Sunday, July 28, 2013

Kitchen Remodel

Jason did a great write up of the kitchen remodel over on my other blog.

Monday, July 22, 2013

July Challenge: Crash and Burn!

Okay, that title is a little melodramatic.  Last week really was pretty much a bust, though, challenge-wise.  On the one hand by the end of the week, my tummy was feeling a little flatter and I went for a nice long walk in the woods yesterday.  However, the reason my tummy was flatter is because I didn't eat much all week long.  Yeah, that's not sustainable.

Last Monday I woke up feeling absolutely exhausted and a bit nauseated.  Actually, a lot nauseated. I didn't ever throw up while I was sick, but I sure felt on the verge a lot of the time.  So I ate some saltines here, drank a little ginger ale there, but basically the first time I felt like eating at all was at lunchtime on Wednesday.  I ate a couple ounces of chicken breast and it felt like a major victory.

Last week was the second and last week of Restaurant Week and I was determined to go, since we missed last Restaurant Week thanks to both Jason and I being knocked out with the flu.  I wound up with lots of Restaurant Week leftovers.

By Thursday, I was feeling almost totally normal, and by Friday I felt great.  We went to New Hampshire over the weekend for Seek the Peak, a hike up Mt Washington to raise money for the weather observatory that got delayed to Sunday due to the weather.  So on Saturday we walked to some waterfalls, played mini golf and attended the now pre-hike turkey dinner.  Jason and his brother climbed Mt. Washington yesterday, and I found a nice 3 1/2 mile walk in the woods with only minor elevation gain.  (I can walk and walk, but I hate going up).

Even though I felt better, I still wasn't finishing my meals, and I tried to keep my food on the blander side.  The bad news is, the hike down yesterday took WAY longer than they thought it would, so we couldn't stop for a real dinner, but made do with roadside ice cream and, a couple hours later, a fast food stop.  I was driving, since I doubt Jason could have pushed in the clutch with his sore legs, so I was limited as to choices.  Today my stomach is a little wonky again, and I know it's thanks to Wendy's.

I suppose getting a little nauseated when I eat bad-for-me food isn't the worst thing in the world.  Keeps me on the straight and narrow.

In the meantime, though, my July Challenge is a bust.  This is the beginning of the last week and I'm now down at the bottom of the pack thanks to no workout points and only a couple of healthy eating points for last week.  Oh well.  On to August!

Thursday, July 11, 2013

Sensitive Subjects

I gave myself June before I decided I definitely needed help.  In June I participated in the June Challenge, as you all know.  I stuck to the food plan (low-carb) 5 or 6 out of 7 days per week and spent those 4 weeks doing a nice mix of cardio and strength training.  I felt good, physically, and thought, surely I will see improvement either via the scale or measuring tape.

When all was said and done, no improvement.  My clothes fit the same.  My body composition isn't changing and I'm not losing weight.

Jason sometimes complains about how many vegetables we eat.  A lot of my friends make comments to me about what an inspiration I am with my diligent workouts.  But the truth is, I haven't seen the scale or the measuring tape go anywhere but up for a couple of years now.   I eat low-carb because I honestly feel better eating this way, not because I'm trying to lose weight quick.  I work out because it helps my mental well-being.  Sometimes, though, I wish I would see some physical results for all my hard work and it can be really (really, really) discouraging when I don't.

Jason started saying to me several months ago that maybe I should go see an endocrinologist or similar because no matter how sedentary my job is, something's just not right.  After my June experiment, I started looking into getting help.

I know I'll never be skinny.  I know I'll never be "Normal" on the BMI because of how I'm built.  I don't want to be skinny or normal, I just want to feel comfortable in my own skin again. 

So this week, I went to see a doctor. I did some research and found someone who is sympathetic to low-carb, and whose entire ethos, according to his website, is something I can get on board with.  He sat with me for a half hour and we talked about my background, my parents and their backgrounds and health, the things I've done in the past, what brought me to him.  I liked him a lot and we had a good repoire.

I'm not so sure about what I think he might be recommending.  I'm getting blood work done and meeting with his weight-loss specialist next week, and I already have several (skepticism-laden) questions for her.  But, as Jason pointed out, nothing I've done so far has been working, so I might as well give this a whirl, right?

Monday, July 08, 2013

July Challenges

I'm still not sure how I made out in the June Challenge because the organizer went to Spain for a month) and didn't send us the final tallies before she left.  I'm pretty positive my friend Deborah smoked us all and got first.  I'm just curious as to whether I got second place, or wound up third.  I'm pretty pleased with my progress over the month, though, of course, I didn't lose weight. 

For the month of July (well, the 1st through the 28th), the same group is doing a very mellow version of the challenge (see above re: organizer in Spain), and reporting back to the group once a week.  We get a point for each day we eat on plan, a point for 3 days of working out, a point for each additional workout day, and 5 points at the end of the month for fulfilling a challenge goal we set for ourselves. 

Last week wasn't great because of the holiday and because we went to a 2-day music festival and there's nothing but crap food there.  Seriously, by the end of day 2, I was craving vegetables.  Maybe I should have counted 2 days of wandering around between stages and craft vendors in 90+ muggy degrees with heat advisories in effect as "working out", but I didn't.  Still, I like to think I'm more virtuous because of how much I sweat this weekend.

Since I'm also doing a 10,000 steps per day challenge, my goal for the July Challenge is to walk 10,000 steps per day for 24 out of 28 of the challenge days.  I think I need to give myself 1 day a week not to hit 10,000, in case of unforeseen circumstances.  Or foreseen circumstances even.  For instance, Jason's dad is leaving town today so we went out for breakfast.  Work has been a little nutty today, so no time for a lunch walk.  And I have a meeting tonight that will probably go to 9 PM.  So I'll be happy to reach 5,000 steps today.

I've said it before, but what I wouldn't give for a Walkstation...

So that's what's up for July.  Trying to get my brain back into Challenge mode after a few days off.

Monday, July 01, 2013

Carb Hangover

Sometimes I think I'm just being a prima donna and making up this little wheat/carb sensitivity thing to, I don't know, make myself feel special?  Be high maintenance?

Well, this hangover I have this morning is definitely not all in my head.

I was on course to have 6 out of 7 days on plan for the last week of the June Challenge.  However, we wound up staying for this fundraiser at church yesterday for the Young Men's (ages 12-17) summer camp.   I thought it would be a buffet so I could load my plate up with salad and then have some turkey or something when I got home.  But they actually served us a first course of salad, then rolls and spaghetti, then cookies (and the boys were adorable!).

So I basically carb-loaded yesterday in preparation for my hard day at work sitting on my bum.

Plus, last night I discovered we still had some Dancing Deer Molasses Clove Cookies that a friend brought to a concert we went to Friday night and then gave to us, and which I virtuously did not eat on Friday, but figured last night that I had already consumed a great big carb bomb so might as well eat a couple of cookies too, right?

Anyway, this morning I was supposed to go swimming, but I felt terrible and just wanted to sleep. So I texted Rebecca and said I wouldn't make it, then slept hard for another hour and a half.  I'm still feeling pretty groggy.

The moral of the story is, even if I'm not losing weight by eating low-carb (because I'm not.  Sigh.), I feel so much better overall that it's worth it to stick to the plan as much as possible.