Zeo's Thoughts and Wanderings

Apparently the only exercise you can do on WiiFit without the balance board is the Run.  So I did the Basic Run twice. 

I r dead.

Batteries are recharging overnight so I can do something, you know, FUN tomorrow night.

So, I had my annual doctor's visit a week or two ago. Found out my cholesterol is out of whack, so, the doctor wants me to lose 7 pounds in the next three months, and stick to a low-fat, low-carb diet. I'm not sure how "low-carb" I'll be doing, given the gluten-intolerance and no whole wheat, but I'm going to go back to the Sugar Solution book and find some good recipes. I know I want to do the quinoa with peppers and beans again, once I'm allowed peppers again.

I also set the seven-pounds-in-three-months as my WiiFit goal. I start that up again tomorrow, now that the Wii's set up again. I'm actually looking forward to getting back to Rhythm Step and Advanced Step, not to mention Rhythm Kung Fu and Rhythm Boxing. Also, the yoga and strength training will help, since I can feel myself stiffening up again.

Okay, now, the printout is just overall loss, not month-to-month, so I've lost in some areas, and gained in others.

I didn't gain back the 8 pounds I lost when I was sick, so total weight is down 10 pounds. Total inches, 6.75. Body fat pounds, down 7.48.

A lot of what I lost when I was sick was water/fluid, so I need to make sure I stay hydrated, but keep the weight down healthily.

I plan today, to make muffins using the gluten-free baking mix, and bars using dollsahoy's recipe, substituting out for the wheat flour. Grab-and-go breakfast stuff.

Recently, Matt and I used a "Buy One Get One Free" recipe to pick up a couple of Six Dollar Burgers from Carl Jr's. He got the Western Bacon Cheeseburger (I think), and I got the Low-Carb: A burger and its toppings wrapped in lettuce instead of a bun. It wasn't too bad, and wasn't even too tricky to handle.

In the Independent Weekly newspaper back in Raleigh, I used to see ads for Jazzercise that proclaimed "Wrestle with the jar lid...and win."

Jar lid? Forget that. I just wrestled with a 5-gallon water jug and won. Yes, I replaced the water jug on the cooler all by my lonesome. Not to mention bringing all four jugs in from the porch by myself. I think Curves is working. :)

My first measuring/weighing day is next week.  I should say the second, because I was weighed/measured when I signed up, but this is the first one since I started.  

I'm not expecting to have lost any pounds, because I do weigh myself at home, and it's been fluctuating +/- 2 pounds all month.  But I'm really hoping to have lost inches.  I feel tighter in places, like my arms, thighs, and butt; people have commented that my belly looks smaller, and I'm noticing it's easier to lift case paper.  I'm still having some heart rate problems, though.  I thought skipping the caffeine would help, but Monday, it was right back up to 30.  (it's a 10-second pulse count, so 30 beats would be three beats a second)

I have an agreement with myself: if I've lost ANYTHING, pounds or inches, I'm allowed to buy the chocolate mint Irish creme I saw at the store.  When I've lost 10 pounds, I get to have a pedicure (a real one).  I haven't really thought much beyond that.  10 pounds is my first goal.  

One week, three workouts done. Still liking it, although I'm kinda glad I don't have to go back until Monday morning.

I've gone at 8 am, 9 am, and 11 am, and all three times, it's been pretty empty, just one or two other women there exercising (and we overlap, so I'm starting as they're finishing, or vice versa) and the Curves employee. I don't know whether they're called trainers or what. Wednesday I managed to finish the two-and-a-half loops, but today I could only do two. I blame 1) my period, and 2) the fact that I spent six hours yesterday helping Ambri organize our storage in the back room. Plus, I'm having trouble keeping my heartrate down in the okay zone. I started off okay today for the first heartrate check, right between the green and blue, but was in the purple zone by the second. Wednesday I kept shooting off the chart into the "too high, burning muscle rather than fat" area. Quick primer: yellow and red are too low, green is target, blue is a little high, purple is risky, and off the chart is bad bad bad. I think, for my age range, I'm supposed to be around 22 for target: 22 beats in 10 seconds. 25 is blue, 28 is purple. I was holding steady at 30 Wednesday.

Another thing to mention: according to sapphirerose924, who joined Curves a few years back but stopped going, their guideline for water intake is one ounce per pound per day. I did some conversions, and figured out that I should be drinking 6.5 liters a day. That's 13 of those half-liter bottles. Over half a case. I think that sort of hit me over the head. I was lucky to get through ONE half-liter bottle a day. I knew I was under-hydrating, but had no idea by how much. I've got my intake up to 2.5 liters a day, mostly. I'll tend to drink half a liter before I leave for work, half a liter on the way to work (it's an hour drive), one liter (two bottles) at work, and half a liter on the way home or at home.

Off to shower. And maybe see if I can find any moisturizer; my face feels really tight today.

Wow! I did it! 10 pounds in 4 weeks!

