adjustedreality.com

It’s been a heck of a week.  Seems like that happens often lately, but hey, such is life.  Another list of random stuffs numbered randomly?  Don’t mind if I do.

1.  We finally hit a milestone we were about 3 weeks late on due to various circumstances.  We’re still doing a little tying up loose ends and cleanup, but it feels good to be mostly done.  I definitely missed this – I’ve spent most of my career managing and working with live MMO games so it feels natural to be back to it.

2.  Thursday (yesterday), I worked out in the morning (45 mins on the arc trainer), I went to work, got through the morning, had a long meeting in a dark room, and emerged soooo tired.  I was thinking, “Geez, how am I going to get through a workout tonight” and then realized I had already worked out.  That was a nice realization.  I’m kinda tired today too and my day ends around 6:30 and THEN I have an hour and a half at the gym.  I wish I could have a repeat of yesterday.  Boo.

3.  I seem to be falling into the same rut of eating too little during the day and then being a hunger monster and eating a lot at night.  I’m sure it will work out over time, but when I’m getting on the scale in the morning, it’s not helping my numbers I’m sure.  My problem is I’m just so so so busy during the day I’m not that hungry, and then when I get home it just HITS ME.  I’m thinking bigger breakfasts might be the way to go next week, especially on high octane workout days.

4.  I think we’ve decided to drop the South Padre trip and spend the money instead on camping gear, a bike rack, a fishing license for me, and perhaps some such thing as a wet suit or other improvements to our tri-gear.   I had a lot of fun camping for the Du Loop, and I figure that I can either spend the dough on ONE trip, or get the supplies to be able to go have a fun weekend away any time we want.  I also wish to be a more outdoorsy, less “roughing it = a hotel without a pool and pillowtop mattress” type gal – so I shall do what I aspire to be and see if it works out.  Although…I’m still a big fan of fancy hotels.  That is never gonna go away.

5.  Thursday (yesterday) I took the iguana to the vet for one of her last checkups (hopefully) for a while.  She decided that she wanted to express her distaste by pooping in her carrier, which also happens to be the rock band drum box.  Sigh.  The good news is her belly is healing nicely and so is her paw.  She is able to even get in the bath again after a month and just looked so happy about it all night!

6.  Warrior dash is on and it’s Sunday.  We’re making t-shirts for it but we can’t decide what they should say yet.   Any suggestions?  Bad Ass?  Lily Livered Lizard Lovers? If You Can Read This I Haven’t Found The Mud Pit Yet?  Something witty and warrior-like… we just haven’t figured it out yet.

7.  After it’s over – we’re heading to a nice little hotel in Dallas for some swimming, lounging, nice dinner, and some drinky-poos.  We want to stay fairly near the hotel (which is fairly near downtown, I guess), but is there anything super cool that we should check out if we have a little time in the afternoon?  I have a feeling after the race we’ll be more in the mood for the pool but just in case…

Not really a deep thought-y type of post, but that’s what’s going on in my neck of the woods.  I will do my normal weigh in for the week on Sunday morning (since I’ll be out of town Monday) and probably have the normal weekly recap Tuesday.  More un-fluff posts soon, I hope…. until then, here is my doing my best walrus-bunny impression at our weekly pho-riday meeting.

Happy weekend!  Hope the weather is as beautiful there for you as it is here.

So, I’ve been thinking a lot lately.  About races.  Please, don’t faint dead away with shock.  I know it’s a surprising thing.

I really really really enjoyed the Du Loop experience.  I only had one week to train for it, but I actually LOVED the run/bike workouts.  I suppose that real official people call them bricks.  I started searching for more biathlons and while there are some in the area, it’s not a regular thing.

I also started to think about upcoming training for the marathon.  I haven’t been doing the long runs like I wanted to – my last long run was the end of February – 14 miles.  And it was ROUGH.  I haven’t been motivated to take time out of my weekend to do it.  As awesome and fun as it sounded to just do some really long slow pace runs every so often to keep my base up – I think I’ve missed the bus.  My comfort zone right now is 6-8 miles tops, and I would fear injury doing anything over 10 without working back up to it for a few weeks.  Instead of just CONTINUING my half training to what felt like the next logical step, I’m now having to start from ground zero again.  Which mean I should really dedicate at least 5 months to it.

Then I started to think about what that meant.  Long runs outside during the two hottest months of the year (July/August) in the Texas heat.  I started to dread it.  I didn’t mind finishing up my half training last year during the beginning of summer in 80+ degree mornings, but I’d be having to get up at like 4am to get that under 85 zone.  I like a challenge and all, and I definitely in general prefer cold to hot, but the logistics?  Sorta kinda insane.  And, every time I started talking about it, Zliten kept whining and calling me crazy and giving me frowny faces.

I don’t like to wuss out.  I don’t like to admit that I’m not tough enough to do something.  And I’m not saying that.  I think I’ve reconciled with myself that this is not saying that I can’t do it.  I know if I set the goal and went for it, I’d be crossing the finish line in November as planned.  I think I’ve got some sound reasons not to do it though:

1.  The training just doesn’t sound like fun right now.  I love running, but I’d like to be a little more comfortable and experienced with around 10-13 miles the way I am with 6-8 miles right now.  Doing that 14 miler was a wakeup call.  I need to do a little more pre-training than I thought.

2.  Even running 3 days a week, its a huge time commitment.  Every Saturday I’d need to dedicate the majority of my day to it (you long distance runners know – getting up, dressed, ready, warmed up, doing the run, cooling down, stretching, showering, eating, dying on the couch a bit after…there goes your day).  It’s about a month for half training, but I can see it would be 4-5 months like that for a marathon.

3.  When I set this goal in December, my job duties and responsibilities were completely different than they are now.  It’s entirely possible I’d be rolling out of a crazy stressful crunch month of my first big huge deliverable completely in charge without training wheels just to start training hot and heavy.  Could I do it?  Sure.  Do I want to?  I’m thinking no.

4.  I have yet to have a really good half marathon experience.  I like the training, I feel increasingly comfortable after longer distances, but I feel like I want to solidly ROCK one first before I go for more.  Don’t get me wrong, I am SUPER PROUD of what I accomplished both times.  Finishing my first one drenched with sweat in 85 and humid temps?  Epic.  Finishing my last one even though I was hacking up a lung and sneezing and had a sore throat?  Respectable.  However, I think I’d like to work on the distance more.  With the right training and the right day, under 2 hours is in my sights and that’s still a goal.

