I'm going to Disney, even if I have to run there!!

[lurkernj]

So Wednesday I went for walk w BFF after work. Then did some weights and mat exercises. Later we had the dog bday party(complete with party hats and balloons, and goody bags for all the dogs). The cake was uninteresting, so I just had a mini eclair. Yesterday I was home from work (and today too). Kids are off from school, so I thought I'd take a couple days off. Yesterday, I ran on the treadmill for 3 miles. Then went to panera for lunch. I got half a panini and half a salad. Not bad. I did make some cranberry white chocolate scones yesterday and had one

Today I will run 3 miles. Not sure if it will be indoors or out yet. Tonight the kids have a lockin at church, so dh and I will go out for dinner, so I will be good today so I won't feel guilty at dinner. The rest of the weekend is pretty open, so I should have no issues with exercise.

 

[Desiree]

Sounds like a great plan going into the weekend!

 

[lurkernj]

Yesterday was not a great day. I did get on the treadmill (only 2.25miles) and work out with weights and mat. My food intake was a bit much though. I had very little fruits and veggies. I ate a half of fluff and peanut butter sandwich, a small bowl of mac and cheese, then we went out to get something to eat, and I got a mushroom swiss burger with sweet potato fries. Fortunately, we skipped dessert.

Since the kids weren't home this morning, my DH requested waffles, and he loves pumpkin, so I made pumpkin waffles. They were quite delicious, but probably not so low fat. I will try to eat yogurt and fruit for lunch. Then dinner will be pulled pork sandwiches. I have a lot to do today. I am the treasurer for the pool we belong to in the summer, but the work is year-round, paying bills, preparing financial statements, etc. There is a monthly meeting on Tuesday, so today I need to spend a few hours doing this, but I definitely will make time later for some exercise. I think I will try to make some sort of low fat soup later also, so there is a healthy option readily available.

 

[lurkernj]

So the weekend wasn't very good. Saturday I attempted to run and my shins were hurting a lot, so I didn't get very far. I did do some mat exercises, but it just wasn't the same. I took off on Sunday too, in order to try to let the shins heal. Didn't help that I walked into the dishwasher door that was open, and now have a nice bruise on the shin that hurts the most.

Foodwise it wasn't great either. I didn't pig out, but I did eat more than usual. I think it was stress related. There something happening at work this week that's been heavily on my mind. Once this week is overwith, I will feel better. I also made a pumpkin cheesecake yesterday, just a small one, but of course I had a piece. And there is more left today. Also today is our Thanksgiving luncheon at work. Everyone brings in some component of a thanksgiving feast. I will try to load my plate with more vegetables than potatos/stuffing. Also, I can usually pass on the store bought pumpkin and apple pies, but if they are homemade (which I doubt), I might have to have some.

So, summarizing my sad week:
I ran 3 times
I walked 2 times
I did weight/mat exercises 3 times
had 3 out of 7 good food days

As suspected,I have gained another pound

I really need to get back with the program. The shin thing is really throwing me off. I would like to run more, and it feels pretty good while I'm doing it, but then I can't even walk up and down stairs the next few days. DH mentioned he needs new sneakers too, so we will make a trek over to Runners world maybe Thursday.

I think today I will go for a long walk, probably no running as I want to wait for the pain to go away and I get new sneaks. Nothing going on tonight, so no excuses.

 

[Desiree]

I think walking sounds like a good plan until those shins heal. Shin splits are no fun. And even though you are celebrating Thanksgiving at work today, sounds like you have a good plan in place. Our work Thanksgiving will be Thursday so I'm gonna make sure I exercise at twice that day!

Don't get discouraged either! Keep your chin up and you will get thru this! You'll be back on the downward slide in no time!

 

[lurkernj]

I survived the lunch yesterday. I only ate a banana for breakfast since I was saving calories for the big lunch. Aside from turkey and turnips, there was nothing healthy to be had. I had some of everything, and was pretty full by the time dessert was served. I thought I could resist the pumpkin and apple pies, but then someone brought in a cheesecake (caramel with pecans), so I had the smallest of tastes and it was amazing. After eating such a big lunch, I just had a few forkfulls of pasta for dinner, and a sliver of the pumpkin cheesecake. It's actually much better the next day. So, all in all, not a horrific day.

