a peculiar day

Friday:
Exercise: 40 min run plus warmup and cooldown
Breakfast & Lunch: what?
Dinner: potato chips, salad (romaine, onion, almonds, veggie chikn, balsamic)
Fuhrmometer: 6 - blueberry

3:30 am - The remote alarm for hubby's truck goes off because the battery is low. Hubby gets out of bed to take the battery out of the remote and notices that the flood lights are on in the back yard and he hears noise. He goes to look out the back window and it looks like someone is in his truck. "Honey I think someone might be in the truck..." He grabs a flashlight and goes to look again. "They're in the Mini - call 911." He yells out the window at the punk(s?) and they take off down the street. I call 911 and try not to freak out too much so I can speak clearly to the operator. We really want to move out of this part of town.

Luckily, they didn't damage the vehicles at all - just rifled through them looking for small valuables. In the middle of the night just after it happened we didn't think that they had gotten into hubby's truck and we also didn't think that they had taken anything from the Mini either.

We were both wide awake and waiting for the police to get here and I said something about it being to early for me to go for a run since it was going to be a while before the sun came up. I ended up doing my run on the treadmill at like 4:45 while we waited for the cops to arrive. After working out I stretched and took a shower and tried to stay awake rather than go back to sleep - but that didn't last.

10am - Wake up after a "nap" take our sweet time getting out of bed and getting dressed. I come down stairs to check email and such while hubby is upstairs shaving and I hear a "pink... pink pink... ... pink" in the kitchen. It takes me a couple of minutes to relize that it sounds like something is dripping out in the kitchen. The floor is covered with water and it's dripping from one of the recessed lights in the ceiling, right under the bathroom.

After a trip to Home Depot - when we realized that the jerks from last night had gotten into the Toyota as well as the Mini and that they had taken some stuff: a $2 scratch off and our walky-talky radios, we think they might have also taken some Rolaids out of the truck too - how strange is that?!?

Anyway, after a trip to Home Depot, the plumbing was an easy fix (thank goodness) there was a leak in the pipes for the shower but it turned out to be pretty simple to fix - once we ripped out a panel in our linen closet. ;-)

3pm to 7pm - We trade in hubby's truck for another Mini (the one pictured above). It's an '05 convertible (but you could tell that). Getting a Mini has been something he's been thinking about for a while now, but yesterday after looking at some other options we decided we would wait until spring to make a decision. Despite a crappy morning things seemed to actually work in our favor this afternoon, and getting the Mini seemed like the right thing to do. Hubby is really excited about it and so am I.

Needless to say with all the stress and adrenaline of the morning we weren't very hungry. By the time we were at the car dealer we were starting to feel the effects of not really eating anything all day. I know that the veggie chickn and chips weren't the best choice but I am happy that I went for the salad instead of pizza or fast food.

I know I'll sleep well tonight - I'm exhausted, it's been a crazy day.

Thursday:
Breakfast: Smoothie
Lunch: Salad (romaine, casinera's ceasar, almonds, wasabi wonton strips)
Exercise: walk with Cammie
Dinner: eggplant and zucchini lasagna with tofu ricotta
Fuhrmometer: 9 - broccoli

things i will never say... (and hope I haven't already)

Wednesday:
Exercise: 60 min run/walk/run with Cammie
Breakfast: Smoothie
Lunch: Springtime Soup with lentils
Exercise: walk with Cammie
Dinner: Spinach-Berry Smoothie, Cinnamon-Cayenne spiced Almonds
Fuhrmometer: 10 Kale

In my opinion, anyone who says "the weight just melted off" is delusional. Losing weight is hard work, and if it were as easy as weight just melting off, people wouldn't struggle so much with being overweight. i think that if there is a term that needs to be erased from the collective conscious of the world (when it comes to weight loss), it should be that term.

it is easy to look back on a year or whatever and think that things were a lot easier when looking back than they actually were. it is easy to look back and have your memory distort how long something may have taken. it is definitely easier once one has lost weight to reflect on the process and (whether correctly or not) feel like it required as much dedication and discipline as it did. But no, the weight never melts off.

