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

[rcyannacci]

Thurs-
B- iced coffee (oops...forgot an appointment and had to forgo breakfast...not off to a good start)
L- cleaning out the fridge for vacation...left-over hummus and taboli on flatbread, baby carrots, and some of the popcorn nut mix.
D- pulled pork bbq (homemade and really good!), cole slaw, corn, taco salad (mostly lettuce and tomato).

Exercise- Curves 40 min., 5 min on legs

Well, I'm off to Hilton Head. See everyone next week!!!

 

[Lesli54]

Loved reading about your progress! It was great. I agree, doing a look back, really helps keep you focused on the prize and reminds us why we are still here. I really understand the part about thinking of yourself as two seperate parts. For me, I felt so much on the inside as the thinner me that I was, who had the confidence and drive to get anything done, but on the outside.....well, let's just say I tried very hard to ignore the outside by avoiding mirrors. Now, I feel the two coming closer together again.

You have great plans for your vacation and staying OP. Have a great trip, will talk to you when I get back.

 

[rcyannacci]

Back from Hilton Head- great vacation. Very relaxing, and I got to reconnect with my family. Zero family drama! Some of the highlights of the trip:

- My nephew Evan is 4 and so fun and smart! I loved playing with him on the beach...me making the sand castles and him tearing them down.

- Bike rides on the island and beach. I was sooooooooo glad that I had been exercising, because I had sooooooo much more energy and stamina. DH and I went for an hour long ride through Sea Pines with my brother, SIL, and Evan, and then DH and I separately went on 30-35 min. rides on the beach together. Riding on sand, we found, is much tougher than on bike routes.

- Great weather. We had time on the beach every day, and I spent most of it relaxing, reading, and generally not stressing about my dissertation. I think it's exactly what I needed to re-charge for the summer writing push.

- I relaxed about food for the week, and didn't let it become an issue. Yes, I didn't have control over what was on the table, but I did well moderating portions and such. My Dad made eggs and bacon EVERY day for breakfast; I mainly skipped the eggs, moderated bacon to a slice or two for protein, and added something of my own like fruit or toast w/ peanut butter.

- Did have some splurges, mainly in the form of frozen dacquiris with my DH (the pool bar has the best bartender...and the best banana dacquiri on the planet!). But, I maintained consistent exercise for the week and did well on portions. I just weighted in at Curves yesterday, and I didn't gain anything over the week.

Exercise for the week:
Friday- none, travel day
Sat.- Curves w/ mom, 30 min.
Sun- 60 min bike ride, 15 min in pool with Evan (playing chase!)
Mon- 30 min biking on beach, 30 min. Curves
Tues- 30 min cardio on elliptical machine in resort gym
Wed. 35 min biking on beach
Thurs- rest
Fri- back home, Curves 30 min.

 

[rcyannacci]

Saturday-
B- a DanActive and a banana
L- Thai chicken salad wraps w/ peanut sauce from Pei Wei's Diner (very good!)
S- went to friend's graduation party and couldn't pass up a sliver of the carrot cake. Cake! It's my biggest weakness! Also had 2 bites of fruit and 3 baby carrots and some very sugary punch (the kind that only church ladies can make!)
D- a Jimmy John's turkey sandwich (too much white bread, but not too bad)
S- had major sugar cravings (need to detox from those vacation dacquiris!) and made a baked apple from a recipe I saw in a newspaper. Put a mixture of Splenda, chopped pecans, butter, and raisins in a cored out apple and baked. It was good, and I only ate 1/2. Hopefully I can continue to curb my sugar cravings with fruit and more natural sources of sugar.

Exercise- 40 minutes at Curves. (I need to get back to the ab work after a week off)

Hooray- I finally found some good workout shorts at Oshman's! And just in time...it was up to 97 degrees yesterday, and today it's suppose to get up to 99! I might be swimming in the pool today for exercise!

 

[pearlieq]

So glad to hear you had a great vacation! It sounds so fun and relaxing!!!

Your lunch sounds amazing! I'm eating a Jimmy John's sandwich right now--I didn't know they had branched out of Chicago...

Stay cool! Hopefully the sugar cravings pass as you get back to your regular routine.

