Green Tea Thursday

I think I'm slowly descending into the throes of a cold. I've been sneezy and stuffy, but no cough yet. My throat was a little scratchy this morning too. Thus, it has become a green tea Thursday.

I've been a fan of green tea for a while. It's a very mild tea, with lots of antioxidants, and supposedly the power to get rid of excess water weight. What's not to love? It's also become very soothing to me. I love filling a large teacup with my green tea and just relaxing with a book or bumming on the internet. My latest love is some green tea that my aunt gave me. It's a green tea with toasted rice, and it tastes like Sugar Smacks but without the sickening sweetness. It's homey and comforting. It's got a toasted rice smell, and is very satisfying.

I've been feeling surprisingly good lately, although the last few nights I've stayed up too late, which is probably why I'm feeling kind of run down today. I've been hitting the exercise and activity pretty hard lately. I've upped the intensity of both of my regular work outs, which is great, but I'm tired. I've also been stressed about a couple different things, so I know I'm in need of a rest. Yet another reason I welcome a green tea Thursday.

It's good to recharge, and I'm getting better at listening to my body, and when it needs something. Plus, it looks like rain outside, which throws a wrench into my plans of mowing the lawn. Tomorrow is another day though, and I'm sure I'll feel more refreshed from the break.

What's This I See?

Today was the day of truth. The day of reckoning. The day I stepped on the scale and see what it had to tell me. Yep, today was weigh in day. After completing 4 days of cardio (tough cardio) and watching what I eat, I am proud to report that I have logged a 3 pound loss for this week. 3 pounds! I'm very pleased with this, as I was aiming for 1, maybe 2 pounds tops. Very encouraging indeed!

I am pleased by the weight loss (who wouldn't be?), but I'm also proud of myself for other reasons. It was only my first week, and I'm already seeing a big improvement in my endurance for my cardio exercises. I did mostly kickboxing last week, which is a great workout, and I worked my tail off, so to see improvements already was a great bonus! We also didn't eat out much, and when we did, I got only low fat veggie entrees. Another gold star for me! One of my big motivators is a "virtal model" of me at 120 pounds. I had my husband help me refine the body type and size so it's a pretty close representation of me. It's the weight I was before I had my kids, so I remember what I looked like back then, and I know it's a weight I can achieve. Looking at the picture keeps me thinking, "that's what I'm after!" It's helping me keep my focus and motivation in a way I didn't think possible!

I decided on my rewards to motivate me to take it to the next level. My weekly weigh in reward is a glass of red wine every Sunday I post a loss. This gives me something to look forward to, and is a great relaxer before the next week. My 5 pound loss reward is going to be a new work out top, since I've got a shortage of them. I haven't figured out my 10 and 15 pound rewards yet, nor have I decided on how to celebrate reaching my goal of 20 pounds. I thought I would have some time to think about it, but if I post another 3 pound loss next week, I've already surpassed my 5 pound goal, and I'm well on my way to my 10 pound goal! Time to start planning!

I am encouraged by this week's results, both the weight lost and the workout improvements. It's really starting to come together for me, and I'm very excited about it.

Veterinarian Struggles

A few weeks ago, I was "womaning" the grill, when my hubby brought me my portabello mushroom cap to throw on there. I was grilling chicken for the rest of the fam, and vegetables take less time to cook than meat, so mine was last on. My wonderful 8-year-old saw me place my mushroom on the grill, and asked what it was for, probably hoping she wouldn't have to eat any. I told her it was for me, since I didn't eat meat any more. She nodded in recognition and said, "ah, I see. You're a veterinarian." I smiled and said, "no, I'm not an animal doctor. I'm a vegetarian." But really, either way, I guess I'm saving animal lives, so maybe I am a veterinarian. :)

Even though I'm greatly enjoying my new found eating habits, I do find it to be a struggle sometimes. Last night was a huge win with cheese enchiladas that I made for everyone. The entire family enjoyed them, so I have a great meatless recipe that I know everyone will eat! Not so tonight. I find myself in the afternoon struggle trying to decide what to make for dinner. It's further complicated by the fact that my daughter will be dining at a friend's house tonight, so we're only three. That means meat for two, which is becoming increasingly difficult, since my son is only 5, and won't eat a whole chicken breast for dinner. This isn't a new situation, as my daughter heads over to her bio-dad's house every weekend, so we have many 3-person meals. It's just not something I normally deal with on weekdays.