5.  Most importantly, Zliten is thinking about doing this with me!  Neither of us are strong swimmers or terribly comfortable in open water, so it’s something we can conquer together.  We both are pretty novice bicyclists.  I am a stronger runner and have a little more endurance overall, but 2 out of the 3 disciplines we can train side by side.

6.  This seems also like the kind of training I can do and still keep my appetite in check.  I haven’t researched typical training schedules (yet, that’s my next stop), but I’m imagining my new shorter 6 days per week schedule will work well.  Bricks (run/bike, run/swim, or bike/swim) 1-2 days a week and then a single discipline + weights 2 days per week, and then just a single discipline the other days.  More extrapolation on this to come.

7.  Lastly – what sounds better during the long hot Texas summer… “I have to train today.  It’s a 16 mile run.” or “Oh, I have to train today, so I’m going camping.  I’m going to take my bike on a 20 mile trail ride and then swim half a mile in the lake.”?  Yeah, I think you know the answer…

However, y’all know me.  I don’t do things little.  The swim is daunting, but I think once I get back into it, I think I’m going to acclimate well (I have tons of water experience, just not hardcore open water racing).  I’ve done 20+ miles on a bike (admittedly with a break, but still…) and it was not terribly hard.  We all know my proficiency with running.  A sprint triathlon sounds fun, and sounds like a worthy goal, but it’s just not the epic replacement to my marathon.

So, I’m thinking I want to do one sprint (800m swim, 13 mile bike, 5k run) and then move on up to Olympic distance (1 mile swim, 26 mile bike ride, 10k run).  I might change my mind once I do the first one, but that’s the goal.

I’m still scoping races, and hell, the swimming logistics since I do not belong to a gym with a pool or have access to water beyond a 3 dollar drop in fee for open swimming at the neighborhood pool or just jumping in some lakes out there, but I think this would be a fitting kick off race – especially if we can train together.  For an olympic distance, I’m thinking possibly Red Licorice if I decide to go for it.  Other races that look interesting are the Dirty Du (half marathon and duthalon race on back to back days),  and I might just keep my eyes out for a late fall half as well.  Maybe not so much with the epic training schedule and paced runs, but to have an excuse to become comfortable with longer runs on a weekly basis and feel confident about being able to whip out a half marathon with a few weeks notice.

Well, whaddya think?  Am I a wuss for going back on my marathoner resolution?  Still too crazy?  Think I should just give it up and graft my ass back to the couch?  Any wisdom about tris or marathons you would like to impart on me?

My scale, that is.  So, sometimes life gets in the way.  Yes, it’s an excuse.  No, I didn’t have to have all those margaritas yesterday… or that tex-mex… but it was finally the first day of shorts weather and honestly?  So worth it.  It was also proceeded by a 6 mile walk, but I have to remember that only makes up for so much.  That, on top of the end of TOM, packed on the water weight this morning to bring me back to 161.2.  If you remember correctly, that’s what I weighed 2 weeks ago.  Grrr!

However, I know my body.  As long as I am a good girl, I should drop weight pretty quickly this week as the water weight goes away.  I can feel the *mood* though.  The utter despair of being reasonably within calorie range minus ONE stinkin’ day that wasn’t even that bad and seeing a 1.8 lb JUMP.  That mindset of “well, if that’s all it takes to ruin my week, fuck it, why try?”.  Good thing this isn’t my first rodeo, cuz I know that this is that special week where my body works against me.  I just have to wait it out.

Day by day:

Monday: 1524 calories in, 550 calories out = 974 (oops)

Tuesday: 1784 calories in, 604 calories out = 1180

Wednesday: 1550 calories in, 536 calories out = 1014

Thursday: 1550 calories in, 0 calories out = 1550

Friday: 1791 calories in, 550 calories out = 1241

Saturday: 2030 calories in, 891 calories out = 1139

Sunday: 2219 calories in, 415 calories out = 1804 (ugh)

Totals for the week…

Average calories per day intake: 1778

Average calories per day burnt: 506

Average calories per day total: 1271

Average deficit per day: 541

Weight: 161.2 (+1.8)

So even with a few oopses, not so bad number-wise.  The problems (besides epic water weight)?  I burned it early in the week too hard and then ate late in the week too much on the wrong days.  If I would have done the margarita drinking on Saturday, I would have totally accounted for those calories with the 4.5 hours of yardwork.  Monday was UNDER 1000 CALORIES – I remember the day, I just was not stinkin’ hungry and I’m sure in the back of my mind figured I’d save the calories.  If week 1 and 2′s success proved anything, it’s that I just can’t do that.  To keep the equation going, I need to be as close to 1200 per day + exercise as possible.

I also know that eating 1200 calories on my day off is nigh impossible.  That is just too little food for a healthy and normally active human being to be anything but a ball of whine on.  I’m giving myself a pass on that day and letting myself eat what dailyburn suggests that day – 1300-1500.  As long as I do 6 days a week of something, that seems to work out well.

So, the plan for this week…

Monday: 30 mins DDR + full body weights (500) (1700 calories in)

Tuesday: 5 mile run (625) (1825 calories in)

Wednesday: off  (1300-1500 calories)

Thursday: run weight intervals (650) (1850 calories in)

Friday: 45 mins arc trainer (550) (1750 calories in)

Saturday: 45 mins DDR (450) (1650 calories in)

Sunday: Warrior Dash (400) (vacation)

That’s right – this Sunday is the Warrior Dash, so I’ll be heading up to a little place outside Dallas, and running through 3.5 of mud and sand and obstacles (as long as it doesn’t get canceled – eek).  After that – we’re heading to a nice hotel in the city for some swimming, soaking up sun, a nice dinner, and some drinks.  I’m going to gather that my calories will probably be above the 1600 I’m supposed to for that day, but I’m not going to stress.  I’ll try to not be a complete oinker, but I’m also not going chicken salad no dressing and sipping water at the bar.

So all in all, not a bad week last week even with the dastardly scale numbers, and looking forward to a good week this week.  As always, things might get switched around a bit (it’s looking like it MIGHT be a double-weekday-wine-sipping-occasion on Wed and Thurs with events so I may move the runs and day off around) but I’m feeling good about being able to keep my burning and earning in line pretty well this week before Sunday.

