Saturday, March 28, 2009

She's Alive! (Evil Laugh)

Recap

I'm alive and as random as ever. Since I have been feeling sorry for myself and being sick with bronchitis, I've had a lot of things on my mind and no spare time! Last night I took the last of my vomit pills (antibiotics) and I don't know if it's the placebo effect, but I am feeling much better. I have been eating (shocker) but not the healthiest as I was hit with waves of nausea...don't worry- totally antibiotic related. Mike threatened to call me out to the blog world when I only wanted frozen yogurt one night for dinner. I also finished my second quarter at school- yay!

Here are the highlights of what I ate over the last few days. Everything else consisted of various crackers and toast...yum.

1/2 bagel with light cream cheese and smoked salmon:




Work baby shower ice cream cake (because ice cream cake can't possibly make you sick, right?)



Weekend

So far we have had a productive day. We woke up to go to services not only to be spiritual, but because we have been trying to be active and meet our wedding officiant outside of um...the wedding day. Now we don't have the best timing, but he has been out of town each time we have gone there. I'm starting to think I'm in the wrong field. The whole experience was still nice and we had a good time and got some errands done. The best part is that we spent the whole day on foot and estimate about 3 miles each way- much more exercise than I have had in weeks!

First, we went to Whole Foods to redeem the coupons I received last night from the lovely Kristina of Stoneyfield Farms. She gave me coupons to try Oikos Organic Greek Yogurt! This is my first blog product trial and I'm taking it seriously! She also sent this cute bag that I'll be using to bring my lunch.




I haven't tried the yogurt yet, but my intern promised he would do one of the review for me, so you'll get to see another perspective on this. I told you I was taking this seriously!

After we went to get the yogurt, we went to a Thai restaurant. I'm still not sure how I feel about Thai. I know I like it, but it's never the first cuisine that pops into my head when I want to go out to eat. The restaurant is called Erewan is really cute inside. I particularly loved their menus:




I got the Pumpkin red curry tofu with jasmin brown rice and a fresh spring roll (not fried). It was delicious. I ate the roll, 1/3 of the rice, the side salad, and 1/2 of the entree.






Since we walked home, I was able to digest pretty quickly and got started on some earth shattering activities like laundry, cleaning the kitchen, the the landslide that our home has turned into since I have not felt well.

Phew...that was long. I'm off to do some wedding junk on the computer and fold some laundry. Don't be jealous!

Monday, March 23, 2009

B is for Bronchitis and Other Random Thoughts

Bronchitis!
I'm a bit of a complainer and a hypochondriac...probably due to my childhood of being the younger, spoiled child and many winters of colds. I thought that the last month of 'cold' was just that- a cold. Apparently I was wrong and have been walking around with bronchitis- how dumb is that?

In addition, I have been working very long hours and have not taken a day off to get better- also dumb! When I finally cracked and felt like crap yesterday, I went to the doctor. I came home with antibiotics to take for five days, along with 2 inhalers to help open my airways. I have never had asthma and have had a little bit of a hard time with breathing, but I am weary of the inhalers. I have decided to give them a try for a couple of days as I am getting bizarre side effects from them. I get a little shaky and antsy- not a good combination for a spazoid to begin with. I did get some eats in yesterday before the drugs kicked in:

Ginormous Whole Wheat Bagel with teaspoon almond butter:



Whole Wheat Tortilla Pizza with Roasted Eggplant, Tomato sauce, and a Sprinkle of cheese:



Snack Plate of Orange, Almond Butter, a few chocolate chips, and 2 mini meringues:



Random Thoughts
  • Today I stayed home to rest up and my co-worker has managed to torture me while sick...what do people not get about a SICK day? I got a million e-mails and requests for things that could have waited until tomorrow. This overwhelms me and is counter-productive. I dread going back in tomorrow, but I'm glad I got the rest.
  • I can't exercise for about a week while I get over this and take my antibiotics. It's not like I have been overly excited to exercise and know that I will get back into it...but when someone tells me I can't do something, I want to!
  • I can't stand when people comment on my weight- in one way or another. Do you experience any of this? Some of my parents' friends were talking about how I lost weight but it is really triggering and I wish people kept their thoughts to themselves.
Well...that's it. I'm off to take my pill, inhale some medicine, and eat some dinner.
Have a great night!

