214.2
TUESDAY
Wow. So friendly scale today. Please don't let me down on Thursday! I was very good yesterday and hit the treadmill for 60 minutes of good interval training. I bought a heart rate monitor the other day. I'm a little disappointed because the model I bought doesn't calculate calories. But I am pleased ot see that it interacts with my treadmill such that I don't even have to wear the wrist part - it transmits directly to the treadmill. So that's cool. I had a good run and kept my heart rate up and down in a pretty good range for intervals. I also ate very minimally all day until we went out last night. I knew we would be going to Y-knots, so I only had about 600 calories all day until we left. I also burned over 600 on the treadmill. So, I allowed myself a little splurge at dinner and had this wonderful southwestern wrap they have that of course has lots of cheese, but is really good. I calculated it, generously I think, at 750 calories. Who knows though with something like that.
But I have stuck with the no alcohol streak. It's been 17 days. And honestly, I don't even miss it. I haven't been at an event or party yet that really centered around alcohol, so mostly I've just given up having a couple beers when Erik & I go out. Now, I just get diet coke, and really don't feel all that deprived. Once again, I'm not vowing I've given it up completely till the wedding, but no need in pointless drinking right now. Every calorie counts. In looking at my calendar I don't really have anything scheduled in the next few weeks that should tempt me. This weekend I'm going to Panama City for Bike-week but am going to meet my dad and brother, neither of whom really drink, so shouldn't be tempted there. The next weekend, mothers' day weekend, my mom will be in town, so no temptation there. Frankly, I don't have any temptations until possibly June. Boy would that be crazy if I could hold out that long.
Who knows. Just taking it one day at a time. Today I have my follow up appointment for the Lasik where I'll get my contacts out. I'm going to try to do a separate post on that tonight and update how things are going.
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Monday, April 28, 2008
Back on Track
216.4
MONDAY
Well, I have to admit that I've not been real disiplined the last few days with the lasik issues I've got going on. I'm back though. I did a good run/walk this afternoon, and am back to tracking everything in sparkpeople. I'm hoping to see the numbers go down by the end of the week and do a real "weigh in" on Thursday!
MONDAY
Well, I have to admit that I've not been real disiplined the last few days with the lasik issues I've got going on. I'm back though. I did a good run/walk this afternoon, and am back to tracking everything in sparkpeople. I'm hoping to see the numbers go down by the end of the week and do a real "weigh in" on Thursday!
Epi-Lasik Day 3-4
MONDAY
Yesterday sucked. I woke up and couldn't see for crap. It was really frustrating considering I had done so well on Saturday. I got up and went to church with Erik and couldn't even look at the pastor because the lights shining on him were so bright. Crazy. Everything was blurry - up close, far away, all blurry.
Now, I know that I was warned about this, but boy it was depressing. No bad pain. I did stick with the percocet, because there was some significant irritation. But mostly it was just the blurryness that was irritating.
Today was better, but I still stayed home for work because focusing on the computer for too long is hard. Things are still blurry, but SO much better than before. I love to read and last night I could not make out the words on the page. Today, much better, though I couldn't focus for too long. Distance is still somewhat blurry,but also getting better.
Tomorrow I have my appointment to get the contact out. I hope things are clearer then!
Yesterday sucked. I woke up and couldn't see for crap. It was really frustrating considering I had done so well on Saturday. I got up and went to church with Erik and couldn't even look at the pastor because the lights shining on him were so bright. Crazy. Everything was blurry - up close, far away, all blurry.
Now, I know that I was warned about this, but boy it was depressing. No bad pain. I did stick with the percocet, because there was some significant irritation. But mostly it was just the blurryness that was irritating.
Today was better, but I still stayed home for work because focusing on the computer for too long is hard. Things are still blurry, but SO much better than before. I love to read and last night I could not make out the words on the page. Today, much better, though I couldn't focus for too long. Distance is still somewhat blurry,but also getting better.
Tomorrow I have my appointment to get the contact out. I hope things are clearer then!
Saturday, April 26, 2008
Epi-Lasik Day 2
SATURDAY
Well, this morning was tough. I ended up going out with my fiancee last night for a couple hour because I felt so good. But this morning was a different story. My follow up appointment was at 8:30 am. I had taken a pain killer at about 10:30 then gone to bed. I woke up at about 7:00 and had the hardest time keeping my eyes open. It felt like I had put my contacts in with cleaner solution still on them. Really bad. I think it's partly because the pain killer had worn off, but man it sucked.
I took another pill, put in my drops, and got Erik up to drive me to the appointment. The doctor said everything was looking good even though I felt so bad. He said it's normal. He also said he's actually worried that I can see too good the day after surgery, because it'll likely worsen a little before it settles in for good. Not a bad thing to be told, I think,I see too good?
Anyway, today my pain has fluctuated. I guess I kind of prejudged the use of those pain killers. For now, it's every 4 hours for me. My vision has been pretty stable, but the pain comes and goes as my pain killers kick in. It's really frustrating. So basically I've been in bed all day. I have been able to watch a little TV, and movies, but have also napped a lot. The contacts are irritating. That's probably the worst part.
So, I'm hoping that tomorrow will be better. No going out tonight. Erik's picking up chinese, so it'll probably be an early night.
Well, this morning was tough. I ended up going out with my fiancee last night for a couple hour because I felt so good. But this morning was a different story. My follow up appointment was at 8:30 am. I had taken a pain killer at about 10:30 then gone to bed. I woke up at about 7:00 and had the hardest time keeping my eyes open. It felt like I had put my contacts in with cleaner solution still on them. Really bad. I think it's partly because the pain killer had worn off, but man it sucked.
I took another pill, put in my drops, and got Erik up to drive me to the appointment. The doctor said everything was looking good even though I felt so bad. He said it's normal. He also said he's actually worried that I can see too good the day after surgery, because it'll likely worsen a little before it settles in for good. Not a bad thing to be told, I think,I see too good?
Anyway, today my pain has fluctuated. I guess I kind of prejudged the use of those pain killers. For now, it's every 4 hours for me. My vision has been pretty stable, but the pain comes and goes as my pain killers kick in. It's really frustrating. So basically I've been in bed all day. I have been able to watch a little TV, and movies, but have also napped a lot. The contacts are irritating. That's probably the worst part.
