them in the trunk of my car and meant to drop them in a charity bin. But I didn't and they've been been in the trunk ever since. They've been to Windsor, Brantford, St. Catharines and points in between. It's a good thing I'm such a procrastinator! After that 7 or 8 lb. gain a few weeks ago it's a good thing I never actually put them in the charity bin! We've had a run of autumnal weather and I've had to dig those jeans out and wear them. One of my old faves was a bit tight at first but by last Wednesday I had to roll the waist so it wouldn't droop too much. And today I fit into a pair of button fly jeans that I couldn't even do up last week.

But I still don't trust myself. I sold a pair of tickets for a TFC home game because A) it was a night game and I couldn't stay in town that late and B) the Ex is on and I CANNOT be trusted around Tiny Tom donuts or funnel cakes or the Food Building or cotton candy or.....well, you get the idea. I'd rather run the risk of my sister's cookie jar than the fried food gauntlet at the Ex.

While not following the diet faithfully I am trying my best. The thing that surprised me the most is how long I managed to go without Pepsi. No headaches! I think the water with the squeeze of lemon in it helped a great deal.
Not missing bread that much.
Today I had a burger combo at Wendy's - the fries were gross, the burger not much better (not because of bad preparation but it just didn't taste good to me) and I didn't finish the Coke.

My sister is interested in the diet. So baby steps for her. She was really happy on Sunday morning. Even though we had a late dinner her blood reading was low (for her) so that gave her some encouragement to keep trying different aspects of the diet. Once she starts school she is going to the school clinic and see about a dietician. She might be able to get one since she is borderline diabetic. If not she might be able to work with nutrition/dietician student. And she said as soon as she is settled she'll start exercising again.
I tested my blood while I was there: in the high 5s on Sat. & Sun., up to 7.1 on Monday (post-Chinese buffet), down to the high 6s in the evening and low 6s this morning. I think the really low readings were because I hadn't eaten much that day (too hot). I tend to be the mid-6s, which is average, I think.

225.5 - little steps

Just got home from work - - worked a double today as someone had called in sick.

Early start to the day - went to bed last night just before 1 a.m, woke up around 4 when someone got dropped off. As my apartment is right over the parking lot I heard the drunken convo. Loads of fun. Awake again around 6. Finally got up and had breakfast. Got my stuff together and headed to the gym just before 8.

Had a good work-out: jumping jacks (30 sec. X 4), push-ups on Bossu ball (8 X 5) then running on the spot (13 sec. X 5), balancing myself on one arm while lifting 8 lb. weight (20 X 5) then stepping over bench (15 X 5), tricep dip (8 X 5) then jumping on step (12 X 5). And some other stuff. Ended session by doing 30 minutes on eliptical: 2 minutes @ level 2, then up to level 7 & 8 for the rest of the time.
My trainer asked how the diet was going. I told him that I'm trying. I haven't had a chance to head to the grocery store. I'll be at my sister's tomorrow so I don't know when I'll be able to get go shopping.
I haven't had much of a headache from Pepsi withdrawal. I think that is because I'm putting lemon in the water. I

Went to Loblaws for the strawberry, granola and yogurt parfait. Japanese for lunch - ate a little white rice in the sushi and the rest of the meal. Ate everyone's tofu - for some reason no one liked it today. The meal was good - brocoli and a little bit of salad, steak,.

I'm tired so going to sign off so I can head to bed.

this and that

Man - was I ever sore when I woke up this morning! On Wed. one of the exercises my trainer had me do was to work the obliques - and could I ever feel how hard I worked. I just wanted to lay in bed and not move.
But, on a positive note, I did get a good night's sleep!

I eventually rolled out of bed around 7:30. I figured I had better go to the gym for a bit as I had stuff to do after work. I had a quick breakfast (cereal), got my stuff together, put my work stuff in my backpack, surfed for a bit and then headed to the gym.

