A small accomplishment

I really wanted to see 'Don't Be Afraid of the Dark' because I super love Guillermo del Toro movies.  (For the record, it wasn't that great, but it was entertaining - if not at all scary.  Wait until it comes on a movie channel you already pay for, or Netflix, and watch in the comfort of your own home with the lights off for a semi-creepy gigglefest.)

I discovered that my theater of choice currently has a coupon for 1/2 off a large popcorn & drink.

After some heated internal debate, I made the choice.  Rather than drop all those points for a giant popcorn popped in oil (which would have lasted me a couple days, yes, but did I really need to be snacking on THAT more than once?), I took part in my recent rebellious habit of smuggling goodies into the movie in my purse.

I popped a 94% fat free mini bag of popcorn (3 points, as opposed to something around 5 times that much for the large movie popcorn!) and transferred it to a ziplock.  I also counted out 34 Pretzel M&M's (9 points, but soooo worth it in my opinion!), and took a can of Coke Zero.  So I still treated myself, but I stayed within my points today and saved money!

I'm still waiting on the day someone asks to see inside my purse before they let me in the theater.

The results...

Weigh in:  Saturday, 8/27/11 - 197.6 - 3.6 lbs lost, 52.6 total


So I've righted the ship, but I still have 2.2 to lose to get back to my lowest.  Gonna keep tracking religiously this week!  I've been a lot more diligent with measuring and weighing my food than I ever have before.  It's a good habit to have.

I'm still continuing my 30 Day Challenge to get at least 20 minutes of activity each day, hopefully that will help me stay on track!

Friday 08/26/11 - The final day of the Week of Accountability!

Today's weight:  198.0


*sigh*  Well, at any rate I should be down at least 3 lbs this week for weigh in tomorrow morning.  I'm pretty disappointed in the back and forth I've had the last few days, but like I said, that's why I don't weigh myself every day normally.  It's too discouraging.

Wall push-ups - 5 sets x 12 (arms were still feeling noodle-y from Wed. so I had to break it up a bit)
Tricep dips - 150 dips, Week 1 Day 3 - 10/13/9/9/13
Bicep curls - 5 lb dumbbells - 2 sets x 15
LOTS of IT band stretches

I wanted to run this morning but my hip was really bothering me.  Aching and popping with nearly every step.  First the lateral knee pain, now the hip on the same side is making me think I may have an IT band issue.  I'm going to keep stretching the heck out of that thing and buy a foam roller this weekend if they have them at the local running store.  I've been icing a couple times a day, but I might up the ante and try some ice massage.  I should have known better than to think there'd be no repercussions from running over 7 miles without stopping when my longest prior was a run-walk that was only a bit over 5, and it was nearly a month ago.  :(

Today was not stellar food wise.  I didn't eat breakfast, and Mom has Friday's off work so she always wants to go out to lunch.  We went to Macaroni Grill.  They've recently changed their menu so sites like livestrong and myfitnesspal don't have their nutrition estimates for the new dishes as of now.  I checked there because the restaurant doesn't give full nutritional info, but they do give calorie counts, so I estimated roughly 40 calories per point to come up with my numbers.  I do appreciate that they now offer whole wheat pasta, and I believe they have a gluten-free option as well.

As I said in the title, this is my last day of daily posts with my tracker and whatnot.  I imagine I'll do it again sometime in the near future as a way to renew and refresh my healthy habits, but I'm not sure how many people want to read me babbling about boring stuff every single day!  There was some interest expressed on my facebook page in continued postings of my daily food log, so I'm going to continue to list my meals there.  If you want to follow me on fb, there's a link in the upper right of this page.  :)

Thursday, 8/25/11 - Day 6

Today's weight:  197.6


Back down a little.  I think I need to be drinking more water, as odd as that may sound.  I already drink a gallon a day, but I've been working my butt off and sweating A LOT.

Treadmill - speed work - 3.67 miles in 45:00 (12:16 pace)


My knee was just okay.  It was twinging a little in the beginning but felt fine after a while.  I guess my body compensated for it subconsciously because my hip on the same leg was aching afterwards.  Ah well, ice is my new best friend.

It seems to be my week for minor running casualties, because I have a raw spot on my second toe on the right, and a blister on my big toe on the left.  Must have missed some spots with the BodyGlide!

