April 2008Monthly Archives

One Perfect Day

Kathy has thrown down the gauntlet and challenged those of us in the weight-loss blogging world to make today a “Perfect Day” on our food plans. I LOVE this concept and immediately tossed my hat into the ring. Today is actually day 50 of my 50 Day No Cheat Challenge, and I can’t think of a better way to end it than with a bunch of other weight loss bloggers all striving for a perfect day, too.

As my regular readers already know, I’m using the Flex Plan from Weight Watchers for my eating plan. For me, it’s easy and doesn’t require a lot of thought. The most important part though, it works for me. I know that no one program is the right plan for everybody, but I’ve definitely had more success with WW than any of the other myriad of diet plans I’ve tried over the years. So, if it ain’t broke, don’t fit it.

In light of the Perfect Day challenge, here the “rules” of the Flex Plan.

Stay within your points budget (daily points target, any earned Activity Points, plus a weekly points allowance of 35 points).
Track what you eat and its points value.
Follow the Good Health Guidelines:
- At least 5 servings of vegetables and fruits
- Whole-grain foods whenever possible
- 2-3 servings of dairy products
- 2 tsp. healthy oil (canola, olive, safflower, etc.)
- 1-2 servings of protein
- Limit added sugar and alcohol
- Drink at least 6 glasses of water
- Take a multiple vitamin-mineral supplement

Based on those requirements, here is my plan of action for the day:

Reach my daily points target of 30.
If I’m still hungry, use earned activity points or weekly points allowance as needed.
I will journal my food for the day here on my blog.
I will drink a minimum of 48 ounces of water.
I will incorporate all of the Healthy Guidelines.

One Perfect Day Diary:

Breakfast:
Fat-free yogurt – 2
Coffee with 1 tbsp half-and-half – 0.5

Snack:
Banana – 2

Lunch:
Salad – 0
1 tsp. salad dressing – 0.5
Carba-Nada pasta with tomato sauce & mushrooms – 4
Gardenburger Mama Mia meatless meatballs – 2

Snack:
String cheese – 2
Z-bar – 2

Dinner:
Black Bean & Chipotle veggie burgers – 2
Salad – 0
Olive oil (2 tsp.) & balsamic vinegar dressing – 2
WW Giant Latte ice cream bar – 1

Snack:
2 cups skim milk – 3.5
Baker’s Double Chocolate Chunk cookie – 6

Total Points: 29.5
Exercise: 27 mins stationary bike – 5 miles (2 AP)
Weekly Points balance: 31.5
Water: 80 oz
Consecutive Days OP: 50

Also, as in my usual way, I will close with my WW stats from yesterday:

Total Points: 29
Exercise: 2 miles wogging – 3 APs
Weekly Points balance: 35
Water: 64 oz
Consecutive Days OP: 49

Until next time …

21 April 2008

Challenges, Weight Loss/Fitness

3 comments

Sunday Wog

I got out this morning for a nice wog. It’s AMAZING how much cooler it was today compared to last Sunday when I had the 5k race. Today it was overcast and in the low-60′s. It was perfect weather for wogging.

I FINALLY figured out how to get my Nike+ to work, so I used it for the first time today. The mileage was ever so slightly off. I have a loop around my apartment complex that is 0.26 of a mile and the Nike+ measured it at 0.27. I’m hoping to get it more accurately calibrated sometime this week. Anyway, here is the text version of my data from my wog today, excluding my warm-up and cool-down time/distance. If you want to see the graphical version, you can see it here on the Nike+ website.

Time of Day: 11:20am
Temperature: 62°F
Distance: 2.02 miles
Run Time: 32:24
Avg Pace: 16:02
Calories Burned: 395

I was pretty pleased with how my running segments went today, too. The segments in the first mile were pretty much my normal jogging type pace which, honestly, isn’t a whole lot faster than my walk pace it seems. Today however, I decided I really wanted to finish strong, so I pushed myself in the run segments during the last half mile. I had 3 running segments during that time and each were a sub 11 minute mile pace, with the fastest being a 10:23 pace. OK, so I realize it was only for 1 minute, but it felt really good to be running at a decent pace even if it didn’t last too long. Today’s excursion really gave me the confidence boost I needed to believe I’ll be able to meet my goal of actually running the whole portion of the tri later this year.

My 50-day no cheat challenge is also drawing to an end. Today is day 49 for me. I still haven’t decided if I’m going to give myself the day off on Tuesday or if I’ll just keep staying on my eating plan and continuing my streak. I have found myself craving fatty carbs — think french fries — the past couple of days, so I may splurge and have some on Tuesday. Even if I do, I could still theoretically fit those into my points budget and continue my streak. We’ll just have to see what Tuesday holds when it gets here and see how I’m feeling then.

