Food - August 23

Breakfast

Kashi Go Lean Cereal

Skim Milk

Large Banana

Snack

Protein Shake

Lunch

Egg Salad on Whole Wheat

Baby Carrots

Cantaloupe

Snack

Rice Pudding, 3 servings (SHAMEFUL!)

Pistachios, 1/2 cup

Dinner

IHOP

Danish Crepe with Strawberries and Cream Cheese

Eggs, 2

Bacon, 2 slices

Sausage, 1 slice

Snack

Raspberry Leaf Tea with raw sugar

Food - August 13

I'm embarassed to even post this...

Breakfast - 400

Egg McMuffin (minus the ham) - 240

Hash Brown - 150

Sugarfree Red Bull - 10

Lunch

Deli Egg Salad Sandwich

Onion Rings, 1/2 regular order

Sugarfree Red Bull (10)

Dinner

Sauteed Broccoli

White Rice

Spring Roll, 2

Cheese Rangoon, 4? 5? 6?

Fortune Cookie

Red Raspberry Leaf Tea with 2 tsp Sugar (30)

I told you I was embarrassed, but if I only posted my good days, how would that help me?

Yeah, so, um, I obviously haven't made it to the grocery store yet.  But, on the plus side, I really limited my take-out caffeine consumption.  Usually, with that lunch, I would have a had a 32 oz Diet Coke.  I also would have had a 16 oz Diet Coke with breakfast and a 20 oz Diet Coke for dinner (in addition to my two Red Bulls.)  That's a gallon and a half of soda for the day and 550 mg caffeine.  Yikes!  I'm trying to keep my intake to less than 250 mg a day. 

At least I split the onion rings.

A Little Too Much Weekend Fun

I stepped on the scale this morning for my weekly weigh-in -- up 3 lbs.

Uh-oh.

"Whatever," I thought to myself.  There's no possible way that I gained 3 lbs over the week.  Sure, I did enjoy a few too many slices of flag cake and I had a couple of beers with dinner.  After the BBQ last night, I'm probably just retaining water. 

Then, I checked my food journal.  Oops.  My last entry was July 1st at lunch.  Why hadn't I been writing down what I was eating?  I started to rack my brain trying to remember my meals.  Let's see... there was the McDonalds on the way to the commissary.  And the huge hot fudge brownie ice cream sundae on Friday.  Saturday, Jason and I worked our way through a pint of Americone Dream while watching movies.  Oh, I forgot about the candy bar I had on the way home from the commissary.  And there were the several granola bars I had while researching an article for work. 

Maybe that 3 lbs isn't just water weight.

I still don't think I ate 10,000 extra calories over the last few days, but since I wasn't journaling, I'm really not sure.  I'm going to officially weigh-in tomorrow to give myself a chance to recover from last night's dinner.  I'll still probably be up, but it's nothing I can't deal with.  I'm going to be a little more vigilant and make sure that I'm recording what I eat.  I'm going to drink my water.  I'm going to follow my new running schedule.  I'm not going to think about how ecstatic I was last week when I was a mere 2 lbs from my pre-baby weight.

One bad weekend isn't going to derail my months of work.

Another Pointless Committee

Last month, Roni (of Roni's Weigh) did a completely awesome post about the obesity epidemic and what the Healthy Weight Committment Foundation aims to do about it. While Roni offered some great ideas of her own, the new organization was basically just rehashing the same old, same old -- exercise and eat right. Well, duh.

Anyways, I wanted to share my very long-winded comment to her here on KUrunner.

I agree that something needs to be done, but I very much disagree with their methods. Obesity is not as simple as calories in versus calories out. I think most Americans are already “conscious” that we need to eat better and exercise. Weight loss and health is so much more than that.

Why are we overweight in the first place? We know more about nutrition and exercise now than we did 100 years ago, even 50 years ago. But the numbers keep going up. Telling me that I need to eat X number of calories doesn’t change the fact that I want that candy bar.

