I Have a New Home

I moved to wordpress.

http://tehroach.wordpress.com

National Barbecue Month

Is it just me or is there a national month for everything? This month is national barbecue month and I'm thinking I need to do two things:

One: Find some good vegetarian barbecue recipes and then request my parents to barbecue all month. Vegetarian or not, I love the smoky smell of barbecue.

Two: I must read this thesis on Barbecue written by Anoop Desai, former American Idol contestant. It's a 60-page paper on the history of barbecue and yeah, it's downloadable. You can read a paper about barbecue while listening to its autor sing Donna Summer's Dim All The Lights. This is why I love the internet.

Hopsital Food Around the World

Just found an interesting photo blog - hospitalfood.tumblr.com via www.seriouseats.com, one of my favorite general food sites.

Photos of hospital food around the world. What a good idea for a blog.

Lazy

I haven't written in a while, because I'm being lazy. I didn't work out all week and it was almost a relief... until I realized how amazingly tired and low on energy I've felt all week.

Guess I better get my butt in gear.

Comments!

Not that I think a ton of people want to comment, but my friend just pointed out to me that she couldn't comment because of my settings.

Settings are changed. Comment away! 

Running with Asthma

Asthma sucks. 

If you've never had an asthma attack, let me share with you the feeling. The most common attack is a mild to moderate attack and just because it's mild doesn't mean it's easy to handle. It is a kick in the lungs. 

Basically, it feels like someone has you in a bear hug or is pressing down on your lungs. When I have an asthma attack my lungs burn, my back hurts, I cough, I lean forward as if it might help, but it doesn't really. An asthma attack is scary because you can't breath, which I hear is pretty essential for living.

When I was a kid, I would panic when I had asthma attacks. I would cry, intensifying the attack threefold. I still panic slightly when I start wheezing and feel a tightening in my chest, which is what happened today. 

I walked about a half a mile, ran until I hit the 2 mile marker on the pavement and then started wheezing like a big ol' asthmatic. I had to walk to my car and use my inhaler and try to calm down before it got worse. I think it's the whole running in nature thing that triggers my asthma.  I run at the Genesys nature trail around the hospital, which looks gorgeous, but preys on my allergies.

After I used my inhaler, I went back to my run and was able to run two miles straight and walk another one. I was so proud of myself at the end of my run - for not giving up when I could have and for not letting my asthma get in the way. 

Sometimes I have to keep in mind that just because I have asthma, doesn't mean I can't. 

Mmmm Donuts

Ever wanted to make vegan donuts? 

Susan over at blog.fatfreevegan.com presents a fatfree vegan donut recipe! These look pretty tasty.

Photo is from Susan's Blog!

The FatFreeVegan blog is one that I visit on a pretty regular basis. 

I really love the way she has her blog set up. It's simple, she gives good ideas, has creative recipes and I love the way her recipes are cataloged. It's probably my favorite vegan/vegetarian food blog because it's so simple, yet full of creative dishes. Totally in tune with the way my mind works when it comes to food!

Weight Loss Challenge Recap

So I lost 2 more pounds! Yay!

Because last week I gained again. Sadface.

So I've gained 2, loss 3, loss 3, gained 2, loss 2. 

Grand total of 4 pounds. 

That's not all that amazing. 

Back

Meh. I'm over the new blog that I got. 

So, guess I'll stick to blogger.

Testing New Waters

I'm testing out a blog community over at www.onsugar.com. So far it's kind of cool. Here's my new home - yoginiontherun.onsugar.com

VegFest

Ferndale High School is housing VegFest, an expo all about being vegetarian organized on by VegMichigan.

It looks like it could be fun. They're hyping this John Salley guy, a former NBA player, as their main speaker. And there is going to be a lot of vegan food ("Vegan cuisine" so says the flyer.) I'm not a vegan or a sports fan, but there's sure to be some topics that interest me. I might volunteer just for the hell of it.

Top Ten

Woo hoo! I made it into the top ten for the weight loss challenge at work!