I did walk after work, it was a very slow, lazy pace. That turkey triptophane must've been kickin in. I ran into a girlfriend in my bookclub and was talking with her for a few minutes. She is a runner and is in great shape and was very encouraging. Her husband ran the NY marathon last year, and just did the tough mudder with two friends, so they are a very "fit" family. She wants me to call her when I'm back into a running routine. She said she hasn't run in a few weeks, but wants to get into it again.

So, today will be leftover thanksgiving lunch, which I'm pretty sure I can be good with. I will walk again today and do some weights. I have a meeting tonight, which will probably keep me away from the pumpkin cheesecake.

 

[lurkernj]

So it seems I skipped yesterday! I guess I feel like I don't have much to journal about. My eating habits are just mediocre these days, and I'm not really getting much exercise.

We have been eating the Thanksgiving leftovers the past few days at work. But today I'm starting anew! I brought in a lean cuisine for lunch, and a yogurt for breakfast, and I'm not going to touch a thing in that kitchen. Dinner will be lasagna, but I will make some veggies to compensate for the small portion I will eat.

I have stopped walking the past two days, as I can't seem to get my shins to stop hurting. Now they hurt while just walking, when before they only hurt when running or going up stairs. I will probably take a few more days off in hopes of them getting better. I have been doing core exercises and my arm weights as I don't want to get in my "no exercise, bad food" rut. I'm very frustrated about not getting out to run/walk.

The good news is that I got on the scale this morning expecting the worst since the eating frenzy and not burning it off, and my weight is the same. I feel like I've been given a second chance, cause I should definitely weigh more today! So, I'm going to be good with food while I wait to begin my exercise routine again, and hope to at least maintain my weight if I can't lose anything.

Today is the day I have been dreading at work, a finance meeting that I don't expect to go well. Once today is over, I will be less stressed and will be able to focus on other things.

 

[Desiree]

Hoping today won't be as stressful as you fear it will be. Good job on getting back on plan.

I'm wondering if you are getting those shin splints due to your shoes? Maybe its time for a new pair?

 

[lurkernj]

I survived the meeting yesterday and it wasn't too bad. There is still a stressful issue that wasn't brought up yesterday, but will need to be brought up soon.

Yesterday was pretty good foodwise, but I felt like a lump after work and did not do any exercise. I'm not going to walk or run until the new sneakers are purchased and the shins don't hurt anymore. I could have done the mat exercises yesterday, but it was very cold in my house when I got home, so I just lit the fireplace and curled up in a blanket. Both kids were home so we watched some sitcoms together. We have some of those programmable thermostats, that I can't seem to turn on since everything is on a timer and apparently need to be reset since they never did come on yesterday. Gimme the old fashioned ones any old day.

I tried to get DH to go get sneakers with me last night but he fell asleep on the couch at 7p. Maybe today.

We have been feeling pressured lately that a lot of DS16s friends are going on college visits and we haven't done anything yet (even though they are still juniors). So DH was insisting on spending this weekend looking at two different ones. So Saturday we're going to go to UPenn to check out a big campus, and Sunday we are going to Marist to see a smaller campus. I am absolutely shocked over the cost of almost all colleges. UPenn is $57K which of course we don't have. We'll check it out anyway, and if he likes it, he can apply and see if he gets any assistance. We're prepared to pay, but not that much. I like the look of Marist, and we're from a small town/small school district, so I'm thinking he would be a better fit at a smaller school like this, but ultimately it will be his decision. After looking at both of these campus's, we'll wait til spring to do anything else (which was my original plan). There's lots of college fairs/open houses already scheduled for then.

Since we'll be out a lot this weekend, I'm assuming we will be eating out. I'll hopefully get something healthy.

I'm really hoping my shins will feel better next week as I am anxious to get back to running. Surprisingly I miss it.

 

[Desiree]

Hope you can get those new shoes too. I'm hoping that will help with your shin problem also.