Thirty minutes of intervals - but this time instead of the usual 2 minutes at level 7, 2 minutes at level 2, I switched to 3 minutes at levels 7 & 8, 1 minute at level 3. And in the last 10 to 15 seconds of the 3 minutes I would really push to see how fast I could go.
After my shower, as I was getting dressed, I realized that I forgot to pack a bra! So I had to put my work-out bra back on. I worried that all day I'd smell of eau du eliptical. tres stylish!

Had to go out for lunch as I didn't have time to fix lunch. Decided to go to Dominion and get chicken from the deli. Except they're doing renovations and the only things available were pizza and sandwiches. So I went to the deli at Loblaws and got bbq chicken (with rice), a salad with vinagrette dressing and yogurt, strawberries and granola for my snack later. Since I really don't like bbq it didn't hurt to take the skin off the chicken, only had a few forkfuls of the rice - the salad was good. Marion commented on how healthy I was eating - she was embarassed that her lunch wasn't as healthy. hee! I told her about the diet the nutritionist wants me to follow and that I'll (hopefully) be eathing this healthy from now on. She offered me a bit of chocolate but, since I was full, I could be all virtuous and say I didn't want any. Besides - I'm supposed to eat dark chocolate now, not milk chocolate. :-) Then my supervisor came in and asked me if I could work a double shift tomorrow - - and I suddenly really wanted chocolate!

Of course, since I had plans, everything went wrong. I wanted to go grocery shopping after work but realized that wearing clean clothes to work was a bigger priority. Because of other people using the machines I'll only be able to do one load - maybe when it's done I can go pick up some groceries.

Watching the Olympics - - why isn't the men's beach volleyball uniform anything like the womens? Doesn't the race walk look painful? Poor Americans dropping the baton during the mens & womens relay races. BMX racing? Yay!

227 - Well then, no wonder!

Work-out at 8 a.m. this morning. Lots of cardio work and some weights. Running in spot for 30 seconds X 5 times. (I seriously need a new sports bra - the velcro on the straps keeps coming undone and it is so not fun). Squats while holding 10 lbs. in each hand (15 X 5), then doing a jump coming out of a squat (8 X 5 times). Push-ups while on Bossu ball (8 X 5), jumping on stair for 30 seconds. Sit-ups on ball - 15, then 20 X 4. Squats while holding a 20 lb barbell in one hand (12 X 5).......some other stuff I can't remember. Then 30 minutes on eliptical - 4,000+ steps, slightly over 300 calories, I think.

Went to see the chiropractor/nutritionist. After my work-out my back started bothering me - he had me do a bunch of stretches (I hadn't done any since Sunday) - then I was fine.
We talked about my diet. He talked to me about what I eat and when I eat. In his opinion I eat too many carbs, not enough protein or essential fats.
Well then! Here I thought I was eating right. I haven't eaten granola or protein bars since I've decided I'm not going to eat anything I can't pronounce and when I looked at the ingredient list I barely recognize some of the the words! I snack on fruit and nuts and drink lots of water. Apparently I snack on those at the wrong times. But I do like EVOO - and he wants me to use that more. However - we have to work around my dislike of fish. I know it's good for me and all that but I don't like it unless it's been dipped in beer batter, deep fried and served with a bucket of tartar sauce and a side of fries. We had a good laugh though - he asked me what kind of foods my ancestors ate. When I told him fish and berries he gave me a funny look. Then he asked me where my ancestors were from. When I told him Canada he said, "No, I mean, like, your grandparents." I told him, "Canada.....I'm Aboriginal. But I'm not going to eat fish!"
He's explained what I'm to do for the next month. Has also suggested The Last 15 by Dr. Joey Shulman as the blueprint for what he wants me to do.
The only problem talking with him was that it was post work-out and I hadn't had time to have a snack and we talked for over an hour. So I didn't get out of his office until noon. And I was starving! When he was telling me about how I have to go cold turkey on stuff like Pepsi, lasanga, spaghetti, breads and sweets I swear my stomach was rumbling loud enough for him to hear! He explained about the 80/20 ratio - that it allows me 2 cheat meals a week. After I got out of there you can bet I went and had my first cheat meal! hee!

