Fightin Fire With Fire

Ok, so my earlier attempts at a high calorie day failed. But I knew there had to be a way (duh, or I wouldn't be trying to lose weight in the first place) so I decided what better way to sneak in calories than with heavy cream and wine!

I had my usual boring breakfast and lunch, and then for dinner I made the yummy shrimp and tagliatelle leeks, zukes, and mushrooms. I added a little butter, parm and heavy cream at the end to make a sauce and ooh, yummy. I still weighed the cheese and measured the cream but I'm almost up to 2000 cals for the day.

I won't tell you the number of fat grams I ate today because I think it might be illegal. But I'm attempting to shock my body into weight loss so I'll do whatever it takes. I'm also going to shock it by continuing to go to zumba since I'm pretty sure that will scare any weight right off.

I feel like Baby whenever I'm at zumba.

Now if you'll excuse me I need to go work on my pachanga moves.

Still Stuck

Day 21 of the scale not moving.

Whatev.

Thanks for nothing you little fucking piece of plastic and metal and wire.

Glad I've been taking so much care with what I've been eating because clearly that has worked really well.

Have a nice day.

zumba!

Had zumba tonight, which was awesome and outside. I am as uncoordinated as an ox sometimes, and get thrown off by singe-single-double and end up out of step half the time but I still love it. It thrills me to know that there may be other things that I have not yet discovered that I might love as much as zumba.

I did not eat all my calories today. I blame the heat and zumba and the lack of wine or beer in my house. And the fact that no one would go for a martini after zumba. : ) And the fact that I was too sweaty to go to Whole Foods for something after zumba.

Breakfast: english muffin with avocado & a hard boiled egg. 300

Lunch: 1/2 Mediterranean Veggie sandwich and chicken noodle soup from Panera. 400

Snack/Dinner: hard boiled egg, cereal w/ milk, english muffin with PB & J. 700

It's now 9:30 and there's nothing in the house I want to eat that doesn't involve some sort of cooking or prep so I'm just going to bed and will resume the calorie cycling tomorrow. I should have had the full sandwich at Panera, and will plan better next time.

Day 3 of Calorie Cycling

This day did not go quite as planned. I was supposed to eat 2140 calories.

My meals were:

Breakfast (pre-ride): english muffin with goat cheese

Breakfast (post-ride): cereal with milk.

Total: 550

Lunch: Almond butter and jam on english muffin. A hard boiled egg. Carrot sticks.

Total: 393 (I brought some cous cous and avocado with me, but didn't eat it.)

Snack: Almonds Total: 165

Dinner: 3 slices of pizza with cheese and veggies. 860

Total for the day: 1968.

And I'm full. Done. So, I'm calling it quits and figuring I got close enough.

Tomorrow is 1784 calories and zumba. Both of which seem really doable. Right now, I just want my bed. I was up this morning at 5:30 (yet somehow didn't leave the house for work until 9:30...?) and am going to try to sleep in a little tomorrow. The dog might have different ideas though.

Hope you all had a fantastic Wednesday!

Keep On Keepin' On

11.5 miles this morning. My bike is starting to annoy me. The seat post keeps sinking down into the bike frame when I ride, so that after a while the seat is almost an inch lower than when I started which makes it very inefficient to ride, and then I have to stop and adjust it which just breaks up my rhythm.

I'm not sure how to fix this. It's a "quick release" fixture, I guess so you can take the seat with you when you lock up the bike, but there's got to be a way to make it stay where I want it.

I might switch to the other bike for my next ride. Which means I have to find the tracker thing for it which has been traveling in my car with me for months waiting for me to buy it a new battery. But at least that seat stays where it should.

Cooling down, drinking water, eating second breakfast, and looking forward to *zumba* tomorrow night.

Rest of the Day

I really did take a day of rest, although I might do a little yoga before bed. I almost biked to the beach for a swim, but I decided against it. I need a wide brimmed hat to protect my face and ears, even with sunscreen, if I'm going to be out in the sun like that for 30 minutes. (The hat is for the swimming time, I wear a helmet during the biking time.)