Sunday, March 22, 2009

How to Spend Two Days in a New City Without Stepping Out of the Airport

The title of this post refers to my business trip on Friday-Saturday night. A part of what I do at work includes meeting planning and since I have spent the last month planning a meeting in Dallas, I got to go run the meeting and check out what the heck it is I have been doing. The meeting was at a property adjascent to the airport, so I technically never left the airport.


My plane left on Friday morning at 6:00 AM...brutal! I woke up at 4:30 that day and headed to the airport. I slept all the way through my first flight and got a fruit and yogurt parfait in Phoenix at Starbuck's. I looked at the nutritional information and it contained 330 cals- that's a lot of yogurt! It was a good thing I had a substantial breakfast because I didn't get to eat lunch until 6-7 hours later. I also got a bunch of crazy physical workouts running around in heels and setting up the meeting. I got some good experience and it was worth it. Here are some highlights from my trip (and the only pictures I could take without looking like a freak):

My hotel room:



Frozen yogurt swirl at the airport (I ate most of the yogurt and a few cone bites)




Chicken burrito with black beans, salsa, lettuce, and rice. I ordered the 'half portion' and this thing was humongous! I still ate the whole thing because I was starving/tired:



I had two nearly 18-hour days in a row and came home quite exhausted! Not quite tired enough to miss our friend's birthday! We went to a new club in San Francisco and I even saw a Warriors basketball player- totally worth going out!

Today we took care of some financial chores (my favorite), cleaned a little bit to at least unpack, and made some soup for next week. We stopped for lunch/dinner at 4:00 and I was supposed to go to the gym but I was too tired.


Wedding Invitations

I think I found them! Our colors are white, black, gold, and silver. We'll also be including a little green as accents. I have literally looked all over the place, considered ordering them online, but I wanted to feel and touch them...
We wanted the option to print our own and when I saw these, I knew they would be perfect:



We got both boxes for $80 and have more than enough. I may add a vellum overlay and some ribbon to them, but the cost will be minimal. I just couldn't fathom spending $800 on invitations and would rather use the money for something else. I change my mind a lot, but I'm hoping I have found 'the one'! I swear, finding my future hubby was easier than this!


I am exhausted and skipped the gym today. I am hoping, hoping, hoping that I will be able to wake up and get some exercise in. I'm still having a problem balancing things and hope that some extra sleep will get me up very early tomorrow- otherwise, there is always after work.

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Exercise is the Best Medicine

Today was another hectic day at work. It included cereal and tea (still no coffee!) and lots and lots of work. In addition to the cereal, I had some roasted carrots, a banana, an orange, and a serving of wasabi peas and a few almonds throughout the day.



As I was driving home from the train, I was thinking of a million creatively stupid reasons about why I shouldn't exercise:
  • I'm too tired
  • I'm too stressed
  • My stomach hurts (faking it)
  • I'm too lazy

After thinking it over, I realized I would feel like a loser if I didn't move it. I also realized that it wasn't dark out yet and treated myself to a nice run outside. Just look at this sky:







Don't worry- I didn't take this while running. Don't shoot and run (ok, dumb joke- but I'm tired!)


I took myself out on a run down the street to the park right next to us. It was a great run, but it got dark after 20 minutes and I chickened out and ran home. It was a good start, and just what I needed to get out of my crappy mood.

I came home and made my dinner:

Light flat out wrap with smoked salmon and a small smear of light cream cheese and spinach. I also had a few pita chips on the side.



I ended up eating this open-faced because I play with my food. I contemplated dessert and did not disappoint. I had this lovely nectarine:





And ended up sneaking in my 'dessert of the day' of two Trader Joe's Oatmeal Dunkers.