We, as a society, is stressed to the limit. Moms are expected to be super; we are supposed to get up, make a healthy breakfast for the family, get the kids dressed, pack the husband’s lunch, drop the kids off at school and make it to work by 8:00 for a staff meeting. Then, we are supposed to workout during lunch while magically working on a presentation, pick the kids up and cart them off to soccer, dance and band. We go home and make a wonderful pasta primavera from scratch while entertaining three kids without resorting to TV or video games. Don’t forget the laundry that we have to do or the bathrooms we need to scrub. Then, we are expected to make time for the husband.

Yeah, right. No wonder that McDonald’s looks so tempting on the way home.

If HWCF wants change, maybe they should go after the source. Change the goverment that makes boxes of processed crap cheaper than fruits and vegetables. Go after the fast food restaurants that are on every corner where an extra value meal is cheaper than a pound of meat. I’m not saying that there isn’t personal responsibility involved, but it’s kind of unfair to the crack addict when society willingly puts a dealer on every street. (And yes, I believe that being obese is just as dangerous as being hooked on drugs.)

But telling us what we’ve already been told thousands of times before isn’t going to change anything.

But it gets better. This "health-minded" group is made up of CEOs from companies such as Coca-Cola, Nestle, Mars, Hershey, and Kraft. They are the same ones that make it cheaper to buy a 2 liter of soda than a bottle of juice. They are the ones that sell sugar, sugar, and more sugar to our kids. You think that dinosaur on the macaroni box is targeting adults?

Here's what they should be saying:

Eat less, but keep eating our neon orange processed macaroni. Watch your calories, but keep buying our high fructose corn syrup and aspartame laden sodas. Don't be fat kids, but make sure to save room for a candy bar later.

Anyways, if you're as pissed off as I am now, feel free to send them an email at info@healthyweightcommit.org telling them that if they really want to enact change, they should start with their own products.

Note to Self...

Note to self… there is no way you’ll workout at 9:00 PM so stop planning on it. You’ll do your workout while Harper naps and Jason can do it when he gets home, even if it means you’ll be working out alone. Also, a 400 calorie coffee drink is not an appropriate substitute for a 10 calorie Red Bull.

Day 1... Again

Well, my first 83 days of P90X are up. I’ll have pictures and a full program recap ready tomorrow. This week was supposed to be recovery, but since I didn’t get many workouts in last week, I went ahead and started a second round of the program today (if by start, you mean laying on the couch with a splitting headache.) I guess I’ll do Chest & Back in the morning and Plyo tomorrow evening to keep on schedule.

I started the Couch 2 5k running program this morning. I LOVE this program. Seriously, this is probably my 3rd or 4th time using it to get back into running without getting injured. I’m running the Richmond Half Marathon in November and I’m going to use C25k before I dive into my 16 week training program. I’m not completely sure how running is going to fit until the crazy rotating schedule that Jason is working, but I’m taking it a week at a time. This week, I’m up at 5:30 to get a run in before he leaves for work. Next week, I’ll probably be doing my run right before bed. Who knows after that? (Well, technically, I do, but I’d have to look around for his schedule.)

I also nixed the Weight Watchers thing. I guess the program works or it wouldn’t be so popular, but I’m not a count out every single grape kind of girl. I’m really going to focus on “intuitive eating” again — you know, eat when you are hungry, everything in moderation sort of approach. That’s how I used to eat all the time without even thinking about it. I’m not sure what happened to derail that, but it seems like the past few years have been calories in, calories out. I did resort to McDs tonight since Jason was at work and I didn’t think to plan ahead. Doing great on my first day, right?

C25k, Day 1

Well, my first 83 days of P90X are up. I’ll have pictures and a full program recap ready tomorrow. This week was supposed to be recovery, but since I'll be starting Round 2 next Monday, I'm taking the week off from Mr. Horton.

I did start the Couch to 5k running program this morning. I LOVE this program. Seriously, this is probably my 3rd or 4th time using it to get back into running without getting injured. I’m running the Richmond Half Marathon in November and I’m going to use C25k before I dive into my 16 week training program. I’m not completely sure how running is going to fit until the crazy rotating schedule that Jason is working, but I’m taking it a week at a time. This week, I’m up at 5:30 to get a run in before he leaves for work. Next week, I’ll probably be doing my run right before bed. Who knows after that?