So, I'm hoping that tomorrow will be better. No going out tonight. Erik's picking up chinese, so it'll probably be an early night.
Friday, April 25, 2008
Epi-Lasik Day Of
Well, I lived. We got there about 15 minutes early and they checked me in right away. Promptly taking my money of course. Erik came with me and was able to stay with me the whole time except the actual surgery where he got to watch through a window.
They first took a picture of my eye. I had to sit really still, which was hard because I guess I was nervous. Then they put some numbing drops in my eye, then explained all the goodies I was going to get: drugs, eyeware, etc. Then they gave me a valium so I'd relax (yeah!). Then the nurse remeasured my prescription to make sure nothing had changed since my evaluation a couple months ago. All was good there. The doc came in then, and looked at my eyes, then drew dots on both sides of each pupil. Odd. Then they gave me a hair cap and shoe caps and escorted me into the surgery room. The whole surgery was like 15 minutes including prep. Then we were back in the eval room. The doc said everything went well, and they went over the post-op stuff again. And I was out the door. It seemed almost too easy.
I was told I was -3, which I think is a different scale than my actual prescription which is something like -1.75. Either way, my eyes weren't bad. Which is, I guess, partly why it went so quickly. We showed up at 9:00 am, 15 minutes early, and were back in the car by 10:20. Crazy.
I could see right away. Things were a bit hazy, like I was standing in a really smoky room, but no pain initially. I got a prescription for percocet as well as two prescription drops (anti-inflammatory & steroids) and a bunch of Refresh Plus drops. I took one percocet right away - didn't want to feel any pain. So after a littlel lunch, I crashed out for a couple hours. Of course it wasn't the best sleep because I'm required to wear theses crazy eye goggles that I have to tape to my face, and sleep on my back.
I woke up a couple hours ago, feeling ok. I'm to put the refresh drops in every 10 minute I'm awake for the first day, which is crazy frequent, but I'm totally following all the directions. I have to do the 2 prescription drops 4 times a day for the first week. I go back tomorrow morning for a follow up.
Over all I feel good. My eyes are a little sore. It's been 6 hours since the percocet, so I took another just now. I really don't want to feel pain. Also, I was supposed to get some pain killer eye drops that they forgot to give me, so I'm being a little cautious and using the percocet as I'm allowed. I'll probably stop tomorrow, but they gave me 30 pills. I'm allowed one every 4-6 hours. The doc said "some people take them all, some just take a few". 30 pills? Are you kidding me? I definitely don't see myself on percocet for a week and a half. Come on people!
As for my vision, it's definitely better. I don't know how close I am to 20/20 but with the exception of a little fogginess, which isn't as irritating as I thought it'd be, I can see pretty good. I'm told it should fluctuate for the first month or so, so I'm prepared for it to get worse, but I really am pleased so far.
As I said, my eyes are a bit sore - kind of like I've been wearing my contacts for too long. Which makes sense I guess because I have these contacts on my eyes until Tuesday. Hopefully the discomfort will not last until Tuesday. It's not severe pain (and no, the percocet hasn't kicked in yet). So I guess I've gotten off pretty easy. As you can see, I'm ok to type on the computer. I don't think I'd have been good to go to work or anything, but it's not at all as bad as I thought it'd be. I actually just got done watching a movie (Juno - very cute). So, all in all, things are good.
I'll update tomorrow after the follow up, but my experience is going well so far.
They first took a picture of my eye. I had to sit really still, which was hard because I guess I was nervous. Then they put some numbing drops in my eye, then explained all the goodies I was going to get: drugs, eyeware, etc. Then they gave me a valium so I'd relax (yeah!). Then the nurse remeasured my prescription to make sure nothing had changed since my evaluation a couple months ago. All was good there. The doc came in then, and looked at my eyes, then drew dots on both sides of each pupil. Odd. Then they gave me a hair cap and shoe caps and escorted me into the surgery room. The whole surgery was like 15 minutes including prep. Then we were back in the eval room. The doc said everything went well, and they went over the post-op stuff again. And I was out the door. It seemed almost too easy.
I was told I was -3, which I think is a different scale than my actual prescription which is something like -1.75. Either way, my eyes weren't bad. Which is, I guess, partly why it went so quickly. We showed up at 9:00 am, 15 minutes early, and were back in the car by 10:20. Crazy.
I could see right away. Things were a bit hazy, like I was standing in a really smoky room, but no pain initially. I got a prescription for percocet as well as two prescription drops (anti-inflammatory & steroids) and a bunch of Refresh Plus drops. I took one percocet right away - didn't want to feel any pain. So after a littlel lunch, I crashed out for a couple hours. Of course it wasn't the best sleep because I'm required to wear theses crazy eye goggles that I have to tape to my face, and sleep on my back.
I woke up a couple hours ago, feeling ok. I'm to put the refresh drops in every 10 minute I'm awake for the first day, which is crazy frequent, but I'm totally following all the directions. I have to do the 2 prescription drops 4 times a day for the first week. I go back tomorrow morning for a follow up.
Over all I feel good. My eyes are a little sore. It's been 6 hours since the percocet, so I took another just now. I really don't want to feel pain. Also, I was supposed to get some pain killer eye drops that they forgot to give me, so I'm being a little cautious and using the percocet as I'm allowed. I'll probably stop tomorrow, but they gave me 30 pills. I'm allowed one every 4-6 hours. The doc said "some people take them all, some just take a few". 30 pills? Are you kidding me? I definitely don't see myself on percocet for a week and a half. Come on people!
As for my vision, it's definitely better. I don't know how close I am to 20/20 but with the exception of a little fogginess, which isn't as irritating as I thought it'd be, I can see pretty good. I'm told it should fluctuate for the first month or so, so I'm prepared for it to get worse, but I really am pleased so far.
As I said, my eyes are a bit sore - kind of like I've been wearing my contacts for too long. Which makes sense I guess because I have these contacts on my eyes until Tuesday. Hopefully the discomfort will not last until Tuesday. It's not severe pain (and no, the percocet hasn't kicked in yet). So I guess I've gotten off pretty easy. As you can see, I'm ok to type on the computer. I don't think I'd have been good to go to work or anything, but it's not at all as bad as I thought it'd be. I actually just got done watching a movie (Juno - very cute). So, all in all, things are good.