Yea we did the whole college tour thing. Fortunately we only had to tour 2 places. My dd will start out at our local community college and after those 2 years are done, move onto Southeastern Louisiana University. (It's only about 40 minutes away so the plan is for her to commute)

 

[lurkernj]

Wow! I feel like I didn't get a weekend! We did the college shopping both Saturday and Sunday. I won't do that again, as I was so exhausted I went to bed at 8 last night, and had a huge headache to boot. Way too much information to absorb and no relaxation to be had. It was pretty cool to the comparison so close to each other, since the schools were so different from each other, and both were pretty great (of course upenn wins, but that's just a fantasy), but just mentally exhausting trying to take it all in. Now we're done til spring and most schools don't do anymore til then.

Anywho, Friday I did some weights and loafed on the couch. DH came home and wanted to go out to eat. Who am I to say no? So we went to Applebee's and I had a skinny mohito and the 550 calorie steak dinner. I love the steak here, it's always very trim and they cook it perfectly. We also always get that sizzling apple pie dessert here and split it, but neither of us wanted it that day.

Saturday we were out all day, so food intake was limited. When we were done, we went to a pizza place. The menu had a huge variety of paninis so I decided to have one of those. GROSSEST thing I've eaten in a while. I got "applewood smoked ham with swiss cheese". The swiss was in random cubes and not melted and there was about 1/4 cup of mustard(complete with seeds) smeared on both sides of the sandwich. It took 3 napkins to scrape it all off and it still tasted like a mustard sandwich. I didn't want to send it back since I was starving (no lunch) and we wanted to get back home.

Sunday I made breakfast before we left which was crepes with strawberries and some bacon. These are pretty low calorie as the crepes are just a vehicle for the strawberries. Then again, no lunch (had a fiber bar on me this time). This was the longest day, so we just wanted to get home and not take much time to eat. We stopped at a McDonalds so the guys could get a McRib. I got the kids chicken nugget meal. DS16 was going on about how embarassing it was that I ordered a kids meal. But it was good and filling enough.

So I didn't get any formal exercise, just a lot of walking on the campus tours. On the bright side, my shins feel a lot better today. Still some slight pain when doing stairs, so I'll give it a couple more days, but it feels good to finally feel some improvement. Still haven't gotten those sneakers, but I want them before the weekend as I want to get moving again. I'll start on the tread mill to ease myself back in, as I think the transition to the street was when I started hurting.

Friday I decided to deal with the work issue head on so I could stop stressing over it. It went better than I thought, and my boss was very calm about it (thought she'd be pissed). So I can stop thinking about that.

So here we are at the end of week 6. How did I do?

5 out of 7 good eating days
1 official walk (plus 2 campus tours)
4 days of weights and /or mat exercises

Lost 2 lbs!!!!
So currently, my total loss is back to 7 lbs.

Not really where I hoped I'd be after 6 weeks, but after a few setbacks, I'm still happy with it. I'll feel better once I start running again, since this next month will be the real challenge...Thanksgiving, Christmas parties, cookies, Christmas eve, Christmas day, New years eve, plus all those days in between!!!!

 

[dragitoff]

Maybe I'm just cheating, but I always think if you maintain (and not gain) during this time of year, it's a success.

 

[lurkernj]

Maybe I'm just cheating, but I always think if you maintain (and not gain) during this time of year, it's a success.

I don't consider that cheating, that's usually my goal too.

Sometimes I can be really good and maybe even drop a pound or two if I can be good all those in between days, but that's few and far between.

 

[lurkernj]

Coming into the home stretch for Thanksgiving!!! This is honestly my favorite holiday. The family all gets together, and it 's not at my house, and there's no gifts to buy. It's just about being together (and eating delicious food). While I do tend to eat a lot, it's not all bad. There are a lot of vegetables on the table and I do try to do the 1/2 plate thing, where at least half the plate is veggies. Some have sauce/butter, but usually it's not too bad. And again, I'm not a huge pumpkin/apple pie fan, so I can usually have a small quantity of dessert. I think I'm going to get up in the morning and go on my treadmill while watching the Macy's parade, then I won't feel so bad later on.