I also nixed the Weight Watchers thing. I guess the program works or it wouldn’t be so popular, but I’m not a count out every single grape kind of girl. I’m really going to focus on “intuitive eating” again — you know, eat when you are hungry, everything in moderation sort of approach. That’s how I used to eat all the time without even thinking about it. I’m not sure what happened to derail that, but it seems like the past few years have been calories in, calories out. I did resort to McDs tonight since Jason was at work and I didn’t think to plan ahead. Doing great on my first day, right?

Memory Lane

While googling myself (don’t pretend like I’m the only one who does it), I came across a xanga blog. I had completely forgotten about the short-lived blog I had back in college. Anyways, reading through it, I found one of the funniest posts.

Sunday, April 23, 2006

So, here are my goals for the next 3 weeks:

1. No more fast food. Period. I know that I can eat badly when I cook at home too, but it won’t be 1600 calories for a combo meal with a shake every night.
2. Go to the gym twice a week. I am done by 4:00 on Mondays and Tuesdays so I will hit the gym for an hour before I go get Kaelin.
3. No more soda. This is going to limit my caffeine, and I am sure I will get a massive headache the first few days, but I will feel much better when I start drinking more water. And it’s cheaper.

Maybe it’s not so funny as much as it is sad. Apparently, I’ve been trying to kick some of these habits for longer than I thought. It’s a bit discouraging. I mean, if I haven’t been able to kick soda over the last 4 years, am I ever going to be able to do it?

Then I want to slap myself. There are tons of people who are able to quit real addictions everyday. My mom smoked for 20+ years, and has been cigarette free for almost two. It took her who knows how many attempts to do it (and a nice dose of Chantix) but she managed.

Know of any drugs to kick the Red Bull habit?

Ten Weeks

Wow, I can’t believe it’s been 10 weeks since Harper’s been home from the hospital. (Technically, 10 weeks and 2 days, but who’s counting?) She’s just shy of 13 lbs now and is happily wearing large 3-6 and small 6-9 clothing. I’m very proud since not a drop of formula has passed her mouth and she’s gaining like a bottle baby. Strangers don’t believe that she’s only 2 months old and she’s an expert at rolling over now. Unfortunately, Kaelin’s not gaining as well; she only put on a pound in the last six weeks.

As for me, I’m down 25.6 lbs since we came home from the hospital and 40 lbs total. I still have about 10 lbs to go to get back to my pre-pregnancy weight (and another 40 lbs after that). The goal is to make it by Memorial Day (aka my birthday!). That’s only 6 weeks! Yikes… 1.6 lbs/week. I really need to step it up this next month.

On to the bad habits… well, um, that’s why they are bad habits. I hate to admit it, but I made it 4 days without my Red Bull. Between the headaches and my lack of sleep, the family and I decided it would be better if I had a little caffeine in my system. I’ve also had a bit of chocolate (bit being defined as a pound’s worth) over the last week, but I’m not going to beat myself up about it. I can only move forward, right?

I haven’t had any soda or fast food though. Yay me!

Tomorrow, I’ll be unveiling a new weekly feature so make sure to check back!

Edit: I made it 4 days without Red Bull, 5 days without candy, and an amazing 8 days without soda or fast food. Back to the drawing board.

Bad Habits

The theory is that it takes 3 weeks to form a habit so it makes sense that it would take 3 weeks to break a bad habit, right?

Oh goodness, do I have some bad habits that need breaking.

Normally, I eat fairly healthy. I don’t care whether or not high fructose corn syrup is bad for you because I don’t eat it. It’s not food. If it has more than 5 ingredients or it has an ingredient I recognize from my chemistry class, I just don’t eat it. Lately, I’ve been slipping though.

I have a small caffeine problem. I am a Red Bull addict. When I got pregnant, I stopped drinking it for a few months, but my OB recommended picking it back up because I was getting the WORST headaches. But now, with a new baby and little sleep, I find myself reaching for 2 or 3 a day. This isn’t good. Red Bull is full of CRAP. I drink the sugar-free stuff but it’s not like that’s any better. Aspartame. Acesulfame potassium. Both of these chemicals have been linked to numerous health problems such as cancer and obesity. (More on that topic later.) Plus, it’s expensive. I can get it at the commissary for about $1.50, but you can pay as much as $2.50 for a small can at other stores. That’s about $100 a month! Man, I can think of a lot better things to spend a hundred bucks on.