So this was the "low" day of my calorie cycling adventure. I was supposed to eat 1425 calories, and I came in at 1497. I'm not hungry at all, since I tend to eat higher fat and protein foods which keep me full. My breakfast was 460 cals, lunch was 540, dinner was 497. Tomorrow is 2100 calories, and should really not include eggs since I had a lot of them today. They are so yummy, though. And versatile, and cold and salty. I should make a little plan for tomorrows food.

I found the "zig zag" schedule on this site: http://www.freedieting.com/tools/calorie_calculator.htm . At the bottom of the blue box you can see the "7 day calorie cycle" option. I figure it can't hurt and it might help. And it seems more interesting than eating the same amount every day.

I'm going to set out my biking clothes for the morning. If I'm eating that many calories, I might as well take advantage of all the extra energy. And if I'm lucky maybe it will start pouring rain on me!

A Day of Rest

No biking this morning. I was awake from 1:30 to 3:30 for some reason. Then up at 6:30 but decided to not bike today.

Breafast was scrambled eggs with goat cheese on an english muffin. Yum.

Lunch is a cold salmon salad with couscous, cucumber and avocado.

Dinner - not sure, something cold.

Evening Swim, Interrupted

As I drove home and saw the high tide, I thought it would be the perfect evening for a swim. But after biking to the beach I saw that it was piled high with sea weed, and some trash, and remembered that a nearby beach had been closed on Saturday due to high bacteria counts from all the rain and run-off and I was sufficiently skeeved out enough to peddle back home without a swim.

Bummer. And while I appreciate the extra 20 minutes of biking, I hope that the beach goes back to normal soon so I can swim.

I will say that my sit-bones are smarting every time I get on the bike. It goes away after a few minutes, but yikes, it hurts like the devil. And I wear padded bike shorts and have a rather cushy seat. I'm hoping I adjust soon and don't mind it so.

I have also figured out why it is useful to have so many work out clothes (and not just because they are cute) - it's because when I workout every day, I can toss them in the washer and not have to do laundry every day and never being able to use the excuse "but I don't have anything to wear..."

Today's Meals

I'm experimenting with calorie cycling, and with eating more in the beginning of the day. Here's what I've had so far today:

1st breakfast: whole wheat english muffin with goat cheese.

2nd breakfast: (post bike ride) Barbara's Bakery Shredded Oats with milk.

cals: 550

Lunch: tuna with 1 T mayo, whole wheat english muffin, carrot sticks with almond butter & 1/4 cup avocado. (This is very filling, and some of it may be saved for a later afternoon snack.)

cals: 615

Dinner (plan): 6 oz Trader Joe's coho salmon, 1/2 cup brown rice, sauteed fresh onions and zucchini, glass of wine.

cals: 500

Snack (plan): 1 oz. cheddar cheese or something else of around 100 calories.

cals: 115

Total: 1780 which is right in line with where I should be for the day.

Tomorrow is around 1400 calories, so I'll figure out what those meals will be this evening.

13.5

13.5 miles this morning. A soaking rain around mile 10 was heaven-sent. My average speed went up by 1 mph to 12.5 mph. I ride on my hybrid which is slower than my road bike but feels more stable and the tires are less prone to flats. And I sit up straighter so I can look around at all the new places I've never been.

I'm going to try calorie cycling this week, in an attempt to get past this plateau. The theory is that you eat the same amount of calories over a week, but you vary the amount you eat per day:

Monday-----1784

Tuesday-----1427

Wed ---------2141

Thursday----1784

Friday--------1606

Saturday-----1962

Sunday ------1784

We'll see how that goes.

Zumba is on Thursday and this week is supposed to be a tad humid. Will hope for a few more bike rides. The key seems to be putting on my bike clothes as soon as I get up, and getting the bike out while the coffee brews. Then I sit and have coffee and breakfast and water and then go biking. Then after showering I will have second breakfast and make lunch.

Hope your week is starting out well!

11.3

That was my biking total this morning. I decided to have a bigger breakfast (500 cals.) since I knew I wanted to bike and wasn't sure how far I wanted to go. I biked out to Hull and just kept going, almost to the end. Next time I'll go all the way to the end.

It was a nice grey, misty morning and started to rain on the way home about about mile 10. It was a blessing. I tend to get very hot when exercising no matter the outside temperature, so the cooling rain was nice.

