Beyond Recovery: Christin's journal of progress (comments welcome)

[rcyannacci]

Your workouts are looking good...keep it up & there will be a TREMENDOUS payoff!!! Every day of exercise makes you healthier than you were the day before, so don't beat yourself over a questionable food choice here & there...

Thanks- point well taken. I think I might be trying to micro-manage this whole project and am forgetting my original goals.

Wed.
B- english muffin, peanut butter, strawberries
S- yogurt and grape nuts
L- baby carrots and turkey sandwich with spinach
S- popcorn
D- shrimp w/ garlic, 1/2 sweet potato, green beans

Curves- 40 minutes, plus 10 minutes abs and leg lifts.

 

[rcyannacci]

B- english muffin, peanut butter, strawberries
L- Red Lobster- 3 coconut shrimp, ceasar salad with shrimp and lobster, 2 biscuits
S- cappacino and 1/2 piece of lemon cream cake (DH took me shopping, and we went into Barnes and Noble. This was soooooooo good! It was worth the cheat!)
D- steak, peas, and a spinach salad
S- (ate an early dinner) 1/2 c. pretzels

No Curves today, but a 20 minute walk with DH and the dogs.

OT rant- This was such a great day, until the evening when I went to see a show produced at my university theatre. Our department requires our students to see the show, so I need to also, and it was SO BAD! On par with the movie Waiting for Guffman. Sometimes I just get so frustrated with the people in my department who think so highly of themselves and then produce a show that never takes what the audience wants into consideration. OK- I just had to say that somewhere!

 

[sarahsmom73]

Happy Friday! I hope you have a wonderful day!

 

[rcyannacci]

B- english muffin, peanut butter, strawberries
L- chicken strips salad from Chick-fil-a
D- fresh brocoli and pasta, lima beans, salad

Curves- 40 minutes, plus 10 minutes abs and leg lifts.

 

[sarahsmom73]

I hope you have a wonderful, healthy weekend Christin!!!

 

[rcyannacci]

I hope you have a wonderful, healthy weekend Christin!!!

Thank you! It's going to be a great weekend. We leave for 4 days at the beach today! Hopefully, I won't do too much damage, but I am going to have a couple of beers, etc. Weather report looks perfect!
See you all next Thursday!

 

[rcyannacci]

Sunday report (typing before leaving for the beach!)

B- same
L- left-over bbq chicken breast, leftover brocoli and pasta
S- no-fat chocolate frozen yogurt (YUM!)
D- hamburger (dogs got the last 1/4 of it) and a big salad with spinach, plums, and walnuts.

Curves- 40 minutes, plus 10 abs and legs

Got measured at Curves- some strange stuff... went up in body fat percentage, even though this is the month I've started eating better. But also lost 2 pounds. Went down an inch in my waist, but up 3 inches in my abdomen.

I feel great, and know my clothes are fitting better, so I'm just going to chalk it up to irregularities and keep going and see what happens when they measure next month.

I'm still trying to focus on my long term goal of health, but after talking with Bender last night, I realize that I've been unconsciously setting a short terms goal as well...we see my mother in May, and she is sooooo weight conscious and is always expecting me to loose some pounds. Hopefullly, I won't let my stress about this take over.

OK- now I'm off to the beach! Port Aransas, here I come!

 

[sarahsmom73]

Leaving for the BEACH!!!!

You are sooooooooooooo lucky!

 

[rcyannacci]

OK, while the beach vacation was fun, it was pretty disasterous on my plan.

We arrived the first day (staying in a condo with friends) and one of my friends bought a big bag of Easter candy, dumped it in a bowl, and put it out one the table for everyone to eat. I was on vacation, and it was chocolate (which I hadn't had in 3 weeks). Yikes! And, my other friend insisted on pancakes every morning with syrup! I woke up on the third day with a headache, which I think was caused by sugar overload.

I did have two attempts at exercise during my time: first, went into the pool to swim (I'm great at laps and can't wait until it's warm enough here to hit the pool). But it was WAY TOO COLD, and I could only stay in 5 minutes. I also went running on the beach one morning. This was so much tougher than I expected it too be after 2 months of Curves. I felt like I weighted twice my weight each time I took off at a jog, I guess because of the sand. I tried alternating running and walking .5 mile intervals, and did OK for about 15 minutes, but then had to stay at a walk. Maybe I'll try to find a track around here to see if the surface makes any difference and see if I can work up any running endurance. As much as I love Curves, I think I might want to mix things up a bit so I don't get bored. I'm quickly becoming addicted to exercise.

So, anyway, today I go back to my program. Off to the store to re-stock fresh fruits and veggies!

 

[septbride2002]

I must be the most unobservant person ever!!! I so did not know you had a journal going on!!! Sorry about that

Looks like you are making good progress. I love going to Curves and feel that I am getting more benefits from it then I ever was from dieting. I had the same kinds of measurements this month as well. Went down in waist but incrased in abs. They said it is normal but didn't really say why. I've been trying to look into it myself but haven't found any good information as of yet.