My second bad habit is… diet soda. (Yes, I supposed Red Bull is technically soda, but still.) During my hard-core World of Warcraft days, I was going through about 6 12-packs a week of soda. My desk looked like a recycling center. I don’t remember when, how, or why, but I stopped drinking soda. Ok, maybe I didn’t actually stop because any time I eat out or get fast food, I get a Diet Coke, but I wasn’t drinking 10+ cans a day. Yet, for some reason, I’ve been buying soda at the store again and my desk now looks like a recycling center. Soda is bad! In addition to the chemicals in Red Bull, the acid in soda leeches calcium out of your body. I can only imagine how good that is for a nursing mother with joint problems and a family history of osteoporosis.

Next up — candy. Mmmmm, candy. I have a sweet tooth. If it’s sweet or made of chocolate, I’ll eat it. I got really fussy for a while and wouldn’t eat anything that was less than the most expensive gourmet chocolate (which isn’t bad because you can only afford so much of that stuff), but lately, I’ve been binging on crap. I’ve eaten BAGS of white chocolate truffles over the last few weeks. I haven’t counted, but I would say at least a dozen. I’ve been eating crappy candy bars almost daily. I’ve been picking in Kaelin’s candy stash more than I should. I’ve eaten so many black jelly beans that I felt sick.

Finally, I’m a fast food fiend. I hate this because I don’t even like most of the fast food I eat. McDonald’s is terrible on so many levels, but there I am sitting in the drive-thru. Actually, I’ve been doing much better with fast food recently than I have in the past. I used to eat it 3+ meals a day and my cholesterol levels were scary high for someone in their 20s. Now, I’m only getting it once every couple of days, but that’s still too much considering that I don’t even like how it tastes. Seriously, when I was still married to my first husband, we were spending about $1000 a month on fast food. We NEVER ate at home. Now, Jason and I have a $100 a month limit on eating out, and I would much rather go to a decent restaurant every now and then instead of giving the money to a stupid clown face.

Four bad habits (at least, 4 that I’m focusing on for now). Four bad habits of which I’m getting rid. It’s going to be painful and Jason doubts that I can do it, but for the next three weeks — no Red Bull, no soda, no candy or chocolate and no fast food. Twenty-one days. I know that in moderation, none of my habits are particularly bad, but I’m not a very moderate person. If I have candy, I’m going to eat the whole bag. If I have a case of Red Bull, I’m going to drink it over a couple of days.

Then, after 3 weeks, when I kick this challenge’s ass, Jason will owe me. BIG.

Recovery Week

Tomorrow starts recovery week. I have to admit that I’m a bit nervous about not lifting for a whole week. The general consensus is that you should take a break from your routine every couple of months or so, but it seems a little early since we’ve only been doing P90X for 3 weeks.

I snuck a peek at my measurements this morning — down an inch of my hips and an inch and a half of my waist. I don’t do my “official” P90X pictures until next week though. I’m not sure how much of a difference there will be since the program is designed to see results after the second month, but not so much after the first. When I look at Jason, I see a difference, but I can’t really tell any physical changes in myself yet. I’m down almost 7 lbs, I think, and some inches, but I don’t really look different. Maybe I’ll wake up on Day 90 with rippling muscles. Ha! Of course, I started the program with a good chunk of weight to lose whereas Jason only has about 10 lbs or so. At least my muscles will be chiseled by the time I lose 50 lbs or so.

My eating has been a gazillion times better than it was a month ago. I’ve reigned in my sweet tooth and we haven’t been eating out nearly as much. I had a Milky Way yesterday (which I was eating pretty much daily after Harper was born) and it tasted weird… way too sweet. I’ve been eating chocolate, but when I do, it’s higher quality dark chocolate. It’s a nice (and strange) change not to be craving sweets ALL the time. Now, to kick my Red Bull addiction. When we moved a few months ago, I went three weeks without a drop touching my lips, but I’ve really been relying on caffeine since we came home from the hospital. I wonder if I’ll ever sleep more than 3 hours at a time again.