Guess what I did?

Pre-registration ends tomorrow at noon EST, so I finally put on my big girl panties and did it.  I registered for the Indy Women's Half Marathon!

The only goal is to finish.  I have no time limit on my mind.  Be it run, walk, stagger, or crawl, I will finish this thing!

Here's the bling.  Oooh purdy.
(The one on the right is the medal for the half.)

Wednesday 8/24/11 - Day 5

Quick recap of yesterday since my day somehow got away from me and it was bedtime before I knew it!

Wednesday's weight:  198.0


^That^ is why I generally do not weigh myself on a daily basis.  You're bound to see gains at some point during the week.  I'm blaming this one on the Tuesday night Taco Bell visit.  Sodium is not my friend.

Treadmill - 30 min (not sure how far I went - alternated running and walking, and my knee was hurting on the runs...boo)
Zumba class - 1 hr
Wall push-ups - 3 sets x 20
Tricep dips - 150 dips, Week 1 Day 2 - 8/10/8/8/9
Bicep curls - 5 lb dumbbells - 2 sets x 15


Elisa invited me to go to the gym as her guest so we could get some treadmill time in before Zumba.  Class itself was tough, it's been a while since I've attended...and somebody standing near us had some near-fatal gas issues.  Good lord.  If you are feeling some rumbly in your tumbly and you know it's gonna be nasty, please save yourself and everyone around you some agony and embarrassment and do not attend a super crowded exercise class!

Special post-long run bonus!

Minor chafing on my shoulder/collarbone area from my sports bra strap.  One of the places I discovered I need BodyGlide!  The others aren't places I'd post a pic of, ha!  TMI?  Yeah probably.

Also...I have a jawline!  That's fun.

Tuesday, 8/23/11 - Day 4, halfway there!

Today's weight:  197.2


Still on the way down!  I've made up for last week's gain, and have less than 2 pounds to go until I'm back where I was before I left for vacation.


Amazingly, I have no muscle soreness in my legs after my long run yesterday, but my right knee is bothering me when I go down stairs.  I wanted to run again, but didn't want to exacerbate whatever problem I'm having, so I stuck with a fairly easy ride on the bike.

- Stationary bike - 5.5 miles in 30:00


I had a quesadilla for lunch and Taco Bell for dinner.  I seem to be really good at picking the type of cuisine for lunch that my mom decides she wants for dinner.  Oh well.

I realized I hadn't met my oil requirement by dinner, so I went all Macaroni Grill on that thing and dipped some delicious bakery bread in olive oil for a snack this evening.  Much tastier than eating it on my salad, but then, I'm a ranch or bleu cheese dressing girl at heart.

Monday 8/22/11 - Day 3 of the epic Week of Accountability

Today's weight:  198.2

Whaaa?  I'm starting to feel really silly for not getting back on track right when I got home from vacation...I've already nearly made up for my 3.4 lb gain from Saturday.  

Wall push-ups - 2 sets x 25

Tricep dips - Week 1 Day 1, 150 dips program - 6/6/5/5/8

Bicep curls - 10 lb dumbbells - 2 sets x 10 (too heavy for good form, I'll be using 5 lbs next time)

Treadmill - 7.86 miles in 1:45:00 (13:21 pace)

I will admit I got a little teary-eyed after the run.  I ran over 7.5 miles without stopping to walk.  It finally really hit me that I am actually a runner, no matter how slow I may be.  I mean really, what percentage of the population can say they have *ever* run that far?

Seems like a really long time to spend on the dreadmill, but I was watching Beetlejuice so I was thoroughly entertained.  I LOVE that movie!  "What are your qualifications?"  "Ah, I attended Julliard. I am a graduate of Harvard Business School.  I travel quite extensively.  I lived through the Black Plague and had a pretty good time during that.  I've seen 'The Exorcist' 167 times, and it keeps gettin' funnier EVERY SINGLE TIME I SEE IT.  NOT TO MENTION THE FACT THAT YOU'RE TALKING TO A DEAD GUY!"  Ahh, good times.  And of course there's this classic scene:

I tried to do the dance along with them while I was running...it didn't work very well.  Does anyone remember the Beetlejuice cartoon show?  ...I digress.