The other struggle I'm having is eating out. This weekend, we went out to the local buffet joint for my grandfather's birthday dinner . I had a salad, corn bread, and spaghetti with marinara. That's right; I had 3 things from the all you can eat buffet. Kind of sad how few veggie choices were available. I'm also a bit intimidated by a graduation party we are going to for one of our babysitters. This is probably the bigger challenge; not knowing what will be served! I'm sure there will be the usual fruit salad and veggie tray, but I'm not sure beyond that. It'll be an adventure for sure. Hopefully, I don't go home hungry!

DQ Don't!

So here I am on day 3 of a 3 month challenge to get fit and lose weight through self.com. Now, supposedly, I can win a trip to Antigua, but since my chances are slim, we'll ignore that part of the challenge. I signed up because I needed to do SOMETHING. This has a food and workout log, plus all sorts of charts and stuff to map my progress. Everything I wanted without making me obsessive, which I found is a very real pitfall for me.

This is actually the second time I've looked into losing weight by counting calories and exercise (read: no fad diets!). The first time was when I joined Sparkpeople.com. I did really well the first month, ok the second month, ok the third, and then I got sick, and I never recovered! Even worse though, I became obsessed with calories; wondering how many were in every thing I encountered, whether I was eating it or not. Food became the enemy, and once that happened, I knew I was not on a good path and bailed! Now, I highly recommend SparkPeople. I think they are a great organization, and have helped many people. It just wasn't right for me.

So what makes this time different? Well, for starters, I am looking at a calorie range, rather than a strict 1200 regimen. I actually want to eat between 1200-1600 calories a day. This allows for some splurges and treats, and also some good stick to your ribs food. Once I have that range in my head, it's far easier for me to plan around it, rather than try to fit it in. I don't feel like I'm cheating if I eat 1350 calories instead of 1200, and it's just a general FYI to keep me on track.

Anyway, the long explanation culminates in this: Don't eat Dairy Queen! I'm a big fan of the nutritional menus at many restaurants, to find where my favorites fit in. I know the least calorie choice for many restuarants, and I know which ones to favor over others (McD's burgers for instance have far less fat and calories than a comparable Burger King burger!). I've never thought to take a look at Dairy Queen though because A) I don't eat a meal there and B) if I'm having ice cream, I don't really care about the calories! Unfortunately, I looked tonight. I don't think I will ever eat at DQ without feeling like an oinker! I saw foods on their menu that weighed in at 105% of total daily fat allowances and 130% of saturated fat! HOLY MOLY! Now, the item I was jonesing after was a brownie batter blizzard. Layers of brownie chunks, gooey chocolate batter, and of course, soft serve ice cream. 610 calories for a small! I didn't eat that many calories at my dinner!!! In fact, my total for lunch and breakfast calories were about that. That was all the information I needed. No DQ for me tonight.

Luckily, my chief motivator and support man (AKA my hubby) had purchased some chocolate whips yogurt for my dining pleasure. 160 calories for the same satisfaction of a blizzard, and I won't have to do three extra work outs to pay for it. It pays to do the research!

You lose some and...when do you win some?

I've been down in the dumps lately. My motivation and stick-to-itiveness is quite lacking. Or, maybe I've never really known motivation or stick-to-itiveness. I was always one of the "smart ones" in school, never having to struggle for grades or anything. If I didn't measure up, I quit and focused on whatever I was better at. I really don't know how to work towards a goal, or how to keep myself motivated! It's definitely not for lack of trying, but I'm much better at finding something else to focus on to minimize my weaknesses.

Interestingly, I'm not finding it hard to be a vegetarian. Big change in my lifestyle, easy transition, easy to stick to it. Why? Why can I incorporate this, but not exercise, and not give up pop and brownies? Because by giving up meat, I wasn't giving up something I enjoyed. Most people drool over steak; I can take it or leave it (more leave it these days!). I enjoy brownies and soda. I enjoy sitting on the computer and playing games. I do not like exercising.

But I don't like gaining weight either. And there's the rub! Which don't I like more, gaining the weight or exercise? I don't have an answer to that right now.