I'll update tomorrow after the follow up, but my experience is going well so far.
Thursday, April 24, 2008
Epi-Lasik
Now to part B today's posting. I'm having Epi-Lasik tomorrow. I'm actually really scared. I was supposed to have it done last month, and I think I blogged about the scheduling mistake that caused it to be cancelled. But now it's on again, and tomorrow at 9:00 am I go under the knife. Or machine. Or whatever it is that fixes eyes.
I'm going to try to chronical my experience with it, because I'm having something of a rare procedure done. Most people who get their eyes fixed get "LASIK". I'm actually getting a procedure called "Epi-LASIK" done. From what I'm told in traditional LASIK they slice a flap of the cornea, peal it back, laser the eye, then replace it. You recover relatively quickly and can see mostly good within a day or so. Well, I'm not an ideal candidate for that as I have "thin" cornea's. Yes, the one area of my body that is naturally "thin" is my eyes. WTF? Anyway, "thin" corneas make traditional LASIK more risky as the cutting of the flap weakens the eye.
Thus, I get Epi-Lasik. What is Epi-Lasik? Well, again from what I understand, instead of cutting a "flap", they actually shave off the top part of the cornea. The layer that is regenerative. Then, with that layer gone, they laser the eye, then place a temporary "contact" over the eye while that layer rebuilds itself. This rebuilding takes about 4 days, because I've already scheduled a follow-up appointment for Tuesday when they are supposed to take that temporary contact out. Then I'm supposed to be good to go. I also have a follow up on Saturday morning - the day after the surgery - to make sure everything looks ok. Then I guess I'll have periodic follow-ups after that, though I don't know yet how frequently.
Why did I decide to do this? Well, it's something I've wanted to do for a long time. My eyes really aren't "that" bad, though in my mind, anyone that has to wear contacts to be legal to drive, has it bad. My prescription is only -1.75 or so with a mild astigmatism in each eye. As I said, however, I do have to wear contacts to legally drive. I've been in contacts since high school. While contacts themselves aren't all that bad, and after 15 years of wearing them I'm pretty good at getting them in and out quickly. The problem is that I have really bad allergies. Which means that my eyes get irritated frequently, and many days, wearing contacts for more than 8 or 10 hours is really painful. Also, they aren't cheap. I probably spend at least $200 a year on the contacts themselves, plus at least that in solution.
So I've been thinking about it for years. Erik actually had lasik done about 10 years ago, when it was still really new. It's just been a question of expense. Then I got this job. Not only was it a significant raise, but they provide me with a flex spending account that allows me to pay $3000 in pre-tax and use it for the lasik. So it's actually saving me a bit of money b/c it's pretax dollars, and it also doesn't feel as painful since it's taken out over 24 paychecks. Of course that doesn't fully cover the cost, but it's takes care of most of it. It probably could cover it if I wasn't a super paranoid person and chose the lasik center at the most respected university in town. But hey - I'm not going "discount" when it comes to me eyes.
So obviously I'm not going into work tomorrow. I've got no big plans for the weekend, and hope to rest as much as possible so I can work on Monday. But who knows. I've read other peoples accounts and find that it really varies how quickly people recover. I'm hoping that since my eyes aren't too bad, there won't be as much correction, and therefore not as much recovery. That's what I'm telling myself, at least.
As for "pre-op" stuff. I haven't been able to wear my contacts all week. Which really sucks because about 6 months ago, I lost my back up glasses. Now, there's no way I was paying $150 or so dollars for a pair of glasses that I only would need for a week, so basically this week I've been blind. (and yes, I considered the drug store cheapo glasses, but those are for far-sighted people, not near-sighted. trust me I looked). So, Holly's been driving me to work and back. Tomorrow, Erik will take me in to the appointment. The whole procedure is only supposed to last about 2 hours total (with only a few minutes for the actual surgery). I'm not sure if I'll be able to do a lot of computer stuff tomorrow, but I'll try to do a short post on how it goes. I'm really nervous.
Think happy thoughts for me tomorrow morning...
Oww
218.4 (let me explain...)
THURSDAY
First of all. OW. I'm in so much pain. I started that "6 weeks to a bikini" program on Monday and it his kicked my ass. Literally. My ass hurts. Really bad. As do my quads, hamstrings, back, abs, and other parts I do now know the name for. Wow, I'm out of shape.
So Monday was cardio day and as I blogged earlier, I didn't do as well as I thought I should but I got through it and burned over 600 calories (the book wants me to burn at least 500). Tuesday was another story. Tuesday was the first weight training day. It consisted of 10 different exercises, each of which with 3 sets, each set with 15-20 REPS. Yes, that means I was supposed to lift 600 times. Well, I didn't quite make it because a few of the exercises I just couldn't do the full 20 reps. I'm not strong enough yet. But the majority of them I did. My least favorite? Lunges. I HATE LUNGES. Basically I hate most exercises that focus on my lower body. When I do my own "strength training program", whatever that is, I skip the lower body thinking that my running will cover that, and focus on the upper body and arms. Now I have to do all over exercises and it's KILLING me. In a good way, I'm sure, but damn it's tough.
So yesterday, wednesday, I was back to cardio, and although I was already sore, I got through the program again, this time burning over 700 calories over a one hour session. Not bad.
So here's the tough part. Today I'm supposed to lift again. Did I mention OWWW? I'm not sure how this is going to work. I've promised myself that if I can't get through the exercises, I'll hit the treadmill so at least I'll burn some calories, but I just don't know if I can do it. I'm SOO sore today.
So, the weight on the scale. Yes, I haven't been great about food, but I've tracked everything in spark people and considering the amount of calories I'm burning, the scale is way higher than it should be. I blame my abused muscles. I read somewhere that muscles get sore because when you work out you tear the muscle to make it stronger. Then as the muscle heals, it retains water. So that's what I'm telling myself. If not, I'd have to explain why - the week I FINALLY get back to exercising I'm actually UP 2.5 lbs from when I totally slacked off for 2 week. I'm going to give it a week or so and hopefully the scale will balance out and go back down. Of course, lunch at the sushi buffet today didn't help that water retention, I'm sure...