Now just imagine if I'd actually kept up with my exercise this past month, too... (heh)

Well, I'm on day six of the 30-day eating plan. Most of the recipes were decent (the meatloaf left a little to be desired, but thanks to Matt, I've become a meatloaf snob). The only problem I've had with it recently is that some days, even with the eating every 3 hours...I get hungry every hour and a half. :-P

Oh, and I've spent nearly $200 on groceries this week. I tell myself that a good portion of the things I've bought are "pantry" items, items that aren't just for this week. But then I look over the menus and realize how much I've left off the menu/shopping list (like, all the different flakes and seeds and nuts needed for the multi-grain cereal, and capers, and pine nuts...). Add in that husband and roommate still need "normal" things like bread, lunchmeat, and cheese, and I don't feel too bad about the grocery budget for this past week. And where ARE capers and pine nuts in the grocery stores?? I looked for capers with salad items, with pickles, with italian...I looked for pine nuts with baking nuts, with snack nuts, with international foods...nothing.

I haven't even had a chance to look at what I need for next week. o_O; And I don't know if I'll have anything money-wise for groceries for next week. Chris gave me $25, but that all went into still-needed items for today and tomorrow. Oh, and milk. Those boys burn through milk like nothing I've ever seen before.

And it's been too hot to motivate myself to get across the street to the fitness center. But I put Walk Away the Pounds on the top of my Netflix list, so it should be here soon. We'll see if I like it. If I do, I'll see about getting Chris to copy it for me until I can afford to buy a copy for myself.

I need to do some sewing so I can afford to pick up Half-Blood Prince this weekend or so. One of the downfalls about being a stay-at-home wife: no income of my own to spend as I wish. Unless I do little projects like the sewing, I don't have any "mad money." I just haven't had the energy to sew. Or clean. Or workout. Or do anything other than sit at my computer, watch tv, or nap. I'm wondering if it's because I'm back on my pills. If that's so, I hope this levels out after the first few batches of pills. I'd hate to lose the first week of every pack to hormone-related fatigue.

Plus Chris's parents are coming in this weekend, so it falls to me, the stay-at-home, to clean. I tried using the "but they're not my parents, I don't care what they think" approach in arguing against it, but Matt trumped me with the "but you're home more" approach. (grump, sulk) Besides, isn't there a universal kitchen law that states "The one who cooks is exempt from the cleanup?" I do fracking all the cooking. Matt and Chris should be able to pitch in and do a load of dishes. And I don't mean just tossing what can go in, into the dishwasher, adding a tablet and starting it. I mean the heavy-duty cleanup. The pots and pans that don't go in the dishwasher. Why can't they team up after dinner and wash them? One wash, one dry and put away. I spent an hour or more on dinner, it's the least they could do. Or even just put the fracking leftovers away. (sigh)

But on the plus side, Sci-Fi Friday starts up again tonight. New SG-1, new Atlantis (we're rooting for the Wraith, is that bad?), and new Galactica!!! I'm excited. I'll be watching the first section by myself, most likely, as Matt doesn't get out of work until 8 at the earliest and it takes him half an hour to get home, and as mentioned above, Chris's parents are coming into town. Too bad I don't have an air popper. That'd be the perfect time to have the 3 cups air-popped popcorn allowed as a snack. I'll make do with the apples an yogurt. Mmmm.

Okay, I'm back on the diet and exercise wagon. Yesterday and today, I went to the gym, walked on the treadmill for 40 minutes. Goes fast when there's a show I enjoy on. Yesterday it was Seven Days, today DS9. Also, the nausea and fatigue seems to be easing, but I'm starting to feel the diuretic effects of this new pill. Dry mouth. I drank all 8 glasses of water by 2 pm, then switched over to green tea, as it's supposed to help with belly fat. Heh, I'm making Matt drink it, too. He gets more honey in his, though, since he's not (as far as I know) IR.

Today, though, after getting off the treadmill, I felt lightheaded and a little queasy. I sat on one of the weight machines for a while, sipped some water (I'd taken a break after 20 minutes or so and had some, too), and waited for the world to stop spinning. Felt okay enough to walk, so walked back to the apartment, thinking, okay, I just need to get some lunch (I'd had a bowl of cereal w/milk around 10, and this was about 12:30 or so). Got upstairs, into the apartment, and my hands were shaking. Without thinking I grabbed an apple and chowed down at the sink. It was almost gone before I realized that it wasn't a particularly good apple, sort of dry and mealy. I felt steady enough to get the leftovers out of the fridge, plate them, and put them in the microwave. Ate a leftover cranberry muffin while it heated up.

And I just spilled water all over myself while checking the level in the bottle.... Guess that's nature's way of saying, "Go take a shower!!"

Well, it's the start of week four of my diet and exercise regime. I'm down about 15 or 20 lbs. I had a sabotaged week when I went back into the workforce and quit. Last weekend was shot when hubby was home and we celebrated anniversary. I was actually doing okay until 2 things: 1) hubby bought a ginormous bag of Reeses Pieces, and 2) I let him serve my lunch Sunday, and he put half my day's allotment of food into that one meal.

But, I'm back on track today. I did my weights, and I may be going walking later (if the sky stays clear). I need to wash off my water bottle, take my vitamins, and eat lunch. I still need to get back into the habit of eating breakfast when I get up, instead of getting absorbed into my computer and the tv.

I also need to pick up the apartment today. My friend comes out for a visit this weekend, and even though we roomed together for four years in college, and she knows I'm a slob, I'd still like the place to look nice. That and she's meeting my husband for the first time. I think she's still worried that I hooked up with someone wrong for me, like all my old boyfriends. I'm hoping that when she sees Matt, sees us together, she'll realize I made the exact right choice.