For me, losing weight requires a fairly high level of compliance - eating exactly what i'm supposed to and putting some effort into exercise. I've proven it to myself time and time again. I can eat a decent breakfast and lunch, but if i have a dinner that doesn't fall in line i've broken even for the day. there's nothing wrong with breaking even - if you're goal is to maintain your weight - but we're not at that point yet.

Day to day, meal to meal it's about keeping the end result in mind. yes, I could have had a "bad" dinner, I could have raided the vending machine, BUT those things won't help me get to my goals and i actually kept that in mind today, making deciding to eat the right stuff much easier. The weight doesn't effortlessly melt away, but it's having motivated and dedicated days like today that make it a little bit less effort.

Monday:
Exercise: Walk with Cammie
Breakfast: Smoothie
Lunch: Salad (lettuce, pinto beans, tofu, salsa, cucumber, onion)
Exercise: big long walk with Cammie
Dinner: Salad (lettuce, strawberries, onion, almonds, balsamic)
Fuhrmometer: 8.5 eggplant/broccoli

202.2 today! 2.4 pounds and I will be in the 100's and in 3.6 I'll have lost 100 pounds all together. It's pretty exciting! I feel very focused and motivated right now.

I was thinking the other day about how all of these numbers really don't mean anything to my body. My body doesn't really care that I am almost to the 100 pounds lost mark. Of course, it's happy with me that I have lost weight; but it's not so fixated on the round numbers. As long as I keep on treating my body the right way it will keep on losing until I get to a healthy weight.

My head however, cares about round numbers A LOT. Try as I might not to care about them, but I do. 100 pounds lost is a big deal in my head. It is a big accomplishment and it is something I will be proud of. There were times in the beginning where I doubted that I would be successful and this is proof that I am and will continue to be successful to reach my goals.

i choose to believe those are veggieburgers

Sunday:
Exercise: 48 min run with Cammie
Breakfast: wasn't hungry, didn't have any
Lunch: Salad (romaine, Casinera's Ceasar dressing, red onion, LightLife chickn strips [yuck!], wasabi wonton strips)
Exercise: walk with Cammie
Dinner: Standard Smoothie
Fuhrmometer: 7.5 lentil/eggplant

And that's not a steak either, it's a... hmm... rutabega...

ten

Thursday:
Exercise: 40 min run with Cammie
Breakfast: Smoothie
Lunch: Springtime Soup with lentils
Exercise: 30 min walk with Cammie
Dinner: tvp tacos, graham cracker with peanut butter
Fuhrmometer: 7 - lentil

The past few days here have been unseasonably cool; which for the most part I don't like; I definitely prefer the warm weather. At least while it's still summer! I have enjoyed running in the cooler weather though. Sunday I had one of my best runs ever and Tuesday's run was pretty good too.

Today the weather was supposed to get up to 88 again and when I woke up this morning and could feel the humidity in the air. I really didn't want to go running. I wanted to go back to bed. But I went out anyway, and my warmup was kinda sketchy... I felt nauseous and then that went away but my hip started hurting. Luckily the longer I kept moving the better I felt. I ended up having a pretty good run today despite the less than perfect conditions and rough start.

I'm glad I got out there and got started and didn't give up before trying. I am really enjoying running and am happy that I've kept it up even though there have been times when I haven't wanted to. I definitely think I'm catching the runners bug. :-)

eight

Tuesday:
Exercise: 35 min Run with Cammie
Breakfast: Smoothie, 1/2 slice of zucchini bread
Lunch: Springtime Soup with lentils
Dinner: Salad (romaine, red onions, walnuts, blue cheese, quorn naked cutlet, balsamic)
Fuhrmometer: 8 - Eggplant

Dear Zucchini Bread in the office kitchen,

You are not my friend. I do not like you. You are a waste of good zucchini. Please stop calling me.

