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?