How’s your week looking?  Stay tuned in the next day or 2 for some big changes (well, for me) on the goals front.

Pics today from ihasahotdog.com since I had the opportunity to play with a bunch of cute goggies this weekend and it was happy.

…is how I’m getting through the last 15 minutes of the day.  Just letting you know where I’m at mentally so you can excuse the absence of any cohesive thought.  Dropping by to simply let everyone know that I have not abandoned the blog to go live in a hippie commune or anything.  It’s been a good, but busy week, so I’m going to leave you with a numbered list of random things as I like to do when my wits are not about me.

1.  This was a post this week that made me think – Charlotte at the Great Fitness Experiment ranted and raved about hating food.  While I don’t agree with her vehement hatred of food (mine is more of a love/hate relationship…), I totally understand the sentiment.  It definitely takes a lot of finagling and negotiation to eat like a healthy human without being a social outcast or having willpower of steel.  It’s so hard to know with all the research out there what to do.  Live longer by starving yourself?  But wait, overweight people live longer too.  I think the key is to figure out what works for you without making yourself too crazy, and hold onto it tightly.  I’m at a point right now where I can quantify what’s working.  I just need to keep going.  This is just as easy and terrifyingly difficult as it sounds.  I think this is worth a post in and of itself later, but who knows when I’ll get to such things…

2.  I am also experiencing that magical day of the month where I’m tired as hell on 9 hours of sleep, grumpy, feel (and I’m sure look) like I’m smuggling a watermelon in my belly, and just want to lay on the couch.  Of course, since it’s Friday, I have a full day of work, then a 10k run, abs, and then a bbq to run off to tonight.  I’m thinking a compromise – workin’ it out on the arc trainer instead of pavement pounding in the 85 and humid weather, and seeing if’n I perk up a bit later or if not – the commute is easy home from next door (it’s nice to have cool neighbors that like to hang out).

3.  Normally, you would think that a rest day combined with a large hamburger and fries would be bad.  Usually, I can tell when I make a bad body decision, and this was not it.  I’ve been very “ying” lately – eating rabbit food, moving moderately for decent amounts of time every day… I ate that WHOLE burger and LARGE order of fries and sat on the couch all night and got my “yang” on and my body felt WONDERFUL.  Today, I’m back at it, but sometimes, you just need what you need.

4.  Of all the things that I have been slacking on lately, it’s water consumption.  I’ve been finding that I’m at about 20 oz by the end of my work day because I forget to fill my water glass again.  I really need to be better about it.  Doing good today though, at least 8 glasses down by the end of this big cup.  I can’t think of the last time I’ve actually had to be conscious about hydration…

5.  Our iguana is doing much better!  She’s been to the vet for checkups every week, and they say she is healing nicely.  She should be able to get her “cast” off the stitches in her hand next week so we can give her baths again (which she will be sooooo happy about), and where they opened her up to scoop all her girly insides out is also healing well.  She has been eating now like it’s her job to get fatter (and that also means pooping like a champ).  I can’t wait until we can bring her out and play with her again and let her run around the house like we used to.

6.  Plans for this weekend: tons of yardwork Saturday.  I was feeling pretty bleh about that until I found out how many calories various yard worky things burn and I got excited.  Yes, something is very wrong with me, I’m aware of that.  Hopefully something superfun Sunday but nothing planned yet.  Rock climbing?  Epic walk?  Just vegging and seeing a movie?  Who knows.

7.  I finally went shopping!  I purchased one long sleeve green tie dye tee I loooove, a new black tee that fits properly (since I have one that’s a wee bit too small and one that’s too big), a new pair of pinstripe pants (to replace the ones that I shrank out of 2 sizes ago), a pair of brown pants (which are my new faves – can you say HOTASS? …and Mrs. Fatass, I’m totally thinking of you here with this usage).  I purchased a new pair of brown platforms which are about 4.5 inches tall, fairly comfy, and I love them.  I also found a replacement pair of black comfy-enough-to-walk-a-mile-in-but-dressy-enough-to-wear-with-anything shoes.  THOSE were hard to find.  The only fail?  I bought my first pair of skinny jeans, and tried to apply boots on top of them?  The legs are too baggy.  So back to the drawing board there.  I love the waist/butt part so I have a feeling they will become the comfiest pair of cutoffs I have ever worn come summer.  Can anyone suggest a brand of skinny jeans (I’m talking skintight here, no slack on the legs) that doesn’t expose my naughty bits because they’re cut so low?  Just below the waist please.

8.  It’s vacay season coming up!  I’ve had a long hard 7 months with nary a vacation, and I’ve got quite a few short jaunts coming up.  Next weekend, we head up just outside Dallas for the Warrior Dash, then going to stay the night at a hotel in Dallas somewhere for some wining and dining and general pamperage.  June is South Padre Island for some waterpark, watersports, and good times.  July 4th weekend is driving to the Ozarks for a friend’s wedding and weekend of revelry.  Mid Sept is another jaunt to Vegas.  Then, we take a little break, and there should be a cruise in there sometime in the winter.  Yeah, it’s not the honeymoon in Europe I was thinking, but it will tide me over until we have time for that…

I think that’s about it.  Have a great weekend!  What’s up in your neck of the woods?  Hate food?  Love vacations?  Have any skinny jeans suggestions for me – seriously, I’ve been looking for a year…

Different than the usual.  I like to be contrary.

So last week, I found an edge.  A corner in the grid.  I didn’t go beyond it, but I certainly found that I found my limit of comfortable-ness.  Between the early mornings 4 out of 5 workdays, the 10 hour days, the increased social stuff, and other obligations, I endeavored to fit in my calorie burn into my week and did it with my mental and physical health in tact.  But at times – barely.  I knew I was working out a little more than I should, but I also had to compensate for a bit more indulginations (because the alternative of drinking water at the bar for the game dev meetup and picking at a plate of whole wheat pasta -blech- on my Dad’s b-day didn’t sound like fun).  So I burned approximately 3200 calories working out 6 days last week.