Although, I feel slightly guilty for celebrating everyone's bad week. The group only lost about 17 pounds and there are about 29 of us participating, I believe. A lot of people had to pay a buck. I'm guessing Black Monday (the day the layoffs and pay cuts began being announced) caused a lot of people to cheat on their diets. Emotional eating (or drinking) can be a killer.

Stay strong my newspaper brothers and sisters!

I Wanted Ice Cream, But I Got This Instead

Just wanted to share a healthy alternative to ice cream - DelMonte FruitChillers.

There made for kids, but they're a good option if you have a sweet tooth. They're low in fat and calories and made with real fruit.

They even have a tool you can use to compare to your favorite vices.

These were originally bought for my two-year-old nephew. He wasn't impressed, but I was.

Rougher Week Than Expected, eh?

Damn. I didn't make my two-three pound goal. I dropped one pound, which is still to be commended after such a crappy week.

So yay for me and my one pound loss!

Tough Week? Tough Luck.

The week was really rough for everyone at work, so I really wanted some carbohydrates, some comfort food. While I enjoyed my manicotti, mixed drinks, cookies, fried cheese cubes, cheesy enchiladas and half a chocolate bar - wow that looks really bad now - I think I might still my goal of losing three pounds or at least two pounds.

I made sure to work out everyday this week and even once outside. See Erin? I can play outside too! So yay me!

I hope to weigh in at 173 Monday. That's two pounds down. Cross your fingers!

Stress Eating

All the bad news in the newspaper industry is doing nothing to help my eating habits.

This week I've eaten a bunch of comfort food, fried food and drank alcohol. Definitely not helpful for the whole lose weight plan. And today, I didn't even eat dinner. NOT a good idea to run on an empty stomach. I was exhausted twenty minutes into the run.

On a positive note, I've lost 6 pounds in the last two week as of Monday. I'm scared to weigh in this upcoming Monday, but I have been working out - yoga Monday, skating Tuesday and running today - so maybe it won't be as bad as I think.

Soon my workouts will change. I won't have my $48 month-to-month gym membership, so no yoga every Monday. I'll have to come up with a home yoga sequence and I'll be running outside instead of on the track in the gym or on the machines at the gym, but that's no big deal.

I'll miss the fitness classes, but maybe I can learn to love running in downtown Flint.

Hurrah for cross-training!

I have discovered the joys of cross -training!

Good old yoga journal got me hooked to a yoga/running cross-training program. And Runners World even has an article of their own about yoga for runners.

To gear up for running I've been using an elliptical machine for half an hour, run/walk for ten to twenty minutes and finish up with yoga poses to stretch out my muscles. I'm trying to transition from using the elliptical machine to running on my own. The machine is really helpful because it absorbs a lot of the impact, so I'm not used to running without the support. I think I'm doing a pretty good job transitioning from machine support to self support. And yoga is really helpful because it teaches me how to control my breathe, stretches muscles I work when I run and strengthens them too.

So fire up for cross-training!

Weight Loss Challenge

I haven't updated in what seems like forever.

Well, here's a quick update. I joined a Weight Loss Challenge at work, pay in $10 at the beginning and a dollar every time you gain weight, the winner gets cash. I think there's going to be a top three.

Anyway. The first week I gained a pound, this week I lost three. So I'm pretty excited about that.

In other news? My yoga teacher might add some classes to her schedule and she's already signed up to teach in the spring and summer. So that makes me happy and I'm going to try out a yoga class where she goes for yoga. It's sort of out of the way for me, but I want to try it out anyway.

And today after work, I'm working out at the gym. Woo.

Tomorrow it's Salad Wednesday at work and the out-of-the-way yoga class. Fire up for a good week!

That's all for my well overdue update.

Yoga Love Affair

I love yoga, but sometimes I skip class. That was my plan tonight, but it didn't work out that way and I'm glad.

I have two friends that attend yoga with me and one of them planned to skip yoga today because she was stressed out about some personal life stuff, said she needed time to go home and deal with some things. My initial reaction was "Oh, Ok. That's too bad. What's going on?" because honestly, I had been planning to skip class, too. I was relieved I wouldn't disappoint her by not showing.

