Food Glorious Food!

Well, I'm slowly getting my motivation back thanks to Annie over at The Amazing Shrinking Girl (http://annie-shrinkinggirl.blogspot.com/) and others. I stumbled across her blog a couple weeks ago and finished reading her archives yesterday. We have very similar backgrounds, minus the fact that she lives in Hawaii and I live in the good ol' Midwest! We have a similar body type (both short and round...well, I'm still round, she's not!) and we were both athletes and are trying to get back into that lifestyle. Well, I'm trying, she already has! Anyway, as I was reading, I realized a few things...

#1 I can change my lifestyle and I will change my lifestyle.

#2 It won't happen overnight, as much as I want it to.

#3 I need to be more strict about my diet.

#4 I need to push myself during my workouts in order to get the results I want.

#5 I need to make myself go to the gym even when I don't want to and make myself not eat junk food.

#6 Nobody can do this for me, it's my responsibility. Nobody forced me to be lazy and drink beer in college. Nobody will force me to eat healthy and go to the gym either.

The last one I think is the most important. In all the weight loss blogs I've read, a lot of people have said the same thing and it seems like the hardest thing to do. It's easy to not workout and to eat pizza when that's what you're used to doing. It's hard to eat egg whites and veggie sausage instead of fluffy pancakes and bacon for breakfast and it's hard to run on the treadmill when you're out of shape.

BUT...the people who succeed in losing weight realize that it's not about "giving up" your favorite foods or putting yourself through "torture" at the gym. They change their entire mindset. Healthy food is no longer bland and boring, it's fuel your body needs to survive and stay well. Exercise is like a jolt to your body. It wakes you up, gets your blood pumping and makes you feel alive. Sitting on the couch just doesn't have the same effect. So, the hardest part for me right now is getting in that frame of mind. I'm about 50% there. There are days where I want to do nothing and that's fine if I've just been to the gym for the past 5-6 days. Then, it's time for a break.

There are also days, like today, when I just want to eat pizza and french fries (thank you, TOM). It seems like around the TOM, my cravings are super hard to ignore. Any other time, I can usually just brush it off but those damn hormones are relentless. I also feel exhaused for no reason and my head throbs for about a day or two. This doesn't make me want to workout.

Anyway, in order to stay more on track with my diet, I'll start posting my food for the day. I know that if I have to type out that I ate pizza for lunch that I'll be embarassed and won't eat it. Also, all the food I eat is all-natural (no chemicals, preservatives, colors or flavors) unless I either eat out or someone else's food. I do not eat a lot of meat and I try to stay away from cookies and ice cream. I do not count calories either but I do eyeball my portions. However, just from keeping a food journal for a few days, I realize I need more protein and more fiber. So, I'm increasing the amount of protein powder I consume on a daily basis and also trying to eat more fish.

I'm also hopeful that people (shout-out to my 4 followers! lol) will throw in their two cents and give me suggestions/criticisms based on my food for the day.

Also coming soon will be body measurements, weigh-in updates and if I'm brave enough, pictures!

So, here's what I ate yesterday and I will post tonight about what I will eat today:

Breakfast: 1/2 cup steel-cut oats + 1 cup water + 1 tbsp maple syrup + dash of cinnamon, green tea + 1 tsp sugar.

Mid-morning Snack: carrots + 2 tbsp peanut butter + 1/4 dry roasted edamame (any suggestions on how to make this stuff taste better? It's a great snack but kinda tastes like eating crispy cardboard)

Lunch: tuna salad - I make this at the beginning of the week using 11 oz. package of Starkist tuna in water + 2 tbsp vegenaise + 1 tbsp Jack Daniel's Horseradish mustard + carrots + celery + pepper. 1 slice whole grain bread, Stonyfield organic low fat blueberry yogurt, pink lady apple.

Mid-Afternoon/Pre-workout Snack: 1 hard-boiled egg + 1/4 cup dry roasted edamame.

Post-Workout Smoothie (1 cup soymilk, 1/2 cup blueberries, 2 scoops vanilla protein powder)

Dinner (I ate at my aunt's house for my grandma's birthday and she cooks with lots of butter and salt so I didn't eat much and this is not my usual dinner!): 1/4 cup peas, 1/4 cup corn, 2 oz. ham, 1/2 cup homemade mac 'n cheese and a small piece of cake. I was hungry after I got home so I made a Taste of Thai instant noodle soup (yes these are bad and it was the last one we had and I'm not buying anymore!).

So, I'll post again tonight with what I've eaten today and it will be pretty similar for the most part, except dinner.

Home of the Blues...

Well, let's just say I haven't been to the gym since last Wednesday. Wow...WTF is going on here?! Oh wait, I know...my fiance lured me away from the gym with promises of snuggling (something we get very little of!) and movies. I decided to spend the past few days with him because we kinda needed it. However, that meant I was so lazy and made some half-assed attempt to watch what was going into my mouth. Well, I watched it alright.

Anyway, I'll have to repeat C25K W6D2. There's no way I could run for 25 minutes right now. Also, I've gotten behind on weightlifting. I'm starting to wonder if all the catnaps I took this weekend were worth it. Probably not. Oh well, hindsight is 20/20. So, I had a bad week. I'll just put it behind me and start fresh tomorrow.

I also bought a little notebook that I can keep in my purse to record what I've eaten. I'm not necessarily counting calories, just keeping track of what I've eaten. Probably if I see 3 giant scoops of ice cream in writing, I'll feel guilty and less likely to eat it again. Or, maybe just eat less next time.