I haven't done much sitting since I have been home. I have been doing food prep and cooking for the next few days. I'm kind of a domestic and prefer to make Mike's lunch. This way I know our grocery bill is not wasted and of course, he is getting a healthy lunch. None of it is glamorous or pretty, but here is what I made tonight to be packed for hopefully the rest of the week, depending on boy metabolism:
  • Roasted brussel sprouts
  • Roasted eggplant
  • Roasted chicken with curry powder, onion powder, celery
  • Giant shells to serve as a carb for another meal
  • Giant spinach salad with corn, shredded cheese, carrots, celery, hardboiled egg, olives, and probably other stuff
I'll steal some of the roasted veggies for sure! The rest is all for the boy.

Some random thoughts...
I have been at my new job for a month...and it's been quite the experience. I have learned a lot, but I have also been very busy and proportionally stressed. I am just one of those people who stresses out and I really need to find an outlet. It would normally be exercise, but I have literally been trapped in the office for at least 10 hours a day. I am going to try to tweak a few things and find what works best for me because I know it's not good for my mental health. I need some movement in my life for my physical health and sanity so I am going to mentally prepare myself for a morning workout in the next couple of days.

I am going to be traveling for work to the lovely city of Dallas (never been there, but assuming it's nice) on Friday and returning on Saturday and I know that I have a few strenuous days ahead. I guess I can only do my best.

What are your favorite stress fighters?

Sunday, March 15, 2009

6 cookies, 2 walks, 2 monsters, 5 great friends, 1 workout, and 1 healthy apple

Well, it's another weekend. Today when Mike and I were walking to Trader Joe's and I had my sad 'Sunday Face' on he made a great analogy. I get upset that the weekend is over every.single.Sunday and there is really no point to it. Here is a snapshot of our convo:

Him: Why are you all upset?
Me: Because tomorrow is Monday
Him: Think of it this way- imagine that you are in a fight and somebody is about to punch you in the stomach. Now press 'Pause.' You know that somebody will hit you inevitably, so you can either focus on the moment of anticipation, or just go with it, get it over with, and deal with the pain.
Me: Fine. I'll stop moping

So here I am. I had a great weekend and Monday will happen either way, so let's just go with it.
Now back to the title.
  • This weekend, I consumed 6 cookies and they were frieken fantabulous.
  • We also went on a couple of walks this weekend and enjoyed the early spring weather. Check out the geese I shared my walk with.
  • I also tried my first green monster smoothies (not one, but two!). I can't say I am in love with them, but they are pretty awesome. I am running out of almond milk, so I'll improvise, but they do the trick and I'll keep having them.
  • We went out to a local bar on Saturday night. I kept it sober, which is not hard at all and hung out with some close friends.
  • On Friday night, Mike and I had a great workout. First I ran 2.8 miles and then we lifted chest and tris 'boy style' while we pondered the probability of Friday the 13th. It's complicated stuff.
Green Monster



Cookie Monster



Me and my New Friends



Some Best Friends



One Healthy Apple
I think last week I decided to quit multiple desserts, caffeine, and a few other things. I have learned a few things since then:
  • I don't need coffee every day to make me happy or awake. I had my weekly coffee at Starbucks this weekend and it was glorious! I will continue to drink tea instead of coffee during the week.
  • I tried a Green Monster and LIKED it. I'm crazy like that and actually thought it tasted good, so I will continue to incorporate them as carrot sticks can get really boring.
  • Dessert- I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE sugar. This weekend I ate a couple of cookies a day and didn't regret it at all. It is what it is- I didn't have a Big Mac, I had a few cookies. I also walked and ran around and used that energy. Most of all, I enjoyed them. I don't think I am meant to live a life without sugar, but I will be mindful of eating sweets instead of meals. I have been guilty of doing this is the past and it's not healthy. I will continue to have a dessert every day on the weekdays and what feels right on the weekends.
What all of this means is that I don't do well with restrictions. I do well with options and good habits. Just like I can't work out every single day, I can't restrict the things I love. Moving forward, I will make the above modifications and do my own Drab to Fab Challenge because that's what makes me healthy physically and mentally.

