Off to the Gym I Go

I was inspired to return to the gym when I saw at the end of the day that I'd eaten too few calories, not nearly enough protein, too many carbs, and hardly any fats. I thought, what do I have in the house that I can eat to make up this deficit? I ate a salmon patty with feta cheese and broccoli, and even added olive oil but was still low in the same areas. I thought about making an eggbeater's omelette but it was getting late and I didn't want to go to bed after eating. At first I thought I should work out and then eat- like somehow that would make up for eating so late! Then I though, why not? I've been looking for some motivation to get back to the gym, so I went to the gym and bought a protein shake, which I drank before the workout. Maybe I should have drank it afterwards, but I don't know these things and am not sure I really care. In the end, I got my protein and calories in, plus a 45-minute workout at a 19 minutes per mile pace, with some variation of the incline from 0% to 5%. I noticed that despite my weeks off, I haven't lost a step in my workout abilities, and I now recover more quickly during the cooldown, achieving a slower heart rate more quickly than I used to. I'll sleep well tonight!

Calories 1,397 Carbs 154 Fat 21 Protein 101

Found a Nutritionist

A few people at my job love a particular nutritionist and have been seeing her for awhile. I've been watching my pennies since I first learned of her and have rearranged my budget so that I will have enough money to see her this month- I'm very excited about this. This woman is well versed on vegetarian foods and just wrote a book about vegetarianism. One of my coworkers who started seeing her this year looks awesome- he has lost weight and looks generally healthier- he's a walking billboard for healthy eating. He speaks enthusiastically about how his life has changed since learning about eating properly. Well, he's singing to the choir. I know from my experiences with my raw diet last year how wonderful the right diet plan can be. I plan to ask her about vegetarian, vegan and raw diets, and especially about weight loss.

I like the idea of seeing a nutritionist (who asks you a bunch of questions and creates a personalized plan) much more than seeing the personal trainer with a sports nutrition education who gave me a generic plan meant for athletes. Nothing against her personally (she's very nice) but I'm not in training to become an athlete. I'm just an ordinary Jane who wants to be fit enough to live a healthy life doing things like racquetball, biking, dancing, riding in an airplane comfortably, wearing clothes I actually like, riding roller coasters, etc. I also want to have energy and stamina because not only can my job be intense, my doctoral studies require hours upon hours of research. I don't like drinking coffee or energy drinks in an attempt to keep myself awake (doesn't work anyway).

Because my Sunday weigh-in still shows no weight loss I made a concerted effort to eat less today. I ended up getting only about 1200 calories. I took some nonfat cottage cheese and melon chunks to work for a "late" breakfast, and a couple of hours later had a Cedarlane lowfat burrito for the fiber. For lunch I had Campbell's ham and bean soup - the whole, big can! For dinner I had some broiled cod, a small sweet potato (baked) and broccoli. Today wasn't a workout day, which is good because I'm still nursing my calves from the stint on the elliptical trainer.

I'm feeling good about the healthy foods I've been eating, and the way I've stuck to my 45-minute workouts, which are increasing in intensity every week. I'm amazed that so quickly, 2.5 mph on the treadmill became too slow! I'm also happy about saving for the nutritionist; I'm hoping this will be a major turning point for me in putting me on the path back to raw (and jump-starting my weight loss).

One thing I learned through my Raw Odyssey last year was that the journey to health can be just as fun as reaching the final weight and fitness goal numbers. I tend to envision the future and want to be there already, so I get frustrated. But if I keep in mind how well I've been doing overall - while not aiming for perfection- I can really enjoy the odyssey and have much to be proud of along the way.