Now I know that biking on wet roads and with a little rain is ok. I even minded the wind less, which means my legs and lungs are getting stronger.

7.5 Miles

That's how far I biked this morning. I had finished my coffee and English muffin and wasn't quite sure what to do next and it wasn't raining and I could hear the bikers going past my house so I decided to be one of those people that starts the day off with a bike ride.

I ended up going about twice as far as I normally do. My stamina is definitely improving. I reached the point where I normally turn around and I just kept going past it, past the other walkers, and surfers and swimmers and the old, tanned men sitting on the boardwalk.

Then I came home and had second breakfast since I realized my 200 calorie breakfast wasn't really enough to fuel me for the bike ride and a day of hauling stuff out of a house into a dumpster. Second breakfast was cereal, and I think some watermelon in a bit.

Farm stand later today to stock back up on vegetables.

From Y to Z

I went on an mind/body exercise extravaganza tour on Wed. and Thurs.

Wednesday was a two (and a bonus extra half hour) hour back-bend workshop. I realized I'd been avoiding back bends, and saw this workshop offered by cat kabira and knew I had to go. She was an amazing teacher and I have a whole new appreciation for bridge pose, and was able to kick up into forearm balance which was pretty cool since I'd never been able to do that. And I realized I need to do much more ab work as part of my routine.

That much yoga is a lot of yoga, and I tried to not use all my energy in the beginning so that I was able to stick with it to the end. There was only one part where I thought I'd puke or pass out, so I just got out of the pose and leaned forward for a bit. The room was way too hot for my liking (it was in a heated yoga studio. the room wasn't heated, but it was on the 3rd floor with little ventilation and lots of sweaty bodies) but other than that it was amazing. I will definitely seek out more workshops to enhance my home practice and introduce me to new styles.

Then last night I went to *zumba*! I think I love zumba. It was fun and a great workout and great to move in a different way.

This morning my entire upper body is sore. My abs hurt, the muscles around my shoulder blades, my arms. And I feel like I threw out my right elbow waving my arms around in zumba. But it feels good. I now know what needs more work and attention. And hopefully those workouts will nudge the scale down a little. I think I will also take some measurements now, to see what changes going forward. I know I should take them in the beginning, but I didn't.

My eating has stayed on track and even though it is hurricane-like weather out there now, this weekend should be nice for some more outdoor things.

Wicked Yummy Salad

Today's lunch. How last night's dinner can be today's lunch without being boring.

4 oz. salmon

1/2 cup brown rice

2 cups lettuce (I used romaine)

2 teaspoons olive oil

sliced cucumber

18 grams of sunflower seeds (I weighed these, but it seems to be about 1 tablespoon)

Combine all in bowl with salt and pepper. Yum!

480 calories, 7 grams of fiber, 32 carbs, 27 grams of fat, 30 grams of protein.

I'm having some bing cherries on the side, and a little square of dark chocolate. A perfectly lovely lunch.

The Slow _______ Movement

So you've heard about the slow food movement. Where you bake bread that rises for 18 hours, and eat slowly and grow your own food or get it from a CSA.

Well, I might start the Slow Hike movement. And the Slow Swim movement. I was thinking about this while I was swimming the other day. I swam for about 40 minutes. I swim slowly. I keep my head above water (and my sunglasses on, and am considering wearing a wide brimmed hat to complete the sun-safe ensemble) and do a modfied breast stroke along the shore, then flip over and do a modifed back stroke the other way. I try to face away from the sun. Sometimes I do the side-stroke which seems like the ultimate old-lady stroke, but I love it and its scissor kick.

Then sometimes I'll just stop and float and stick my feet up out of the water and marvel at how lucky I am to be in floating in the ocean. And then I swim some more. Back and forth. Until I feel done.

I'm a slow hiker, too. A steady hiker, but not a quick one. No peak-bagging here (although I have bagged a few and certainly keep track of them, but you'll not find me racing to the top to check another off my list.) No jogging up and down Mount Washington like I saw someone doing when I climbed it 10 years ago. And that's ok. I go at a pace that I imagine will keep me hiking well into my 70's or 80's (not that the mountain will take me that long, but that my knees and ankles will stay happy enough to allow it.)