Sooooo...I've been keeping up reading other blogs and feeling jealous watching everybody else's amazing progress! So, who would like to volunteer to give me a kick in the ass?

Tight Ass and C25K - W6D3

Well, as the title says, I have a tight ass today...the muscles at least. There's still some omnipresent jiggle, of course. I did a weight lifting session last night (Stage 1, workout B of New Rules of Weightlifting for Women - NROWL4W). I did deadlifts, dumbbell shoulder presses, lat pulldowns, lunges and crunches. The lunges are what got me, hence the tight ass. I didn't think they would be as hard as they were. I should know better.

I'm attempting C25K W6D3 tonight...25 minutes with no walking intervals. We'll see how it goes. I'm worried about it but I've come to realize that running is just as much mental as it is physical. My body says "Hell yea!" to running long intervals but my brain says, "stop this torture!" I wish I had something to occupy my brain more while running. I'm a scientist so I'm always thinking about random stuff and I wish there was a way I could run and do Sudoku puzzles at the same time. That would be ideal. Oh no, wait...ideal would be to not run but still get in shape...that would be ideal. I need my brain to be focused on something challenging other than running. My brain is confident about solving puzzles but not about running.

Still trying to get food back on track. I need to be better about this like right now. Like right now, seriously...now...

I've started eating hard-boiled eggs for more protein since I am not a fan of meat. I need to throw in some fish (barf!) too. If only fish didn't smell like a dumpster...then I'd eat it with no problem. Chicken is good but fish is better. I do fancy tofu a great deal and have become quite proficient at jazzing it up.

Mmmm...I want some chocolate milk...wait! NO! AH! Ok, I gotta go drink some water...

Sick Leave

Just as the title says, it's been a rough few days. I've been sick since Thursday (1/21) and in that time I've only been to the gym twice and also managed to scarf down more comfort food in those few days than I have in the past month. WTF?

I'm feeling better though. I did Week 6 Day 2 of the Couch to 5K last night and it was hard. I should have pushed myself to go to the gym. The more days I take off in between runs, the harder they are. I don't really see that with weights though. Unless I stop lifting weights for a few weeks or few months, I don't really notice a huge difference like I do with running (thank God!).

I also need to be more disciplined with my diet. It's so easy to be lazy and eat whatever I want. I should know this after since I've been doing it for way too long. I read weight loss blogs a lot and I realize that I will slip-up and eat bad stuff sometimes but I just need to do that less often. Thankfully, my fiance is a health-food nut and our pantry is chock full of healthy stuff. Minus the Newman's Own Hint-O-Mint cookies! Ah! These are sooo good! Maybe I'll throw one in my protein smoothie tonight...just one would be ok, right?

Need to drink more water also...been slacking on that too much lately too. Sigh...geez...stupid rhinoviruses make me fall into a rut...blah.

Wacky Weekends

For some ungodly reason, the weekends screw me up royally. I stay up until 2 or 3, sleep in until 12 or 1 and rarely make it to the gym. Plus, I eat junk...albeit it's all-natural, chemical and preservative-free junk, but it's still junk and empty calories. I love my fiance to death but he's a bad influence. We stay up late watching movies and talking because of our lack of time spent together during the week. It's just not a good situation on the weekends, when it comes to my fitness and diet at least.

I ate out twice this weekend, more than I have in the past 2 months. WTF? I was also allergic to the gym and decided to spend my time watching a Little People Big World marathon today, among other things. I did attempt Week 5, Day 3 of the Couch to 5k but failed miserably, so we just won't go into that...

I'm glad to have the time off (especially this weekend...a 3 day-er!) but I was just so unmotivated and that seems to be a trend on the weekends. I need to work on this, fo shiz. I didn't get anything constructive accomplished this weekend. I wanted to finish The New Rules of Lifting for Women, but I'm only about halfway through and I haven't gotten to the workout plans yet...something I wanted to start this week.

There is a chance of a new job on the horizon...a job that will suck up more time than my current one so I might have to face working out in the mornings. Something I have always wanted to do but have not been successful with thus far. We'll see though.

Happy Fitness everyone!

Introductions are in order

Hello fellow losers (of weight, that is) and fitness fanatic wannabes. My name is Jules and I'm on a journey to lose weight and probably some insecurities along the way also. I tower over toddlers, standing just a hair above 5 feet tall and I weigh an astonishing 180.8lbs. My, oh my, it hurts just typing it, let alone seeing it on the scale!

2010 will be my year. I do not want to wear a size 14 anymore and I want to feel comfortable in my own skin. I never thought I'd let myself get to this point, but alas, I have and now it's up to me to do something about it. I am (or more accurrately, was) a three sport varsity athlete in high school. I started playing sports when I was old enough to run around. I always had kind of a stocky build and used it to my advantage. My legs are powerful and I was once told that I was built like a "brick shit-house." Thank you, Grandpa. Now, thanks to college (see laziness, beer, pizza and ice cream) I'm more like a wobbly tree-house with a LOT of fluffy insulation.

I don't really have a goal weight in mind. Right now, my big goal is to lose inches, body fat, gain muscle and cardiovascular stamina. I'm currently on Week 5 of the Couch to 5K running plan and I am set to finish in 4 short weeks. I also just picked up a copy of Lou Schuler's book; The New Weightlifting Rules for Women: Lift Like a Man, Look Like a Goddess. I plan on starting this soon and will post more about it once I read through it. I've already been doing some weight training, thanks to my wonderful and built fiance.

So, there you have it, my very first blog post. I'm sure I'll have thousands lining up to "watch" my epic transformation from lazy-ass to fit-ass (but still keeping intact my smart-ass).