THURSDAY
First of all. OW. I'm in so much pain. I started that "6 weeks to a bikini" program on Monday and it his kicked my ass. Literally. My ass hurts. Really bad. As do my quads, hamstrings, back, abs, and other parts I do now know the name for. Wow, I'm out of shape.
So Monday was cardio day and as I blogged earlier, I didn't do as well as I thought I should but I got through it and burned over 600 calories (the book wants me to burn at least 500). Tuesday was another story. Tuesday was the first weight training day. It consisted of 10 different exercises, each of which with 3 sets, each set with 15-20 REPS. Yes, that means I was supposed to lift 600 times. Well, I didn't quite make it because a few of the exercises I just couldn't do the full 20 reps. I'm not strong enough yet. But the majority of them I did. My least favorite? Lunges. I HATE LUNGES. Basically I hate most exercises that focus on my lower body. When I do my own "strength training program", whatever that is, I skip the lower body thinking that my running will cover that, and focus on the upper body and arms. Now I have to do all over exercises and it's KILLING me. In a good way, I'm sure, but damn it's tough.
So yesterday, wednesday, I was back to cardio, and although I was already sore, I got through the program again, this time burning over 700 calories over a one hour session. Not bad.
So here's the tough part. Today I'm supposed to lift again. Did I mention OWWW? I'm not sure how this is going to work. I've promised myself that if I can't get through the exercises, I'll hit the treadmill so at least I'll burn some calories, but I just don't know if I can do it. I'm SOO sore today.
So, the weight on the scale. Yes, I haven't been great about food, but I've tracked everything in spark people and considering the amount of calories I'm burning, the scale is way higher than it should be. I blame my abused muscles. I read somewhere that muscles get sore because when you work out you tear the muscle to make it stronger. Then as the muscle heals, it retains water. So that's what I'm telling myself. If not, I'd have to explain why - the week I FINALLY get back to exercising I'm actually UP 2.5 lbs from when I totally slacked off for 2 week. I'm going to give it a week or so and hopefully the scale will balance out and go back down. Of course, lunch at the sushi buffet today didn't help that water retention, I'm sure...
Monday, April 21, 2008
Boot Camp
215.4 (hell yeah)
MONDAY
I had a great weekend. I'm in such a good place today. First, I had no alcohol. Erik had Daniel and we didn't go out at all this weekend. As I posted earlier, I was kinda sick on Saturday morning, but somehow it mostly cleared itself up by Saturday night and I feel good today. Yesterday I was kind of lazy but got a lot of little things done around the house including laundry, sorting and responding to mail, organizing counters. I didn't get any boxes unpacked, but I'll count my small victories.
Food-wise I was fabulous on Saturday which showed me 215.4 yesterday on the scale (so this is day 2 in the 215's). Yesterday I splurged a little at dinner, had 6 wings and small fries at Taco Mac, but I was really low on calories there rest of the day so apparently it didn't hurt me on the scale this morning.
Last night Erik left for a 4 day trip to DC for work. After he left, I had dinner, then went and browsed Books a Million for a couple hours. I ended up buying a book that provides a boot-camp style program for 6 weeks that includes cardio, weights & pilates. It's called 6 weeks to a bikini. Now I'm much farther than 6 weeks away from wearing a bikini, but I liked the format, I liked that all of the weight training could be done at home, and I like the bit of pilates thrown in. I've always wanted to try that and never did.
So, with that encouragement, I got my lazy ass up this morning at 8:00 am (I know - so NOT early) and hit the treadmill for my "Week 1, Monday" assignment. It was interval training which basically means really hard running mixed in with jogging/walking for recovery. I was actually a little disappointed with how I did. I did the exercise as assigned, but expected to be able to kick it up a bit considering my recent running. I guess over a week off, and being sick this weekend, did me in, cause I was REALLY tired and didn't run nearly as long as I've done before. Hopefully Wednesday's cardio will feel better.
Either way, I did 55 minutes on the treadmill this morning for 4 miles and over 600 calories burned. Not a bad start to the day. Now I knew I'd feel good if I could get myself up and do the exercise. Why did it take me so long to do it?
I really hope I can stick to this program. I'm a little less than 19 weeks out from the wedding, which means I could do this program 3 times through and maybe really see some changes.
So - so far so good. Last week I cut out the alcohol. This week, no alcohol PLUS exercise. I really think I might see something good at weigh in on Thursday!
Here's to: Day 9 of no alcohol Day 1 of Boot Camp!
Here we go...
MONDAY
I had a great weekend. I'm in such a good place today. First, I had no alcohol. Erik had Daniel and we didn't go out at all this weekend. As I posted earlier, I was kinda sick on Saturday morning, but somehow it mostly cleared itself up by Saturday night and I feel good today. Yesterday I was kind of lazy but got a lot of little things done around the house including laundry, sorting and responding to mail, organizing counters. I didn't get any boxes unpacked, but I'll count my small victories.
Food-wise I was fabulous on Saturday which showed me 215.4 yesterday on the scale (so this is day 2 in the 215's). Yesterday I splurged a little at dinner, had 6 wings and small fries at Taco Mac, but I was really low on calories there rest of the day so apparently it didn't hurt me on the scale this morning.
Last night Erik left for a 4 day trip to DC for work. After he left, I had dinner, then went and browsed Books a Million for a couple hours. I ended up buying a book that provides a boot-camp style program for 6 weeks that includes cardio, weights & pilates. It's called 6 weeks to a bikini. Now I'm much farther than 6 weeks away from wearing a bikini, but I liked the format, I liked that all of the weight training could be done at home, and I like the bit of pilates thrown in. I've always wanted to try that and never did.
So, with that encouragement, I got my lazy ass up this morning at 8:00 am (I know - so NOT early) and hit the treadmill for my "Week 1, Monday" assignment. It was interval training which basically means really hard running mixed in with jogging/walking for recovery. I was actually a little disappointed with how I did. I did the exercise as assigned, but expected to be able to kick it up a bit considering my recent running. I guess over a week off, and being sick this weekend, did me in, cause I was REALLY tired and didn't run nearly as long as I've done before. Hopefully Wednesday's cardio will feel better.
Either way, I did 55 minutes on the treadmill this morning for 4 miles and over 600 calories burned. Not a bad start to the day. Now I knew I'd feel good if I could get myself up and do the exercise. Why did it take me so long to do it?