Here are my WW stats for yesterday:

Total Points: 33.5 (used 3.5 WP)
Exercise: None
Weekly Points balance: 1.5
Water: 48 oz
Days OP: 48

In closing today, I’ll leave you with a quote I read earlier today that really struck a chord with me. My life has been a series of overcoming “circumstances” which is probably why this really hit home with me. Enjoy!

“People are always blaming their circumstances for what they are. I don’t believe in circumstances. The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want, and, if they can’t find them, make them.”

–George Bernard Shaw

Until next time …

20 April 2008

Challenges

2 comments

Weekly Weigh In

Well, not much to say about it this week. Even with staying 100% on program, I maintained this week. I get that’s payback for that 2.2 pound loss last week when I was taking the Prednisone.

It’s been a pretty quiet day for me thus far. I’ve been trying to do a big of spring cleaning. I have just become completely disgusted with the amount of clutter I have in my home. My goal for this spring is to do some major decluttering of my life. I have tons of old books, clothes, shoes, etc. that I just need to get rid of since I’ll never use them again. I’ve been putting together piles of things worth donating/giving away and those things that will just need to be trashed.

Part of this purging is going to be a major portion of my stitching/stamping stash. I simply have too much stuff for the amount of space I have. After going so many years when I was married of not having the money for stash, I seem to have gone overboard in the past 4+ years. I have lots of things that while I really like them, I know I’ll likely never stitch. Given that fact, there’s little need in me keeping it. So, as I sort through my stash, I’ll be creating a page with things up for sale. I hope to get that list started in the next week or two, so be sure and check back.

Here are my WW stats for yesterday:

Total Points: 28.5
Exercise: 26 mins stationary bike – 5 miles (2 AP)
Weekly Points balance: 35
Water: 64 oz
Days OP: 47

Until next time …

19 April 2008

Weight Loss/Fitness

1 comment

The Ed Words

For those who don’t watch The Colbert Report, you missed a really funny bit last night by John Edwards. (Yes, I’m still terribly sad that he got out of the race. ) Don’t you worry your pretty little heads off though because in today’s wonderful world of technology, it’s available on the internets. I now bring to you the … The Ed Words.

(Note: I removed the embedded source for the video because it was causing my blog to take a really long time to load. You can still see the same thing by clicking the Ed Words link above.)

Here are my WW stats for yesterday:

Total Points: 26.5
Exercise: Rest day
Weekly Points balance: 35
Water: 80 oz
Days OP: 46

Until next time …

18 April 2008

Misc.

0 comments

Ta-Da! & Lots of Other Stuff

Ok, so I’m a few days late posting this, but I had a needlepoint happy dance earlier this week. I finished this piece on Monday and really like how it turned out. I’m planning to put it into the lid of a wooden box. This means I’ve now completed 4 out of 10 projects for my WIP Killer Challenge.

The piece is called Dazzle and is by local designer Margaret Bendig. She is in the process of having a website created, so once it goes live, I’ll post a link.

I’ve also been spending some time on my lunch hours this week on my latest diversion. It’s a crossword puzzle I received from Nick. It’s literally titled the “World’s Largest Crossword Puzzle” and contains over 28,000 clues. Thankfully it isn’t in one huge piece. It’s made up of 6 different panels each measuring 2.33 feet by 3.5 feet. I taped the first panel up onto the wall behind my cubicle. It’s become pretty popular with a couple of my office mates as well, so it should be fun to see how long it actually takes us all to finish it.

Warning: What follows in the next section is a bit of a plus size clothing rant. If you aren’t interested in hearing my rant, skip this part.

[rant on]

Why is it that plus size clothing, most especially activewear for exercising, is so fucking expensive?! Yes, I realize that there are more costs in making larger sizes as it requires more fabric, but come on?! It surely can’t cost double, yet that’s what I find myself paying. It just ain’t right, I say!

For example, I have been wanting to get a running skirt. I happened to get a catalog from Champion which listed their Women’s 14″ Performance Skort at $25. Of course, it’s only offered up to a size 16. I need a size 22/24. So, instead I ordered a QuikWik® Power Play Skirt from Junonia which set me back $50. I ordered the skirt, a pair of QuikWik® running capris, and 2 QuikWik® t-shirts. With shipping, it came to nearly $200 for 4 freakin’ items.

