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.  :)

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!

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!

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!