 

[rcyannacci]

Sunday-
B- iced coffee, english muffin w/ peanut butter and strawberries
L- (ate too late, was too hungry) homemade pulled pork bbq (no bun) and some corn w/ butter.
S/D (not sure, we ate lunch too late to have a real dinner) popcorn w/ a little butter and salt
S- sugar cravings hit (!!!), so I had a lite yogurt w/ a handful of grape nuts.

Exercise: my pool that I go to closed w/o notice, so I couldn't do the laps that I wanted. We ended up going to the family pool, and I got in 10 minutes of a modified aqua aerobics, and 10 minutes of laps. Later, I did 5-7 minutes of abs.

 

[septbride2002]

I can't believe you got in that much exercise on your vacation. On the cruise I walked a mile 2 mornings, but that was it. Otherwise if I had free time I was sleeping on a lounge chair on deck 4. You are doing awesome girl! Keep up the awesome work!

~Amanda

 

[rcyannacci]

Oh trust me! If I was on a Disney Cruise, that's exactly where I'd be too It was a REALLY laid back vacation (I think my butt is still showing the lines carved by my beach chair), so I was really craving the exercise. And it gave me more than enough justification for all the frozen drinks I consumed!

 

[rcyannacci]

Holy Cow! I just weighed in at Curves, and after months of losing 2-3 pounds a month, I just lost 3 pounds in a matter of days! And I have no idea what I did! I checked the scale twice, so I'm just going to accept it and be amazed.

B- english muffin w/ peanut butter and strawberries, iced coffee w/ skim
L- 1/2 a can of pears and a slice of cheddar cheese, a lite yogurt w/ a handful of grapenuts/
S- apple
S- 1 serving of wheat thin crisps
D- Beef Stroganoff (quick version with mushroom soup) and no yokes egg noodles, steamed broccoli tossed in lemon butter, and a serving of sour dough bread dipped in olive oil (I was majorly craving carbs tonight)

Exercise- Curves 40 minutes, 5 min on legs, 10 min on abs (later tonight)

 

[calena]

Your vacation sounds great. The beach, exercise, fun, no family stress. GREAT. I'm glad it went well. And, you are right back to working out when you come back so that is great. Congrats on your loss and believe what the scale is telling you. Let it keep going on down!

 

[rcyannacci]

Thanks calena- it was a great vacation, and I do feel really good about staying consistent with my exercise. It's where I see the biggest progress, and am finding the most satisfaction. I'm still struggling with food, but it's all part of the journey...

B- ww english muffin w/ shaved ham and a slice of cheddar (wanted to try a little something different.)
L- (carb cravings hit) a chunk of sourdough bread dipped in olive oil, and some tostadas with homemade garden salsa (I tried to load up on the salsa to load up on veggies), a few peanut butter crackers (for protein).
S- a few spoonfuls of vanilla icecream...leftover in my freezer from something...should throw it away...
D- out with a friend, had a small field green salad with apples, walnuts, and blue chese and a side of crispy green beans (these are so good, they're often the reason I chose this restaurant...better than french fries!), and a few bites of the chicken from my friend's cobb salad (worried I didn't get enough protein).

Exercise today: swimming laps for 40 minutes (this felt great, outdoor pool, beautiful day!)

Writing goals (this is new...I'm trying to integrate my writing schedule with my health goals this summer, per my previous post where I assessed my 3 month progress): Complete a full draft of a conference proposal I'm submitting for November. It's a really competitive conference, but I'll be on the job market and it would be good visibility for me.

 

[rcyannacci]

Happy Birthday to me!!! I'm 34 today and have a great birthday planned. My DH is taking me shopping for an MP3 player (!!!), then we are going to dinner at a new Spanish tapas restaurant (think Spoodles, but less Mediterranean), and then to a touring production of The Producers at the Austin concert hall.

Plan for today: Curves early (so I can get it in). 40 minutes, plus 5 on abs
B: same as yesterday
L: probably something while we're out shopping, try to find something frest
D: tapas and a piece of birthday cake/dessert! (probably tiramisiu!)