After we eat dinner, the guys will usually go play football, and the ladies have the newspapers spread all over the place plotting out our black friday strategies. I'm kindof over the whole black friday thing, but it's a tradition and I must carry on. My SIL (the Kooky one with the dog parties), and I usually go out around 4:30 and don't get home until around 1p. We do make a stop at IHOP around 9 for breakfast, and I will probably order something bad.

Tonight DH and I are going to go out to dinner with another couple. I can probably be fairly good, as it's a seafood restaurant and I like the fish there.

I must confess, I've not been very good lately. I have not done much exercise, and yesterday I had a 4 chocolate chip cookies. I'm hoping to get out of work early today so I can get on the treadmill and do some weights before going out tonight. My shins are feeling pretty good now, so I think I'll have a go on the treadmill and see how things are doing. This weekend the sneakers are getting purchased even if I have to go by myself.

Oh, and if I don't get back on here, have a very HAPPY THANKSGIVING to everyone out there!!!!!

 

[Desiree]

Happy Thanksgiving! (It's my favorite holiday too!) Hope you and yours have a fantastic day today!

 

[lurkernj]

Well, I'm back after a calorie filled long weekend. I hope everyone's Thanksgiving was fun and relaxing. I didn't have to cook, so that's where the relaxing comes in. I just assist.

So there was lots of eating Thursday. I walked 2.5 miles on the treadmill in the morning while watching the parade, then DH and I walked a bit after dinner, maybe another 2 miles(although we ran into some friends and some wine was involved). Friday I did the black friday shopping, but I didn't go out until 5am. It seemed that by then all the crazy midnight shoppers went to bed since there were no lines!!! We did breakfast at Ihop and I was very bad, then my SIL invited us all over for leftovers. I only ate the two meals, but they were big ones. I also walked with BFF on Friday, probably about 3 miles. We also walked again on Saturday and Sunday, and those were closer to 4 miles. Eating Saturday and Sunday wasn't great, but not as bad as Thursday/Friday.

Today I start over again. I'm giving myself a pass on the scale this week, as I'm sure it's not pretty and I don't want to discourage myself. I finally got my sneakers yesterday and am excited to use them today, though it will probably be on the treadmill since it's supposed to rain. My shins haven't hurt for about a week, so I think I'm good. My week isn't too busy now, so I should be able to get out there quite a bit. Today is the only rainy day, and the rest of the week should be pretty nice. I also need to get to the store today to get some fruit and veggies in the house, as I'm just about out of healthy options.

 

[dragitoff]

I'm soooo jealous of you getting new shoes! I'm due for a new pair. Hope Santa reads this!

Seriously sounds like you tried to compensate for all the extra calories with some extra exercise. That's a good thing. I for one, was glad to see the rain this weekend/Monday. Cooler weather is now here. Maybe this time to stay.

 

[lurkernj]

I tried out the new sneakers yesterday. I did 2.5 miles on the treadmill. Some running combined with walking. I must say the sneakers were not the nice soft clouds l was hoping for, but they were ok. One side felt great, but the other felt strange. No blisters or shin splints, so that's a plus, maybe I just need to tighten or loosen the laces. I'm not sure I'll run today since I have to go to an honors society ceremony at my DS16s school at 6p, I don't want to get all sweaty and have to shower etc again, but maybe I'll try a mile or so outside since it should be pretty cool out, just to try them out.

I did get to the store yesterday and bought some fruits/veggies, and some healthy lunch/snack options. The problem was that I took DS13 with me, and he picked out chips/oreos/ice cream/pop tarts/other misc junk food. It was kind of cute since he never shops with me, but my bill was rediculous, and now my house is loaded with lethal junkfood. I did have 3 oreos last night, because it's almost impossible to resist those with a glass of milk. Those are probably the only thing he chose that I'm not sure if I can stay away from. I'm guessing they'll be gone in 2-3 days since they are a family favorite.

So like I mentioned, tonight I have this honors thing, and dessert will be served after the ceremony. I'm a bit nervous about that. Hopefully it just consists of cookies/brownies. I feel a severe weakness around cake lately. I will also try to do some weights/mat exercises after work to make myself feel a little better.