Got a new blender - as I'm going to be drinking more protein shakes.
I'm such a weakling when it comes to books! When I got Shulman's book I also picked up some journals on the discount rack. Really! I swear I have far more journals than I'll ever write in but I keep picking them up anyway. Ridiculous.

At 5 p.m. headed back to the gym - had to meet my trainer as we were going to the World Cup Qualifer game. Canada was playing against Jamaica. A fun game - too bad we didn't win. It was a nightmare getting in and out of there since the Ex is on - - BMO Field is on the Ex grounds.

Litmus test

Managed to get quite a bit done yesterday. After my work-out I headed to the drug store and got some necessaries - hair gel, deodorant, toothpaste and cereal. I love that I can get cereal cheaper at the drug store than I can at the grocery store. ($1.99 vs $4 or $5). After work I went straight to the grocery store and stocked up. Lots of fruit and veggies. Then home to watch tv.

Good thing the Olympics will be over soon - each evening I switch between CBC and NBC coverage - and haven't gotten to bed until almost 1 a.m. At least I managed to do a load of laundry last night! Usually I watch the Olympics and surf the net (playing Mahjongg Alchemy or Spider Solitaire). What I really should do is pull my exercise bike out of storage and put it in front of the tv. That way I will either ride it while watching tv or avoid the tv altogether! Right now I have the anti-fatigue mat and my yoga mat there so I can do my back stretches.

Woke up this morning and so didn't want to get up. My arms were a bit sore from yesterday's work-out. So I laid there for a bit but then just before 8 I decided to head to the gym because I knew that after work I wouldn't want to exercise because I'd be too hungry. So I had a light breakfast, got my kit together and headed out. 45 minutes of intervals.

When I got home from work I had every intention of having a quick dinner and then heading to the mall. But as soon as I took my shoes off I knew I wasn't going out. Apparently that is my litmus test: shoes on - ready to head out again, shoes off - plop your butt in front of the tv!

227.7 - Clawing my way back

Not the loss I was hoping for but at least the weight dropped a teeny tiny bit! And I only put the .7 in to show that I lost something - I'm usually not that precise/anal about the numbers. ;-)

Last night I made a point of setting my alarm clock so I would wake up at 6:25 a.m. That way I would have enough time to have breakfast, do my back stretches, shower and pack a lunch before the 8 a.m. session with my trainer. However - despite all the fiddling with setting the proper time on the alarm I totally forgot to set the button so the thing would go off! I woke up at 7:15 a.m. I had a slightly smaller breakfast than usual since there wasn't 90 minutes between eating and exercising. (Is that a proper wait? Or would an hour be better?)
Showered and ran around getting my stuff together and got to the gym bebefore 8. Had a good warm-up and was doing sit-ups on the exercise ball when my trainer got there.
He was a bit late so this session seemed like it moved a lot faster. The final exercise? Sit-ups! Eight sit-ups for 4 sets. And I managed ALL but the final 3 in the last set without any help - and that was just him with his hand on my back (not really pushing but just making sure I didn't fall back).

Breakfast: Shreddies
Snack: 2 apple sauce
Lunch: pasta with chicken, Pepsi

228 - yeah, about that....

Well - I know how it happened: eating the wrong stuff, not exercising enough, family stuff, insomnia.
Last week wasn't the best - and things started going off the rails the week before.
I missed part of the 4:30a.m. shift on the 5th and was all sorts of stressed before I had to work that shift again on the 8th. Anyway, my current bout of insomnia kicked in because of the stress. I ended up taking a sick day on the 8th because my medication knocks me on my ass. The rest of the week went o.k. - my tenant even came through with some money.
However - was at my sister's and we never eat well! No exercise either. I did test my blood each morning: Sat - 5.9, Sun - 5.7, Mon - 6.2 (I think that was because we'd had a few Strongbow while watching the Olympics on Sunday).
So I missed work-outs on the 8th and 11th, too tired to even do cardio. Not surprised my weight went up. But am surprised by how much I gained.