I really hope I can stick to this program. I'm a little less than 19 weeks out from the wedding, which means I could do this program 3 times through and maybe really see some changes.
So - so far so good. Last week I cut out the alcohol. This week, no alcohol PLUS exercise. I really think I might see something good at weigh in on Thursday!
Here's to: Day 9 of no alcohol Day 1 of Boot Camp!
Here we go...
Saturday, April 19, 2008
Sick...
216.6
SATURDAY
bleh. I'm sick. I'm such a horrible sick person. I whine a lot, bitch a lot, and generally am no fun to be around. So it's going to be a fun weekend, I can tell. Erik & Daniel left for the baseball game about 30 mins ago. I'm sitting up in bed wondering if I have the energy to watch a movie. No poker for me today. No anything. I had big plans to accomplish at the house, but maybe I'll settle for getting laundry done.
Good news: Sobriety's easy when it hurts to swallow.
SATURDAY
bleh. I'm sick. I'm such a horrible sick person. I whine a lot, bitch a lot, and generally am no fun to be around. So it's going to be a fun weekend, I can tell. Erik & Daniel left for the baseball game about 30 mins ago. I'm sitting up in bed wondering if I have the energy to watch a movie. No poker for me today. No anything. I had big plans to accomplish at the house, but maybe I'll settle for getting laundry done.
Good news: Sobriety's easy when it hurts to swallow.
Friday, April 18, 2008
It's working...
217.0
FRIDAY
TGIF. Really. I'm not sure what went on this week but it's been so tough to be at work. I've been VERY unproductive, and really just kinda bleh about everything. Part of it is getting used to a new schedule. Holly and I try to carpool as much as possible to save money on gas and miles on the car. The problem is she just started a new schedule that is 10:30-7:00. Sounds fabulous right? She doesn't get to my house till 9:45 in the morning so I have "all" this time in the morning, right? Wrong. I sleep till 9:00 then get up and get ready. What's the deal with that?
Every day this week that I carpooled with her, I set my alarm for 8:00 thinking - that's still really sleeping in, and I can get up, run and feel great the rest of the day. What do I do? Snoooooooze. What the hell? It's not like I'm not getting enough sleep! We're asleep before midnight, so no excuse to lounge around till 9:00. WHY can't I get motivated?
I think it has to do with the fact that I haven't run in a little over a week. I think it's one of those things - when you get used to exercising, you crave it, or at least it feels normal, important. Maybe if I can be successful at running before work just 1 day next week, I'll enjoy it so much I'll be able to make it a habit. Grrrr.
So the good news is that I'm still alcohol free. Notwithstanding the fact that we've gone out EVERY night this week. Not usual for us, but for whatever reason, we did. Wednesday night we went to dinner and I drank Diet Coke while Erik drank Sake. Last night we went to Y-Knots - our normal Thursday night hangout - and I drank Diet Coke while Erik drank Gin. Boy is Erik loving my new found sobriety. He has a DD every day! But the good news is that even though I haven't been exactly good this week food-wise, the scale is going down.
I didn't weigh in yesterday because I knew it'd be a gain. I know, I know, bad excuse. But hey, I'm still staying on track regardless. I hope to weigh in next week. I'd like to get the scale back into the 215 area and below this week.
Small steps, though, right? This week the focus was on having fun without alcohol. Next week we need to get exercise back in. Starting this weekend. Erik has his son this weekend, so shouldn't be anything too crazy going on. No plans to go out tonight (for once) but I DO plan to get a run in. Tomorrow Daniel has a baseball game early, then I have a poker tournament I might play, but still no alcohol to be drank! Sunday is church and more exercise. I'm looking forward to this weekend very much.
Day 6 of Sobriety and still truckin!
FRIDAY
TGIF. Really. I'm not sure what went on this week but it's been so tough to be at work. I've been VERY unproductive, and really just kinda bleh about everything. Part of it is getting used to a new schedule. Holly and I try to carpool as much as possible to save money on gas and miles on the car. The problem is she just started a new schedule that is 10:30-7:00. Sounds fabulous right? She doesn't get to my house till 9:45 in the morning so I have "all" this time in the morning, right? Wrong. I sleep till 9:00 then get up and get ready. What's the deal with that?
Every day this week that I carpooled with her, I set my alarm for 8:00 thinking - that's still really sleeping in, and I can get up, run and feel great the rest of the day. What do I do? Snoooooooze. What the hell? It's not like I'm not getting enough sleep! We're asleep before midnight, so no excuse to lounge around till 9:00. WHY can't I get motivated?
I think it has to do with the fact that I haven't run in a little over a week. I think it's one of those things - when you get used to exercising, you crave it, or at least it feels normal, important. Maybe if I can be successful at running before work just 1 day next week, I'll enjoy it so much I'll be able to make it a habit. Grrrr.
So the good news is that I'm still alcohol free. Notwithstanding the fact that we've gone out EVERY night this week. Not usual for us, but for whatever reason, we did. Wednesday night we went to dinner and I drank Diet Coke while Erik drank Sake. Last night we went to Y-Knots - our normal Thursday night hangout - and I drank Diet Coke while Erik drank Gin. Boy is Erik loving my new found sobriety. He has a DD every day! But the good news is that even though I haven't been exactly good this week food-wise, the scale is going down.
I didn't weigh in yesterday because I knew it'd be a gain. I know, I know, bad excuse. But hey, I'm still staying on track regardless. I hope to weigh in next week. I'd like to get the scale back into the 215 area and below this week.
Small steps, though, right? This week the focus was on having fun without alcohol. Next week we need to get exercise back in. Starting this weekend. Erik has his son this weekend, so shouldn't be anything too crazy going on. No plans to go out tonight (for once) but I DO plan to get a run in. Tomorrow Daniel has a baseball game early, then I have a poker tournament I might play, but still no alcohol to be drank! Sunday is church and more exercise. I'm looking forward to this weekend very much.
Day 6 of Sobriety and still truckin!
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Sobriety...
217.8 (better, but still..)
WEDNESDAY
Well I have some small successes to report, besides the scale getting back in a reasonable range. not the 215 I saw 2 weeks ago, but it's going back down, so that's good.