The 6 days was not inherently the issue – but the time commitment was.  Each day was at least an hour if not way more.  I found a lot of comfortable success last week with 400-500 calories burnt most days (and eating about 1600-1700) so that’s what I’m aiming for this week.  A lot of my week is unknown right now.  Will I be working 10 hour days and getting catered lunches?  Will I have to work this weekend?  Will it rain or be nice?  What’s the social haps?  It’s all up in the air.  And we ALL know how much I love not having a plan.

So this week, I’m trying to keep it a little more chill if possible.  I’m figuring on Wednesday trivia, and trying to keep the party time calendar open for weekend reveling.  I have been told by Zliten I WILL be doing about 4 hours of yardwork outside over the weekend, so that TOTALLY counts as a workout, right?

Monday: 3.5 mile run, abs (500)

Tuesday: 30 mins arc trainer, arms and legs (500)

Wednesday: 3.5 mile run, abs (500)

Thursday: off

Friday: 10k run, abs (800)

Saturday: yard work (it is what it is – should be pretty significant)

Sunday: 30 mins DDR, arms and legs (or other fun exercise) (400)

…or something like this.  The end of the week will be very fluid depending on what work looks like, what weather looks like, what fun we get up to, and so on.  However, I’ve got my mojo back.  I feel like if I’ve navigated my way through these last 2 hellish weeks, I can figure it out.  The key seems to be burning about 2500-3000 calories over the week, in fairly low intensity segments (for me – remember I though my sprints days were easypants back in January) 6 days per week.  In other words, burning it (workouts) as I earn it (eating).

Will it keep working?  I dunno.  I sure hope so!  I’m certainly excited to be within 5 lbs of my acceptable weight range starting out this week and hope to just get another good solid week under my belt.  Another 1.8 lbs would be nice too!

What do you endeavor to accomplish this week?

I feel like a bit of a wuss.

I used to work way more than 50 hours per week.  Regularly.  10 hours per day of being at work was like a vacation to me.  I regularly logged into work from home on a weekend – sometimes from the time I woke up until the time I went home.  Quality time with Zliten was often while making items, writing quests, crafting producer letters, or tweaking raid content.  He watched a whole anime SERIES one week hanging out with me in the office while I was working.  This was JUST the time outside of my 40+ hours I worked from home that week.

Now, I’m just used to having a life.  Those extra two hours per day REALLY cuts into my social life and workout time during the week.  I had to keep an eye on my email Saturday and do a little work from home on Sunday and geez it felt weird, uncomfortable, and today I feel as if I didn’t have a full weekend.  Crazy.  They say that alcoholics are one beer away from a relapse – so perhaps I am one VPN and weekend work session away from not having a thought outside my job, but I don’t think so.  It would take something major – and outside this said something of catastrophic proportions, I think I am cured, y’all.

However, this doesn’t solve the other problem.  We’re heading into Week 3 of project: lose the fluff, Week 4 of project: ship the little deliverable that could, and I’m TIRED.   But as they say, no rest for the wicked.

Last Week:

I won’t get into it like I did last Monday, simply because I didn’t keep a detailed journal of my feelings.  I did track fairly thoroughly each day on Daily Burn, so I’ll just summarize.

Monday

Ate: 1653 calories (Goal was 1700).  Pretty much exactly how and as much I’m supposed to eat.  I had a REALLY rough go of it that day and was starving pretty much all day until after dinner.  I think it was because I had spent the weekend trying to cut (food, not alcohol) calories real low.  One day of good nutritious eating fixed it though.  Day 1 of getting up SUPER early (7:30 or before) to be home by 6 to give the leezard pain meds.

Exercise: 464 calories burnt (goal was 500) burnt: DDR for 30 mins and then an ab workout.

Total intake: 1189

Tuesday

Ate: 1610 calories (goal was 1700).  Just didn’t really have the oomph or desire to eat more, even though I didn’t reach my goal and I even burned more calories than I meant to – although my lunch MAY have been 100 calories more (after I tracked I looked around and it said 500 some places and 600 elsewhere, so there).  Day 2 of getting up super early (7:30), more leezard pain meds.

Exercise: 565 calories burnt (goal was 500).  Meant to do a 4.5 mile run, ended up doing 5.25.  Was just too nice and was rolling sans garmin so I didn’t map my run until after.

Total Intake: 1045 (oops – now I *hope* those lettuce wraps were 600 calories)

Wednesday

Ate: 1693 calories (goal was 1600).  Made the mistake of a fairly small lunch, fairly small dinner, and got SUPER snacky late at night.  Considering my burn was a little over though, I’m not complaining, it worked out.  Day 3 of getting up early (7:30), we were SUPPOSED to have a 7pm trivia date but it got canceled.

Exercise: 464 calories burnt.  DDR and an ab and arm workout I found online.

Total Intake: 1229

Thursday

Ate: 1734 calories (goal was 1600).  A *little* more of the sauce that day than I would have liked.  Like a MORON, stayed up until 4am drinking.  I was SURE we would have to work this weekend and figured I’d have my fun that night – then the next day found out, of course, that it was not to be.  Oh well.

Exercise: 464 calories (goal was 400) burnt.  3.5 mile run, and since I did it on the treadmill, I was able to count my warmup and cooldown in the burn so it’s a little more accurate.  I think the treadmill overestimates about 5 calories per mile, but in the grand scheme of things, who cares?

Total Intake: 1270

Friday

Ate: 1443 calories.  I just could NOT keep it to 1200 that day (the goal).  My body just won’t run on that few calories anymore.  I think I’m going to have to modify the goal on non-workout days to be a little more reasonable (1300-1400).

Exercised: NADA.  Nothing.  My only rest day and I sat on the couch.  Bliss!

Total Intake: 1443

Saturday

Ate: 2123 calories.  Goal: 1800.  Oops.   I made the mistake of doing a kick ass workout and then heading RIGHT to lunch at a mexican restaurant.  My appetite was KILLER right then and I devoured half a basket of chips and a full plate of chicken fajitas – so over 1k calories by 1pm.  I had a fairly lo cal dinner, but then some drinks and was STARVING again later and had some not so healthy munchies.  Meh. I didn’t think I was quite this over.

Exercise: 665 calories burned.  1 mile run to the gym, arms, 1 mile on treadmill, abs, 1 mile on treadmill, legs, 1 mile run home.  Felt like a lot more, honestly, so I might not be so off (50 mins of weights was probably more than 235 calories simply because my heartrate was up from the mile runs each time).  Loved this workout, especially the run home in the sprinkling rain.