I'm Obsessed with Pizza Hut

I don't know what it is. For the past few days I've been thinking about getting a deep dish double cheese pizza from Pizza Hut! Or, I could do KFC. I could really go for a salty fried chicken breast about now!! But I shall take my little cravings one hour at a time. I went to the gym this afternoon rather than drive out to the fast food restaurants. I did 2.38 miles in 45 minutes on the treadmill - that's about a 19 minute mile- a nice improvement from where I started. I didn't look at the clock until I'd completed 38 minutes; that means I had really good music today. When I'm bored, it's all I can do to keep from looking at the minutes ticking by. My calves and ankles hurt a bit because I was on the elliptical trainer yesterday, but they didn't hurt enough to make me slow down.

I found a very interesting website that helps you calculate your calories burned based on personal info you input, such as your height, weight, gender, age and resting pulse rate. I used the site to enter a hypothetical 5- mile urban walk done at a slow pace (2 1/2 hours to complete it). It said I would burn over 700 calories! I can't wait until Fall when the temperature drops because I live 5 miles from my job right now and it would be nice to start walking to work like I used to in the Midwest. Here in the southwest it's way too hot. I'd be walking home in 110 degrees! Although I like the site, I was annoyed during the actual mapping of my route- it was a pain to create the path, but then again I'm one of those people who won't read directions. It wasn't difficult to create the map, just a nuisance until I got the hang of picking up/dropping the little nodes. Once you are done with your route you can save it and make it public or private. You can give it a try yourself at http://www.mapmyrun.com. A fun feature is the export of your route to Google Earth.

45 Minutes on the Elliptical Trainer

I am TIRED- but again, it's a good tired. I didn't think I could last that long on the E.T. but somehow, one song at a time, I made it to 45 minutes. I know I burned a decent amount of calories because I was sweating at 30 minutes the way I usually am when on the treadmill. I did 3.82 miles total and burned about 650 calories, according to Sparkpeople. I take the calorie-burning totals with a grain of salt, but as long as I burned more calories than through walking, I'm happy. Besides, after eating so much yesterday, burning off extra calories is a very good thing.

Today I had fat free cottage cheese and fruit about an hour before my workout. Cottage cheese is a good source of protein. For my late lunch I am having 2 turkey burgers with an oz of feta cheese for the fat, 2 slices of Ezekiel bread, and a cup of cauliflower. By the way, I am multitasking. I'm utilizing the 107 degree heat to give myself a southwestern hot oil treatment! I put olive oil in my hair after my shower, wrapped it in Saran wrap, put a hat on, and now I'm lounging on the balcony eating my healthy lunch, drinking iced tea, and typing out the blog. This is the life! The fan I have blowing on me is making the dry heat bearable.

I should add that my hair is looking halfway decent. I had gotten it straightened in May to assess how well it has grown out since my all-raw/low protein diet caused my hair to thin noticeably last year (I repeat the hair history for new readers). It's still not thick like it used to be, but with the new growth since May, my scalp is not so easy to see and I feel much better about my appearance. As I morph my diet into a vegetarian one, my complexion will start to look better again, too.

Made it to the Gym!

I had to fight with myself again to work out, but I convinced myself to do a 6:15 a.m. workout. This time I used the gym at my complex. I prayed and prayed that no one would be on the treadmill but someone was, so I decided to torture myself with the elliptical trainer rather than return home. The elliptical trainer burns more calories, which is a good thing, but not all of them have the right "feel." This was one of those trainers that just doesn't fit my body very well. Luckily the person on the treadmill left after about 10 minutes so I finished my workout by doing a walk at 3 to 3.2 mph, which was surprisingly easy. My leap in ability reminded me of my previous experience with regular workouts: after skipping two or three days I would hit a new level of fitness- be able to go longer or faster or at a higher incline. Today I found myself running for a tiny bit at 4 mph! (I remember that when I was in shape I used to WALK at 4 mph for 45 minutes. It's hard to imagine now, but I'm sure I'll be doing it again).

