Amber's Get Healthy Journal (Comments Welcome)

[goldcupmom]

Sounds like you're off to a good start at working out & eating right while your're gone. Keep it up!!

Happy Monday!

 

[Foxfiregrrl]

Thanks Goldcupmom! I am trying to stay on track.

I had thought that I would want to do tv dinners or something to keep from eating out too much. I found out that there are a lot of really neat places to eat around here though. So for now I am eating breakfast at the hotel and lunch and dinner out. I am trying to be reasonably healthy w/ my meals still though.

I am nervous that I will not quite hit my goal for this month. I am very close, but I need like 47 minutes a day today tomorrow and thursday to make it for the month. I will be travelling on friday so I probably won't workout that day. Today I did the treadmill for 42 minutes and stretched for about 3 or 4 more. I did use the stairs (only one flight) and that probably took close to a minute each way. So I think I can honestly say that I made it to 47 minutes today. It is hard though because I want to do my running but when I do that it wears me out and I am less inclined to keep going for a longer period of time.
When I started on the treadmill today it was REALLY hard and I was like what is up? Then I noticed that I was on a 6.5 incline! I put it back down to the 3.5 that I was on yesterday. Later in the workout, maybe at about the 30 minute mark I put it down to 2.5. I did my walking at 3.5 miles per hour and my jogging at 4.5! Today I jogged 7 1 minute intervals. On a couple of them I took more than 2 minutes between, but I did them none the less. I did 2 miles in 32 minutes. Then with the last 10 minutes I did .5 mile, I spent some time cooling down gradually.

I was going to use the weight machine but I could not figure out how to use it I also had good intentions of getting up early this morning to workout, but when the alarm went off I decided not to get up

Today I ate:
Breakfast - oatmeal, milk, coffee
Lunch - Olive Garden soup, salad, & bread
Dinner - bread dipped in olive oil, wide egg noodles w/ sausage ragu sauce

For dinner I checked out this place that I read about called "Farm 255" that uses all local ingredients that are organic. It was pretty good and I would recommend it. I did like The Grit better because they had more menu choices, but Farm 255 was more upscale and has meat dishes. My Dh will be so proud of me for trying out different restaurants. I just wish he could be here to try them with me.

Training is going pretty well. The instructor tries to make it fun, but I have been a bit bored. I already know a good bit of the things we are learning now because of my school background in Social Work. It is good though to get the Department's perspective on things. At lunch today I went w/ 3 other girls. I didn't know where we were going and they wanted to go to an area w/ lots of places to eat. We ended up driving for at least 20 minutes just to get there and then chose Olive Garden. It took a while to get waited on and eat. We had an hour and ten minutes, but we were still 10 or 15 minutes late getting back! I was totally panicking! I do not like to be late and they have made it a point to say that we should not be late, etc. They didn't seem to realize that it was going to be that far, but the 1 girl knew where we were going and should have realized that it would not be a good idea. The instructor didn't say anything, but I was not real happy. Needless to say, I won't be riding w/ anyone else for lunch after that experience.
It is one thing if I somehow make myself late, but I was not in control in anyway and I didn't like that. Guess I have control issues

Ok. So I have been enjoying myself and having a pretty good week so far. Hope that everyone else is having a good one too!

 

[kmp1191]

Amber - good job on the exercise yesterday! I don't know if I would be disciplined enough to work out away from home.
It looks like you're staying on track....keep up the good work!

(and thanks for the well wishes on my board....i think i'm back to being human again today)

marie

 

[Foxfiregrrl]

Hi everyone! My training is going well. I am enjoying my stay here. I am almost sad that I have to go home on Friday. We have been learning about our computers today.

This morning I had oatmeal and milk again for breakfast. At lunch I went by myself to The Grit. It was just as good this time as it was last time. Today I had the cream of potato soup. When I was there the other night the guy next to me at the bar had it and was raving about how awesome it was. At first I didn’t think it was that great but after a couple of bites it cooled down enough to taste it better. It was Really good. I think that it was made w/ tofu. I ate it all! Then I had The Grit Staple. It is pinto beans, rice, cheese, and onions. They had the option to replace the pintos w/ black bean chili and I did that. I also added veggies. There were zucchini, squash, & mushrooms added. It was really good also! I don’t normally like squash or mushrooms, but I ate them in this and they were good. I made it there and back in plenty of time today.

I walked on the treadmill today instead of jogging. I concentrated on walking at a faster pace during the first part of my time. Then I brought it back to closer to how fast I normally walk so that I could keep going. I was hurting in my right hip at one point and then a little in my right knee. I thought that I would have to quit, but I kept going and the pain eased off. I ended up doing 47 minutes. I went just long enough to do what I needed to get done today.