My success is on the alcohol front. I've totally gone out the last two nights - Monday at Erik's request and last night on my own when he had a Kiwanis meeting - and had...drum roll please....NO ALCOHOL. Ok, so maybe that should not be such a huge announcement, but I cannot remember the last time I went out to a bar for poker and did not drink alcohol. I bet it was a time when I was really hung over. Seriously. I'm a huge social drinker and always like to have something in my hand. Diet coke it was last night. That problem is that waitresses are not eager to refill your diet coke since you already paid for it. So I had to get up a couple times and walk to the bar for a refill. Oh well, more exercise, right?
So maybe that's why the scale has gone down despite the fact that I cannot seem to get my lazy butt to exercise this week. Maybe.
So we're on day 4 of my new sobriety. I'm not promising a 4 month streak, but I'm going to see how far I can go. Holly brought up the idea of having a party next weekend, which would be a real challenge because when we host parties, it's all about the drinking. But we'll see.
Nothing else too exciting to report. Boy my blog is boring... ;-)
WEDNESDAY
Well I have some small successes to report, besides the scale getting back in a reasonable range. not the 215 I saw 2 weeks ago, but it's going back down, so that's good.
My success is on the alcohol front. I've totally gone out the last two nights - Monday at Erik's request and last night on my own when he had a Kiwanis meeting - and had...drum roll please....NO ALCOHOL. Ok, so maybe that should not be such a huge announcement, but I cannot remember the last time I went out to a bar for poker and did not drink alcohol. I bet it was a time when I was really hung over. Seriously. I'm a huge social drinker and always like to have something in my hand. Diet coke it was last night. That problem is that waitresses are not eager to refill your diet coke since you already paid for it. So I had to get up a couple times and walk to the bar for a refill. Oh well, more exercise, right?
So maybe that's why the scale has gone down despite the fact that I cannot seem to get my lazy butt to exercise this week. Maybe.
So we're on day 4 of my new sobriety. I'm not promising a 4 month streak, but I'm going to see how far I can go. Holly brought up the idea of having a party next weekend, which would be a real challenge because when we host parties, it's all about the drinking. But we'll see.
Nothing else too exciting to report. Boy my blog is boring... ;-)
Monday, April 14, 2008
No more excuses
220.8 (oh yeah).
MONDAY
Ok, so no more excuses. No more parties. No more trips. For awhile at least. This morning's weigh in is the first I've had in a few days as I was out of town in Miami for an associate's retreat. I do attribute some of it to being dehydrated. I kept waking up last night dying of thirst and I was very bad about water this weekend. But that doesn't explain most of it. Most of it is 4 days of not tracking, of eating what I want, of not exercising, of drinking alcohol.
So here I declare. NO MORE ALCOHOL. That's a start. I WILL TRACK ALL FOOD. That's another good start. We'll see how long I go. By calculations, I have no "need" to drink alcohol until August for my bachelorette party and then wedding. Nothing special planned between now and then. So why not detox for 3-4 months?
Very ambitious I know, but I'm going to try. I really want to see if I can do it. For the diet, but also for myself. I know I'm not an alcoholic, but I do drink frequently. I have a really bad family history of alcoholism and alcohol related deaths. I need to prove to myself that this is just an indulgence, not some sort of dependency.
So here we go. Day 2 of no alcohol (had my last drink about 10:00 pm Saturday night). I'll report daily I hope on my success's.
Also, we will be tracking food and exercising. I've got just under 19 weeks before the wedding. Time to get serious.
MONDAY
Ok, so no more excuses. No more parties. No more trips. For awhile at least. This morning's weigh in is the first I've had in a few days as I was out of town in Miami for an associate's retreat. I do attribute some of it to being dehydrated. I kept waking up last night dying of thirst and I was very bad about water this weekend. But that doesn't explain most of it. Most of it is 4 days of not tracking, of eating what I want, of not exercising, of drinking alcohol.
So here I declare. NO MORE ALCOHOL. That's a start. I WILL TRACK ALL FOOD. That's another good start. We'll see how long I go. By calculations, I have no "need" to drink alcohol until August for my bachelorette party and then wedding. Nothing special planned between now and then. So why not detox for 3-4 months?
Very ambitious I know, but I'm going to try. I really want to see if I can do it. For the diet, but also for myself. I know I'm not an alcoholic, but I do drink frequently. I have a really bad family history of alcoholism and alcohol related deaths. I need to prove to myself that this is just an indulgence, not some sort of dependency.
So here we go. Day 2 of no alcohol (had my last drink about 10:00 pm Saturday night). I'll report daily I hope on my success's.
Also, we will be tracking food and exercising. I've got just under 19 weeks before the wedding. Time to get serious.
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Report Card
217.2
TUESDAY
Well I was "almost" perfect yesterday. I did go home and, after laying on the bed and whining to erik that I didn't want to do anything, I dragged my lazy ass out of bed and got on the treadmill. And - of course - I'm thrilled I did. I decided to try something different. I covered up the stats on the treadmill with a towel and just ran. I promised myself I would run for 6 songs before I looked at where I was. I roughly guesstimated that would be 20 mins or so and 2 miles or so. All went well till Erik popped in to see how it was going. So we "peaked" at about 1.14 miles (mid-way through song 4). Then song 5 was a Justin Timberlake song I downloaded that was like 7 minutes long! I got through about 3:30 then had to click next.
All in all, I peaked about mid song 6 to see I'd just crossed over the 2 mile mark. The goal was to do 3 miles straight - running - without walking. So the last mile I totally had to focus and do the countdown..."8 minutes left, 8 minutes left, 8 minutes left, 7 and a half minutes left, 7 and a half minute left," etc. You get the point. It was tough - but hell yeah I did it! 3 miles ran in 30:30. Awesome. Of course no incline, so that time would be much higher on real roads, but still. It's been a LONG while since I ran 3 miles straight.
I finished it out with a quarter mile walk for a total of 35 minutes and 557 calories burned. Very nice.
For dinner I had a success as well. After my run Erik & I were talking and he said "I want Pizza." Eww. I said. Yes, I actually said Eww to pizza. Don't know where that came from. Turns out he didn't really want pizza so much as he just wanted to stay home and not cook. So I made us both tuna fish sandwiches with light potato chips for dinner. Not bad.