But then I thought about it and I decided skipping class was a bad idea because she was stressed. People need energy to deal with things that are stressful. "Wait, wait, wait," I said. "You're stressed out, right? Ok, forget this skipping class business. You need yoga." We both see yoga as a stress reliever - a spiritually cleansing and energizing activity. I wasn't being presumptuous. My friend agreed yoga was a good idea, but only if I went. That's how I ended up in class instead of being lazy at home.

It turned out to be a really good class and was packed full of people, including another friend of mine who goes to the class. I arrived late due to a visit in the membership office that I forgot I was going to have to do, so when I got to class it was already going. The energy was already high, it was warm in the room and the air smelled like... well the air smelled of sweat. At first, I felt bad being late, but the energy in the room helped me get into the motions very quickly and I enjoyed the class very much.

For myself and my friends, yoga is a tool to calm a hectic life. It's an outlet for negative energy. I'm hardly amazing at the poses. I lose my balance, I fall, I can't reach my hands or stretch far enough, but I laugh and smile and try anyway. Yoga settles me, it grounds me and it's exercise I enjoy, regardless of how "good" I am at the positions because it's not about the positions or whether you can do the things the person next to you can manage.

It's about the journey you take while in the class, it's about the effort you make while trying to reach those positions, it's about dragging your friend to class when they're in a bad mood because you know it's good for them. It's about falling, laughing, standing and trying again. It's about the energy in the room, the moment you're in and it's about leaving all the negativity of the world, of your world and your life at the door.

I heart yoga.

Soups @ Fatfree Vegan Kitchen

Quick note:

Fatfree Vegan Kitchen has some great recipe ideas for soups.

No Junk Food, No Elevators. Day One.

Everyone chooses something for Lent. Well, not everyone, but a lot of people. In the spirit of Lent, I'm avoiding junk food and elevators. For fourty days.

Day one has been pretty easy, at least the elevators part. There are not that many floors at my job, so taking the stairs doesn't bother me much. The junk food part? That part is difficult! I haven't eaten any junk food today, but I did run into some temptation.

Today's temptations?
1. Left over packzis
2. Caramel popcorn
3. Doritos

Let's not even talk about the vending machine at work that's at my constant disposal.

Doctor's Orders

The verdict is in.

The doc says to lose weight, you have to eat less. Surprise!

Ok, he had more to say than that. He gave me some information (a diet plan for diabetics, although I'm not), talked to me about the different types of foods I could eat and suggested I keep a food diary. I also asked about whether it's healthy for me to be a vegetarian. He told me it was perfectly fine as long as I was getting my B12 and D vitamins.

But the basic summary was eat less and eat healthier. I knew that, but at least now I have a better idea of what types of things I should cut out an what's a safe calorie intake for me if I want to lose weight quickly.

Final ruling: Less food, less weight.

A Web design P.S.

I am thisclose to buying a domain name and taking up residence on my mom's Web space with Wordpress as a CMS. I feel know there is very little I can do with blogger. Then again, I don't really have time to make my site fancy.

P.S. How cute is this site? webdesignerwall.com

OMG! I can't believe you posted that picture of me!

Today, I untagged a photo of myself on Facebook.

What does that mean?

Let me give a brief explanation of "tagging" photos on Facebook. Say a friend posts pictures from a party and I'm in one of the photos. (This is the actual scenario, by the way.) This friend can choose to associate my name with the photo by "tagging" me. The friend can draw a square that will appear around the image of me when someone hovers the mouse cursor over my name. Also, when people view my profile, they have an option that says, "see more photos of Theresa." They can click this and photos are that "tagged" with my name will appear.

I untagged a photo. I removed the association of myself to that picture. I didn't want anyone to see this photo and know it was me. This is why I cannot give up on losing weight. I am so ashamed of how I look in photos, I would rather not be associated with the photo. I am (in a not exactly the way people use the term sort of way) attempting to disassociate from my own body. I'm guessing this is probably oh, I don't know... not good for me?