Love,
Nicole

seven

Monday:
Breakfast: Smoothie
Lunch: Springtime Soup with lentils
Exercise: walk with Cammie, 30 min upper body workout (Yourself!Fitness)
Dinner: Salad (romaine, red onion, walnuts, blue cheese, balsamic), graham cracker with natural peanut butter
Fuhrmometer: 8.5 eggplant/broccoli

Back on the losing track! I lost 5.2 pounds last week and have kissed the teens goodbye forever. I'm confident that I'll be under 200 by my birthday. After two months of basically being in the same place it feels really good to see some change. Today was the first day in a long time that I didn't feel tempted to eat off plan, and even though peanut butter and graham crackers aren't ETL - I feel like it was an ok way to end the day.

A Sunday drive

at the racetrack...

Sunday:
Breakfast: McDonalds Fruit & Walnut salad (didn't eat the yogurt), red grapes
Lunch: veggies with hummus, veggie ham sandwich with cheese :( , a cookie and a couple chips
Exercise: 40 minute (3.1 mile!) run with Cammie
Dinner: didn't eat, wasn't hungry
Fuhrmometer: 7.5 - lentil/eggplant

three

Thursday:
Breakfast: Smoothie
Lunch: fruit, bean salad, a dab of pasta salad, 1 cookie, and 2 brownies...
Exercise: 40 min run with Cammie
Dinner: Salad (romaine, red onion, walnuts, balsamic, blue cheese)
Fuhrmometer: 7.25 - lentil+

Today was a growth experience.

As you can see, lunch sucked. We were at a whole-campus event and lunch consisted of some scary looking potato salad, a bean salad, pasta salad, fruit salad, cold cuts and sandwich fixings along with assorted cookies and brownies. I wasn't expecting anything great out of lunch today but in a way this was worse than I could have guessed. In retrospect, I could have made a decent lunch out of the fruit salad and some lettuce and tomato etc from the sandwich stuff but I didn't think of it at the time... ANYWAY... I did spend most of the afternoon feeling guilty about it and being upset with myself.

I waffled back and forth for a good part of the afternoon if I was going to say "screw it" for the rest of the day or if I was going to make an effort to make the rest of the day as good as I could. You've already seen that I DID workout and I DID eat salad for dinner, so I did make the best out of the day. Reading the blogs of my buddies and reading the forums helped out tremendously and was extremely motivating.

Today was a growth experience for me because I took the "high road" and didn't give up on the day like I have been so prone to in the past. It wasn't easy to come home and go for a run, but I made myself do it. It also would have been easier to make a sandwich or something for dinner; but I actually wanted my salad. I may not have been perfect today but I am still very happy with myself.

two

Wednesday:
Breakfast: Smoothie, 1/2 bagel
Lunch: Springtime Soup with lentils
Exercise: long walk with Cammie, 30 min Core workout (Yourself!Fitness)
Dinner: Salad (romaine, red onion, walnuts, blue cheese, balsamic), 1 graham cracker with a wee bit of peanut butter
Fuhrmometer: 8 - eggplant

Five is the new One

Tuesday:
Breakfast: Smoothie, some of those small fruit flavored tootsie rolls
Lunch: Springtime Soup with lentils
Exercise: 45 min run with Cammie
Dinner: Salad (romaine, red onion, walnuts, balsamic, blue cheese)
Fuhrmometer: 9 - broccoli

Well this morning I was Debby Downer, I was in a crappy mood and it was no fun at all. I got up and got dressed to go for a run before work, but all I ended up doing was walking Cammie up to the corner and back and then I got back into bed for another hour.

But some time this afternoon I snapped out of it. I don't know when and I don't know why but I felt better. Woo Hoo! I came home and Cammie and I went for a tough but rewarding run.

Food today was much better than yesterday too. Except for the tootsie rolls I stuck to my plan and enjoyed it. I feel much better about today and like I am breaking out of my rut. I am especially proud of myself for coming home and going for a run. Go me!

four

Monday:
Exercise: Walk with Cammie, 30 min Upper Body Workout (Yourself!Fitness)
Breakfast: Smoothie
Lunch: Springtime Soup with lentils
Dinner: Salad (romaine, red onion, walnuts, blue cheese, balsamic) vegetarian sloppy joes
Fuhrmometer: 8 - eggplant 6 - blueberry

Busy busy weekend! I'm sad to say that Saturday didn't go very well food wise. Poor planning on my part. But we finished the flooring in the kitchen, dining room and living room. Just a little more to do to finish up the project. I'm very happy with the way that it came out.