Total Intake: 1458

Sunday

Ate: 1628 calories (goal was 1800).  Made it a goal to be reasonable at the italian buffet, and mostly succeeded.  Loaded up on roasted veggies and while I did consume some gloriously greasy pesto pasta, I did stick to ONE scoop of ice cream and some fruit for desert.  I feel like I done good – both in the preparing for and executing on today.  I did not particularly LIKE snacking all evening instead of eating a small and healthy dinner, but my parents were around til 10pm and it was snack or starve…

Exercise: 600 – 1 hour DDR.  I would have normally taken it easier today, but the whole italian buffet thing… I’m very glad I did what I did.

Total Intake: 1028 (another oops but after the day before… balances out).

So, here we go with the weeklies:

Consumed Avg per day: 1697

Burned Avg per day: 460

Net Intake per day: 1237

Avg Deficit per day: 563 (resulting in just over 1 lb loss, potentially)

Weight this morning: 159.4 (net loss, 1.8 lbs)

Soooo…I’m doing something right.  Haven’t started a week under 160 in quite a while.  Is this process kind of annoying and painful and rigid and I wish I could just *be*?  Sure.  Is it finally working in a way nothing else has?  Hell yes.  So on it I will stay.  1.8 lbs lost BOTH WEEKS and very similar net calories?  Looks like consistency to me, friends.  I do believe I’ve got a little of that so called MOMENTUM and I just need to keep rolling and not put down the brakes.

More later about this week’s plan… today’s pics by Graph Jam.

Since I’ve already exceeded my limit for ranting, whining, analyzing, and neuroses this week, I think I’ll send you into the weekend with a bunch of pictures from the seriously AWESOME duathlon two weekends ago.  As nitpicky and crazy as I get, I certainly can step back and bask in the awesomeness.

A year ago, I would not have felt confident in my ability to run and bike back to back to back.  I also would have definitely worried about the heat that day.  Good thing I trained for a half marathon in the hottest spring/summer ever last year! …and honestly, I was worried about the bike/run/bike thing until I was able to complete the distance two days before.  Also, a year ago Zliten would have not joined me.  I’m glad he was able to finish the race!

Two years ago, in addition, I would not have had the endurance yet to run the 1st part of the race (5k), let alone the second and third legs.  I would have felt completely out of place and intimidated among the athletes there.  Good thing that year I worked my ASS off through long hours and particularly hostile-to-weight-loss situations, and worked on building my running base from barely 2 miles to comfortable at a 10k, and went beyond my comfort zone and entered my first race.  And then another.  And I was hooked.

Three years ago, I would have felt self conscious in pants (my uniform was skirts w/elastic waistbands).  I would have been uncomfortable in the heat.  Camping probably would have thrown my back out for weeks.  I would have felt like the fat girl and stuck out like a sore thumb.  I would have nothing to talk about with these people, as I wouldn’t have considered running unless chased and biking was something I hadn’t done since junior high school.  Good thing that year I decided to change my life and lose the weight for good even if it took me a long time – and picked up a penchant for all things sweaty as I took off weight and built endurance.

This year, I went, and felt confident starting, felt comfortable (though awe-inspired) at these crazy distance runner peoples, and finished the race with a respectable time (1:18:45) 3rd to last.

Next year, 4th to last at least.  And at least 1:18:44.

Now, I present to you, pictures.

Have a fantastic and healthy weekend, campers.  I’ll do my best to do the same.

What scary/cool/outside your comfort zone thing have you done lately that’s beyond your previous wildest expectations?

Ok, first, feel free to read here, I don’t mind.  Just come back, will ya?  Charlotte got me thinking about how our bodies are different.  The study says men can get along just fine on carby diets, and it’s supposed to make us chickypoos at major risk for heart disease.  Also keep in mind I’m a bit of a grumpypuss this week so ranting and barely edited dialogue forthcoming!  This is but one person’s experience with carbohydrates (all health and fitness freaks, please recoil in horror instinctively…)

As for the research – I’m going to say different strokes for different folks.  As a super active sporty fit kid and then serious gymnast, I gravitated towards an extremely carb heavy diet, all but vegetarian (a little meat in my pasta or rice or sandwich didn’t bother me, but I loathed the idea of a big steak or chop), and I ran on it extremely well.

The key component for me is the being super active and balanced.  I’ve tried to limit my carbs and my body rebels, even after months.  I’ve tried to up my protein and fat intake, and my body doesn’t respond positively or negatively (just makes it extremely hard to lose/maintain weight).  I find that at a certain stage of half training I crave protein (the major heavy mileage/fast paced stuff) but at all other times it’s really unnatural for me to cram the stuff down my throat to the tune of 100g per day or more like the daily recommendations would have me do.

I don’t *get* the phenomenon that other people have told me (my mom for example) that when they have simple carbs they just go crazy wanting to stuff their face with them.  For example, if we both opened a half gallon of ice cream at the same time, my parents might eat it in a few days.  Same with our houseguests – she was pregnant, sure, but they went through a half gallon every 3 days or so and ALWAYS had some in the house.  For us, we’ll have a measured serving every few days and it will probably get freezerburnt before it’s gone.  We tend to only buy the “Ben and Jerry’s” size, which usually takes about a week.

I do get crazy with the sugar during the end/after half training.  For that last month or so, I NEED the simple carbs to do what they do (not give me a super full feeling and get calories to my body quickly).  Or I’m in danger of getting dizzy and almost passing out in the shower after an 11 mile run – note to self, when burning 1200 calories on about 100 consumed that day, EAT then stretch and shower.  On training runs, you don’t eat complex carbs or protein or anything with nutrients (since it goes through you too fast to have any benefit), the only thing that matters is that it contains easily digestable calories, and a little caffeine if that’s your thing.  Right after really hard workouts, you ALSO need some easily digestable calories.  I know there are records of distance runners out there operating on lo carb diets, but I can’t imagine it.  It would definitel have to be a VERY DELIBERATE choice and take months/years of training, weaning yourself off carbs, and I just can’t see enjoying that.  At all.