Right now the TV is showing some fighting, meaning that I have lost power of the remote. I shall intervene. Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

One Healthy Apple


Thursday, March 12, 2009

Drab to Fab Challenge!

Hi Kids,

It's been a couple more exhausting days (or maybe just one?!). Anyhoo, I ate yesterday (yay for me!) but my forgetful butt left the camera at home. Nothing to write home about...but dinner was at 10 since I didn't pack properly. I finished my wrap on the way upstairs to bed.


With work and school, and wedding planning, and breathing, I have realized that I am getting a little run down. In fact, I have had a cold for nearly a month now (WHO does that?). I was digging around and reading some blogs and a lot of you fabulous ladies have been participating in some challenges like Crap Free Week, Green Monster Challenges, Yoga Challenge. I'm not sure I could fully do any of them, but I did see one that looks right up my ally!


Leah of Simply Fabulous is doing the Drab to Fab Challenge!

Now of course, I will make my own modifications since I can't do the same exact thing. Here they are:

  • Substitute tea instead of coffee during the week
  • Split one coffee per week with Mike on Saturdays (our tradition)
  • Quit all diet sodas
  • Eliminate artificial sweetener use
  • Drink at least 3 glasses of water in addition to tea
  • Try a green smoothie! (I'm a little scared of them)
  • Limit dessert to one per day to cut down on the sugar

This challenge will run from today (even though I started yesterday) until April 9 (4 weeks). I didn't mention alcohol in there because I barely drink (except for my weekend escapade last week, which was a fluke!). If I do have a drink, then I will confess.

The purpose of this challenge is to hydrate myself, eliminate some of the junk in my diet, and perk up my skin. Perhaps I might get rid of my marathon cold? Like Leah said, this is not a way to restrict or limit myself, just a way to be aware of how much 'other' stuff goes into my body. I hope you will support me and join along if you want.

I'm sipping on my tea, missing the coffee, and have visions of spiking some coffee with Bailey's. Off to a good start!

Happy Thursday!

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Indian and Fighting the Bug

I made it through Monday and Tuesday and now it's time for a quick re-cap. Work has been busy as ever and I am getting used to the longer hours. I got home at 8:00 PM this evening, with all intentions to go to the gym, but it didn't happen. I am going to do a 'commercial workout' while I watch TV and attempt to fall asleep early since I'm fighting something. I thought that my cold had gone away, but I have had a lingering cough and congestion. That meant that my run would not work so well...If I don't do anything tonight, I'll cough it up tomorrow and confess!

Now, here are the eats of today (except for a boring tortilla with pumpkin and better n' pb)


First- a packet of Raspberry Vitamins:



Lunch was a fruit and yogurt parfait- office style. I wanted to add in some citrus fruits for extra Vitamin C and incorporate it into my craving for cereal. This is one orange, one kiwi, 3/4 cup Honey Nut Cheerios (Mari Style), and 6 oz nonfat vanilla yogurt:





This wasn't much protein, so I added some baked marinated tofu (about 1.5 servings):





Since I was staying at work until 6:30, I had about 1 serving of trailmix from the office stash and an unpictured orange:





Dinner came at 8:00. I had about a cup of homemade vegetable barley soup. I also wanted some salsa with some rice crackers. I had about 8 crackers and 3 tbsp of salsa (heaping, heaping spoons of salsa!)





I had a couple of mini chocolate meringues and one cranberry dipper left over from my party. These things have been in my pantry for 2 weeks now and I can't waste food right? I was hoping to get through more, but I'm just not feeling dessert tonight- a sure sign that I'm not myself.


Now on to Indian Food!

Indian food is my fiance's favorite food. I like it just enough to settle on going to dinner there since we had a coupon. There are several things I like about Indian food- the variety, the spice, the vegetarian option. However, I don't like it because it tends to be greasy and while it may be a leftover of the 90's 'fat fear', I just don't feel like it's that healthy. We went to our favorite place right next to our house. It doesn't look like too much from the outside, but the service is excellent and the food is pretty good too!