If it had been a physical photo my friend stuck on a bulletin board rather than a electronic photo album, I would have wanted to rip up the picture and the burn the negatives. Yes, lots of people do the oh-god-I-look-horrible-in-that-photo thing, but I really, really don't want to feel like that about my body no matter how bad the photo. (I want to just recognize it as that's a badly taken photo, not that's a bad photo of myself and I look so ugly). I know my size is not horrific, but I don't feel healthy and it's something kind of awful that I will untag a photo (and delete it if I could) instead of just commenting "OMG! LOL. That's such a bad picture." and moving on. (Like the chatspeak there? I knew you would.)

Tomorrow, I'm going to the doctor and asking him about weight loss and whether running the Crim in August is not a crazy, crazy goal for me. I think it's physically possible ... if I lose weight, but I also need to talk him about nutrition things and what the type of precautions I need to take if I can do the running by August - if I should walk the Crim instead of running it? Do I need to do anything different than my non-asthmatic runners?

He can't give me a magic pill, but I'm hoping I can at least talk to him about a plan of action for myself and find out if I'm on the right track. Maybe he can give me some tips or something.

Gym Room Etiquette

I just finished eating the least spicy Thai food I've ever had in my life. Highly disappointing. Now, that's not what I want to talk about here. I was just so bummed, I couldn't let it die.

What I want to actually blog about is my lack of gym room etiquette.

Several days ago I was working out in the cardio area - walking on a treadmill and contemplating how I would ever make the switch from walking to running. I have my ipod shuffle on and I'm avoiding watching the clock, allowing myself to watch a bad MTV show with the closed caption on.

The guy on the machine next to mine hops off his machine, cleans it and leaves. Good gym etiquette. A woman gets on and starts running. Next to her is another woman, a younger one who is college age. She's running, too.

I can't remember when her friend came in, before or after the man left the machine next to mine, but the younger woman is on her machine chatting away happily with her friend. Not exactly the best gym etiquette, but no one seems bothered by it. That is except for the woman who has replaced the guy that was running next to me.

After about 15 or 20 minutes of chatter, the woman finally just starts to tell the girls off - without even looking at them. I couldn't hear much, but she was getting louder and louder each time the girls responded to her. Eventually, turning up my ipod just wouldn't drown her out - unless I wanted to permanently screw up my hearing. She was so upset about this woman's bad gym etiquette, but she wasn't much better with the rude and very snide comments.

I was really amazed that she was so rude to the girls. I didn't even know they'd done anything horrendously bad. I know all about wiping a machine down, but talking to a friend and running on a machine for more than half an hour? I'd been on my machine 40 minutes when the woman started in on this girl.

I didn't see anything wrong with what the younger woman was doing. But Maybe it's because I had on headphones, as did most of the people in the room, but I just wasn't bothered by this younger woman.

Maybe I just need to brush up on my gym room etiquette.

Just Dance!

Good song to work out to. Lady GaGa is a little weird, but it's a fun song.

Ouchies

Boot camp kicked my butt today!

I'm getting better and better at it. That is so satisfying. I'm jumping rope longer, moving into the steps quicker and learning to control my breathing better. :)

The downside to going skating one day and boot camp the next is that my calves are sore. They feel very tight. I'm wondering what type of exercises I can do to stretch them out. I guess I could try some yoga poses like extended triangle. I love me some yoga. I need to start doing it outside of class as well.

Tomorrow I'm going to try to get in a run before a birthday party. Friday, I'm going out of town to go dancing. So that should work off some calories. :) I haven't been dancing in a while. It should also be quite fun.

Sunday, I'm determined to do some grocery shopping and a weigh in/measurement day. I really need to know where I stand. If my exercise buddy is busy, I'll have to get someone else to measure me.

Never too late to skate

Simple blog today.

1. I <3 skating. Maybe I should say so with this really cute skate necklace?). I went skating instead of running tonight. By the time I got home it was too dark to go run on the wooded path I like. So I went skating.