When I returned home from my workout I had oatmeal and yogurt with some thawed blackberries. For lunch I went to a Chinese restaurant with a co-worker and chose the mixed vegetables and white rice. Very tasty, and healthier than what I really wanted: cashew chicken or General Tso's chicken! I was proud for making the better choice, though. At the end of the day I was short on fiber (19 grams) so I ate two pieces of Ezekiel bread to add 6 grams. That's still low, but it puts me in the recommended range.

In response to the question of whether I lift weights (see comments below), I have thought of it but don't really want to do it until a trainer has gone over the correct use of the machines at the gym. But I do have access to dumbbells and could use those- I just haven't put a plan together yet. My goal is to do weights three days a week, two of them on days I don't do cardio.

I weighed myself and it appears I may be down a pound or two. Nothing "counts" until Sunday, but it was nice to see. But I'll probably gain it all back by Saturday, the way things have been going!!

Sushi and Racquetball

I think two of my favorite healthy things in life are sushi and racquetball. Playing with Cindy this weekend reminded me of how much I love the sport, so I'm actually gearing up to go to bed early so that I can get court time early in the morning before work. I would never be so motivated to get up early just to use the treadmill. I know I am asking for trouble by working out so hard before work, but it'll be worth it. The only thing I hate about racquetball is the glass wall where people can stand and stare. I try to use the gawkers as motivators to force me to play better. If I don't think of them that way, I get self conscious and start to think I don't deserve time on the court because I'm not a good player. That's no way to think, though. After all, no one starts out playing great; we all have to start somewhere.

Today I ate pretty decently. I had an Egg Beater omelette with salsa, an ounce of feta and some avocado slices. For lunch I was at a work event where they served a fattening buffet, but I chose a salad, about 2 oz of grilled chicken, and fruit salad. I did eat one bite of a fudge brownie though. Boy was it delicious, and a bite was enough. Since my lunch was pretty small, I ate the bean soup I'd brought. For dinner I had 4 oz. of broiled salmon, a baked sweet potato, and some more avocado. I am actually within all the calorie, carb, protein and fat recommendations for SparkPeople, miracle of miracles.

Oh, the Pain....

I am really suffering from Saturday's racquetball session with my friend Cindy. My serving arm is killing me, my neck hurts, my legs hurt... but it's a good hurt! The hurt of doing well in the gym. After eating indulgently on Friday and Saturday, I am back to health today. Cindy made the healthy breakfast pictured here: a spinach and mushroom omelet with a little cheddar cheese on top (in honor of my love of cheese!), some tomato slices and strawberries.

Rather than driving straight to the house when I left Cindy's this morning I stopped at the gym and put my time in on the treadmill. As usual I didn't put much thought into my warm-up, but I noticed that it took longer for the front of my ankles to start hurting, and they didn't hurt as intensely or for as long as they have in the past. I started the workout at about 2.7 mph and quickly went up to 3.0. It seems my heart rate has improved so that working out at 3.0 is well within the 117 to 144 heart rate range I'm supposed to stay at for "fat burning." I did push it to 3.1 and 3.2 mph a couple of times because I am trying to work myself up to 3.5 mph.

Cindy is trying to get me out of my self-consciousness about my appearance, so she's been giving me her clothes as she loses weight. So far she's given me a swimsuit, a pair of swim trunks and a sleeveless gym shirt. I avoided the pool this weekend but I did wear the sleeveless shirt. I hated the look but she said I looked fine. I guess that's what friends are for, huh?

As I sit here I am really sore in my upper right arm and my neck, but yesterday's racquetball session was totally worth it. I am always up for a game of racquetball. I could be in a full leg cast and I would be happy to lean against the wall in the court and hit a few balls! Between racquetball and the treadmill I should be getting fit and losing weight pretty steadily. I hope to get back to my former racquetball form so that my friend won't kick my butt so badly again!

Cindy sent me home not only with clothes but with food- she's such a caretaker. So I've got frozen turkey burgers (I totally threw out the vegetarian thing this weekend!), some swordfish, haddock and cod to try this week. She's been very helpful to me despite the fact that we are competing for who loses the most weight this month. :-) I weighed myself at her place after breakfast and found I was up several pounds. I'll have to weigh tomorrow morning for a more accurate picture, but I do expect to have gained. I'm not upset! I had too much fun and too good a workout today to worry about a few pounds this week.