We ordered 2 dishes that came with rice to split and whole wheat Naan.

Here is the Chicken Tikka Kebab (my order):




My fiance ordered another chicken dish...I totally forgot the name (can you spot me mid-fork action?):





The restaurant also provides yummy spices- the bright green one is minty and awesome (future hubby mid-bite...we don't mess around here)!




I ate about 1/3 of the kebabs, a few of the veggies since they were drenched in oil, a little rice, and a bite of naan (also visibly oily). I also stole about 1/4 of Mike's entree. The boy did a much better job than I did and ate about half of everything he ordered as well as mine. He took the rest home for lunch so the meal was well worth it!

Alright kids, I'm off to do some crunches, lunges, pushups, stair dips, and whatever else I can fit in without hurting myself in the living room!

ETA- I got my bootay in gear and did the following quick and dirty workout between coughs:
-Jumping jacks and running up and down the stairs to get warm
- 3 sets of alternating lunges with 10 pound weights
-3 sets of 10 shoulder presses with 10 pound weights
-3 sets of 12 'bench press' on the ball
-3 sets of pushups on the ball
-2 wall sits (1 minute each)
- 2 sets of 15 crunches on the ball
-3 sets of kickbacks (down on all floors, raising legs up at 90 degree angle)

Sunday, March 8, 2009

Sunday Night Blues

Hello! I'm wrapping up my chores, doing (ahem) homework, and squeezing in a blog post. I had a glorious, wonderful, fantastic weekend. The weather was gorgeous and it was so nice to relax away from work. I enjoy a good challenge, but last week was a little tough on me.


Let's rewind to last night...
We got invited to go out to some local bars with my fiance's friends. It was just the four of us (me and 3 boys) but it was one of the best nights out in a long, long time. I got treated to not one, not two, but three drinks. Something you may not know about me is I don't drink much. It doesn't really agree with me (hate feeling sick after) and I could live without the sugar and empty calories. That said, I was just feeling it last night and the drinks were great.

They bought me a vodka-cranberry-lemonade. Fortunately (or not) it went down like juice...hence my very happy state. We had a great time and danced the night away. This led to some goofy pictures last night (one for your laughs- because I don't remember when 80s hair was in style) and a bit of a headache this morning. I used to party quite a bit in college and I seriously don't know how I did it!





This afternoon I did some meal prep and went to the gym to work off some of the tired feelings I had and do a nice little detox. Here is my workout:

Cardio: 2 mile run in 20 mins (190 cals burned)

Weights: (3 sets each)
-Skullcrushers
-Dips
-2 different kinds of cables for tris
-Pushups (assisted with the ball like in the picture below)
-Planks
-Crunches on bosu ball
-Oblique twist machine
-Stretch





Ok, time to shower, write my paper, and call it a night. Hope to be on tomorrow with the wonder of work madness!

Saturday, March 7, 2009

Sushi Saturday

Hello world!

It's been a crazy few days with work and it's great to have a few free minutes. In fact, the whole day has been a wonderful exhibition of free time. I haven't had such a great day in a long time. We woke up, watched TV, walked to get coffee, and walked to visit our new accountant. I know I sound like a nerd, but going over tax documents with a CPA is more intriguing than a day at work (at least last week).


We also had the best meal we had out in a long time- sushi! Sushi is my favorite food, specifically anything spicy tuna-related. We were busy all afternoon and missed lunch, which is always bad news. I walked out of there stuffed with this great foods.

We ordered a spicy tuna salad- a big blob of spicy tuna on a bed of greens (shared):



Next, we ordered 3 rolls- a DUI roll (spicy tuna, avocado, cucumber, salmon, and some raspberry sauce on the side), a Power Roll (unagi and avocado on some tempura), and a double tuna (spicy tuna with fresh tuna on top):






I ate about 4 pieces of each spicy tuna roll and tried one of the fried rolls, but stuck to my true love. We just got back from another short walk and I think we might be going out tonight(!). I'm off to watch some TV and get ready if we are hitting the town.