2. I love skating. Did I mention that?

3. I miss roller derby.

4. Skating is a very good work out, but it only get your lower half.

The plan for the week: Monday - yoga, Tuesday - skating, Wednesday - boot camp, Thursday - running, Friday - going dancing, Saturday - sleep in, Sunday - nothing.

Guess Who's Back?

You hear that gnawing sound? That's guilt eating away at me. Don't worry, it's not painful in this form (because a lot of times Guilt is a bad thing). Guilt is actually helpful this time in forcing me to get my act together.

I haven't written in a while and Guilt here knows I haven't been good about my eating habits. It's always the eating part that makes this healthy thing so hard for me. My appetite taunts me. It sits with me at dinner and pokes me on the shoulder like a kid. "Hey, hey, hey. Don't you want seconds? What about chocolate? You should have some pancakes with lots of butter and syrup. That sounds good. You deserve it; you've been stressed out this week." So, I do. If I don't, it'll just keep buggin' me. And since I live alone, no one but me and my appetite knows that I've given in "just one last time".

It's becoming very discouraging for me, since I keep giving in. Sometimes I feel as if I have no control. I try to use that tips that I know - Drink lots of water. Eat fruit. Don't deny yourself, simply have what you want in moderation. 

I was getting better at doing those things, but then I'd have a bad day and eat what I want. The next day I'd feel guilty (the bad kind of guilty), beat myself up for it, feel sorry for myself and then I'd eat even more because I'm an emotional eater. What an endless cycle.

Although the  healthy eating hasn't gotten any better, I haven't given up. I've been working out an average of four days a week now - Yoga on Mondays, Bootcamp on Wednesdays, Cardio machine the other days. I went to step kickboxing the other day. I wasn't fond of the instructor, but I might go again. I also want to add some rollerskating in there. I love skating, so I figure I should throw it into the exercise cycle.

What I need to do is learn how to use weights. I know how to do cardio. Everyone knows how to do that, but the weight room is intimidating. I don't know what I'm doing and there isn't anyone placed in the room to show me what to do. There is no strength training teacher just for me. So, I avoid the weights. Really, who wants to look like a goof in front of a bunch of other people who know what they're doing and look good?

So goes for the month of February - stop eating like I've got the metabolism of an eight year old and learn to use the weight room.

Basement Day a No Go

Sad to say basement day didn't turn out the way I hoped. Jen was sick, so we didn't do DDR and my scale ran out out of battery power, so we didn't weigh in. That is just sad.

But, I'm back on track with my eating. Woo.

And I did Yoga today with Angela.

Long Week

I failed to write anything all week! I was really busy with work and life... or maybe I just didn't want to face up to the music that I haven't been eating right and it's only three weeks into the whole changing of my dietary habits thing.

Tomorrow is weigh-in day and I just know I haven't lost any weight. Tragic. I have been working out, which I am very proud of, but my food choices have been up and down. I don't have any groceries, so that makes it even more tempting for me to go out and buy something that's not good for me.

Oh well. I guess I just will have to try harder tomorrow. 

Bad Weekend

Weekends have been proving enormously difficult for me when it comes to sticking with my new healthy eating habits. I don't have a schedule, I'm feeling more indulgent and I'm relaxing from working all week. BAD combination!

If anyone out there has tips on how to stop emotional eating and eating from boredom, please share! This is me getting desperate.

On the up side, I went to Yoga yesterday and walked the track this morning. I ran two laps before I left. Yay! :)

Refueling

My mom is like many mothers, she gives of herself more than she takes from this world. For Christmas, I gave her a gift card to Somerset Day Spa. She talked about going there, but I knew she wouldn't go or that it would be after she'd done everything she needed to do for everyone else. 

Society has taught women to sacrifice their needs and wants, to give and to nurture and to be there for others. It isn't awful that some women put others before themselves. What's horrible is that they do this even when they can't afford to do it, when they have no energy left and when they should focus on themselves. How can you take care of someone else when you are spiritually, emotionally and physically drained yourself?

How can you live a happy, fulfilled life when you have given everything you have away without stopping to re-energize.