A bit of yoga planned before bed.

Food today:

Breakfast: english muffin with butter and a hard boiled egg.

Lunch: leftover polenta with roasted veggies, hard boiled egg for snack.

Dinner: brown rice, salmon and asparagus. with a little goat cheese toast on the side.

Progress Report

The scale-loss has slowed to a crawl, the kind of crawl that just lies there and doesn't move. Yes, my legs are getting stronger (not sure about my arms yet) but the fact remains that there are still 25 extra pounds on my body that don't need to be there. That have not always been there. And I want them gone. They can come off 1 pound at a time, but I would like them to please go.

Anyway, to that end, I will add in a couple of bike rides this week, and maybe an afternoon swim towards the end of the week depending on what the tides are like.

Positive changes:

- I am no longer sore after hiking.

- My legs are getting toned and stronger.

- I wake up early in the morning, more refreshed & ready to go.

Things to do:

- stock up on sparkling water

- organize kitchen again to make meal prep easier

What do you do when the weight loss slows or stalls?

Need to go North

Another Blue Hills hike today. Same route, but started at 8:20 a.m. which is a much nicer starting time than 10:30 a.m. - fewer people, but still enough so that I'm not the only one there, not as hot and there's a lot of day left when I'm done.

But I think I'm done there for now. I need to take my pack and sticks and head north. A two hour drive to Mt. Monadnock will be a good next step. It can be crowded, but hopefully if I got there by 8:30 (which would mean leaving at 6:30, up at 5? eep) it would be ok. And not all of the trails are as heavily traveled.

Rest of the day was farmer's market and house work. Made some polenta with roasted farm stand veggies - new onions, fresh garlic, summer squash and some non-farm potatoes.

Now I'm sleepy, preparing the house for the week and hopefully asleep shortly after 9.

Bike Swim Bike

My own mini biathlon today. After hitting the farmer's market for blueberries, eggs and coffee I realized that the best way to beat the steamy heat was with water - sea water! So I biked to the beach (about 10 minutes) slowly made my way into the water (about 5 minutes, it was a bit brisk at first) and then swam and floated and swam for about 40 minutes before I could feel that I had cooled down to the core.

A quick dry and a nice ride home and I'm feeling so much better.

Lunch was egg salad with chopped jalapenos and a little of the burdock root that I got the other day, some cherries on the side and milk.

Hiking tomorrow, and later today I'm going to check out some small day/hydration packs at REI that will hopefully be less sweaty on my back than my pack I use now.

Motivation v. Commitment

My motivation is flagging today. My commitment is not.

It was hot today. At least in my mind where anything over 80 is hot. It makes me cranky and sweaty and uncomfortable.

Breakfast was left over dinner from last night. Not the best as it was too low on fiber. Then lunch was cereal and by the time dinner rolled around I was hungry and made my old stand by of shrimp, veggies and pasta. It's not high in calories, but it's very filling and now I just feel like a big sweaty beached whale.

I can feel myself getting bored with entering all my foods in Sparkpeople, and having to think about my meals and plan them out. But the commitment means that I will do these things anyway, even though I don't feel like it. Even though that little voice is saying "this isn't going to work, give up now." And it isn't even like giving up would mean "yay, ice cream and brownies and fried chicken!" It would just mean a few more snacks during the day like english muffins with butter, letting the yoga practice slide (nah, that'll never happen, that feels way too good), getting careless with my serving sizes letting them creep up and up, and eating even when I've had enough.

Typing that out I see that the only thing I would be giving up would be mindfulness about what I'm eating. I mean really, is that so difficult to maintain? I'm not depriving myself of anything here. I love the activies that I've been doing and wouldn't stop for anything. And there is no food I can't eat, as long as I just keep the amounts within the limits of what my body needs.

Do people think, "oh it's so difficult to keep track of what is in my bank account. Screw that, I'm going to be free and not do it and just spend what I want." That's not freedom. That's heading towards over drawn accounts and no savings.

Same with not paying attention to what I'm eating. That's not freedom either. That just leads to where I am now and where I was 8 or so pounds ago.