However, what happens after a race is my body takes a while to realize that I’m no longer stressing it out so much, so the appetite is there, and I do get a little of the sugar addiction just because I’m putting so much more than normal in my body.  I normally have a /sweets off switch.  I eat a little, it makes me feel a slight bit nauseous (usually at or just below whatever 1 serving is on the package) and then I leave it alone.  During the end/right after I lose that ick switch so I have to go through a period of detox where I have to smack the chocolate chips out of my hand sometimes and it is just about impossible to refuse cake in the in the breakroom at work.   After a week or two going mostly cold turkey, I’m good though to resume normal operations.  For example the cavalcade of comfort food coming through the office this week (cookies! doughnuts! cake! more cake! leftover easter candy!) has been tempting, but avoidable.  As much as I’ve been bitching about it on twitter.  I mean seriously people, you must have Quix-diet-dar and be trying to send me into a tizzy… sigh…

It’s a touch different with salty carbs (which have always been my weakness), but beyond the potato chip devil (seriously, one serving per day until they are gone… and that takes restraint), I’m not tempted to binge at all.  I certainly have had instances of eating way more than a serving, but it usually includes being at a party, being genuinely hungry, and a liberal dose of booze.  But as I discussed earlier in the week, for the same calories of food, I don’t feel full without my side of mashed potatoes, or rice, or bread.  A sandwich with 4 oz of turkey (even if it’s not whole grain bread) is more satisfying and filling to me than an 8 oz steak.  I eat and enjoy whole grain/brown stuff when I can because I know it’s healthier and I genuinely enjoy stuff like my sprouted grain bread, but I don’t feel negatively affected if I have a delicious turkey on sourdough.

My main problem is the “stand in front of the fridge and stuff my face” – for some reason those calories don’t register the same (and they certainly don’t count in my head the same), and they’re hard to track.  Two turkey pepperoni, a pinch of lowfat shredded cheese, a spoonful of leftover veggies, some baby carrots, a melba cracker, some pop chips, a bite of jerky, and a few pistachios – how do you quantify that?  However, if you look at the general combination of the snack, it’s generally healthy – a little lean protein, a little good fat, some fairly decent carbs, and some veggies.  If I could put that all on a plate, go sit down, and enjoy it as a snack, I’d feel full and life would go on.  I’m working on it.  But I don’t just cozy down with a bag o empty calories – I’ve tried, I get half a serving in and realize how many calories and how UNFULL I am and put it back.

Then, there is the mental wellness and happiness aspect.  The idea of lo carb makes me want to crawl in a corner, rock back and forth, and cry.  Getting me to do anything productive or active without some bread or noodles is like pulling teeth.  Now, I won’t tell you how to live your life.  Rock on with your Atkins or primal.  Enjoy hissing at potatoes and calling everything not sprouted “yicky white bread” like my moms.  Toss your hamburger buns in the trash and pick at your sandwiches sans bread.  I just won’t be joining you and damned if I’m going to feel bad about it anymore.

I’ve been told I act/think like a male type brain (whatever that means) anyway, maybe I’m just wired differently.  As the article says.

Have a crazy carb binge story?  Think I’m full of crap and just making excuses and I’m subconsciously killing myself slowly with yicky white bread?  Anyone else just not *get* the “carbs are the devil” mentality this decade?  And have successfully lost/maintain a healthy weight and active lifestyle unaffected by whether you choose white or wheat?

As I don’t think it’s QUITE dead yet.  So, to pick up where I left off yesterday…

What did I learn about myself?

1.  I definitely had some habits to break, but it wasn’t impossible to work on that with the right attitude (no “I deserve this” mentality).  I did pretty well (minus some slips yesterday) with eating intentionally and purposefully, but it was something I had to be very conscious about.  I think when I go back to maintaining, as long as I keep the conscious and not worry so much about the calories, I’ll be in better shape.

2.  On a normal day, where I am eating healthy and nutritious food (not trying to save calories for a special meal or booze), and not affected by emotions/hangover/etc … I seem to be most comfortable consuming about 1500-1600 calories and burning about 300-400 calories in my workout.   Going to try to roll with this most days.  Except when life gets crazy and I have to do differently.  Like this week.  Heh.

3.  Eating a little more mid-afternoon seems to help combat the OMG-it’s-8-and-I-just-got-home-from-working-out-need-food-now pantry scramble.   As long as it’s not anything ridici-spicy or greasy, it doesn’t seem to screw up my tummy.  Half marathoning really worked out those issues for me.  I can down some food and go run within the hour no problem because I had to learn how to do it.

4.  I might need to cool it on chocolate and super un-nutritional sweets for a while.  I felt so much better and more satisfied with the frozen fruit bars or even the greek yogurt as a treat in a way that just didn’t cut it with candy or cake or ice cream.

5.  Just like running, it really is all mental.  It’s about enduring a little mental discomfort to reach a goal.  I know there is an end to this phase.  Just like there is an end to each run.  Luckily, I seem to have hit my stride the first week (thank goodness, I was afraid it would be MUCH rougher), now I just need to keep up the pace until my time on the treadmill is up.

6.  I am ok with less food than I realize.  Especially with the smaller workouts per day, my appetite has gone from universe sized to small-galaxy-sized.  Things I would take down in one meal and look for more now last me a meal and a snack (the subway foot long) and things that I think will no way fill me up seem to suffice (the quiznos small and cup o soup).  I need to remember that I don’t have to be FULL after each meal, just not hungry is ok, and there is RARELY a time that I am away from a place where I can grab something healthy if I am getting dizzy from hunger.

7.  Being hungry is not an emergency.  It’s just like being tired, or muscle soreness, or a slight headache, or a slight bad mood or a mild hangover.  It’s something that at low levels, you can work your day around.  Occasionally, you have to endure it and put it in the back of your mind.  Contrary to (my) popular belief, I will not fall over and die at the first sign of not being full.

8.  I am not as much of a carnivore as other people.  I’ve stopped really focusing on getting a bunch of protein each day, and guess what?  I’ve had less of a problem being full on less calories.   I still feel like it’s important to start my day that way (although, I used to do good on big dose of fiber too so I might test that out soon), but I’ve noticed that I just don’t feel FULL when I OD on meat.  I like a small serving of meat, a decent serving of carbs, and a mess-ton of veggies.  That fills me.  Not to say that the other way doesn’t have its benefits (during the mid-stages of my half training, I just couldn’t get enough protein) but too much meat and too much fat doesn’t sit well with me.  I generally am right near the bottom, if not a little below my protein/fat each day, and I’m feeling good.  Different strokes for different folks, I guess!