I didn't have my 1200 calorie day unless you subtract the 500 calories I burned. I ended up scoring about 1750. But all was logged in sparkpeople. And I did see a little lower number on the scale today.
Still have some work to do by Thursday to avoid a gain, but we're solidly in the 217 area now, so that's better than a few weeks ago.
Here's to progress!
TUESDAY
Well I was "almost" perfect yesterday. I did go home and, after laying on the bed and whining to erik that I didn't want to do anything, I dragged my lazy ass out of bed and got on the treadmill. And - of course - I'm thrilled I did. I decided to try something different. I covered up the stats on the treadmill with a towel and just ran. I promised myself I would run for 6 songs before I looked at where I was. I roughly guesstimated that would be 20 mins or so and 2 miles or so. All went well till Erik popped in to see how it was going. So we "peaked" at about 1.14 miles (mid-way through song 4). Then song 5 was a Justin Timberlake song I downloaded that was like 7 minutes long! I got through about 3:30 then had to click next.
All in all, I peaked about mid song 6 to see I'd just crossed over the 2 mile mark. The goal was to do 3 miles straight - running - without walking. So the last mile I totally had to focus and do the countdown..."8 minutes left, 8 minutes left, 8 minutes left, 7 and a half minutes left, 7 and a half minute left," etc. You get the point. It was tough - but hell yeah I did it! 3 miles ran in 30:30. Awesome. Of course no incline, so that time would be much higher on real roads, but still. It's been a LONG while since I ran 3 miles straight.
I finished it out with a quarter mile walk for a total of 35 minutes and 557 calories burned. Very nice.
For dinner I had a success as well. After my run Erik & I were talking and he said "I want Pizza." Eww. I said. Yes, I actually said Eww to pizza. Don't know where that came from. Turns out he didn't really want pizza so much as he just wanted to stay home and not cook. So I made us both tuna fish sandwiches with light potato chips for dinner. Not bad.
I didn't have my 1200 calorie day unless you subtract the 500 calories I burned. I ended up scoring about 1750. But all was logged in sparkpeople. And I did see a little lower number on the scale today.
Still have some work to do by Thursday to avoid a gain, but we're solidly in the 217 area now, so that's better than a few weeks ago.
Here's to progress!
Monday, April 7, 2008
Wii Fit
I forgot to mention, this weekend I reserved a Wii Fit. I'm so excited. I heard about this from a co-worker last week and went to my local Gamestop this weekend to reserve my very own. It doesn't come out until May 19, but I'm totally loving it. It looks like a "fun" way to get some strength work in!
Why do we sabotoge?
217.6
MONDAY
So, after my AMAZING weigh in on Thursday, what did I do? Proceed to eat and drink merrily for 3 days. What the hell? I have a co-worker who sits next to me at the office who's also doing weight watchers. She came in this morning and we compared notes. We both agree that one of our biggest struggles is that we totally self-sabotage when we have a good week/day/scale showing. Her's this week was a morning scale-hop - she saw a good number and then justified copious amounts of ice cream. Mine was my fabulous weigh in on Thursday justifying a stupid alcohol binge on Friday night. The worst part about it was that Erik & I had plans to go to the movies on Friday which, at worst, would have resulted in a popcorn binge. Instead, at the last minute, we decided to go to Y-Knots and drink too much. Well I, at least, drank too much. Which lead to 11:00 pm ordering of "pub rolls" these fabulously cheesy, chicken roll thingies that are, of course, deep fried and very good. I wasn't even HUNGRY but the alcohol ALWAYS has me craving food. Bad girl.
Saturday and Sunday were better but not perfect. I had a wonderfully productive weekend house-wise and got lots of boxes unpacked. But Saturday we did go to that movie and I did have that popcorn binge. Sunday after church we went to Ted's Montana Grill for Bison burgers and Mexican for dinner (dinner was Erik's idea, but did I object? NO!).
Oh - and have I logged all this craziness into Sparkpeople? Of course not.
SO - today has been declared another 1200 calorie day. I can DO this. I WILL have a light lunch. I WILL run 3 miles as SOON as I get home, and I WILL eat VERY little for dinner. I WILL. All is not lost. The scale reading today is about what it was last Wednesday before my kick butt day/work out that dropped it to the 215's. I can still recover before Thursday. But oh - how low would I be if this weekend never happened?
Eh - woulda, coulda, shoulda, right? Moving on...
MONDAY
So, after my AMAZING weigh in on Thursday, what did I do? Proceed to eat and drink merrily for 3 days. What the hell? I have a co-worker who sits next to me at the office who's also doing weight watchers. She came in this morning and we compared notes. We both agree that one of our biggest struggles is that we totally self-sabotage when we have a good week/day/scale showing. Her's this week was a morning scale-hop - she saw a good number and then justified copious amounts of ice cream. Mine was my fabulous weigh in on Thursday justifying a stupid alcohol binge on Friday night. The worst part about it was that Erik & I had plans to go to the movies on Friday which, at worst, would have resulted in a popcorn binge. Instead, at the last minute, we decided to go to Y-Knots and drink too much. Well I, at least, drank too much. Which lead to 11:00 pm ordering of "pub rolls" these fabulously cheesy, chicken roll thingies that are, of course, deep fried and very good. I wasn't even HUNGRY but the alcohol ALWAYS has me craving food. Bad girl.
Saturday and Sunday were better but not perfect. I had a wonderfully productive weekend house-wise and got lots of boxes unpacked. But Saturday we did go to that movie and I did have that popcorn binge. Sunday after church we went to Ted's Montana Grill for Bison burgers and Mexican for dinner (dinner was Erik's idea, but did I object? NO!).
Oh - and have I logged all this craziness into Sparkpeople? Of course not.
SO - today has been declared another 1200 calorie day. I can DO this. I WILL have a light lunch. I WILL run 3 miles as SOON as I get home, and I WILL eat VERY little for dinner. I WILL. All is not lost. The scale reading today is about what it was last Wednesday before my kick butt day/work out that dropped it to the 215's. I can still recover before Thursday. But oh - how low would I be if this weekend never happened?
Eh - woulda, coulda, shoulda, right? Moving on...