So, I will continue on. And I will try to do what ever yoga my full belly will allow of me tonight. And I will pack a day-pack for a hike tomorrow or Sunday. And I will plan out some new meals for the week. And I will just keep going, because I am commited to this even when my motivation falters.

Quick post

Quick post: poor planning, too much food and not enough water the last 2 evenings have left me sluggish and full. Have restocked up on veggies, filled my water bottles and am feeling better already.

Working on my business plan this morning and talking with my biz. consultant early this afternoon, then a bike ride (although it may be too hot and sunny) or some yoga. Tomorrow calls for rain so the hike may have to wait until Sunday. The trail is rocky and get slippery in the rain.

Shrimp & Veggie Delight

I decided to get some new things tonight at Whole Foods, along with my trusty old leeks and some cherries that looked really yummy. The frilly green thing is a savoy cabbage, which I have always thought were so pretty (and found out they are equally as tasty). The round brown thing is a small jicama, and the thing that looks like a stick is burdock root, which, according to that link can do everything from cure measles to detoxify my liver. But, mostly I got it because it was next to the jicama and I thought it might make a nice addition to jicama salad. And if it purifies my blood in the process, then that's just an added bonus.
Dinner was leeks, zucchini, chopped fresh garlic, savoy cabbage, shrimp and some tagliatelle that I forgot to photograph before cooking. There are probably 5 cups of veggies which cook down to about 1.5, 4 oz. of shrimp, 1/2 oz grated parmesan and some butter than was left out due to it's lack of photogenicity tonight.

The shrimp are seared first for a minute per side with salt, pepper and crushed red pepper and then taken out and set aside until the dish is done. I have discovered that this is the key to not over cooking the shrimp.
Then all the veggies are added to the pan and cooked until they wilt and look done. Add salt and pepper at this step, too.

Then the shrimp is added back in, a teaspoon of butter is added along with a dash of the pasta water and the parmesan cheese. Season to taste with more salt and pepper and add the past in and stir.

Put in a bowl and eat. If you have the capacity to eat a large volume at dinner (cals are about 600), this will feed 1, otherwise you could add a little more of everything to feed more than one person. I think I had my entire daily allotment of veggies in this one meal, but it was really good.

I have signed up for a back-bend workshop next week. I was working on my long terms goals for my life and realized that one of them is to be able to do back-bends, so I figure this will get me a little closer to my goal, and push me outside my comfort zone - both of which are good.

"Did you get your hair cut?"

I think my double chin might be going away. Someone asked me if I'd gotten my hair cut again, and when I said no, they said it was falling nicely. It didn't dawn on me until later that I think my second chin is getting smaller, which would make my face look different even with the same hair cut.

Eating today: breakfast was english muffin & 1/2 avocado, lunch was dinner leftovers with brown rice and jicama salad, dinner was poorly planned and the same thing as breakfast plus a spicy sausage from Whole Foods. Thankfully, the veggies at lunch were enough to get me all the servings I need for the day.

I think I need more milk. And there is salmon thawing for tomorrow's dinner.

Yoga last night was Shiva Rea's Solar Flow, which I think is in the side bar --> . It was a nice practice but then progressed into back bends, which I really need to work on. It felt good to challenge my body and my mind, and do poses that were uncomfortable and remember when other poses that are now easy were uncomfortable and know that my body will relax and get stronger and more flexible over time. But sometimes I just swear at her and do a different pose.

I am sleepy now. Time to prep the coffee and lunch for morning. Then maybe a little yoga before an early bedtime.

Medium

I'm cleaning on this Sunday night. Dusting, laundry, dishes and cleaning out my closet and drawers again. There are yoga pants in there that are size medium. I think back to when they would have fit me and I can almost picture it. And the skirt that is a size 6, the pants that are 8's. I remember those. I remember the ease of finding clothes that fit, and liking the way they fit me.

I am on my way back there.

I made the fajitas: steak, red cabbage, mushrooms, kale, onion, zucchini. Half of it was packed up with some brown rice for lunch tomorrow.

