i'm baaaaaaaack!

oh, hello. i'm back! actually i was back last week but i needed some time to recover and get over the idea that i wasn't on vacation anymore and probably wouldn't be for a long time and had to go to work and every day it was raining like crazy. what's up, summer?

my vacation was A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! i had the best time ever and did not want to leave. i could have stayed another week, easily! i will post more about it another day.

now i'm back and since i gained a little weight on vacation (obviously ... buffet style eating and pounding back sangrias) i'm counting points for a little while until my clothes fit the way they used to. if you can believe it i actually did not weigh myself when i got home. what's the point? i'm already sad because my vaycay is over and it rains every day and i have to go back to work at 7:30 am on monday (yes, i am working this week), i don't want to feel any worse! anyway i didn't weigh myself before my vacation so i wouldn't know how much i gained anyway!

my new theory is that if you have a substantial amount of weight to lose, the scale is a good tool for you. but if you are working to maintain your weight, you can go by how your clothes fit and how you feel. what do you think of this theory? my clothes still fit, but my jeans are a little tighter than normal.

and now, a running update! guess how many times i ran on vacation? if you guessed ZERO you would be correct. why? 1) bum pain 2) so hot outside - not gonna happen! 3) could have used the resort gym but i am NOT staying inside when i could be enjoying myself outside. that being said, every morning on vacation i did two sets of the following exercises:

20 lunges (10 on each side)
15 squats
15 plie squats
10 pushups
20 regular sit ups
20 bicycle sit ups
20 reverse sit ups
20 ab twists
and repeat.

so that's better than nothing. i did some swimming too of course but only recreationally. last weekend on saturday after i got back i planned on doing a 3-mile run but had to go home after 2 miles due to bum pain. i think traveling stresses my body out and makes the pain worse. this is just my experience from this year and last summer. maybe it's something to do with plane sitting and air pressure? i am not bill nye so i'll never know what's what.

i am a bit worried about my 1/2 marathon training. i decided this week that i have to wait until my bum is totally healed before i begin training again, otherwise my chances of completing this race aren't very good. last saturday i was supposed to run 7 miles and this week is 4. maybe if i'm better i can crank out six or so. here is my week so far:

monday: 35 minutes swimming
tuesday: 30 minute elliptical, one set of the routine above
wednesday: 35 minutes swimming
thursday: today ...

today i am feeling pretty normal bum-wise, so i am going to attempt a 45-minute treadmill workout. i have a plan i downloaded a few years ago and it varies the speeds and inclines for 45 minutes. i remember doing this and really enjoying the variety. not getting bored is important on the treadmill. i am not going outside yet because i always run on concrete and it's pretty demanding on the body.

tomorrow i have the day off (yippee!) so i am going to go for a swim in the morning and then finally tackle my closet. it's overflowing with clothes that i never wear. and i have a walk-in closet. i have a problem giving up clothes because a) i bought them and b) what if i want to wear them someday? well no more! i need to cut out the clutter! if i have not worn you in one year you are going in a bag and being donated somewhere!

book talk

do you want to know what i'm reading? i'll tell you, no arm twisting required.

physical books

1. gone with the wind: one of the true epics. i'm just beginning this one. it's overwhelming because it's so huge. i have a really old mass market edition that i picked up for $2.99 in a used bookstore, and i've wanted to read it ever since ponyboy was reading it to johnny in the outsiders. thankfully it is relatively light. when i was a kid at sleepovers, parent's used to put on the movie to make us fall asleep. i don't remember the movie at all, which is how i like it. books are always better.



2. the independence of miss mary bennett: a novel. this one was written by the same author as the thornbirds and it's kind of a sequel to pride and prejudice but the focus is on mary bennett, the only unmarried sister, and it's twenty years later. it's an interesting read so far. the only thing i don't like is that they are implying that elizabeth's marriage to mr. darcy turned sour quite quickly. nooooooooooooooooo! how dare someone ruin my mr. darcy fantasy! anyhoo...



3. the devious book for cats: a parody. i got this book for christmas and it's a bathroom reader type of book. it's hilarious. i'm pretty sure it's a parody on those daring books for boys and girls, but i don't know much about them so i can't be sure. the book is written for cats, by cats, and talks about different things like cardboard boxes, kitty litter, and "your human." obviously you have to have a cat or be a cat lover to appreciate this. there is also one for dogs.



audio books
if you didn't know i listen to audio books in my car, and sometimes load them onto my mp3 player and listen whilst walking on the treadmill.