I had my post-run nausea thing hit me again (it's been a while), and I'm fairly sure I'm going to be very sore tomorrow (I'm icing my knee as I type this because it's pretty achy), but I am pleased as punch with myself.  23 Activity Points in one go!  I also discovered that BodyGlide might be necessary on long runs on areas that I hadn't even considered...

As for the food log, I went a bit over my daily allowance on points today.  Weight Watchers gives you 49 extra points for the week that you can use if you so choose, and considering I burned off well over 1000 calories today, a little more food isn't gonna hurt me!

Dinner was really point-heavy.  Mom asked me to finish off the chicken salad, but I still had another dairy serving, both oils, and 3 fruit/veg to meet my healthy checks, so I ate a lot (not that that's a hardship or anything).  As for lunch, I had a Morningstar Farms Veggie Corn Dog for the first time, and was pleasantly surprised!  I honestly couldn't tell the difference between that and a "real" corndog, and even when I ate some of the "meat" by itself the taste was very close.  Thumbs up!

Sunday 8/21/11 - Day 2!

Today's weight:  200.2


Not too shabby!  Glad to see things moving in the right direction.  Seeing numbers above 200 when I told myself I would never be there again is definitely a lesson in humility.

- Treadmill - 1.5 miles in 20:00 (13:20 pace)

I know I said I'd be getting up early for a long run today, but when my alarm went off this morning at 5 I found myself with stuffy/runny allergy nose and a headache.  So I went back to sleep and attempted it on the treadmill this afternoon, only to have my stomach go absolutely nuts (HIGHLY unpleasant, I'll spare you the details), so I only managed my '30 Day Challenge' requirement of 20 minutes.  Better than nothing, but I'm very annoyed...my bod was just totally against a run today it seems.  Pushing the long run back to tomorrow.

Here's the food.  I meant to continue the trend of taking a picture of dinner throughout the week, but I forgot today.  I'm sure you can imagine what a baked potato and some grilled steak look like.  :P

Right on target and met my all my healthy guidelines again.  I did make a discovery today that dairy servings are not always equivalent to the serving size on the container, so I actually have not been getting enough dairy on most days.  I posted a note on my facebook page if you're interested to see all the stuff that's equivalent to dairy serving/glass of milk.

And so it begins...

Today starts my Week of Accountability!  I will be posting every day with my food log/points tracker, my daily activity, and a weigh in.  I don't recommend weighing daily, but this week I really need to make sure I'm on track.

As I said in my last post, I'm putting on my noob hat.  For the first few months on Weight Watchers, I was absolutely obsessive about tracking accurately and making decent choices...I need to get back there.  So the paper tracker is coming out, and the online tools that have been neglected as of late will be put to good use.  The measuring cups and spoons will get a workout, as will my WW pocket calculator.

And so, without further delay...my weigh in from today's meeting.

Weigh in:  Saturday, 8/20/11 - 201.2 - 3.4 lbs gained 


My daily point allowance went *up*...how terrible does that feel?  Ugh.  That gain is since last Saturday's out of town weigh in, for a net gain in two weeks of 5.8.  Yeesh.  That's not to say that I'm surprised - I've been off track for a while now, and this past week especially I was NOT eating like a mentally sound individual.  It actually could have been worse, and it was when I checked Friday morning, so I did make up a little ground by getting back on track yesterday.

After a much needed trip to the grocery store, I came home and got in my activity for the day.  I follow FitnessGetzEasy on Facebook, and a challenge has been issued to be active for at least 20 minutes EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. for 30 days.  Today is my Day 1.

I also found an interesting set of training programs that are designed to increase your strength and get you doing insane amounts of body weight exercises in 6 weeks.  I decided to start on the 100 push-ups and 150 tricep dips programs...but then I realized I can't even do a decent push-up from my knees (my arms barely move, it's pretty pathetic really).  So I'm going to do wall push-ups for now and just try to increase my strength enough to move to the bench or floor versions.  Tricep dips I can do though!  Today was just my 'initial test' day, so I'll start the actually 150 dips program on Monday.