I am glad to have so many veggies in the house now to build my meals around. It is easy when you don't quite know what to make for dinner but can start by just chopping up whatever veggies there are, rooting around in the fridge for some form of protein and then figuring out what type of grain would go best to tie it all together, and if there's a fat (avocado, butter) or cheese that would top it off.

Goal tonight: 1 hour of yoga.

Pondering Dinner

This is what I picked up at the organic farm today. Zukes, fresh garlic, scallions and some fresh onions. And 2 bags of baby kale which aren't pictured. I'm wondering what I make for dinner. I have a thawed grass-fed NY strip steak which I think wants to join dinner. I have some small potatoes which could be roasted with the red onions & garlic.

Or I could make fajitas with the zucchini, steak, onions, garlic, kale and the last bit of red cabbage. Hmm, that might be it. An early dinner of veggies & steak so they can be digested by the time yoga/bedtime rolls around.

Jicama Salad

Take some jicama (not my photo. I forgot to take one before cutting into it.)
Peel.

Julienne. Put in big bowl.

Add juice of a lime or 2. Tablespoon olive oil. Sprinkle of salt. 1/2 or 3/4 tsp. of chili powder. Bunch of mint chopped up. Mix and refrigerate. Serve cold. It's very refreshing.

Take A Hike!

That's what I did this morning. My usual route, 2.5 hours through the Blue Hills. I started at 10:30, which I think is too late because I was very hot and sweaty. Next time I will pack my bag the night before and have my waters and shoes and snacks and everything ready so I can just go in the morning and not putter around for a 1/2 hour getting ready.

I am loving my hiking poles more every time I use them. I have figured out how best to use them on the way down so they are like extra legs out in front of me, keeping my knees safe and my balance on track while I get down the hills faster. One little kid said as I went by "It's like those sticks are her legs."

One of the best parts about hiking is lounging around afterwards and wondering what to eat. Except that I'm too tired to actually cook or buy anything to eat so I just snack on some bits of cheese and dry cereal and drink water and think about lobster rolls.

I sometimes think I want to go on this hiking trip in this fall: http://www.fitpacking.com/2009/WMNF2.cfm because hiking that many days in a row would be so cool, but then I also think I want to go to Tribal Jam at Kripalu because dancing that many days in a row would be amazing. Who knows what I'll end up doing, but it's nice to know those opportunities are out there.

Yummy Yoga

My yoga practice last night was so yummy. That was the word that hit me in the middle of it. I decided that I wanted to design my own practice, so I put on some Mantras in Motion music and started with some Moon Salutations. I did the flow in very slow motion so I could get the most out of each pose, then I did a couple of rounds at normal speed, matching the postures to my breath.

After the vinyasa I moved to floor poses, forward bends, and a lot of hip openers. The final track on the CD is called "Bliss" which was perfect for savasana.

Now that I'm feeling stronger and have the basics down, I want to start working on wheel pose (maybe choosing a man to demonstrate that pose was not the best decision...), monkey pose, and some back bends. I can barely lift myself off the ground in my attempt to get up into wheel, so for now I will just practice lifting myself up slightly until my arms and legs get stronger, and I have to look into how to prepare for monkey pose.

Now that I've had my coffee and breakfast, I am going to go for a hike, I think.

Photos of Dinner

Posted too soon on the last post. Here is dinner:

Prep work : shimp, cabbage, mushrooms, leeks, garlic in there somewhere.

In the pan

All cooked down & shrimp added:

A wonderful day & my favorite dinner

Today was a lovely day. I had a massage from a fantastic masseuse who can get her fingers in between all the muscle fibers and just relax everything. Then in my fog of relaxation I got all my errands done and came home to make dinner.

Shrimp & Veggie Delight

(Serves 1, of me at least)

6 oz raw shrimp

1 tsp olive oil

1 large leek, rinsed and chopped (only the white part)

1+ cup of chopped red or green cabbage

1+ cup chopped mushrooms

(other yummy veggies - zucchini, broccoli, garlic scapes, onion)

clove of garlic

1 tsp. butter

1/2 oz. grated parmesan cheese

salt, pepper, crushed red pepper

1/2 cup cooked whole wheat coucous

Cook shrimp in olive oil with crushed red pepper and a little salt for two minutes. Remove from pan.