Work-out was really good on Wednesday - although I was a wee bit sore because of how many work-outs I had missed. Plus I had to go to the chiropractor - yet even more stretches.
Following the shock of the scale on Friday I worked even harder. Really cardio intensive. But the best thing? I finally managed to do some sit-ups!
Usually my trainer has to hold my hand so I can sit up. But after having me do some push-ups he pointed to the bench and said "Now - 8 sit-ups." I went from feeling great about the push-ups to instantly drained thinking "I can't do sit-ups!" At least on the bench - I'm fine on the exercise ball. Anyway - I thought I might as well try to do them. So I laid down, crossed my arms, sucked in my gut and, miraculously - did a sit-up! Even managed another one before my trainer had to help me. A short break and then I managed 3 sit-ups before I needed help. After another break I managed 4. The last set I managed 4 and when my trainer went to give me a hand I told him to just give me a second. He gave me 5 - and then I managed to squeeze out another 4 sit-ups!
Despite how crummy the week had been I felt awesome!
Hopefully I'll be able to do some more on Monday.

It's been a busy weekend - helping my sister hunt for a new place, tonnes of driving. A little bit of fun: went to the casino in Niagara Falls and won $250. So I treated us to a nice steak dinner.
Got home a little while ago - watched the last 1/2 of the TFC/NYRB game and am now watching the Olympics on CBC. Canada has finally won some medals!

I've been drinking more water - 10 glasses on Fri., 6 on Sat. and 6 so far today. My sleeping is a lot better. And now that I'm no longer taking medication I'm not sluggish during the day.
I really have to do some grocery shopping - seems I've run out of just about everything. Although I rarely snack on stuff like cookies and chips I decided that I will no longer buy them. I even got rid of the unopened pack of Chips Ahoy I had in the cupboard.
At work on Friday one of my friends had the munchies and got a chocolate bar. I happened to bring in some blueberries to put in my yogurt for my a.m. snack. Well - I didn't eat them then. But when I finally got around to them? Since they were between the ice packs in my lunch bag they were really cold - almost frozen. Tasty little bits of blue heaven.

As for the weight gain - my trainer says we (meaning ME!) will really work on it this week. Work-outs on Mon., Wed., and Fri. will now start at 8 a.m. (instead of 9 a.m) - to be followed by 40 minutes of cardio. Tues. & Thurs. will see me doing 1 hour of cardio. Plus he has some extra stuff he wants me to do. And there is also the stretches that my chiropractor wants me to do every day.

meme from aishchai

What's something you'd love to say to your younger selves of 2, 5, 10, and 15 years ago? (Doesn't necessarily have to be the same thing each time.)

2 years ago - age 43.
Get out!
Context: I'm a very shy person and, while happy that a friend's career was going great, was a bit upset that it required her to move out of the country.
What I'd say: Instead of skulking around the apartment and feeling sorry for yourself get out and see what is to be seen in this city. Take a walk, go to a museum, visit some of the ethnic neighbourhoods, take a class. Take care of yourself. Good lord - she's not your only friend! Find someone else to hang out with.

5 years ago - age 40.
Get moving!
Context: I had moved closer to work and had told myself that I was going to walk more around the area.
What I'd say: Other than a nice long walk in the park once a week you're not doing a hell of a lot, are you? There's some beautiful gardens, great trails, and you are within walking distance of interesting shops and markets. Park the car, grab your backpack and get out of the house.

10 years ago- age 35.
Do something!
Context:
I was in the hospital with gall bladder problems. I ended up having to have it removed.
What I'd say: Using this time off work to get serious about your health (and maintain the 20 lb loss due to illness) would be much more productive than reading or doing needlework or watching tv!