Writing goals: Well I didn't do great yesterday...spent too much time online (oops!), but I did get through most of the abstract. I'm going to try to spent an hour on it this morning to finish and then put it away for the day. If I have any extra time, I'll read from one of my primary sources (one thing I've found that keeps me connected to my project and initial excitement in selecting it).

 

[pearlieq]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

That sounds like a wonderful day you've got planned. I hope you have an awesome time!!!

 

[rcyannacci]

Thanks, pearlieq! I had a great birthday! I got up early and finished my abstract (yea!) and went to Curves, so the rest of the day was mine for fun!

Could have done better on lunch, but while we were out shopping we remembered that there was a Texadelphia in the area, so we stopped for a cheesesteak sandwich. I also had a handful of chips and salsa.

We bought my MP3 player- a Creative Zen Micro. My DH is the techie, and will be teaching me how to use it today. Maybe by this afternoon, I'll have some music loaded and can go out for a walk/run!

Dinner was so great! The restaurant was called Managla and they specialize in Spanish tapas. We had to go early since we had an 8:00 curtain for The Producers, so we arrived at 5:30, just in time for happy hour prices! We each started w/ a wine/tapas pairing. I had an Argentinian red wine, similar to a cabernet, and some spinach empanadas, and DH had an Italian Chianti and some roasted red peppers stuffed with goat chese. Then we ordered 2 extra tapas plates- a summer salad of green and purple grapes, grape tomatoes, mozzerella, and kalamata olives tossed in a dressing of olive oil, balsamic, garlic, and fresh mint (so excellent!) and beef tenderlion pieces with pita and a garlic oielo (sp?) sauce. DH had another glass of wine, so we got a final pairing with another 2 spinach empanadas (our favorite of the night, followed closely by the salad). All in all, it was a really healthy meal! All of the ingredients were every fresh and flavorful, but the portions were small. It was such a romantic setting, and we decided that we needed to be more adventurous when we go out to eat this summer.

The Producers was a great show! I had seen it on Broadway and was expecting the tour to be not as great, but the touring company really made it their own show, and it was fantastic. My DH couldn't stop laughing! We had to slam our intermission drinks (gin and tonic) because it took us forever to get them, even though we had pre-ordered. I was super happy for Act 2! I had also had a few sips of my DH's beer before the show, so between those drinks and the wine before, I had plenty to drink!

By the time we got out of the show and in our car, it was 11:00 so we decided to forgo the dessert cafe and my piece of birthday cake (plus, I'd probably had enough sugar with my drinks). DH said he'd get me a piece today...I can't decide if I should let it go or not...

 

[rcyannacci]

double post

 

[calena]

Happy Birthday. Glad it was a good one. I still think you deserve tiramisu though! I make it at Christmas for us as a special treat.

 

[rcyannacci]

Thurday-
B- ww english muffin with peanut butter and strawberries, iced coffee
S- banana
L- here's where I ran into trouble...my laptop lost it's display and I spent the rest of the day dealing with moving files I needed for my dissertation to my DH's computer...anyway, I forgot lunch until 4:30 and then just grabbed some tostadas and salsa.
D- 2 pieces of fried chicken (white meat, breast and wing), small serving of mashed potatoes and gravy, serving of green peas.
S- 3 brownie bites and 1/2 c. of vanilla ice cream

Exercise- Curves 40 minutes, 5 min. on legs

Writing goals- my day was shot because of my computer. YUK! Goals for Friday: 2 hours of reading/note taking, 2 hours reviewing/revising my notes to date and outline.

 

[contempgal]

Happy (belated) Birthday! It looks like you had a wonderful day. The restaurant sounds amazing and you can never go wrong with The Producers.

I agree with Calena though, you still deserve the tiramisu! Love that stuff.

Hope you have a bright and sunny day!

 

[joelyfaithsmommy]

HAPPY LATE BIRTHDAY

Jen

 

[Lesli54]

Back from London and had a great time. I don't think I have ever walked so much in my life!

Happy Birthday (a few days late)! I love May for a birthday month, don't you?

Glad to hear that your HH trip went well and it sounds like things with your mother and the weight loss worked out. It is always nice to have the peace of a good family vacation.

Congrats on losing another 3lbs! Keep up the good work on making those healthier choices!

Have a great weekend!