3.27.2011

I Like to Move It Move It

Hi friends!  I just wanted to post a quick little update about my super awesome day!  It was beautiful outside today, although a bit chilly for my taste, and I wanted to make sure I went out and enjoyed the lovely weather.  So, first I had a deeeelicious breakfast of half a Pink Lady apple (to which I have become addicted thanks to the fabulous miss Bitch Cakes), edamame hummus from Kroger on a piece of whole wheat toast, and a tasty egg fried in cooking spray. 


It was so good I might eat the same thing tomorrow!  I like to slice my apples up really, really thin for two reasons.  One, I have really sensitive teeth and I can't just bite into a whole apple.  We also keep our fruit in the fridge because we get fruit flies badly, so the thinner I slice an apple the faster it can warm up to room temperature and not hurt my teeth.  Second, I have to spend more time chewing, which makes me feel more full.  Since apples are already filling, it's like double bang for my buck - er, chew. 

After breakfast I went and took my new bike out (hope to get a good picture soon to show you guys), but it was so windy and still chilly that I was only out for fifteen minutes.  Also, I went to the gym yesterday like I said I would and rode the stationary bike for 40 minutes, so my quads were waaay more sore than I realized and more than fifteen minutes of bike time this morning just wasn't going to happen, haha.  Instead, I took my bike back home and went for a walk to enjoy the beautiful day.  I went without my iPod and walked around a track nearby my apartment.  Next time I think I might take my iPod.  The track and its park is located between two of the busiest streets in town (I'll have to snap a picture next time so you can see what I mean) and after awhile I got tired of just listening to cars whizz by.  It was nice to clear my head, though.  So I walked to the track, did three laps around it (each lap it .59 miles), and walked back for a total of around two miles.  I walk pretty slowly, though, so between my bike time and my walk I was moving for an hour and a half today!  I think that's pretty awesome.  : )

Another awesome thing is that my friend Katie has agreed to be my fitness buddy!  I really love the blogging community, but sometimes I miss having that real-life support and I've been hoping somebody would become my fitness buddy here in town.  Katie said that she wants to start working on her fitness again (she's a rugby player and used to be much stronger, but lately hasn't been playing much I guess), and since she has already graduated and can't use my university gym, we'll have to find creative non-gym ways to get exercise.  I think that's great because I'm graduating soon and will need to work out at home, and I want to get a good out-of-the-gym routine down that I can carry into summertime. 

Now that I'm finally not sick, I can't even tell you how great it feels to move and sweat again.  I'm actually looking forward to exercising every day, even if just a little bit.  I want to focus on moving for at least half an hour every day (not counting walking to and from class during the week) and finding things that I like to do.  I want to build a routine that allows my extra weight to come off while I'm enjoying myself, instead of focusing on losing X amount of pounds in Y time so that I can eventually enjoy myself in the future.  I know I'll be going on many more long walks - Katie and I have one planned for tomorrow, actually - and I want to build my set of fitness equipment at home.  I already have 5, 8, and 10 pound dumbbells.  I think my next additions will be a jump rope and some resistance bands. 

So, I'm off to bed hoping tomorrow will be another beautiful day filled with tasty food and happy exercise.  Hasta luego, amigos!  : )

3.25.2011

In which I post pictures!

I just realized that I have yet to post a single picture on this blog!  How boring!  Well, let me tell you about my day.

Today is me and my boyfriend's 4-year anniversary.  We've been together since high school, through several stints of long-distance hell, and are currently happily sharing a lovely little one-bedroom apartment in our college town.  We're breaking up at the end of the summer because I'm moving to Texas and we just can't do the long distance again, but here we are!  This is us from last October when we went to Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert's Rally for Sanity and/or Fear (which was just...amazing):


Yes, we know we're adorable, haha. 


So yeah.  We haven't done much to celebrate because we're both pretty broke, but we did go out for Thai food.  Mmmm...I could eat curry all day every day and never get tired of it.