- Wall push-ups - 50
- Tricep dips - 13
- Stationary bike - 3.9 miles in 20:00 


I did some intervals on the bike - 30 seconds at max effort, 1-2 minutes recovery.  Max for me ended up being around 16-17 mph, and recovery was 10-11.  It amazes me that folks can maintain my interval pace for hours on end...I think I would die.  I went to walk up the basement steps when I was done and almost yelled - glutes made of pain.  Not sure if it was sitting on the bike seat, or the effort.  Ouchie.  But it felt good to sweat and have that wobbly-limbed sensation again!

Here are some screen caps of my tracker today!

I have 34 points per day right now, so I was right on target today!  I got in every single one of my healthy checks, which are 2 servings of dairy, 5 of fruit/veg, 2 tsp of healthy oil, and a daily multivitamin.  Weight Watchers recommends at least 6 8oz glasses of liquid a day, and it doesn't have to be water.  When I track, though, I check off a box for every 16oz I drink since my personal goal is to drink a gallon each day.

Here's a pic of dinner!  My mom was super considerate and asked how I wanted my porkchop cooked since she and Dad were having them breaded and pan fried.  (She knows I'm really stressed about gaining, I about had a breakdown yesterday morning talking to her about it.  Blargh.)  She seared mine with some olive oil and then baked it in the oven for me.  :)  I may have defeated the purpose by putting a little gravy on it.  Oh well.  And yes, I know, I know - two starchy vegetables!  Corn and mashed potatoes are my dad's preferred dinner sides...those, plus green beans, are about all the veggies I ever had growing up!

That's today done!  Tomorrow's plan is to get up super early and hit the pavement - 1 hr 35 min run scheduled, which for me should be around 7 miles.  I'm gonna stick close to home in case I need to refuel, I've never run much more than an hour!

Crash and burn

I would like to take this opportunity to thank Blogger for eating my last post.  I tried to post something on Monday but apparently it has disappeared into cyberspace.

My tiki mug is cooler than your tiki mug.

So, to catch up, I had a great time on my trip.  Saw Harry Potter (second time for me, first for the bf) and The Help.  I had excuses to wear some of my pretty clothes.  We went out to eat a few times, but outside of that I tried to stick with my safe foods like fruit, Cinnamon Cheerios, and ham sammiches.  I only ran once while I was there, but that's better than nothing I think.

My weigh in last Saturday I was up 2.4 lbs, which was to be expected - Friday night involved massive amounts of food, and alcoholic beverages that were poured with a very heavy hand.  I was also introduced to my new love:  edamame.

I came home on Sunday evening, and weighed myself on Monday morning...holy crap.  I was at 203-point-something.  Water weight from traveling, mostly, I'm sure.  Or it was at that point at least...

It's a bowl of liquor, and it's on fire.
(We had to ask for extra mixers because it was so strong.)

I'm still probably sitting around that number now because my week just went to hell.  I'm always depressed when I come home from AZ because I want to just stay there forever.  My emotions and boredom got the better of me and I've been late-night binge eating like I will never see ice cream again.  I've been good today, so that's 1 day out of 7.  Yeah...it's not going to be pretty tomorrow.

As a result of this terrible week, and - let's be honest - the past few weeks that I haven't tracked AT ALL, I will be tracking and posting my food here every day for the coming week.  I am putting my noob hat on and pretending I just joined Weight Watchers.  It's time for some renewed accountability.  Guess that means I should probably hit the grocery store...I think my appropriate food supply consists of apples and Nutrigrain waffles at this point.

Slacker weigh-in post, plus swag!

I got somewhat behind with posts this weekend, my head has been all over the place!

Weigh in:  Saturday, 8/6/11 - 195.4 - 1.8 lbs lost, 54.8 total


Still heading in the right direction, which is pretty surprising considering the week I had.  I did not track *at all* and my food choices were, for the most part, very sub-par nutritionally.

I was apparently exhausted after my long run on Friday evening, and managed to sleep through my alarm (twice! - it automatically snoozes after ringing for a couple minutes) on Saturday morning.  I put on my workout clothes before WW so I'd be prepared for Zumba afterwards, but I was still feeling groggy and weird so I decided to go home after the meeting.