1. run by ann patchett. i don't think i would enjoy this book if i had to read it, but i like listening to it. it takes place over 24 hours and is a complicated story about a family. a family in which the mother dies, after having one child of her own and adopting two boys. the father (after the mother's passing) becomes the mayor of boston, and so their lives are somewhat public. one night after the two adopted boys are grown, the father takes them to a lecture on a snowy night. after the lecture, one is going to be struck by a vehicle but is pushed out of the way at the last second by a woman. this woman turns out to be the adopted boys' birth mother! she has an eleven year old daughter who is with her. the oldest son (not adopted) has just returned from africa where he was stealing and reselling AIDS medication. see... complex plot. but interesting... and the reader has a very pleasant speaking voice.



2. clara callan: a novel by richard b. wright. this story is neat because it's about two sisters from small town ontario in the 1930s, and it's all written in letters (to each other) and journal entries. one of the sisters moves to new york to become a radio actress, and the other deals with some pretty heavy stuff back at home. there is also more than one person reading, which makes it feel like an old radio program.



for breakfast this morning i made an egg white wrap with 100g microwaved egg whites (1 point), a flat out wrap (1 point) and a TBSP of salsa (0 points). it was a pretty hearty breakfast for only 2 points.

my bum is a little sore from yesterday's goddess booty dvd, and that's excellent. i was never one for derriere exercises so there is no time like the present to start becoming bootylicious.

what is up with this?

what is going on? don't tease me. tell me NOW dammit!

in other news, last night i had the french onion soup (5 points), a small house salad (2 points) with balsamic dressing (1 point). during the movie i had a tea because it was freezing, and when i came home i had a curves bar (1 point) because i was a bit hungry. success!

today i have a job interview. wish me luck! =D

more motivated

you know what bothers me about september? socks or no socks?! some days it's warm enough to wear sandals and no socks. but then other days it's too chilly and really it all depends on things like wind and sun or no sun, etc. i think today i will wear socks.

reading so many of your motivational posts for the BLBE challenge is making me more motivated too. especially since yesterday, when i went to put on my "business skirt" for my interview, it didn't fit. well it "fit," but was tight. too tight for me to wear and sit on the streetcar without it riding up and be generally annoying. so - time for some serious action.

i'm eating within my points and that's good, and i'm eating all of my activity points so i'm definitely eating enough. i think my problem is not spreading out the points over the whole day. the thought of not having enough points in the evening and being hungry isn't a good one to me, and i think i am saving too many for the evening. if i am hungry at bedtime, i will just suck it up. hunger is not an emergency! and really, a little bit of hunger never hurt anyone. i like the feeling of hunger over the feeling of being too full.

the interview yesterday was alright. maybe i was tired, but i wasn't really into it. they kept asking me questions about what i would do in certain situations, and i wanted to say, i don't know, i'll deal with it when it comes, stop harassing me, leave me alone! instead of making up lame stuff in my head. and i'm also sick about having to put on an excited face about crappy stuff. like a "high-stress" environment. who thrives in a high-stress environment? and actually likes it? i like a nice, calm environment. i hardly even get stressed. stress! i mean, really! anyway i think the subject matter might be too boring for me. they didn't tell me how much the job pays, so i don't really know if it would be a perk.

this morning i got up early and went swimming in the apartment pool. in a few moments (after coffee), i am heading to the burbs to help out my mom at work. i might do day 3 of week 2 of the couch to 5k after work if my bottom half is pain free.

also this morning i had a giant breakfast.

1 packet of quaker regular oatmeal (2) with 1/2 cup all bran (1) and 1/2 cup 1% cottage cheese (1.5), and on the side 140g of frozen unsweetened raspberries (0). i am so full, for only 4.5 points.

lunch is fat free turkey (1) on a weight watchers bagel (2) with lettuce and tomato and mustard (0), 1/2 cup of 0% vanilla yogurt (1) mixed with 1/2 cup pure pumpkin (0), 200g of baby carrots (1), for a total of 5 points.

snacks are an apple (1) and a chocolate chip all-bran bar (2), for a total of 3 points.

monday - week two begins

monday is my new weigh-in day and i am down 2 pounds from last week. yes, this is good, but definitely not as good as friday's unofficial big drop which means that my weekend wasn't that successful. i have mixed feelings about it all. happy to have lost, but a little disappointed in myself that i let it go a little on the weekend. i am still not back in my desired maintenance range.

i did stay within my points. my problem is that i am used to saving the majority of my flex points for the weekend, so of course at the end of the weekend there is a chance i have gained... makes sense. yesterday i went with my family and some family friends to see dirty dancing (the musical), and then we went out for chinese food after. that was probably the kicker. i didn't stuff myself but i'm not going to be the party pooper in a group of eight people. i avoided the sticky sweet sauces and tried to eat more vegetables... although truthfully i find the vegetables at chinese food restaurants really bland and gross.