Earlier in the day, though, I consumed a pretty large amount of ice cream.  I probably shouldn't have, but can you really blame me?  I mean look at this stuff:



I felt pretty bad about wolfing down a good size portion of that container, though, so I hopped over to BodyRock and did this 'Hot Curves Challenge' exercise.  Let me tell you it kicked. my. ass.  I probably shouldn't have gone for a 10-minute high-intensity workout after six weeks of being sick, but it just felt so good to sweat again!  Afterward, I was like this:


Then I took one of the most refreshing showers I've ever had (second only perhaps to midday showers in Mexico or the shower I got after the 10-day wilderness & canoe trip in Canada I did in high school), after which I looked like this:



Or, if you prefer a more moody, brooding-type picture (and really, who doesn't?), then I looked like this:


Yeah, I'm incrediby pale and I looooove it.  I do everything I can in the summer to protect my paleness.  I do tan nicely, much to the jealousy of my pale friends who just sizzle and burn, but I just like being pale.  I dunno, I guess it's more true to my nature.  And yes, that's a real diamond sticking out my nose.  My grandparents actually bought it for me as a Christmas present a few years ago, which I think is pretty badass of 60+-year olds.

So after my shower I picked up my boyfriend, made him change his shirt, and we went to a reception for an exhibit opening at the museum where I'm a volunteer/practicum student and then we had that delicious Thai food I talked about earlier.  And now we're at home, relaxing.  : )

I'm looking foward to my time at the gym tomorrow, even though we're supposed to get three inches of snow tonight.  It was seventy degrees earlier this week.   As they say in Indiana:  if you don't like the weather, just wait a day.

Adios, amigos!

3.24.2011

Still Recovering

On Sunday, I was forced to go to the doctor by the most severe sore throat I have ever experienced.  I couldn't eat, drink, swallow, or sleep for three days.  What I thought was a cold had become much worse.  The doctor tested me for strep and I had to wait three more days (although thankfully with pain medicine) before the test came back positive.  Apparently it wasn't a common strain?  Whatever.  I'm finally on antiobiotics and just today I have been able to fucntion without the pain medicine.  I used to get strep throat all the time as a kid - at least three times a year, if not four or five, but I have definitely forgotten how bad it is.  I'm still having some trouble with swallowing and I can't open my mouth very widely, but I'm just thankful I'm feeling better.

I was hoping I could get back in the gym yesterday, but since I'm still recovering I'm putting gymtime off until Saturday.  In the meantime, I've been working on what I can control - healthy eating.  I've been making a point to eat my fruit and veggies.  I haven't had any problems remembering to drink water since it helps my throat so much.  Oh, and I weighed myself the other day - I don't weigh 210 at all, I weigh 205!  Originally I wanted to be able to run a mile before I graduate college at the end of next month, but that won't happen since I haven't been able to go running lately.  Instead, I'd like to be under 200 pounds, which is so feasible it's not even funny.  While this blog is not focused on weight loss numbers, just seeing my weight as 1-- would be...incredible.  Mind blowing.  I would be elated.  I graduated high school weighing just under 190, so if I could graduate college weighing just under 200 then I wouldn't feel nearly as bad about the twenty pounds I've been putting on and off for the last four years.  It would be a great psychological boost and a reason to continue my efforts over what is going to be one of my most chaotic summers yet. 

I was thinking the other day about the balance between my go time, when I'm busy doing class or homework or other things, and my down time, when I want to relax.  I've realized that if I went to the gym as often as my body wants to, I will have no down time whatsoever.  No time to just sit around and let my mind be calm.  So I've been thinking of ways to have active down time, ways I can get exercise that lets my mind be calm.  See, usually when I'm exercising I'm doing a lot of weight loss/healthy living thinking.  My brain is running pretty much constantly, and I really need the mental blankness of relaxation to recharge.  Since the weather is getting warmer I've been thinking that I'll start going on walks without my iPod.  I have always loved going for walks, but when I listen to my iPod my brain tunes out the world and then all I can hear is the barrage of my own thoughts.  That's bad for mental down time.  When I walk without my iPod, I'm much more inclined to actually listen to the world around me, to let my mind be still and just hear the sounds.  Going on iPodless walks is probably safer, too.  Nobody likes being hit by a bus. 

Okay, well I have to go to class now.  I'm hoping that I can snag a nap when I get home.  Too bad I can't exercise in my sleep...