I went downtown on Saturday afternoon to volunteer for Tri Indy (local triathalon) packet pickup.  A local running shop had some stuff set up for sale, and after much confusion and staring on my part I figured out one of the guys working over there was my anatomy and physiology teacher from high school (who I totally thought was a babe when I was in his class...awkward).  I didn't say anything to him though, because I wasn't 100% sure it was him and if I'd been wrong that would have been weird.  I just went and looked him up online, turns out I was right.

Aaaaanyway, I got some freebies for helping:

Race t-shirt (volunteers got orange, participants got green), tumbler w/ race logo, and a mesh cap.  I am most excited about the hat, because I was thinking that I needed to buy a tech hat or visor, and now I've got a free one!  I haven't tried it out on a run yet, so whether or not it will stay on my somewhat large head remains to be seen.    Off topic:  You probably can't see it very well, but my earrings in this picture are fighter planes!  And the propellers can spin, how cute is that?

I may not have any more posts this week because I'm going to Chandler again this Tuesday through Sunday.  Still planning on going to a Saturday morning weigh-in, and hopefully will get at least two runs in while I'm there.  I will update when I get back!

Workouts for the week of 7/30-8/5

Saturday, 7/30/11 - PALA 1/2 plan, Day 8 - 3.1 miles in 36:35 (11:48 pace)


Carmel 5k for Haiti, which I recapped here.  Official time was 36:35.  I finished 195/286 overall, and 84/154 women.  Nearly half of the ladies in the race finished after me.  Not too shabby for a somewhat 'weighty' gal such as myself.  They still haven't put up race photos yet, so you all will have to wait a bit longer for the unflattering picture post. :P

Sunday, 7/31/11 - PALA 1/2 plan, Day 9 - cross-training - yoga video, 20 min


I always end up having to tell my mom to quit watching me while I do exercise videos.  She ends up snickering and distracting me.  Helpful.

Tuesday, 8/2/11 - PALA 1/2 plan, Day 10 - 2.73 miles in 33:00 (12:05 pace); 4x100m


This was a struggle...ate too much pepperoni pizza the night before and there was some indigestion goin' on.  I used the cul-de-sac I live on to run my strides at the end and had my neighbor who lives on the end of the street yelling 'YOU GO GIRL!'

Thursday, 8/4/11 - PALA 1/2 plan, Day 11 - 2.7 miles in 33:00 (12:13 pace)


Didn't manage to get up early enough to beat the heat, so I did my hill work on the now-fixed treadmill.  My usual intervals of 2.5 min incline, 5 min flat.  I definitely like running outside better...I feel like I have to have a staring contest with the clock on the treadmill when I'm on it.

Friday, 8/5/11 - PALA 1/2 plan, Day 12 - 5.24 miles in 1:07:50 (12:56 pace)


Did the long one as a run-walk, 2:1 intervals.  I should have just stuck with 1:1, since my pace was nearly unaffected from my long run 2 weeks ago when I used that.  It was late in the evening so I didn't have quite as much pep as usual, and I only ate once yesterday.  Not ideal conditions.  Friday night jogging apparently puts me at the risk of a contact high due to the clouds of marijuana smoke I had to run through.  And I got heckled by some charming high school boys.  Adorable.  /sarcasm off.  Definitely will try to stick with early morning jogging from here on out.

Also, why do folks slow down while they're passing me in their vehicles?  It makes me paranoid that someone's going to jump out of the car and snatch me.  This happened a good few times.  I'm jogging on the sidewalk, I'm not impeding the flow of traffic.  Move along!

Cheeseburger Casserole

Check out this recipe from the Curvaceous Cook for Cheeseburgers in Paradise.

I made it for dinner tonight, it was very tasty!  The PointsPlus value is 8-10 (depending on the nutritional info on your specific ingredients) for 1/8 of the casserole.  I used 80% lean/20% fat ground beef because I'm cheap, but of course ground round or sirloin, or even turkey or chicken, would lower your calorie or point count considerably.

I couldn't find the appropriate sized can of soup, so I used a 10 oz can, and then used a full cup of fat free sour cream to make up for the lack of volume in the mixture.  Other than that I followed the recipe.

As is the general rule with casseroles, it doesn't look like much, but with a nice salad on the side it was a very satisfying meal.  Tater tots, hamburger, lots of cheese, and sour cream?  What's not to like?