Thursday, April 3, 2008
Barely Obese
215.4
THURSDAY
YEAH. I saw 215 this morning. Woo Hoo. I'm kicking BUTT this week. I go to my weigh in in about an hour and am expecting a good 3 lb loss since last time I went (3 weeks ago). I'm very pleased.
I updated my ticker, though, and am still technically "obese". I'm right at 30 BMI. If I remember correctly under 30 BMI is considered "overweight" but 30 or above is "obese". Boo. I definitely don't feel "obese". If you asked a random stranger if I looked "overweight" or "obese" I think 9 out of 10 would say "overweight". I'm definitely not skinny, but I hate that word - obese. Perhaps it's due to the level of obesity in America that my 40 lbs over weight doesn't "look" as bad. Who knows. I plan to be "overweight" by next week. :-)
On another happy note, I had a GREAT run last night. I ran 2.5 miles without walking, then walked .1 mile, then finished out another .5 miles running. For a total of 3 miles ran. I cooled down, of course, with a bit more walking, but that's definitely the best I've done in a long time. I told Erik earlier this week that I'd be running 3 miles straight by the end of the month. Looks like it might be sooner that I thought! I'm so pleased. It felt good too. It was tough near the end, of course, but it really felt good. (especially when I was done!) :-)
So tonight Holly & I scored tickets to a Sugarland concert here in Atlanta at the Fox - a very cool, very old style theatre. I'm excited. A co-worker couldn't go so we got them half price.
This weekend's plans are unpack, unpack and unpack. Oh and I might make Erik take me to see 21 this weekend. It's a movie based on the MIT blackjack team that worked Vegas for lots of money. We've both read the book the film is based on "Bringing Down the House" and I really want to see it. I'm a gambler at heart, what can I say.
Other than that, my life will consist of working on the house, running, and tracking my world in Sparkpeople. I love you sparkpeople! :-)
THURSDAY
YEAH. I saw 215 this morning. Woo Hoo. I'm kicking BUTT this week. I go to my weigh in in about an hour and am expecting a good 3 lb loss since last time I went (3 weeks ago). I'm very pleased.
I updated my ticker, though, and am still technically "obese". I'm right at 30 BMI. If I remember correctly under 30 BMI is considered "overweight" but 30 or above is "obese". Boo. I definitely don't feel "obese". If you asked a random stranger if I looked "overweight" or "obese" I think 9 out of 10 would say "overweight". I'm definitely not skinny, but I hate that word - obese. Perhaps it's due to the level of obesity in America that my 40 lbs over weight doesn't "look" as bad. Who knows. I plan to be "overweight" by next week. :-)
On another happy note, I had a GREAT run last night. I ran 2.5 miles without walking, then walked .1 mile, then finished out another .5 miles running. For a total of 3 miles ran. I cooled down, of course, with a bit more walking, but that's definitely the best I've done in a long time. I told Erik earlier this week that I'd be running 3 miles straight by the end of the month. Looks like it might be sooner that I thought! I'm so pleased. It felt good too. It was tough near the end, of course, but it really felt good. (especially when I was done!) :-)
So tonight Holly & I scored tickets to a Sugarland concert here in Atlanta at the Fox - a very cool, very old style theatre. I'm excited. A co-worker couldn't go so we got them half price.
This weekend's plans are unpack, unpack and unpack. Oh and I might make Erik take me to see 21 this weekend. It's a movie based on the MIT blackjack team that worked Vegas for lots of money. We've both read the book the film is based on "Bringing Down the House" and I really want to see it. I'm a gambler at heart, what can I say.
Other than that, my life will consist of working on the house, running, and tracking my world in Sparkpeople. I love you sparkpeople! :-)
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
151 Days.
217.4
TUESDAY
151 days till my wedding. Erik was so cute last night before we fell asleep he said "5 months". Which it was 5 months from yesterday. I'm so excited. It's funny how when I'm following my plan, and doing well I feel good about myself and my future.
Today is going according to plan. I had some left-overs for breakfast (~270 calories), chipotle for lunch (~850 calories) which puts me with ~450 calories left for the day to hit the top of my range on Sparkpeople. I'm good with that. I'm going to hit the treadmill when I get home again, though my knee is hurting so I might just do some power walking on incline instead of running after yesterday's kick-butt run. Then I think I'm going to have some pasta for dinner. According to Sparkpeople I'm high on protein & fats today and need more carbs. So carbs it is. I'm hoping to see the pretty 216. something tomorrow.
I feel so blessed. Erik & I had one of those unplanned bonding moments last night talking about various stuff. Basically we realized we have a really great life. Good friends, nice house, good jobs, and a great future. Why do we sometime forget how fortunate we are and get upset about the little stuff? I guess it's all perspective. If my biggest concern was getting food on the table or paying my rent I probably wouldn't get so made when I lost at a poker game, or didn't get a chance to go running. I'm fortunate to have the problems I have and that they are so minor.
Thank you lord for all that is good in my life and for the small challenges that make me try harder.
That's all for today. :-)
TUESDAY
151 days till my wedding. Erik was so cute last night before we fell asleep he said "5 months". Which it was 5 months from yesterday. I'm so excited. It's funny how when I'm following my plan, and doing well I feel good about myself and my future.
Today is going according to plan. I had some left-overs for breakfast (~270 calories), chipotle for lunch (~850 calories) which puts me with ~450 calories left for the day to hit the top of my range on Sparkpeople. I'm good with that. I'm going to hit the treadmill when I get home again, though my knee is hurting so I might just do some power walking on incline instead of running after yesterday's kick-butt run. Then I think I'm going to have some pasta for dinner. According to Sparkpeople I'm high on protein & fats today and need more carbs. So carbs it is. I'm hoping to see the pretty 216. something tomorrow.
I feel so blessed. Erik & I had one of those unplanned bonding moments last night talking about various stuff. Basically we realized we have a really great life. Good friends, nice house, good jobs, and a great future. Why do we sometime forget how fortunate we are and get upset about the little stuff? I guess it's all perspective. If my biggest concern was getting food on the table or paying my rent I probably wouldn't get so made when I lost at a poker game, or didn't get a chance to go running. I'm fortunate to have the problems I have and that they are so minor.
Thank you lord for all that is good in my life and for the small challenges that make me try harder.
That's all for today. :-)
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