9.  I will have bad days.  After one mostly great week, I am having it ROUGH.  I’ve had to get up super early to be off work by 6 (we’re back on crazy hours again), take care of the ‘guana, and then go work out after.  The next two days, I have to be up by 7-7:30 and work out in the morning, because my social calendar just filled up after work.  I am exhausted, grumpy, generally hungry, and not feelin’ it (any of it), but seeing the scale go down?  Right now?  Honestly worth it.

Verdict: Last week was pretty much a win.  This week’s goal is pretty much to replicate last week and be under 160 by next Monday.

Week #2 Workouts:

Monday: 30 mins DDR and strength session after work (500 calories)

Tuesday: 45 mins run after work (500 calories)

Wednesday: 5k run in the morning (400 calories)

Thursday: 45 mins elliptical at the gym (500 calories)

Friday: off

Saturday:  run/weight intervals at the gym after work (600 calories)

Sunday: 60 mins DDR (600 calories)

On tap for the week, is trivia Wednesday night, and Italian buffet Sunday lunch for my dad’s birthday, and I’m sure there will be random happy fun party times either Friday or Saturday, as that is normal.  Wednesday I must be up by 7:30 again to get out to run by 8, and I plan to eat at home, but need to have a few more calories for a wine or 2.  Friday/Saturday might switch depending on what the plans are by the weekend, and I MUST complete a MAJOR sweatworthy workout Sunday morning as at 1pm we will be descending upon Cannoli Joe’s, a very high end Italian buffet, for a bit of heaven.  I plan on blowing my (calorie) wad pretty much in the one meal, but I’d like to have at least a salad for dinner or something…

Week #2 consumables:

Monday: 1200 + 500 workout = 1700

Tuesday: 1200 + 500 workout = 1700

Wednesday: 1200 + 400 workout = 1600

Thursday: 1200 + 500 workout = 1700

Friday: 1200

Saturday:  1200 + 600 workout = 1800

Sunday: 1200 + 600 workout = 1800

So, a little more burnage than last week, but not by a huge amount.  Mostly to combat weekend chomp and sloshing, and the unknown of having lunch brought in each day (though I haven’t had a problem finding the healthy-ish option each day, pizza day always looms).

Mostly – just try to hold the line.  Keep the momentum going.  Not be frustrated that I am losing the same weight I lost in Jan-March 09 but be thankful I was able to get back on the wagon quickly enough that it was 10 lbs and not more.

Trying to lose weight and be a normal human is kind of exhausting, but at least there is a light at the end of the end of the tunnel.  I just gotta get there.  So, how is YOUR day going?

Explanation for the title – I am known at work for my pipes.  The first person to be recorded for voice over was me, and the first thing they asked me to do was scream.  Note that this was back in the day to get some test sounds (although, I think it got worked into a monster in game), and this was just in an office.  I opened up and screamed as loud as I could and they could hear it the next floor down.  So I have a reputation.  I have been asked to summon everyone in the office and have just done it yelling from the back corner.  Hey, what can I say, I was a theatre minor, I was educated to PROJECT to a whole auditorium.  So I have some pipes on me.  I can be very long and loud.  I also have some e-pipes, because this is a looooooong post.  Standard-ish disclaimer:

What follows is a long and detail-oriented numbers orgy of everything I did last week.  Abandon all hope, ye who enter here…

So this week has been an interesting ride.  Definitely an enlightening experience – it’s been a while since I’ve been this stringent with my intake and this analytical with my bad self.  It was weird being hungry, and not fulfilling my hunger.  It was weird worrying about the calorie count of everything.  It was strange equating exercise to how much I could eat each day.  It’s been a while since I really considered alcohol calories as part of my day’s calories instead of letting it be an acceptable overage.  So how did it unfold?

Some notes:

I am undercutting what Daily Burn is telling me is my goal by 100 calories (they are saying 1300-1550, I’m going for 1200).  Daily Burn is telling me I will lose about .75 lb per week on their plan, and I’d rather try for 1 – 1.25.  I haven’t shorted myself calories for a while and feeling pretty strong, I’m not training for anything specific, and I’d like to shed this fluffy sooner than later (as long as it’s healthy) so I can go back to not worrying about it so much.

I am trying to use very conservative workout estimates of calories expended.  I’m getting most sources saying that a mile run for me is about 125 calories burned, and the effort feels like about a 6 on the 1-10 scale if I do it in 10 minutes.  So I’ve been comparing what I’m doing to running.  30 mins arc trainer going hard is honestly about equal to about 30 mins easy running (so about 375 – 400 calories is valid).  600 calories for a 30 minute DDR course is NOT equal to 1.5 times as hard as 3 mile run, so I’m setting that more like 300 every 30 minutes.  If I really bust ass at my weights I’ll set them as circuit training (250 calories) but most times I’ll count them as pilates (150).

Hold on to your hats.  Time for a day by day…

Monday:

Mood: Excited to get this party started.  Felt sorta bloated and icky from lots of salt and food the day before so I was definitely ready for a little regulation.

Exercise thoughts: still a little tired/sore from the duathlon, so I decided to do 30 mins on the arc trainer and weights at the gym instead of running. Burned approximately 600 calories.

Food thoughts: got a foot long turkey (no cheese, no mayo) for lunch, and could have probably been ok with just a 6 inch and maybe some soup.  However, eating a bit more later in the day (around 4) helped me feel more satiated.  Definitely felt the post workout munchies but since I was not as hungry as normal, I resisted until dinner.  Trying to eat 1800 calories was actually pretty challenging – but I made it to 1791.  Fruit bar (natural fruit popsicles) for desert – very satisfying.

Rating: A

Tuesday:

Mood: pretty happy – it was a short workday because we had lunch and a movie outing (to see Clash of the Titans).   A little nervous about making good choices but optimistic.

Exercise: got up in the morning and did 30 mins DDR before work.  Burned about 300 calories.