Add leeks, mushrooms, cabbage or whatever veggies you are using. Sprinkle with a little more salt, pepper and saute until soft and cooked.

Add shrimp back in, add butter and cheese. Put couscous in a bowl, put shrimp & veggies on top.

Calories: 500. Fat: 16g. Carbs: 41. Protein: 48. Fiber 7. Deliciousness: 11.

Enjoy with a glass of cold rose' or a beer.

So Long, Farewell

...to another pound! I think that's 8 now. I'm always a little fuzzy on the exact starting weight, but I can safely say it is at least 8 pounds gone! And while the number on the scale is not the be all and end all, it's like a progress report every week that says "Doing great!" and I'm a nerd who loves good grades so it makes me happy.

The other things that I'm noticing are that my Paschimottanasana (seated forward bend) is getting lower and lower, when I lean forward in eka pada rajakapotasana (pigeon pose) my head can rest on the ground instead of needing a block, my legs are much stronger in Warrior pose, and my practices have naturally progressed from 20 or 30 minutes to 50 to 60 minutes.

Plan for the day: work in the morning, massage at 1:30 then working on my business plan.

Plan for tomorrow: hike in the Blue Hills.

Being Done

A big challenge for me is "being done" eating in the evenings. I know that if I am too hungry when I get home I will eat something as a snack before dinner, then have dinner, and then before I even stop to think about whether I'm full, I'll have another little after dinner snack.

Or I used to do that.

I had to go to Whole Foods today on my way home for some veggies and shrimp and coffee beans (I could survive happily on a deserted island with those 3 foods to sustain me). And I was getting hungry. I needed something to tide me over on the ride home, but not something that I would eat all of or want to keep eating once I got home. So, I found some nice sharp chedder and had a bite of that. Just one small bite. I pictured it going into my stomach and providing my body with the maybe 50 calories of fat and protein that it needed to stave off full blown hunger. And because it was sharp it gave my mouth something to keep it occupied.

I came home and made dinner - shrimp (5 oz), Farro Pasta, leeks, mushrooms, and a tsp. of butter and 1/2 oz. of Parmesan cheese. Yum. And with a beer it was still within my calories for the day.

After I finished, I had the fleeting thought of - hmm, do I want something more? But then I realized that I had given my body all the fuel it needed for the day and that asking it to take on more wasn't that nice.

I had an awesome yoga practice last night. I did side one of Shiva Rea's Drops of Nectar, which has Moon Salutations, a second track with no instructions where I just did poses that I wanted to do, and then some breathing meditations and finally savasana. I slept very soundly.

Plan for the rest of the evening - dishes, prep coffee for the morning, yoga, sleep.

Out to Lunch & new lulu

Went out to lunch today, but since I'd planned in advance I was fine - had a salmon salad, grilled salmon over greens with a little dressing & some asparagus. Yum.

Then I went next door to lululemon where they were having a sale - so I ended up with 2 new cropped pants and 2 tanks - both of which I need for my summer workouts and hikes. A fitting reward for my work so far.

Dinner is an open-faced tuna sandwich with a little mayo, a lot of jalapenos and some avocado for added fiber. As I'm eating I realize that this is my second fish dish of the day, but oh well. I'll not have any the rest of the week. I'm also realizing that they days I'm most satisfied and not hungry are the days when my fat & protein intake is higher than what Sparkpeople thinks it should be, even though my calories are within the limit. I figure I know me best, so I just go with it.

The nice things about new lululemon is that I, of course, put it on as soon as I get home, which makes an evening workout even easier to do. And I have scheduled a massage for Friday afternoon, so I should work my muscles a little before then. I'm really trying to keep on a 3 day a week schedule of sit-ups and lifting my 10lb weights since I know that makes a huge difference in building muscle and getting the weight off.

I will prep some lunch stuff and coffee for the morning, work on my business plan a little and then hopefully my dinner will have settled enough for a nice evening yoga practice.

Leave a comment if you visit - what do you reward yourself with?

Droopy Drawers

I guess this could be filed under "Good Problems To Have" or "First World Problems" but it is still an issue.