Sunday was a much better day, I had a 40 minute run and was pretty happy with the distance I covered. I'm more excited than ever about the race in September (3 weeks from Saturday)! My food was kind of off yesterday as I just wasn't hungry for much of the day so my calories came from sparkling grape juice, salad, and Easy Mac... well I guess yesterday wasn't too good either.

I did do some good planning and preparing of food yesterday so this week I don't have any excuse not to eat well all week.

Edit: Well I am a big hypocrite. I posted my entry before dinner and then decided I wanted to try the vegetarian sloppy joe stuff we picked up the otehr day (I knew it was a bad idea at the time). Tomorrow I start from day one again.

One

Friday:
Breakfast: Smoothie (spinach, blueberries, strawberries, 1/2 banana, flax and water)
Lunch: Salad (lettuce, onion, walnuts, blue cheese, balsamic)
Dinner: ???

Hubby and I spent all day today working on installing laminate floor in our kitchen, dining room and living room. We've got more to do tomorrow but we think we've got it figured out pretty well. It's definitely not as bad as last weekend when we were tearing the old flooring out!

I have no idea if I will eat dinner tonight or not. I don't have any more lettuce here and I don't have any other food here that is ready to go and is ETL unless I make myself a smoothie - which I might do... but then again I might not have anything at all since it is almost 9pm right now.

No matter what, I had a good breakfast and a decent lunch today; and that is pretty good! (Not to mention that we were up and working all day and not sitting around!)

library list

I've recently realized the awesomeness of the library; and here's what I'm looking forward to reading during my 101 Days of (near) Perfection:

Eat to Live by Dr. Fuhrman (re-read, I own this)
Disease Proof Your Child by Dr. Fuhrman
The China Study by T. Colin Campbell
The Pleasure Trap by Lisle & Goldhamer
Twinkie, Deconstructed by Steve Ettlinger

Does anyone have any other recommendations?

Starting Over, Again.

I can't even count how many times I've felt like I'm starting over. Although, I am starting 85-90 pounds less than I did the first time; so it doesn't truly feel like starting over. It feels more like renewing a commitment.

So here's what I am going to do this time. 101 Days of (near)Perfection. Starting this Friday I'm going to commit to the 6 week plan (allowing myself an extremely small amount of chocolate or cheese or something if I want it) for 101 days with 3 planned days off: 1- Day of Birthday dinner with Family (most likely not on my actual Bday because Hubby has to work), 2 - My actual Birthday and 3 - Our wedding anniversary in October. This will actually end up being 104 actual days but I'm not counting them as part of my "challenge."

I thought about doing the six-week challenge again, but that's 42 days and I feel like I need a longer amount of time to really internalize the plan, mind and body. I think that if I prove to myself that I can follow the plan for 101 days that I will be able to keep it up and really and truly make it into a lifestyle.

So I'm starting on Friday. With the planned break days my 101st day will be the day before Thanksgiving. In that time I am going to try to post my food every day, no matter if it's good or not and I will go back to updating my weight every Monday.

Here's today's food so far:
Wednesday 8/8/07:
Breakfast: 2/3 smoothie, piece of cinnamon raisin bread
Lunch: Hummus with carrots, cucumber and fritos
Exercise: ?
Dinner: ?
Fuhrmometer:

i li-i-i-ike my bi-i-i-ike, it's not like other bikes

Wednesday:
Breakfast: chocolate cherry smoothie (spinach, cherries, banana, flax, cocoa powder and water)
Lunch: Susan V's Quinoa Veggie Paella
Exercise:
Dinner:
Fuhrmometer:

This week I have been all about the bike ride. For the past two nights I've gone on a bike ride with Cammie after work and it has been very relaxing. I'm sure that Cammie likes to go now because she recognizes "bike ride" and gets really excited about it, and reaches up for me to pick her up to put her in the basket. Hubby also picked up a neat wireless bike computer/speedometer which is a lot of fun - I can see how fast I'm going and my mileage as well as what time it is, the temperature and even how many calories and fat I've burned. Good stuff!