When I finished I figured I might as well go ahead and swim some. I only ended up swimming for about 5 minutes though. I was worn out and for some reason my left shoulder was hurting when I swam. (There seems to be a pattern here ) After my swim I spent probably 10 minutes or so in the hot tub. I Love those things! They are so awesome!

I was reading my Shape magazine yesterday. It has a plan for walking or running to loose weight. It has you start at 3 miles. You do different levels of exertion on different days. I don’t think that I will follow it, but it was interesting. I think that on the days when I only walk though I will try to do at least 3 miles. I will want to try to increase my speed though, cause that usually takes me an hour. I was working toward 3 miles today. I didn’t make it to 3, but I am not really sure how far I went. Some guy came in the gym right before I was finished and it really threw me off. I had slowed my pace way down so I was probably close to 2.5 miles.

For dinner, I went to this country cooking place that is not in downtown. I didn’t feel like dealing w/ parking downtown tonight. There aren’t many other options in this part of town though. I got the fried popcorn shrimp w/ mashed potatoes & corn. I added the soup and salad bar. I tried not to eat too much, but did have more than I should have. I enjoyed it, but these days I don’t enjoy the greasiness (sp?) of fried foods. I think that is good. I just to really like fried foods and I am still drawn to them, but the more healthy foods that I eat the less I enjoy fried ones.

Well, that is about it for today. LOST is on and I LOVE that show! I don’t want to miss any.

Have a good day!

 

[ScoJo15]

Well, that is about it for today. LOST is on and I LOVE that show! I don’t want to miss any.

Isn't this show the best ever?!! Last night was awesome...I think the next few weeks up to the season end are going to bring us some great shows!!

Great job on exercising away from home!! That takes a lot of dedication and committment! Congrats on reaching your goal for the month! Keep up the great work!!

 

[Foxfiregrrl]

Ok. Thursday I went out to Zaxby's for lunch. I had buffalo chicken fingers and fries! It tasted good at the time but I was pretty miserable for the rest of the afternoon. I won't be doing that again soon! For dinner I had Applebee's. I got the quesadilla app off of the WW menu and half the southwestern salad. I asked for the guacamole, sour cream, and dressing on the side. I just put a little of each. It was really good.

For exercise Thursday I did the treadmill. I went for 40 minutes and did 2.45 miles. I did my jogging during that time also. Only 6 minutes total this time. I was having some pains by the 3rd interval and wasn't sure that I would get my 6 in, but I just spread them out a little more. I don't struggle w/ having the endurance to do them or breathing, what I am having trouble w/ is my calves and or knees hurting me and keeping me from moving on from this 1min/2min interval. I feel like I should be making more progress than I am, but I am not getting discouraged. I know that ANY jogging is more than I ever did before. And it is just taking my body time to get used to it.

Yesterday I checked out of my hotel and went out for breakfast. I went to a little hole in the wall diner. I had grits, eggs, sausage, and 1/2 a biscuit. It was good! For lunch we went back to Zaxby's but I did better this time. I had the Grilled chicken salad w/ light ranch. For dinner, Dh & I went out for mexican. I had a taco, 1/2 a burrito, some rice, & some beans, Plus a 32 oz margarita!

I had not planned on exercising yesterday at all, but when I got home good my mom came over. I looked at her and could see that she was dressed for walking. I changed and walked with her. It is a great way for us to spend time catching up w/out just sitting around doing nothing but gabbing. We walked for 25 minutes and then Dh came home. We walked over to mom's so that I could weigh myself before we went out to dinner.

So my final weight for the end of March is ..... 201. I am down 2.5 pounds! That is pretty good considering that I spent a whole week of eating out! So now I have lost a total of 7.5 pounds since January. Not really the progress that I had been hoping for but it is a start.

Today Dh & I will go to lunch before going over to his mom's house for a bit. He and his friends are getting together to hang out and I will come home and hang out here. I have a lot to do around the house since I have been gone a week and I just want to be home for awhile. Not sure if I will exercise today or not, most likely I won't though. Tomorrow!

 

[kmp1191]

Congrats on the loss!! keep up the good work!! I know it's hard working full time and trying to fit in exercise, but you can do it!! it's great that you're mom & dh are encouraging you and doing the walking with you!!

Great job Amber!!

 

[Foxfiregrrl]

Oh, Yeah... I left out something Really Bad! After lunch yesterday one of the girls brought in Freshly baked Brownies! I ate WAY too many!! Then when it was time to go home she said she didn't want to take any home w/ her. Everyone at my table knows that I am watching my weight, so what do they do? They tell her to give them to me I made another girl take some of them, but I ate the rest on the drive home. It wasn't that much, cause we had already eaten most of the pan. Needless to say, I'll be working off those calories for a week or so at least!