15 years ago - age 30.
Get swimming!
Context: When I was a young child I almost drowned. For years I was terrified of deep water - even if it was a pool. Anything that came above my chest would cause me to panic. But the summer I was 30 I took a swimming class.
What I'd say: So you're not an Olympic calibre swimmer - but get the hell in the pool and eventually your "dive" won't be an ungraceful belly-flop. Not everyone is looking at your fat ass - they're worried about their own ass. Even if they are looking at you - chances are they're not even seeing you.


Not sure who reads here - but feel free to give this a go.

Looking back

Just recently started reading MizFit. Today's guest post by Fitzalan got me to thinking of my attitudes towards food.
Just a bit of a bio: I am the youngest of a very large family. We were quite poor and lived out in the country.
I grew up eating lots of macaroni (which I hate, hate, hate) or potatoes or meatloaf. Or fish just caught in the river - - although I don't much like fish now.
We also had a garden so I loved fresh corn on the cob, tomatoes (once in a while), cucumbers, fresh picked apples, strawberries warm from the field.
Some foods were "treats" - cakes or chocolate cream pie for birthdays, hot dogs only when we went to the drive in (a couple times a summer), stuff like Count Chocula or store bought cookies only when my parents were feeling rich.
Mom's cooking was the kind she grew up on - - stuff she thought was good for us until we found out it actually wasn't: home made meat pie with a thick gravy - served with slabs of home made bread slathered with butter. Huge meat and potato dinners several nights a week, mac with meat sauce other nights. Fried meats, gravy, lots of bread.
Believe it or not I was a skinny kid - 'cause when we weren't sleeping or eating we were kicked out of the house - - which people could do in those days. Days were spent outside - baseball, climbing trees, riding bikes, walking to visit friends, fishing, hockey or sledding. Hardly any TV - other than Hockey Night in Canada - besides the only station we could get was the CBC.
Then my parents split up and we moved to the city. And the first year wasn't bad - I had made friends and we were at the edge of town so it sort of felt like we were in the country. The second year, when I was 11 or so, was when I began to gain weight. We moved to the downtown area and there wasn't a safe place to play, we had a TV that got American stations, I didn't have many friends and my mother worked so us kids had to fend for ourselves. My biggest downfall? Levis jeans! Mom had to go to the Salvation Army or GoodWill to get our clothes. One day she brought home a pair of Levis that looked brand new. They were too small for the brother she brought them for so she hung them up on the back of a door and probably forgot about them. But I saw them and wanted them. But they were too big. And you know what I thought? "I'll just get fat and I'll fit them." So I did fatten up - not FAT fat, but overweight.
When I was a teenager and going thru the crucible that is high school I wanted to lose weight. But other than seeing my mother eat grapefruit and drink coffee and eat Ayds I didn't know of anyone who was on a "diet" - but I knew plenty of girls who didn't eat much. A Coke and chips for lunch, or 1/2 a sandwich. But I didn't have that kind of willpower so I just got fatter.
By the time I got to university I thought I was gross - but I wasn't - according to a friend and looking at pics. Yeah, I was overweight but not as bad as I thought. But I packed on the Freshman 15 - and since I was such a keener - maybe 10 extra on top of that.
When I started working in Toronto things went from bad to worse. 150 lbs on my 5'3" frame looked a lot worse than 150 lbs on someone else's 5'6" or 5'7" frame. Plus there was all these cool new restaurants that I could afford to eat at. And only cheap geeks take their lunch to work! I was now a working girl that could afford the cafeteria!
My body rebelled, of course. Gall bladder removal cost me 4 months off work. I lost almost 20 lbs. However - I gained it back, and then some. My knees hurt, sometimes I had trouble breathing, I got sick more often (bronchitis, pneumonia).
I tried losing weight: NutriSystem (actually, I think I put them out of business), Curves (shudder), eating less fast food, hour long walks - but I didn't stick with anything.
But recently I've really started to try control my weight. In January of '07 my mother died of complications from a heart attack and pneumonia. I had already started going to the gym by then and, after a few months, started going back. But I had no real work out plan - other than taking a class once in a while. This past spring my sister was diagnosed as borderline diabetic. That was a real jolt for me - something that would happen eventually was suddenly a lot closer. So I decided to sign up with a trainer at the gym and really work at getting in shape.