So that is why my mom and I spent the whole day together Friday. We went out for breakfast, we played Rock Band at Best Buy while we waited for our appointments at Somerset, we got full body massages, we went to see The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and then we went out for Mexican dinner. 

It was an excellent day. I didn't think about my weight loss. I didn't think about the economy. I didn't think about whether I would have money for graduate school. I didn't think about my brother living far away and getting shipped to another country who knows where who knows when. 

I just thought, 'My mom needs a break. I need a break. We deserve a break.'

So now, I'm feeling very relaxed and re-energized. I feel good. Today's a new day and I can get back to my worries, my mom can get back to her mothering and we both have the energy to face anything that comes our way.

Food, Exercise and Politics

This week I made a few discoveries and re-discoveries - Greek yogurt, public radio podcasts, pilates video podcasts and home exercise videos by Crunch. 

Greek Yogurt

Mmm... I tried this yogurt by Fage USA on a whim. Jen mentioned this once. This morning after my 6 a.m. walk at the high school, I went to Kroger to get food for breakfast and lunch. I saw the yogurt 

and thought I'd tried it out. 

I bought the honey and yogurt package because I'm a sucker for anything sweet and I wasn't sure how I would like the yogurt. I figured at the very least I could cover the taste with honey. 

When I opened the package, I was a bit hesitant. It smelled similar to cream cheese and it was very thick. Brave as I am, I forged ahead and tried it. It is really tasty stuff! It's thick, creamy, sweet and good for you. This is definitely going to become a staple in my food choices.

Pilates on Fifth, Pilates Digest and YOGAmazing

If you have iTunes you have to check out the podcasts and video podcasts available. Those things are a goldmine for free information. Of course, finding a reputable podcast is important. You don't want to listen to or watch a show with a host who doesn't know what they're talking about.

That said, I've found that Pilates on Fifth, Pilates Digest and especially YOGAmazing are helpful. 

Pilates on Fifth and Pilates Digest give you snippet videos of individual moves you can do. If you download these, you should already have an understanding of pilates. It's a really nice way to learn some moves, write them down and then put them all together. What I really like about podcasts on iTunes is that you can easily download the older episodes. You might want to do that with the Pilates podcasts because they are such short segments - about 2 minutes long.

YOGAmazing is a program shown on the Lifestyle Channel. You can get the free podcast videos on iTunes or you can get them at the Web site. What I like about this one is that it's about 25 minutes and it's an entire routine that the host, Chaz, does with you. He explains what the moves are, why they are important and alternatives to them if you are not there yet or if they are painful for your body.

Crunch Fat Burning Dance Party and Cardio Dance Blast

I love the Crunch brand. If Crunch had a studio in Michigan, I would be a member. Or at least tour. I'm sure it'd be hella expensive. 

My favorite work out by Crunch is Fat Burning Pilates. The tape provided my first experience with pilates, which I am a huge fan of. Unfortunately, I only have Fat Burning Pilates on VHS and I am without a VCR. Instead of buying a new DVD, I've been content with other work out videos I have. I've re-discovered two - Crunch Fat Burning Dance Party and Cardio Dance Blast.

The videos don't teach you how to truly dance. It's not as if I'm expecting to pull off a complicated dance routine because I have these videos. They're just fun and similar to step aerobics, only not as boring and without the platforms. It's like DDR that way - a series of steps taken in a rythmic pattern to a nice beat. 

Although they don't teach you any new moves, the videos are fun and a good work out. The instructors are all smiles and overly enthusiastic, but they are so in a fun way. The instructors explain the steps to the dances several times and slowly. Both videos are about 45 minutes long and a good work out when you can't make it to the gym.

Left, Right & Center

I'd forgotten how much I love podcasts. When podcasts were the new hip thing, I immediately went online to learn more about them and downloaded a ton. A couple of years later, I had forgotten about them. 

I'm not sure what prompted me to browse the podcasts on iTunes this weekend, but I'm glad I did.