Food: was an angel at the movie – got an asian chicken salad, no wontons, and only used about half the dressing.  There may have been one glass of wine though.. At around 3pm, I dug into my fridge and ate a greek yogurt.  I realized it was because I felt a little grumpy about so much junk food being consumed around me – and I felt entitled to a reward.  Not thrilled with the motivation, but the actual food consumed – bueno.  At dinner, I went back for a little bit of seconds after I was decently satiated (oops), and ended up 68 calories over (1568).  No desert or snackies though!

Rating: B+

Wednesday:

Mood: was up EXTREMELY early to get my run in, work a 10 hour day, then go to this event after work.  So a little tired and crunchy.

Exercise: got up at 7:30 (middle of the night for me now but working my way back to it) and ran 3.5 miles before work.  Burned 400 calories.

Food: specifically ordered a low cal lunch (small quiznos sammich with no dressing and bowl of chicken noodle), but it was about an hour and a half late and I was STARVING.  To the point where I could barely concentrate on work.  Then, when the food got there, it was only a cup of soup.  Y’know what though?  It was enough.  I was JUST satisfied and ended up making it through without dying.  I ate a strange early dinner of leftover turkey breast from a bag (bag-o-meat) and blackberries, and then headed to the event.  I was never so glad that the food was just discounted, not free, so I just had 2 drinks and shared a slider plate with 2 other people.  This was a big breakthrough day.  I can handle this without shutting myself in a locked room, I just have to ditch the “oh, it’s a special occasion” mindset when stuff like this happens every week, and such I did.  Ended the day at 1622 calories (goal was 1600).

Rating: A-.  Gotta be honest.  There was alcohol.  There was a slider.  But I stayed within my calories and got my workout in.

Thursday:

Mood: Had to take the leezard in to be spayed today.  Nervous and feeling anxious all day.  Not the finest day for me.

Exercise: None.  I had planned on a resistance band workout at least, but it just wasn’t in the cards.

Food: It was pizza day at work.  On a day that was stressful and was a lo cal limit AND I was hungry… this was not optimal.  I had 2 slices and a salad and it JUST got me to barely not being hungry (pizza is yummy, but is horribly unsatisfying – left to my own devices and oblivion, I could probably take down a whole one myself).  It’s a good thing the day was very busy or I would have been struggling.  I headed home and we took care of the leezard and then I cooked up a nice, filling, healthy stir fry and pork noodle soup.  I ended the day at just under 1300 calories (1295).  The goal was 1200 but I just think that little is PHYSICALLY IMPOSSIBLE for me without a lot of pain and discomfort.

Rating: B

Friday:

Mood: A little crispy crunchy but definitely happy it’s Friday (especially once I found out we weren’t working the weekend).

Exercise: it was too pretty.  I had to skip the gym and I went for a 6.5 mile run outside instead.  Planned about 4 miles but just couldn’t stop myself.  Burned about 700 calories.

Food: Got an opportunity to have a wonderful, tasty, filling, huge, and 450 calorie lunch (I <3 Jason’s Deli mediteranian wraps + veggies + veggie soup) so I had a great start.  I had planned on dinner at the bar (out for a friend’s birthday), and got a veggie burger and a salad (neither were the greatest, but they worked for fillingness).  I had exactly TWO fries from someone’s plate and TWO chips with queso.  I sat next to the cupcakes for a while and shot them enough evil death stares that they stopped bugging me eventually.  Ended the day (even with a good dose of whiskey) at 1817 (goal was 1800).

Rating: B+

Saturday:

Mood: Happy, relaxed, but somewhat hung over (oops).

Exercise: Rallied later in the day to do about 60 mins story mode DDR and a 30 minute ab and arm workout.  Burned about 500 calories.

Food: Started the day with Zliten just begging for food.  It was 10am.  The choices were brunch buffet, and breakfast food place (ihop, etc).  Chose brunch buffet because I knew I could get a gigantic, yummy salad with mostly salsa dressing (dash o ranch) and tortilla soup and that would mostly do me.  I picked at a few additional things but ended up with about 750 calories – better than I expected.  Later, we made the leftover udon noodles and stir fry for a late light lunch, and then for dinner had grilled fish, rice, and veggies.  I went 53 over my goal (1700), but for a weekend day I feel like it was a mad success.  I usually lose it and am done giving a shit by Saturday night if not before.

Rating: A-

Sunday:

Mood: Happy and productive.  A little cabin fever-y since we stayed home most of Saturday.

Exercise: Beyond a LOT of shopping, nada.

Food: I found bagel thins at the grocery store and JUST HAD to try them.  Pretty yummy for a bagel craving with some fat free cream cheese and some bacon (oddly enough, this was my lunch sandwich packed throughout late elementary, middle, and the first two years of high school, alternated with PBJ or PBH (honey) – I could not STAND lunchmeat until I was about 16).  I got a mango at the store and it was like candy.  Yum!  I’ll have to remember to get them once in a while.  Tried a black bean burger with some manwhich sauce (worked as a stand in for beef, but wasn’t nearly as good) for lunch.  Had some delicious homemade tandoori chicken for dinner.  I found sadly that I was way over my calories (1489, goal was 1200), but I just had no umph to workout by then.  I’d say that I just fell apart, but under 1500 calories on a weekend day?  I’ll call that a win.

Rating: C

Weekly Stats:

Rating: B+ average

Ate 11335 calories (1619 per day)

Burned 2500 calories (357 per day)

Average cals/day = 1262

Considering the sit-on-your-ass-all-day sedentary BMR for my weight and age is 1812, that’s about a 550 calorie deficit per day, or just over 1 lb lost.

Weight: Well, I screwed up here.  I was so embarassed by day 1, that I forgot to write down a weight.  Fuck it.  So I gained a bunch of weight.  Let’s just quantify it here and now.  Last Monday, I weighed in at 163.0.  Today, I weighed in at 161.2.  Net loss: 1.8 lbs. Even though I’m way above my maintenance weight I’m pretty sure y’all will still be my friends.

I still have a bunch of learning experience stuffs to cover and what’s on tap this week, but I think you’ve sat still for long enough today and I’ll continue on this train of thought tomorrow.

If you’ve still stuck around (you must be a saint, or incredibly bored), hit me up.  Too many calories?  Too few?  Where is your sweet spot of calories burnt vs eaten?  Do you ever intentionally go beyond that, or do less and eat less?