Bursting On The Scene

I am sort of a schism of emotions today.  Mostly good ones but I digress.  Let’s get on with it:

Movin’ on down:

This morning I started the week at 154.8.  This is a huge victory.  I haven’t started the week below 155 since – well, I can’t remember.  Since I have been paying attention to Monday weights.  My low weight last week was 152.8, which is also something I haven’t seen in a while.  How did I accomplish this?

Cakehole Shoving:

I actually did a damn good job of this for the entire week – for the most part.  I was below 1400 Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday.  I was around 1500 Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday.  I went a little nutzo on Sunday, but it couldn’t have been above 2000.   I did learn some good lessons and reinforce some good behaviors (or at least “lesser evil” behaviors).

Friday, I enjoyed a very healthy and low cal dinner and some drinks, but I found the good stopping point where I was enjoying myself but wasn’t wasted.  I wish to remember that point as sometimes on a weekend, I’ll just run up to that cliff and jump right on over.  Fun, yes, but then I pay for it the next day.   Saturday I was pretty responsible as well, we stayed in, ate leftovers, and cleaned like mad people.  The majority of the house is now sparkling clean – or at least for us normally opposite-of-neat-freak peoples.

Sunday, we had planned a little controlled splurge – ordering a medium supreme pizza and that along with salad and veggies being our meal for the day.  We put the pizza order in (and my Zliten, who was in need of meat, made us order the large chicken wings and fries) and then as soon as I hung up we got an invite to celebrate a friend’s birthday at the Alamo Drafthouse.  Fun yes – but my day was not working out as planned at all.  This day could have potentially been my ruination.

The pizza was delicious.  Just what I was craving.  We each had 2 slices and put the rest away (and now have a delicious lunch for today).  I had 3 chicken wings, and we split the order of fries.  The nice thing about the place is they have no frier.  Yeah, I know – the wings and fries are SO ungreasy because they’re baked.  It’s awesome.  A hefty meal perhaps, but my dinner later was a greek salad with italian.  Eaten right before we went to the alamo.  Hello, strategy.

The problem was, we got there and they were picking up the tab so they said to order whatever we wanted.  To clarify for any non-Austinites, the Alamo Drafthouse is really the only reasonable place to see a movie.  The ticket prices are cheaper, and they serve food (like real food – you can get pita chips, veggies, and hummus there, or a burger, or pizza if you would like) and beer and wine.  They also do really cool events like 80s sing alongs, screenings of old classics, and sometimes feasts themed to the movie.

I got a glass of wine and then somehow convinced myself it was a good idea to also order a guiness milkshake.  I shared it around with everyone and then drank about half.  While it may have been a not-so-good idea to order it I conquered two things.  First – milkshakes have held this magical power over me.  I have had a craving for one for over two years.  This one was delicious, but honestly, I would have rather had a nice three bite home baked cookie, or a sliver of decadent chocolate cake.  I will no longer be obsessed with them as they are firmly in the category now of “eh, totally not worth the calories”.  Second – I was able to drink half of it, put it down on the table, and leave it alone.  I have a big thing about finishing (which is why I only cook what I’m going to eat or make sure it is tucked away before I can go for it again), so it was nice to not suck the whole thing down.

All in all, a great week.  This week becomes a bit more challenging.  Friday, I have the day off and a friend and I are going to hit happy hour.  The plan is to get a good lunch in me and only allow myself healthy food if I’m going to drink.  Then, Saturday is our Austinite wedding reception.  We had a lot of friends that couldn’t go to Vegas, so we decided to host a reception here.  The win – we’re doing all the cooking.  However, I’m not going to subject my guests to stuff that doesn’t taste good so I have some ’sperimenting to do.  I am excited for a Polynesian feast!

I have been totally lazy about tracking calories over the weekend.  I’d chastise myself for it, but it actually seems to be working.  I know if I fall face down in the bag of chips or if I eat mindfully – and as long as I stick with the latter, I do ok.  If the downward trend comes to a screeching halt… then I’m back on it like bees on honey.  For now, I’ll see if I can get by as it’s something I’d like to move away from eventually.

My Ass, and Moving It:

During the week, I am a workout saint.  Shredded without complaint Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.  I did my DDR, my yoga, and my running.  I think I might have even beat a record running but sadly I wasn’t really timing.  The watch is coming with on tomorrow’s run though fo sho.  If there is any chance I ran a sub 25 minute 5k I want proof!  My 5 mile time is improving as well.  I’m under 50, now I want to work towards under 45.  I know I can do it!

The weekdays jam packed are killing me by the weekend.  I am so over it and sore and tired (thx u Jillian), I don’t want to do a fucking thing.  On Saturday, I woke up feeling like my pec was slightly pulled.  I had planned on shredding that morning and decided against it.  It takes me a full weekend before my feet and legs feel good again.  Level 3 is brutal.  Doing 5 days of intense strength back to back is brutal.

So this week I’m changing it up.  Just a little.  I said I was going to shred for 4 weeks.  I’m not going to wuss out this last week, but I am going to alternate levels.  M, W, F – Level 3.  Tu/Th – Level 1 or 2.  Going forward, I’m going to try to keep it on the schedule 2-3 times per week until half training gets too intense.  I don’t want to knock it too much.  I am seeing results.  I wore jeans yesterday that I haven’t even had the guts to put on in months.  It is working.  However, I just can’t risk rolling into training time injured and tired, and I think that alternating the days will work my muscles differently enough that it will be good for me and I won’t feel on the brink of injury.

NaNoWriMo:

The story is developing nicely.  Writing about characters inspired by and very similar to us ten years ago (extended and stereotyped and much more extreme) has made it easier to keep going – I just have to dig in my “memories” section of the brain for the next plot twist.  Perhaps the next one will be a story created solely by my warped little mind, but this is something safe for the first and very time-crunched attempt and I’m appreciating it.

I have no idea if it will be interesting.  If it was a screenplay, it would be one of those Napolean Dynamite type movies – slow paced, with some humor, but you almost feel like you are laughing at the poor sobs because their situation is so ridiculous, not because it’s terribly funny.  Nothing terribly extraordinary happens to them – they don’t get sucked into a black hole and end up in Bizarro World and become royalty – they just live their lives.  The end is anticlimactic.  But it’s kind of what I’m going for.

I’m also a little behind.  I should be at about 12500 words as of yesterday, and I’m only at about 11000.  It doesn’t sound like that much, but tonight I’m aiming to do about 3k words to get caught up, which is about 2 hours of full concentration, and I am usually at about 50% with the TV on and my Zliten home.  Hopefully I can have some kick ass sessions this week and get back ahead as this weekend isn’t looking promising for writing time.  For those of you who haven’t checked out NaNoWriMo, the goal is 50k words by Nov 30th.

Initial prediction – I’m going to finish the story.  I’m up in the air whether I can continue to dedicate the hours each day to finish up the words in the time allotted (though being super competitive me, I bet I’ll do it), but I’m going to do it even if it’s not by the end of the month.   However, I’m also now seeing a novel as a manageable and possible thing to do.  If I did it right and came up with a story outline, laid out the chapters in an outline, and then went to town, I think I could have something polished in perhaps 6 months time.   I’m not going to get books published by wishing for it.  It something I can EASILY do while just relaxing at home on the couch with the lappy.  This is a HUGE revelation for me!

It’s the same thing as a marathon.  It looks like a huge, unwieldy task.  Highly intimidating.  There is no better way to get there than picking a deadline and putting together a plan to get there.  Looking forward to cracking both of those nuts in the next year.

Back to my Monday.  What mountains are you going to climb this week?  Inspiration wanted.