anyway, time for week two to begin. i am excited about it. the weather is gloomy today and i kind of like it. although i hope it stops raining in the afternoon so i can walk to the library.

not weighing in...

friday would normally be my weigh-in day but since i started the weight watchers online on monday i'm sticking to it. of course i checked, who am i kidding. already the results are very impressive. now, what will be more than impressive, is if i can maintain or even lose weight on the weekend. i am not crossing my fingers but will do my best. this means, no matter what, no late night snacking. lately i have been drinking a lot less and i love waking up feeling without any bad feelings. so far so good!

yesterday it seemed like i had a million points to eat. i kept eating, even though i wasn't that hungry. i wasn't not hungry, just not ravenous like usual. not that i'm complaining. it helped that i earned a lot of activity points. i went for a 70 minute walk in the morning (3 points), then had a 40 minute swim in the afternoon (4 points), and then, around 10pm, i was going to sit and read a magazine, but thought i might as well read it on the treadmill downstairs, so there was another 60 minutes of walking (2 points). that's 9 activity points. i really have no problem not using very much flex during the week because i am pretty active and use all of my activity points.

this morning i woke up early to swim but wasn't having it, so i slept for another 45 minutes before my chiro appointment. my appointment was great... i feel a lot better after it. when i walked there my bum was sore and when i walked away not as sore... amazing! also i was probably in awe because i share the same chiropractor as... are you ready... radiohead! yes, no joke. my chiro goes on tour with radiohead. amazing!

today i'm lunching with a friend, and don't have any real plans for this weekend. i think some karaoke on saturday night. and then my parents might be taking us (the kids) to see dirty dancing (the musical) on sunday afternoon, but i can't remember the exact day. have a great weekend peeps!

the chiropractor

it just occurred to me that i haven't mentioned my visit (now two visits) to the chiropractor. thus far it has been a pretty pleasant experience, although it's a bit scary too, i won't lie.

my first appointment was on friday. i went in and didn't know what to expect. the office was really close to my house so i could walk (of course i arranged it that way... convenience people!). the chiropractor asked me questions about my pain and asked me to move around. bending and stretching really doesn't cause me any pain at this point. it's more the impact of my heel hitting the ground.

she doesn't think it's sciatica actually, which is probably good to hear. she thinks it's a muscle in my bum that is pressing against the nerve. so different cause, same pain. she said it doesn't matter because those two ailments are treated in the same way anyway. she gave me the most intense lower back and bum massage of my life. really, how often does one get a bum massage? don't answer that. and then i had to lay on my back and twist into a pretzel and she popped both hip joints and then one in my back. breathe in.... let it all out... then whammo POP! that's how it goes.

on friday and saturday my back hurt a little but only because of the massage. she was really pressing hard! apparently men complain about the pressure of the massage but women just stick it out and wait for it to be over. that's because we're tough! grrrrr.

i didn't feel pain-free over the weekend but it wasn't so bad. i went back yesterday (monday) and after another bum massage she confirmed that the pain probably most definitely being caused by the muscle hitting the nerve. apparently my bum muscles are very tense. i could tell this during the massage... painfully obviously. she also gave me some stretches to do in the meantime. they are stretches that i already do although i didn't tell her that. it's not like i do them every day and now i will. i am going back on friday for another appointment. it's kind of fun going there, since i never have to wait (on time) and it's only 15-minutes. in and out. it's over before i know it. :) she thinks she can cure my pain as well, in only a few sessions. a very nice woman, too.

yesterday was a completely on plan day. thank you weightwatchers online for motivating me again. also, my weigh in days are going to be mondays. i think this will (might?) keep me more accountable on the weekends. and really, i'd like to base my "regular" weight on a more attainable figure, instead of the skinny friday weight that always disappears by sunday night.

i went to a friend's house last night to watch gossip girl and do a little gossiping of our own. i walked there (about 4 miles) to earn some activity points for a glass of wine. wine is pretty low-point. a cup and a half is only 5 points... that's 1/2 a 750mL bottle!

new week

my weekend wasn't too bad. i ate reasonably well and went swimming on saturday. i was going to ride my bike as well, but couldn't find it. it was in the underground parking bike lot - at least i thought it was. i searched everywhere like a dumbo but nope, no bicycle.