Because of my workout schedule I've started eating mini-meals:
Breakfast (around 7 or 7:30 am)
Snack (around 11 am)
Lunch ( around 1 pm)
Snack (when I remember - around 3 pm. Sometimes moved to late evening)
Dinner (7:30 pm or so - depending on what I cook)
*snack* If I hadn't snacked in the afternoon.
Plus drinking 8+ glasses of water.

I've started eating breakfast (Shreddies or multi-grain Cheerios but usually Red River with cranberries. Water or tea. No toast, once in a while a piece of fruit.) Previously I wouldn't eat until I was hungry - and then I'd only have a donut or muffin from the services table at work.

Morning snack: 2 x 100 grams of yogurt (Activia Apple & Museli, or Strawberry & Museli), or apple slices dipped in Activia Vanilla yogurt (I find this flavour too sweet to eat on its own).

Lunch: depends on if I take a lunch or buy. If I buy, despite what the menu says - it probably isn't healthy. If I take a lunch: deli turkey or chicken, pita bread, salad with cranberries and sunflower seeds, Pepsi (although I'm going to be cutting this out soon), fruit (watermelon is a fave, or apples or tangerines) or maybe baked chips.

Afternoon snack: fruit I didn't finish at lunch or almonds or whatever snacks are available in the office (anything from cake or cookies to chocolate bars). I usually don't indulge in that but sometimes I can't resist.

Dinner: again - do I cook or buy? If I buy you can bet it isn't healthy. If I cook it is pasta and maybe a roll - 'cause I was brought up to believe that it isn't a meal unless you have bread. Sometimes a Lean Cuisine. In the winter: soup or chilli. Summer: something cold and a salad.
I'm trying to have more vegetarian type of meals so I'm experimenting in that department. So far sweet potato fries are the easiest and a fave.

Snack: 100 calorie ice cream sandwich if I haven't had an afternoon snack. Sometimes a bag of chips and a pop if I'm naughty.

A few things that really cause me trouble:

• Footy game days - all sorts of unhealthy foods there. And pop. And Beer. Doesn't matter if it is an afternoon or evening game - either are excuses to eat unhealthy. Seriously - the only healthy thing for sale is water - and I'm not going to spend $3 on that!
• Visiting Scott - a friend from my Uni days. We eat out (pub grub) or BBQ (nice thick steaks or ribs), drink beer and smoke cigars. So yeah - one real fun day!
• Friends from work: it is very easy for us to talk each other out of eating our home-made lunch/dinner. If it is a choice between McD's and my lunch, I'll have my lunch. But my lunch or a wrap from Swiss Chalet or a roti from Island Foods? We take turns on driving.
• Vacation: not having a schedule to follow really screws me up. I need structure! So for a few days I'm good with breakfast and drinking water. Not so much with lunch or dinner. And I tend to drink beer while away from my apartment.

Recently my trainer has advocated eating something like 2,400 calories and doing more weights. For some reason I can't believe I can eat that much and still lose weight. I am tempted to try this but that would mean I'd have to stop working on becoming vegetarian. Perhaps, since it would only be for a couple months, try his plan and change back down the road? In all honesty - at this point it would depend on which would be easier.

After writing about the jean purge and my writing about wanting to lose 20 lbs by Sept. 15 I just want to point out that I don't want to lose this weight to be skinny. I want to lose weight so I can be healthy. I know I'm never going to be SKINNY but it I know I can be 160 or 170 0r 180 and be healthy. I like that I can climb stairs without feeling like I'm going to pass out. I like that I can fit in my car comfortably. I like that I'm getting muscles and able to lift more weights or do more squats. I'm liking cooking now - and am looking forward to even healthier fare. Food like my mother cooked is obviously a comfort food - hopefully I don't need comfort like this very often.