I’ve also decided not to sign up for the 2010 Marine Corps Marathon. First, Jason starts 60-84 hour work weeks in April, and there’s almost no way for him to fit a long run into his schedule. I could always run it without him, but I really want him by my side. Then, I have to admit, I’m nervous. I’m pretty sure I could go from my current 0 miles a week to running a marathon in less than 7 months, but I’m worried about my time. It’s stupid because first time marathoners aren’t supposed to have a number in their head. The goal is supposed to be just to finish.

But I don’t want my first marathon time to suck.

Yeah, I’m letting my ego get in the way here, but I can’t help it. Plus, I’m planning on running the 2011 Kansas Marathon in Lawrence. I haven’t been back “home” since I moved to Virginia a couple of years ago. I’m dying to see my friends and some of my former professors. Also, Lawrence has some of the most kick-ass food I’ve ever had. I plan on taking a week of vacation and enjoying the town.

Excuses

It’s after 8:00 and I still haven’t worked out. I had too much fast food today and the baby is cranky. I’m tired. I haven’t had enough water. The Biggest Loser is on. I have so many excuses.

But I’m getting up. I’m going to put my gym clothes on. I’m putting the baby in her playpen. I’m going to push play and do my workout.

Now Why Did I Go and Do That?

Four days of good eating. Not perfect eating. Not even great eating. But definitely good eating.

Then I had McDonalds.

The husband came home today and wanted to go to Applebee’s since they were having free entrees for veterans and active duty. I’m not a huge Applebee’s fan. If I’m going to eat out, I want to go to a restaurant I enjoy and not just use my calories because it’s cheap. After about half an hour of going back and forth, we decided not to go. Instead, we got McDonalds. So much for the not using my calories because it’s cheap.

I feel like crap, and it’s not because I feel guilty for eating fast food. Rather, I feel bloated and tired. It didn’t even taste good. Nine hundred calories and practically no nutrition.

I need to keep fast and healthy food in the kitchen so we can avoid the temptation of the base McDonalds.

Yikes, How Long Has It Been?

It’s been almost 3 weeks since I’ve posted. Actually, let’s be honest… it’s been almost three weeks since I’ve taken any sort of active interest in my health and weight.

First of all, the bedrest. I had my appointment on Thursday and I’m no longer confined to my house. In fact, the doctor I had this time told me I should never have been on bedrest anyways. I guess that’s what happens when you go to a practice with more than one doctor. So, um, yay! (And what the hell have I been doing laying on the couch for three weeks?)

In addition to the bedrest, I had a terrible cold that turned into bronchitis. Of course it was viral, and there was nothing they could do for it other than the typical rest and fluids. I finally kicked it and felt great for a few days, but then on Friday, just as I was clear to go back to the gym, Jason so lovingly gave me ANOTHER cold. Yes, I know you can work out with a cold, but my energy was zapped. It’s also hard to do cardio when you can’t breathe and I don’t want to be that person at the gym coughing all over everything. I was all set to go to the gym this morning, but now Kaelin is home sick and the gym is eluding me again.

I don’t know if it was the bedrest, the cold or just Halloween, but I’ve been eating like crap. I didn’t keep a food journal most of the time and when I did, I was averaging like 4000 calories – most of it junk. Did I mention that the commissary is already stocking Christmas candy?

But it’s ok… I have a plan!

1. Get back to tracking. Whether I like to write down the can of Pringles or bag of candy I inhaled, my body know I what I ate.

2. Drink, drink, and drink! I’ve been slacking in the water department when I need it the most. Between being sick and going into the third trimester, I have to make sure I’m getting at LEAST 8 cups of fluids.

3. No more diet soda. Before I got pregnant, I rarely had any sort of diet drink, but a few months ago I started having headaches and the doctor recommended adding a cup of coffee or soda into my diet. Since I don’t drink coffee, I started having a daily Red Bull (sugar-free). Of course, that daily Red Bull turned into two Red Bulls and a Diet Coke. Diet soda is bad. It has no nutritional value, it leaches calcium from your body, and it makes you crave sweets.

4. Limit my fast food. I’ve been eating out way too much and not only is it affecting my health, it’s hurting my wallet. Jason and I have decide to limit ourselves to twice a week.