 

[lurkernj]

Wow, Friday already! Wednesday I didn't run or do any exercise, just ran out of time. I had to have dinner ready by 5 so DS16 and DH could eat and get to the ceremony early (DS chose DH to be his "honorary teacher" at the ceremony). I did not eat any dessert, it was as suspected, just cookies and munchkins, not hard to resist. (although I had some oreos afterwork)

Thursday I went outside for a run/walk. I did the 3.1 loop. I'm at odds with these new sneakers. They have a lot of support, which is what I need, but it's like a power struggle with me wanting to run the way I want and the sneakers making me run the way I should. They also feel a bit heavier than the other ones I was wearing (probably because they had no support). Anyway, I finished the loop in about 40min. I was just impressed that I finished the loop. I was across the street from my house ready to cross (and skip the last loop). Cars were coming, so I had to run across the street. I felt like forest gump, I just kept running and instead of going to my house, I did the .5 loop around the house to finish the 3.1 loop. I also did some arm weights when I got home. Foodwise I was really good yesterday, I feel like I'm getting back on track again, and it feels good.

Today I have nothing going on. I might try running outside again. Dh mentioned going to see the Twilight movie tonight (Breaking Dawn). I secretly think he likes them more than me. I really don't like going on Friday nights since it's a little too busy, and he really has a hard time staying awake past 8pm . So I might postpone til next weekend and a matinee. Tomorrow I think I'll do the Christmas decorating, and get him outside to do the lights.

Sunday we have Church and his Christmas party from work. That will be a challenge as it's in some fancy place with lots of good food. It's like a wedding with the cocktail hour, dinner, desserts. I will definitely indulge, but I'll have to behave the rest of the weekend. Another plus to the party is that he mentioned his secretary is going to Disney in a few weeks and wants to talk Disney with me. My favorite thing to talk about, that no one else ever wants to talk about. I went last December with my BFF to see all the Christmas stuff, and am really missing it this year, so this will be the next best thing, I guess.

 

[lurkernj]

I can't believe I'm 8 weeks into this and am still not on track.

The weekend wasn't too bad. I knew there would be a lot of temptation and I knew I'd stumble a bit. Friday I went for a run outside after work. Then went to Houlihans with DH. I suppose there could be healthy choices there, but nothing popped out at me, so I got the pot roast with mashed potatos. I only ate half of it and brought the other half home. DH also wanted dessert so we got a piece of cake to split. It was rediculously large. I had some but he ate most of it.

Saturday I went for a walk with BFFs. Unfortunately my shins were starting to hurt again. I think I just need to stay on the treadmill for a while. Everytime I venture outside, I feel pain. It's not as bad as previously. Walking doesn't affect it much, so I was able to walk and not complain. Then I did all of my xmas decorations (except the ornaments on the tree). I was pretty good food wise on this day. Oh, and we went to go see the new Twilight movie. There was no popcorn involved.

Sunday I went for a walk in the woods with DH and our dog. It wasn't very far, so it probably shouldn't really count as exercise. Then we had his xmas party for work. Cocktail hour is the big downfall. There was so much good stuff, mashed potato bar, pasta bar, cheeses, and hot hors deurves (sp) everywhere. I had no intention of denying myself anything here, so I ate, but I made sure it was something I actually wanted, not just because they were walking around with a tray and I happened to be standing there. There was also an open bar, so I had a few drinks. The actual dinner wasn't bad since the portions were very small, and dessert was an ice cream sundae bar(seemed like a strange choice for such an elegant affair, but it was still decent).

So, at the end of week 8, I can report that I am up 1 lb (that's a two week accumulation since I didn't get on the scale last week). I guess that's ok since there were a lot of obstacles in those two weeks.

Tonight will be another obstacle since we are meeting another couple for dinner at a local restaurant for Ravioli night. It's all you care to eat homemade raviolis. They have great flavors like smoked chicken ravioli, portabella ravioli, sausage, etc. It also comes with a carafe of wine. I'm sure I'll eat more than I should, but I'm planning to be pretty good the rest of today, and tomorrow. I'll also get on the treadmill for a bit today, or go out for a walk.