 

[lindalinda]

Brownies! I actually bought a package of brownies at the store. I was gonna make them and take them to my neighbor, cuz she is always bringing me stuff (cookies, banana bread etc) I make these cream cheese swirled brownies that are really good, so I figured I could make them, and not eat them since I was giving them to her. But she went to Mexico today, and wont be back til next week. I hope I can NOT make them until then.

At least they are gone now Amber, that s the way I look at it, just exercise them off! You have been doing great so dont let that get you down. Congrats on the weight loss too, slow and steady wins the race..thats the way I'm doing it!

 

[Foxfiregrrl]

Thanks Linda! I am definitely glad they are gone.

I have had a pretty good day today, just kind of chillin some. You would think that after eating out for a week straight that I would not have wanted to go out last night and today for lunch, but I did For lunch today we had Panera Bread. I had a half Chicken Olivada sandwich & bowl of Black Bean soup, w/ an apple. I only ate a few bites of the apple though

For dinner I had some leftovers from my week away. Some from The Grit & some from Applebee's. It was mostly healthy and there wasn't very much of it. I ate that kind of early and I figured that if I got hungry I could eat my leftover mexican from last night or some cereal. I did get hungry, but I ate Movie Popcorn instead. My mom had brought some home yesterday because my cousin works at the theater and gave it to her. I have a Big bag of it and I ate too much, but at least I did stop before I hit the bottom

So I did not eat too well today, but it wasn't as bad as it could have been. I will try to get back on track w/ recording calories and fat starting tomorrow.

I did not plan to do any exercise today, but I did do 18 minutes on the mini step machine while reading journals earlier. So my month is starting out with something at least which is better than nothing.

I haven't yet decided if I should join the Lose 5 for April challenge or not? It is my goal to at least lose that much every month, but I have not been hitting that goal. I also don't really track it too much and therefore don't really post to that thread. I hate to sign up and then not really participate. I am thinking that for April I will just concentrate on my eating and exercise. If the weight starts coming off more consistantly then I will join back up next month. What do you guys think?

 

[kmp1191]

BROWNIES!!! i would kill for a brownie right now!! i actually have a box of mix in the pantry that i thought about making yesterday....REALLLY wanted to....but didn't!

about the 5 for april....I think as long as you know you are exercising and feeling better, then i wouldn't worry about it. alot of people don't measure their weight by the scale, they do it by how their clothes fit. try it for a month and see how you do.

also, you are 18 minutes ahead of me on the exercise challenge!
keep up the good work!

marie

 

[Foxfiregrrl]

Ok, so I didn't really get back on track with my eating yet We had our typical Sunday dinner yesterday and it was pretty full of fat. It was lima beans, white acre peas, green beans w/ potato, mashed potatoes & gravy, boiled egg, biscuit, fried chicken from KFC ( I only at a small piece off of the breast, but I did eat the skin on that piece. it was about 2 oz). After that lunch I knew that I should do better for dinner. We decided that we would go to the grocery store to pick up some stuff and while there I would get a salad from the deli section w/ some chicken in it or something similar. But they didn't have any thing.... So we ended up going to a new pizza place that we had a coupon for We got the hummus on flat bread appetizer and a small pizza w/ feta & spinach. It was a thin crust and not greasy at all. We each had 3 pieces.

We did walk yesterday. We got in 28 minutes. We didn't go really fast, but it was still exercise.

Today was going to be a good food day. I had Kashi cereal w/ milk for breakfast. I made a salad for lunch & was going to have that w/ an apple...BUT my trainer brought me into town for an investigation and we had more stops to make before going back to the office. She decided we would stop for lunch. We went to Loco's which is kind of a sandwich and burger place. I could have gotten a salad, but I love their Chicken parmesan sandwich and I haven't been there in like 2 years. So I got it, but they did have a Whole Wheat bread option and I went with that. I got fries too! For dinner I was better. I made Shepard's Pie and we had salad with it. I have yet to do my calories for today or yesterday... I know that I need to start doing that again. I know that it helps me alot.

On to the thing I did right today... I exercised for 78 minutes! I started w/ my mom and we didn't keep good track of laps (but I went back and figured it out). After the first lap I started my jogging. I jogged 1 minute on each lap for 6 laps. Then my sister joined us. I wanted to do more jogging, but I had been having a hard time catching my breath and my side was hurting a bit. We did 2 more laps and then I did jog 1 more minute (total of 7) on the next lap. We did one or two more before my Dh came home and joined us. Then we did 4 laps w/ him (no jogging ). I was SO pooped and I think I have a couple of small blisters, but I did approximately 4 miles!

Tomorrow I will eat the salad that I was suposed to eat today. Dh is cooking dinner tomorrow. So when I come home I plan to do some upper body strength training and maybe my yoga pilates tape. Then I can walk/jog w/ him when he comes home. Ok, it has been written, now it must be done

Have a good night!