last week in my condo the "management" declared that if you wanted to store your bike in the underground bike lot, you had to register it. that means finding the reg. number at the bottom of your bike, paying $5 and putting a numbered tag on your bike. i did all this even though it really was kind of a nuisance. so on saturday i went down to get my bike to ride it to the ferry boats (going to the island for v-fest) and it wasn't there. after some investigation, i find out that the "management" has cut my lock and transferred my bike to some sort of weird storage locker, claiming that there was no tag on the bike. but there was a tag - i put it on myself. now, two things could have happened. it's possible that 1) maybe the tag fell off somewhere or 2) maybe some horrible monster stole my tag. it's probably number one but you never know. i am mostly peeved that they ruined my perfectly good bicycle lock and i had to buy a new one. and i couldn't ride it on saturday because i couldn't lock it up anywhere. i've asked them to pay for my lock but they have refused. grrrrr. can you believe it? it's not the actual money but the principle and hassle of it all.

in other news, today i rejoined weight watchers online. true i don't really *need* to because i can count points values on my own, but i really love how easy it makes everything. just searching for the foods and exercises in the database, all the counting is down for you, no math involved. and you can look back on the week to see your successes and failures. i just need a bit of extra motivation right now and i think using this online tool will provide that because of the fun factor. it's fun to put in what you eat. and the recipe builder is a great tool as well. plus it's nice to get a firm grasp on points values again. for example, i was counting 1 T ground flax as 0 points, because it's 35 calories and 3g fiber. but on the website, it's 0.5 points. i don't know why, but good to know.

weekend recovery

oh boy, monday again. i always stay up way too late on sunday which makes monday morning a really rude awakening. last night i was so caught up in reading "valley of the dolls" that i stayed up until 2 am. obviously i didn't work out this morning. BUT i did bring my running stuff to work with me and am seriously considering going for a lunch time run. there are pros and cons to the lunchtime run.

pros:
get it out of the way
not doing anything during that time anyway
it's a nice day
frees up the evening
will probably feel more tired tonight

cons:
sweating profusely
not being able to read my awesome book at lunch
possibly stinking (although i doubt it... i don't really smell)

more pros than cons. i don't really like going for outdoor runs after work. i like running to be something i take care of before the rest of the day begins.

my cottage weekend was fun, although i have ZERO bikini pictures. friday we didn't get there until night. saturday was cloudy and then a bit rainy. yesterday (sunday) it was beautiful and we did hang out on the beach but my camera was inside the house and i wasn't fussed about getting it. there will be lots of time this summer to get bikini pictures (especially since i am going to california in TWO WEEKS).

obviously my eating at the cottage wasn't great. hamburgers, hot dogs, chips, etc. but i don't think it was too bad. i just ate when i was hungry and when someone else was willing to cook me something on the grill. also, on saturday i went for a run along the beach. i took the road for a couple of kilometres and then ran on the beach on the way back. it was breezy and beautiful. i was running in my bikini top which was a little bouncy at first but i got used to it.

this week is really busy for me.

monday: weekend recovery and cleaning (this isn't really being busy... but i also have to finish my book and it's loooooong)
tuesday: book club
wednesday: date night
thursday: george michael concert (yes i love george!)
friday: weekend!

i was thinking about counting points this week. i haven't done it in so long and it sounds fun to me for some reason. here is today's menu:

breakfast:
coffee (0)
blueberries (1)
oatmeal (2)
2 source yogurts (1)
4/19

lunch:
whole wheat bun (2)
lentil soup (3)
carrots (1)
10/19

snack:
apple (1)
2 source yogurts (1)
12/19

dinner:
i haven't thought of this yet. maybe... chicken.

Plateau No!

I'm not counting points this week? Why? You might ask. Because. Because I've been counting points for the last bazillion weeks and I think I've reached some sort of plateau. I don't really want to lose much more weight. Maybe 2-5 pounds. That isn't much. I'm going to Las Vegas on Friday so I'm stepping up my game this week. When I come back, I'll go back to counting points.

This is my game plan:

Swimming in the morning - some other form of gym cardio in the evening.

Breakfast:
oatmeal with fruit
coffee

Lunch:
spinach salad with carrots, mushrooms, tomatoes and a can of tuna

Snack:
2 ryevita crackers with peanut butter spread
peach

Dinner:
lean meat (chicken or fish)
asparagus or other veg.

Post-gym snack:
Fruit.

There you have it. I'm looking to tone up a little and reduce bloating before the end of the week - so I'm eating lots of veggies and drastically reducing my salt intake. Normally I really load it on - but this week, nothing. I'm squirting lemons on my veggies at night and it's pretty tasty. Wish me luck!