Ow

Today I met with my trainer for our nutrition counseling. Now I'm seriously having doubts about this! She wants to train me as if I were an athlete. She wants me to eat 2,400 calories a day. You read that right- 2,400 calories! I don't know how I'm going to do that without cheese, nuts and other high fat foods. She wants me to eat 6 times a day, too. A protein bar and two protein shakes a day make up part of the daily plan. I don't want to get so much protein from those types of "foods" but I figure I'll try what I can for the next week or two and then see how flexible she can be if I decide I really cannot do this. I already know I won't be doing the protein bars; maybe 1 shake a day, though (the powder in my smoothie).

The exercise is less of a problem. I'm in pain (neck, shoulders, back, and the front of each ankle) but I can deal with that. I always push myself when it comes to physical training, anyway. Today I did 3 mph on a 2% incline for part of the workout, and then varied the speed and incline throughout the rest of the time. 40 minutes came and went just like that! I completed 2 miles this time. I'm probably overdoing it; based on the soreness I wonder if I should be working out every other day rather than daily, but I'm willing to see if I can keep up this pace.

I bought the groceries on the list of foods she gave me- $96. I feel very far away from my raw plan at this point, but I know I have to work my way back to it. I have yogurt, cottage cheese, egg beaters, salmon, oatmeal, and a host of fruits. I also bought my soups and two Amy's burritos. I don't have enough vegetables, however. More shopping! I only ate about 22 points today but considering she wants me to eat 2400 calories a day, the points will go up this week as I strive to increase the calories.

That's it for today. I can't wait to lie down, I'm so achy and tired.

Neither Lack of Cheese nor Blisters Will Stop Me!

I hope my personal trainer doesn't see this but I bought feta cheese yesterday. I decided I "can't live without it" right now. I like to make taboule and add feta to it. I also went against her advice and used the protein powder in my smoothie this morning. Why am I being defiant? Well, I eat probably between 1200 and 1700 calories a day including those items. When I cut out the cheese, nuts and protein powder it takes out over 500 calories. That, along with the exercise (I burned over 300 yesterday) will give me a huge calorie deficit. I recognize that I'm just being stubborn about eating the foods I like. I did make one concession though- I bought the brown rice she recommended. I am going to prepare it as if it were taboule and add feta to it!

Yesterday's workout was not especially fun. At the gym I discovered that the little rubber earbud thingies were missing from my earphones- that was enough to make me consider cancelling my workout right then- no music, no workout! But I decided to use the earphones anyway. The sound quality was horrid and make my workout much less pleasant. Plus, my sneakers, which a friend gave me, really are too narrow and were severely hurting my toes. Not wanting to be a wuss or use any more excuses to not work out, I pressed on. After the workout I sat in the nearest chair and took my shoes off. Blisters on both little toes! Today, the blister on one toe is almost as big as the toe itself! I have new earphones, but I won't work out at all today unless I can get some sports sandals that will leave my toes in the open.

So far I'm feeling good about the food. Since I'm considering my diet to be "high raw," eating out is not anxiety-provoking. I just get the salad that looks the tastiest and closest to raw, and make minor adjustments. Last week I ate at a restaurant with a coworker and had the candied walnuts removed from my salad and replaced with sliced avocado. Today I'm having another working lunch and am not anticipating major problems. Later, I have a meeting with my PT to discuss nutrition and I think it's important to tell her honestly what I'm willing and not willing to do. I want to keep the cheese, period. I can live without the nuts. And I think I would prefer to count WW points or some kind of food values rather than doing the visual portion control thing (that doesn't work with food addicts anyway- some days my fist will be a lot bigger than other days!!)

Things are going well so far.