Every time I start to lose weight, the first place it leaves from is my gut (thank you) and my bum (no thank you.) Then my pants, which have sometimes needed to be altered to stop the dumpy-bum look, sag even more and I can't stand it. I'm on the verge of buying some silicone butt pads to fill out my pants. It's really sad when you think "these pants looked good 7 pounds ago" and you mean 7 pounds more!

So, those pants will be retired and put out to pasture and we'll move to the next level of pants that actually fit and trust that the Universe or the TJMaxx Runway section will provide us with the necessary pants to clothe us through the downward journey.

And I will patiently await the time when I can buy smaller bras and shirts.

In other news:

Breakfast: english muffin with almond butter. milk.

Lunch: egg salad on english muffin. carrot stick.

Dinner: small slice of veggie tart, mahimahi, couscous, red cabbage. glass of Rose'.

Exercise: walked the dog this morning, probably some yoga before bed.

Dinner Decisions

My snack supply got me through my day and evening at work. I had the mini almond butter & jam sandwich at about 5:45 and now it's 8:30 and I'm waiting for the hard boiled eggs to cool so I can have some egg salad with chopped jalapenos. Yum! 3 eggs, 1 T mayo and a few tablespoons chopped, pickled jalapenos, with lots of salt and pepper.

And still, with a glass of wine, within my cals for the day.

I was lucky that I knew I'd be at work late and could plan the whole day in advance.

And because what's a food blog without photos, here are some recent ones:

Today's lunch, the veggie tart with carrot sticks.
I think this is the ingredients in the veggie tart: broccoli, onion, zucchini, 1 mushroom.
2 weekends ago in Franconia, NH. The arrival meal - Stacey's Baked Pita Chips, hummus, and a nice cold Rose' wine.
The ingredients in the bacon veggie tart - bacon, red & green cabbage, zucchini, onion. Do you see a theme here?

I tend to make a dish to death when I discover it. I inherited this from my father who does the same thing. But I feel like it helps me perfect it and exercises my creative mind to figure out how many different iterations of veggie tart I can make. I'm guessing with all the veggies still to harvest there will be many kinds - tomato and basil with fresh mozzarella tart, anyone?

No Way I Can't Do This

Down another .2 this morning from Friday. I think the hour of yoga on Sunday morning helped, the Solar Practice from Yoga Sanctuary. For some reason when I do that practice I just keep going. Maybe because most of it is done on the floor... but it is such a nice workout and I can feel my legs getting stronger and my muscles getting more flexible. I also took a few walks with the dog, and lifted my hand weights and did my sit ups.

There was a little party on Sunday and I brought the veggie tart with bacon which disappeared in a flash, and there was corn and some chicken wings and rose' so I think my calories were all where they were supposed to be.

This morning I just did the weights and sit ups and will talk the dog on a walk when I get home.

I have a client meeting at 6:30 which means I had to plan more snacks for work so I'm not ravenous when I get home (or while I'm meeting with my clients.)

Here's what I brought (breakfast was english muffin with almond butter):

Veggie tart slice (sadly, no bacon in this one)

Carrot sticks

Almond butter & jam on english muffin

Some crunchy cereal

All of that plus breakfast puts me at about 1000 calories, so I should be fine until I get home and have something for dinner. I also have some dried bing cherries.

I know I can do this, and I make sure I can do this by planning and doing.

And another one bites the dust!

Down another pound this week, for 6 pounds total since the begining of June. I've kept at this - tracking my food each day, planning, figuring out a Plan B on the day I made the best lunch ever and then left it at home with all my water, going for hikes in the rain, crawling out of bed with one eye still closed to walk the dog in the morning - and have not once felt deprived or like I couldn't enjoy something.

A few times I've been hungry after dinner, but then I look at what I ate and it was totally adequate fuel for the day and I just remind myself that breakfast will be coming shortly and we are in no danger of starving and we aren't actually hungry and I've moved on to something else. I think that is the helpful thing about tracking - I know for a fact that my body has received everything it needs that day so I don't need to eat more with the belief that maybe it's missing something.

And I know that the scale is not the ultimate tool for measuring how successful I am at this, but it is the most convenient since I don't own a machine to measure my lung strength and don't have any body fat calipers. So, I'll keep using it.