Have a great night and I'll be back tomorrow!

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

Weight loss

I was really nervous to put this up because these aren't the most flattering pictures...but I'm positive it will be ok since this is the point of doing a weight loss post!

Here is the history:

I was a normal size kid then started gaining weight when I was about 10. My mom is an amazing cook and I ate what I was served. I was pretty heavy during the wonderfully awkward period of 10-13. I think I was under 5 feet and wore a size 7- quite large on a 6th grader! By 8th grade, I started paying attention to foods and nutrition and started exercising at the local YMCA. I called the Y my 'exercise entry drug' because I loved it so much.

Through high school, I went up and down from 115 to 135 and back down to 120. I still exercised, but my nutrition was horrible. This brings me to what I consider my adult weight problems.


During my last couple of years of college I was enjoying the drinks, working, studying, and working out sporadically. As you can see from these pictures, I was having a great time and definitely enjoying myself. I have to say that I knew my problem areas (booty, legs, and arms) but I was never totally unhappy.


Around November 2004 ~130



January 2004 ~130



August 2005~ 135



September 2005 ~ 130



October 2005 ~130



By October 2005 I was in my last year of college and I was back to exercising on a regular basis. See the black and white picture above? I met my hubby-to-be the day after that. (It was the day after Halloween!) As we started dating, we started exercising together and I lost some weight- I guess I am opposite of the happy relationship gain. I got a little too into exercising and started losing a little too fast for my own good. I was happy with my look, but my diet wasn't the most balanced and I was exercising too much. Here is the loss:


June 2006 ~122



July 2006 ~ 120 (Bellydance performance)



November 2006: ~115



I'm not too sure what happened after that, but I must have hit the 'comfortable stage' and started eating more. I also got an overuse injury in my knees and was really afraid to run again, so I took my exercise down to less intensity. The chocolate treats were adding up and I wasn't doing enough to counteract all the calories. I went up from 115 to about 127 in the next year. I was strong and healthy, but not really happy with how I looked.


Here is our picture right when we got engaged. It was one of the happiest days in my life and what I needed to get moving again. We were in Eastern Europe for 3 weeks and by the end of the trip, I was losing again.


July 7, 2008~ 127


End of July 2008~ 122



Here I am now- in the last few months. I am at about 115-120 pounds, depending on the week. I now know that this is a good weight for me and I don't need to lose more, but I would like to tone up my arms and legs. I think the difference between now and the past is that I am happy and realistic about what my body looks like and what it can do. Here are a few pictures from the last year and thank you for reading my story!











Energizer Bunny

I'm trying to keep my energy up because my day is not over yet and it's 9:30! I know, I know, no complaining, but I'm a little sleepy.

It was pouring this morning and I got soaked walking to my train from the parking lot- the rain was pouring sideways and what seemed like UNDER my umbrella and right on me! I was pretty cold and I hope I'm not catching a cold again since I'm sitting here and have the sniffles again.


I ate breakfast all day long- started with oatmeal, had cereal with yogurt for lunch, and for dinner I had this beautiful veggie omelet:

  • 2 eggs
  • 1 cup mixed veggies
  • s&p, spicy mustard and some ketchup



Before I had this feast I had an appetizer of some low sodium miso soup. I know this sounds pretty random, but it was quick! (P.S. I have no idea why this picture is tilted...but I'm tired and can't figure it out now)




I am sitting at the dining room table about to start on my PowerPoint presentation for my speech tomorrow- the topic is Whole Foods, so I will have to contain my love story...but I also need to get crackin on this assignment or I'll look like a fool up there! I was also greeted by a delivery from the cookie fairy- my future mother-in-law. She went to Costco today and brought us these cookies. I have my cookie on top of the box and I'm calling it a night with these guys, but if I don't make it to work tomorrow, then I have probably OD'd on cookies- so please send a rescue party.




Have a good one!