Saturday afternoon

I have a very dear friend (and former coworker) who has lost a good deal of weight with Weight Watchers. She began to lose weight before I got "serious" about it, but over the course of a few months, we became each other's cheerleaders. She is a lovely lady, and I am very blessed to have her in my life. She has a way of making so much sense to me, and at times I really need it. For instance, when I was stress eating due to my parents' marital problems back in February, my friend provided the saying "if hunger is not the problem, food is not the answer." Such simple and wise words. I'm happy to say that while I haven't lost a significant amount of weight, I haven't gained any more either, and that quote saved me from that. I have accustomed myself to telling myself that every day.

The lasted words of wisdom came just this past week, as I was telling her of my juice fast. She knows I have become a vegetarian, and was patting me on the back for making such a healthy lifestyle choice. Then she said something that really struck me when speaking about people in the "Blue Zone" who tend to live the longest: "Another thing is getting "natural" exercise every day such as all the work you do around the house and yard. Staying active in this manner is actually more effective than the more structured exercise." Again, so simple and so wise.

I gave up on my juice fast after reading these words, because here was the rebuttle to my denial staring me down in blue letters in my email inbox. I could continue to deny the fact that since leaving my job I have become little more than an internet junkie, logging on moments after waking and logging off only for dinner and bed. I could continue to shun exercise, doing things like a 21 day juice fast to lose the weight quickly, but not really healthy or on my own terms that would make a lasting change for me. That was the nagging problem I was having in my previous post. It wasn't that I was on the precipice of something stirring me to greatness. It was my conscience trying to scream out that what I was doing was ingenuine and an attempt to diminish the real problem-my lazy behind. I was a sham, and I knew it.

I knew going into the juice fast that I would see weight loss, but it wouldn't be pleasant, according to what I read. I also worried about after the juice fast, and what would become of my weight loss. That concerned me very much. Would I maintain a new, lower weight? Would my body rebel once I started eating again and I'd pack on the pounds? Was a juice fast really going to put me on a different eating path that would last? Now, supposedly, according to one site I read on juice fasting, once you start eating foods again, you can actually burn MORE calories and see MORE weight loss because juice is calorie laden. Everything else I know about weight loss made it seem more likely that I would just gain the weight back, if for no other reason that juice fasting is a temporary solution, and I need a permanent one.

Post juice fast (which lasted exactly 3 glasses of juice!), I signed myself up for a 30 day email fitness challenge through About.com. I'm on day 3. I completed all the challenges for day one and day two, and you know what? I felt good about it. I felt proud about it. I have to walk funny today because my butt is so sore from two days of getting out there and doing more. I took my dog for two walks, in addition to mowing our lawn (we live on almost an acre of land). I could write more, but I can't. My son is insisting that I go outside with him to play.

Seriously People!

I read two articles that really made me think today. They are completely unrelated, yet both made me angry and sad.

The first was a Washington Post article about the price of being poor. Paying more for groceries, paying for laundry, paying for check cashing. I always have mixed feelings about this, because I've been on the receiving end of customer service dealing with low income customers. I have talked to people who couldn't pay their utility bill because they just payed their cable, and had no more money. I have watched low income friends buy name brand cereal off the shelf with a $5 price tag, overlooking the $2 cereal directly to the left of it. Reading through the comments on the article, there were many questioning some of the assertions (like I did above), and others condemning them for having no sympathy. I will admit that I am biased and have little sympathy for the people who play the system to make sure they get the most out of their welfare. I have the most sympathy for the people busting ass making low wages who need a leg up, especially those who cannot get assistance because of it.

When I'm president (Gilbert in '16!), a sentiment that I say when I want to make broad sweeping changes, there will be education reform. There will be a redistribution of money to schools. I can't fathom how in one school district (like in my home town), you can have two high schools, one in a wealthy neighborhood, one in a low income neighborhood, and they do not have the same resources! Is it really a question that we should take some of the tax money from rich school and make the poor school equal? Is it really a question, if we are NOT going to do this, of who should receive federal money? Is it really a question that the schools that need the extra tax dollars are not the high performers buy the low ones? HELLO PEOPLE!!!!! I am fully supportive of adults reaping what they sow and taking responsibility for themselves, but I am exponentially more supportive of giving our children the absolute best education possible to enable them to be responsible adults!

The second article was about a mother who suffocated her child, resuscitated him, then changed her mind and suffocated him AGAIN! Twice this little boy knew the agony of suffocasion at the hands of his own mother! Then, she buries him at the playground. What are we doing, people, that we as a society are producing young women capable of this kind of violence? What are we thinking putting priorities on damn car dealerships, when mothers are killing their own children? There is something wrong here that we need to fix!