3.19.2011

Sick Again

This is kind of ridiculous.  This is the third time in the past six weeks I've been sick.  I would go to the doctor, but I don't have money to pay for my insurance deductible if I had to get prescription meds.  : (   I think the best thing I can do for myself after I get over this cold is to get back in the gym, get back to eating healthfully, and get back to loving myself.  Because I haven't been able to work out much lately, I've definitely gained some weight.  I'm probably back up around 210.  Although I haven't weighed myself out of fear of the number (which, yes, I realize is silly), I'm already having a lot of negative thoughts about myself because of the gain.  So today I read through some of my past posts here, posted when I was feeling very motivated, and am trying to get back into the same headspace.  If I can do that now while I'm still sick then I can hit the ground running (literally) when I feel better and my gym opens back up (it was closed for Spring Break). 

So here's a question for my lovely readers:  When you fall off plan, are you motivated more by reading other blogs or reading your own from when you were on plan? 

Reading other blogs definitely gives me hope, but reading old posts from when I was doing things right makes me have faith that I can get back to the place again.  Hmm...

Well, it's time for me to take some more medicine.  Here's hoping that I will feel better soon and can get running again.  Have a beautiful day!

3.08.2011

Adios February! / On Running

February always seems to be the worst month for me.  Unfailingly, I get sick at least twice and this year has been no exception.  As soon as I got over that flu thing, I was okay for a few days and then came down with a nasty cold.  A week+  later, I'm finally feeling better - well enough, in fact, that I went to the gym last night!  (Finally.)

Because my gym is located on campus/owned by my university, it is constantly super busy.  And because our Spring Break is next week, it's even busier.  Last night my boyfriend and I drove around the parking lot for fifteen minutes trying to find a spot to park before we finally went and parked somewhere else and just walked back.  Because so many people use that gym you have to sign up for 30 minute time slots to use any of the treadmills or ellipticals - and you can't just hope to go to the gym and get a time slot soon after you get there.  The best way to do it is get over there in the middle of the day, sign up for a slot or two for later in the evening, and then go home and come back a few hours later (I'm serious).  I usually just wait for somebody to get off a stationary bike and ride that, but since you don't have to sign up for a time slot you can stay on bikes as long as you like, which means the wait can be long.  So I gave up and did some jogging intervals around the track.

I have several issues when it comes to running/jogging, and I'm sure overweight women everywhere will understand.

  • The bra problem.  Although my size is 38D, I'm really like a D.5 - not a D but not quite a DD.  No bra really fits and in order to run I have to wear two of the stretchy sports variety.  I did find a nice bra from Victoria's Secret that I can wear alone, but again, it doesn't fit quite right.   
  • The breathing problem.  Thanks to my problematic boobies, the double-bra scenario causes my ribcage to be so constricted that I can't take a deep breath, which is pretty necessary while running.  The Victoria's Secret bra helps, but not much.  Y'know, it's 2011 - scientists should really have invented anti-gravity bras by now.  My tee-tahs need to float, dammit!
  • The knee problem.  With this one, I really am stuck between a rock and a hard place.  Jogging makes my bad knee (the right one) hurt really bad.  I usually end a jogging segment when my knee starts twinging (or I stop being able to breathe enough, whichever comes first).  However, consistent exercise makes my knee hurt less.  So I have to do what makes my knee hurt to allow it to feel better, and some days I'd rather just put up with the aches than do the running.
  • The preconception problem.  I have never considered myself even remotely capable of being a runner.  That activity has always just been closed off to me.   I can ride a bike, walk pretty fast, and I like to play a few sports, but I do not run.  Erika does not run.  So when I get on the track and start running, I've already defeated myself with this years-old preconception that I simply cannot do it, and that's that.  

In my last post, I broke down some emotional preconceptions I had about myself - if you haven't read that post, please do.  I know it's long, but I think it's important that anyone who reads this blog understands the place I've come from.  

After mulling over the things I discussed last time and saying some things I needed to say to certain people, I feel refreshed and ready to break down the preconceptions of what I physically can and can't do.  I'm going to start with this running thing.  I can be a runner.  As my grandma used to tell me, I can do whatever I set my mind to.   I'm setting my mind to this now:  I can be a runner.  I will be a runner.  It won't be easy, and with the continued lack of anti-gravity bras it may not be comfortable, but I want to be able to run a mile without feeling the need to vomit or pass out and I want that to happen sooner rather than later.  

So stay tuned for updates.  : )