That BMI thing is tricky per the Curves Staff. If you have drank a lot of water right before having it tested it could effect the number. Sorta weird - so I wouldn't concern yourself to much. Plus whenever we change our eating habits our body will store a bit more fat as a reserve. Just keep plugging away and you will see a difference.

~Amanda

 

[rcyannacci]

Thanks, Amanda. Yeah, I know I'm feeling tons better as a result of Curves, so I'll be sticking with it. Hopefully the results will even out over the next few months. Plus, now that it's getting warmer down here (TX is good for some things!), I'll be swimming laps for more of a cardio workout.

Back to food...
Yesterday, did great!
B- english muffin with peanut butter
L- hummus with flatbread, carrots and celery sticks, tabouli, and an apple
D- 6 oz steak, brown rice with onions, and a salad with all-natural french dressing

Curves for 40 minutes, plus 10 legs and abs

 

[septbride2002]

I'm not good at swimming - ask Doe who made fun of me on our last trip to Disney World. She said I swim like a girl!!! So I usually go for walks when it gets warmer. Such a great workout - but I need either someone to go with me or wear headphones because I get bored so easily!!!

~Amanda

 

[rcyannacci]

Swimming definitely takes practice...it took me a month or so before I could stop running into the sides of the lanes...and I still do when I do the backstroke . I was signed up for a class at the university last Spring to learn more strokes, but had to give it up when I started radiation. Maybe I'll try again next fall.

Yesterday- not bad...but not great
B- same
L- went out to brunch with friends. Had a highschool friend in for the SXSW festival in Austin, and she invited me to brunch with one of the bands she's trying to sign (she works for a music label in NYC). It was hysterical- I had no idea who the band was...still don't...but as we walked into the restaurant, a college girl stopped them and gushed like they were....well, rock stars! They blew it off like "No big deal," and I found it rather amusing. Anyway, they were really nice, but I definitely felt like the Nerdy McNerdkins of the table once I was introduced as the "professor."
Oh, right...food. I had 2 chicken enchilidas with verde sauce, rice and black beans. I pushed the sour cream off to the side and at only 1/2 of the rice and beans.
S- lunch didn't fill me up for some reason, so I had left-over hummus and flatbread. Ate too much and too late so I wasn't hungry for dinner.
D- thin porkchop stuffed with left-over brown rice and fresh asparagus. Only at half of each because the veggies were too crunchy and DH put thyme on the meat, making it taste funny.
S- this was wrong, but I felt cheated after dinner, so I made some popcorn with butter and salt. Not too much, but enough to feel guilty.

 

[sarahsmom73]

Just wanted to wish you Happy Monday! Hope you have a great day!

 

[rcyannacci]

Sunday-
B- same
L- cucumber and tomato salad, 1 slice of toast with pimento cheese, and an apple
D- pecan-encrusted chicken breast, fresh green beans w/ red onions, spinach salad with strawberries and pear slices. (ate too much at dinner, leading me to believe that I didn't eat enough during the day.)

 

[rcyannacci]

Monday
B- same
S- yogurt and grapenuts and a cappicino
L- greek salad with grilled chicken and balsamic vinegrette (only thing bad here was the feta cheese and croutons)
S- carrots and celery
D- tostadas (courtesy of DH), corn tortillas, ground beef, black beans, low-fat cheese, and lettuce.

Skipped Curves today because I somehow messed up my ankle on Sat. Went instead to the pool to swim laps (my first time this season). I did pretty good in terms of a cardio workout, 20-25 minutes at between 60-70% heartrate. I'll do abs and legs tonight. Hopefully, my ankle will be better tomorrow.

 

[sarahsmom73]

Good Morning! I just wanted to stop by and wish you a happy day!

 

[rcyannacci]

Tuesday (stress day...day of infamous meeting with dissertation advisor)

OK, it's amazing that I didn't lock myself in a grocery store today and eat everything in sight. I was really down after my meeting with my advisor (nice woman, harsh critic) when she basically told me that out of the 50 page chapter I wrote, I'd probably keep about 20 pages after a significant re-write. Darn. Darn again.

So in retrospect, I guess I did OK with eating.
B- same
L- ate way too late after meeting. Chick-fil-a chicken strips salad w/ ranch dressing, left about 1/3 of it
D- take-out from local Greek place. Beef kabobs and basmati rice with yogurt cucumber sauce and flat bread. Only really bad thing was the complete absence of veggies (DH ordered...he doesn't think of these things.)

 

[pearlieq]

I hope your ankle is better! Sorry your meeting got you a little down--I'm sure it's hard to hear all of your hard work being picked apart, but congrats on even getting that far!

I'm glad to find another hummus eater! I thought I was the only one. What kinds do you like? My favorite so far is Trader Joe's roasted garlic. I've tried Cesars from the grocery store and it's OK, but not as good.

 

[sarahsmom73]

I am really sorry about the rewrite!! That stinks!!!

HUMMUS!!! I Love Hummus!

Hope you have a MUCH better day today!