 

[lindalinda]

Woo-hoo! Great job on the exercising girl! Obviously you are psyched! You inspired me to start the walk/run thing too and I am determined to keep it up.

You will get the food thing too, sometimes getting the exercise going first helps curb your appetite and motivates you to do better. I gotta say though you have waaay more interesting meals than I am used to having. I dont even know what white acre peas are! I think it must be that southern cooking.

Keep up the good work!

 

[Foxfiregrrl]

Thanks Linda! We can do it! Lets see, white acre peas... they are sort of like black eyed peas, but smaller and green maybe a form of field peas? I don't know, but my grandma makes them a lot.

So, today was a Much better day. I ate:
Breakfast - Kashi w/ milk
Snack - raisins
Lunch - salad (inc. egg, nuts, raisins, croutons, a bit of cheese, & dressing) & an apple
Snack - applesauce
Dinner - Shepard's Pie and salad

At work today I spent my entire day doing computer training and it is SO draining! When I got home I thought about those upper body moves that I promised to do yesterday. I also thought about the yoga. Instead I layed down on the couch Alas, not 5 minutes later, in walked my mom. She wasn't coming to get me for exercise, but just her "catching" me laying down was enough to motivate me. I was SO tired and I just wanted to go to sleep. She headed home and I told her that I would come over soon and we would walk. I went over like 5 minutes later. When my sis came home we got started.

We walked 2 laps then started our jog/walk routine. We did 6 laps w/ a minute of jogging each. My right calf was really tight and hurting during a good portion of the time (always w/ the aches and pains ). I kept pushing through it, but it is still a bit sore. We did 2 cool down laps. We totaled 2.5 miles. I kind of lost track of the time, but I am sure it was between 45 and 50 minutes. I also walked to my parents house and back twice, so I am counting 50. Pretty good for being so tired before hand.

Gonna go crash now! Good night!

 

[lindalinda]

Way to go Amber! Sounds like youre really back on track! Keep it up girl!

 

[kmp1191]

DOIN' GREAT GIRL!! KEEP IT UP!!
My DH is out of town.....I miss our run/walk time.

 

[Foxfiregrrl]

Thanks guys!

Today I ate:
Breakfast - Kashi w/ milk
Snack - raisins
Lunch - chicken sandwich, salad
Snack - applesauce
Dinner - red beans and rice (dh used healthy sausage)
Totals - Cal - 1012, fat - 26 (estimated cause I didn't take the time to calculate the red beans and rice)

I probably should have taken today off from exercise, because my right calf and leg was still a bit sore from yesterday. But I walked w/ mom and sis anyway. (Dh has missed the exercise for the last 2 days). We only walked today and did 1.5 miles. I am feeling it for sure.

I did our taxes tonight. I tell Dh every year that I can do them, but he insists that he wants to do them. Well, he still had not done them and when I volunteered today he "let" me do them. They were a pain because of my internship that I had last year. But they are done now.

My plan is to take tomorrow off to let my poor body rest a bit.

Have a good day everybody!

 

[ScoJo15]

Great job on the jogging each lap and way to get back on track with the eating!!

Hope you enjoy your off day....off days are important so that your body can rest and strengthen itself...

 

[kmp1191]

Congrats on working through your soreness...but i agree.....you need a day to give your muscles a break. Also, don't you feel better that the evil taxes are done?! I always feel a relief after i do ours. (thanks turbo tax!)

Looks like you are doing really good on your food too!!!
good work chickie!!

 

[Foxfiregrrl]

Scott - you are in Trouble... with that sneaky little September 2006 trip in your siggie! I had things to do today and as soon as I saw that I haven't been able to think of anything else but going back to Disney! I know DH won't approve another trip this year, so instead of moving on w/ my life I am sitting here trying to figure out if any of the people I know who have kids could afford to go! I figured that for my cousin & her dh to take there 3 dds it would cost just under $2000 and that is for Park Hoppers and staying at Port Orleans (cause value resorts only hold 4 people) I think that is a great price! I wan't to call and tell them they MUST go. I think I must come down from the Disney buzz some first...

Ok... I must think of something else.

Today I ate:
Breakfast - Kashi w/ milk
Snack - Raisins
Lunch - I packed a HC meal, but when I microwaved it something went Wrong. It was Super watery and gross looking. I tossed it and went to Subway. I had a chicken bacon ranch wrap, sunchips, and coke
Today is my grandparent's 60th anniversary! So my parents, dh, and I are going out to dinner w/ them. This is a pretty big deal cause my grandpa almost Never goes out to eat anywhere, heck he hardly ever leaves the house.

Not exercising today! I am kind of sore today. I am not usually sore, so I know this is definitely a sign that I need today off.

Have a good night everyone!