I've discovered that I have a real love for Left, Right & Center, a talk radio show on KCRW. The show is all about politics - from the left, right and center points of view. I really like that about the show. The show doesn't lean one way or the other, instead the personalities on the show are obvious about which way they lean and then they debate in a civil, but interesting and often humorous way.

The show doesn't have much to do with my blog theme of embracing change, but I couldn't ignore the little voice in my head begging me to share this with someone.

So there you are. My recommendations - food, exercise and politics.

Schedule to Success!

I have discovered that in order to be successful at something, I have to get into a schedule, a routine. Basically, I have to write everything down in a planner. For me, if I put it down in a calendar, then I'm more likely to get whatever it is done. I set aside my time and I do what needs to be done. Exercise is no different.

I'm very proud of myself today. This morning I woke up at 6 a.m. and did some jogging (alternating it with walking) at the track at the high school. It was pretty tough, but I'm going back tomorrow.

After work, I got my membership set up at the U of M rec center. Afterwards, I did Yoga with Jen. That was the highlight of my day. I really enjoyed the class. The instructor was a small blonde woman named Jessica S., who has with a feathery and cheerful voice. She even spoke some sanscrit before the class. I felt extremely relaxed after Yoga class.

So my new schedule is a run/walk every morning at the high school, Yoga every Monday, Boot Camp on Wednesdays and CrimFIT on Saturdays. 

Fire up for schedules!

It's Alive!!

I live! 

I survived the cold I most likely caught from the newsroom and I'm mostly over it. Yay! I'm still taking my DayQuil just so I can kick the virus out completely and not have a relapse.

I slept a lot the last few days and stayed in the house quite a bit, hence no blogging.

But I am alive and well and with plans to get myself set up with a membership at University of Michigan's Rec Center tomorrow. So there ya go.

I also have re-discovered podcasts. I'm pretty psyched about this. I can't wait to listen to some podcasts while I'm doing my jogging or running... I'm still in need of guidance on the best way to start running. 

I also found a free yoga podcast. I'm not sure how good it is yet, but we'll see.

And, because my love for YouTube and music is infinitie, here is a video. An oldie, but a goodie.

Maybe Hibernation Would Help

It must not be in the cards for me to get a real nice work out this week. :(

I am coming down with a cold that a lot of people in the newsroom have gotten. So, joy for me! I'm extremely exhausted. I want to take some NyQuil and read New Moon until I fall asleep.

On a positive note, I have decided to join the University of Michigan Rec Center, I have written down the schedule for the open track sessions at Grand Blanc High School and I also received my copy of the Grand Blanc Community Education brochure.

So yay for that! 

Most of the classes in the Community Ed book start in February, but U of M offers quite a few aerobics type classes with their membership and Jen goes to school there, so she gets in free and would be able to join me. Also, it's close to work and I can have the costs reimbursed from my health insurance at the end of the year - something I discovered during the road trip to Ann Arbor. 

Another positive, I did a great job with my food. :) I stayed within my 1500 calories range, without totally denying myself of yummy things - like chocolate (covered raisins) or Jimmy Johns.

So fire up! Although I'm probably going to take some medicine and sleep for 10 hours, good things happened today!

Karaoke Is Japanese For Embarrassing Yourself In Front Of Strangers

Maybe I didn't blog yesterday because I was too ashamed.

I did very well in the morning and the afternoon. I stuck to my calorie count I set for myself.

Unfortunately, after work I went to hang out with my friends at Maxie's, a bar with Karaoke seven days a week. So I blame Shannon, Kristen and Karaoke. I didn't order food there, but I ate some of their fries, had a coke and then I had some drinks. Because, really, who can do Karaoke without liquid courage? Ok, probably brave people, but I'm not that brave.

I had a ton of fun, but I am feeling so guilty right now. Maybe today will go better.

No Man Is An Island ... Unless He's a Lady and a Vegetarian at Blimpy Burger

Ask for a veggie burger at Blimby Burger in Ann Arbor and you're just beggin' for a snarky comment.

My supervisor, Jeff, and coworkers, Matt and Bill, and I went to the delightful and totally not healthy Blimby Burger for lunch before a big work meeting.

I could have said I didn't want to go, but I didn't want to be the party pooper.  Bill was super excited about these burgers that you have to order with phrases like "a triple" and where even the vegetables are deep fried. 

My arteries shudder in fear of this place. 

Of course, unhealthy does not mean untasty. Quite the opposite. Most of the time places like this have the best tasting food around. I guessed this place was no different. I don't eat the stuff now, but I didn't lose my memory. I know what the food tastes like to meat eaters. I didn't want the guys to miss out.

I figured I would get the (most likely, seldom ordered) veggie burger on the menu. I knew there was a good chance that the person taking my order would crack some jokes on me since I was at a burger place asking for a veggie burger. I was prepared to deal with that, but we go in and I find out the place is tiny as Harry Potter's bedroom under the stairs. No kidding. Tiny hole in the wall establishment. Everyone would be able to hear the smart remarks. Boo!

As expected, the guy behind the counter wearing an apron covered in burger grease laughed when I ordered my vegetarian fare. I got embarrassed and offended at the same time. Then the person putting toppings on our burgers asked me what I wanted on my "sawdust patty." 

And yes, this was all very amusing to the guys, but I survived. My calorie count didn't take a severe beating, but it also wasn't the best food day in my new-healthy-lifestyle.

I'm Like The Ring Leader, I Call The Shots

I'm thinking I may switch to wordpress because it's a lot nicer looking and the blogging has more versatility. Sorry Blogger!

Also, Yoga is HARD! I tried it this morning, but I've run out of time because I need to get ready for work now. 

So, I'm outta here.

But before I go, I'll leave you with a YouTube video, because I love YouTube and Ms. Britney Spears' music makes me feel energized. 

And We're Off!

The start of my new healthy life begins today! Actually, it began yesterday with weigh in. 

Since I'm awesome, I brought my electronic scale, a measuring tape and Dance, Dance Revolution over to Jen's place. We've planned a weigh in and measuring day for every other Sunday. Basement Days. This is also the day for grocery shopping and planning my meals for the week. That way I won't have to stress about what I'm gonna to eat. I used this article at fitnessmagazine.com to help me come up with my meals for this week.

Our first Basement Day was successful. The scale did not break, but the measuring tape did. Thanks Jen! She pulled the tape too far from the spool. I don't know who she thought she was measuring with that amount of tape, but I got it for free and it still measures. So no big deal.

I weighed in at 177.2 pounds. Damn that point 2! My neck is 13.5 inches. (Jen's is the same size. She was really amused by this). My bust is 39.5 inches, waist is 34.5, hips are 46.5 and thighs are 26.5 inches.

It's all downhill from there. At least the numbers will be anyway.

After the weighing and measuring, Jen and I played some DDR for about half an hour or forty-five minutes with her kitty silently mocking us ... or maybe he was just ignoring us. 

I haven't done any exercise today, yet. I'm going to do some dance work out DVD in my living room. Better than nothing. 

I feel really good about how well I did with my meals today. I kept my day around 1500 calories and low-fat. I'm a vegetarian, so it's a little easier to keep things low fat if I cut down on sugary snacks and if I'm not eating cheese like crazy. That can happen sometimes. I do love the cheese. 

I made a pasta dish tonight and almost put some feta on it, but that wasn't in my plan so I didn't go for it. And the fact that I didn't have any in the apartment helped. I also went wrong making some plain white beans. They were turning out really weird and sort of hard. I asked Jen what I was doing wrong and apparently, you have soak beans. Who knew?

So I left the beans out of my meal, which was pasta with cherry tomatoes, oregano, garlic and olive oil. It turned out really tasty. I think I could have put more garlic on it, but I'm bias. More garlic always seems like a good idea to me.

I think I cheated a little bit with eating a couple of noodles from my left-over pasta from the weekend. I was debated just eating that instead of the one I was making, but I figure the one from the restaurant probably had a lot more oil in it and wasn't as healthy as the one I cooked. So I put it in the fridge for a later date. 

I wasn't going to throw it away. I paid for that - oily or not. Besides, everything in moderation, right?