It just seems SOOOOO wrong to spend that much money on workout gear, but there just aren’t many options for those of us over a size 16/18 when it comes to activewear. I guess that should just help inspire me all the more to get rid of the extra pounds, but it just frustrates me more than anything else! But, since I need the proper type of wicking clothing for training, I pony up the money they ask. (sigh)

[rant off]

I realized today that I’ve been very remiss in updating my status on my 50 day no cheat challenge with my eating plan. Yes, I’m still on track and going strong. Today is day 46 for me. I can’t believe it’s been nearly a week since I posted my stats! So, in closing, here they are for the past 5 days:

Saturday:

Total Points: 29.5
Exercise: None – rest day prior to tomorrow’s 5k
Weekly Points balance: 35
Water: 64 oz
Days OP: 41

Sunday:

Total Points: 36 (used 5 APs and 1 WP)
Exercise: 5k race (54:24) – 5 APs
Weekly Points balance: 34
Water: 64 oz
Days OP: 42

Monday:

Total Points: 26
Exercise: Post-race rest day
Weekly Points balance: 35
Water: 64 oz
Days OP: 43

Tuesday:

Total Points: 32 (used 2 AP’s)
Exercise: 27 mins stationary bike (2 AP) & 18 mins brisk walking (2 AP)
Weekly Points balance: 35
Water: 80 oz
Days OP: 44

Wednesday:

Total Points: 29.5
Exercise: 27 mins stationary bike (2 AP)
Weekly Points balance: 35
Water: 48 oz
Days OP: 45

Until next time …

17 April 2008

Challenges, Misc., Needlepoint, Weight Loss/Fitness

6 comments

Belated Coaster Run Race Report

Well, despite the crazy heat (for April), Darla and I made our way on Sunday morning over to the Coaster Run 5k benefiting the Speech and Language Development Center in Buena Park. They offer services for children and young adults with language/learning/developmental disorders, so it was a great cause.

I was up at around 5:30am and got ready pretty quickly since I had laid out all of my clothes and gear before I went to bed on Saturday night. I made a bowl of cream of wheat and then putzed around my apartment for a bit until it was time to head over to the event.

After I got parked, I made my way over to the starting line area and began looking around for Darla. I walked around for about 10 minutes, but never managed to find her. It was time for me to start warming up, so I made my way over beyond the starting chute and began to walk/jog about for about 10 minutes or so. In retrospect, I probably should have delayed my warm-up a bit because the elite racers were taking off before us and I actually had a bit more time than I was thinking.

After the elite racers took off, the rest of us in the 5k race started piling into the start chute awaiting our gun time. Since this was a fairly small race, they weren’t using chip timing. As a result, people were definitely trying to crowd as close as possible to the starting line. I opted to hang back a bit and stay out of the way of the faster runner. I figured I could just relay on my watch instead of getting caught up in the fray.

I knew going into this event that it was going to be hot. The forecasted high had been bouncing around all week to be somewhere between 90-95°F. By the time we got started at 7:45am, it was already in the upper 70′s to low 80′s. By the time I finished, it was 85°F with a heat index of nearly 90°F.

The worst part was on the eastbound portion of each lap. Since it was still early in the morning, the sun was still low in the sky, so there wasn’t much relief from my hat. It was pretty much just shining right into my eyes. Thank goodness for Transitions lenses in my glasses!

There was one water station on the westbound portion of the 5k course that was about 2/3rds way around on the lap. So, we were able to get water at about 1.2 miles and again at around 2.7 miles. I did take some water both times I passed the station. I drank all of it the first time, but then felt a bit queasy afterwards. I only took a couple of good sips the 2nd time around and I was fine with that.

I did a wog combo of 4 mins walking followed by 1 min slow jog for the first 1.5 miles. After that I decided to just stick with walking since it was so hot. Even by the 1.5 mile mark, I was already starting to wheeze pretty badly from where I’d been sick recently coupled with breathing in the very dry hot air. I was really hoping to stick with my wog combo for the whole distance, but decided better safe than sorry given the conditions.

I did have one particular nemesis on the course. There was actually a woman out walking the course wearing a pair of totally flat Keds-type sneakers with ZERO support. She was wearing a denim skirt and carrying a big ass purse over her shoulder. Yes, she finished 25 seconds ahead of me. I have to keep reminding myself that I had a lot of extra weight that I was carrying around that she did not have. It’s difficult for me, but I need to stop comparing myself to people who are not my peers on the course. As Terri said to me today, “she finished ONLY 25 seconds ahead of you.” I guess it’s all about perspective.

Overall, I was fairly pleased with how I did. I finished in 54:30 which was 3:15 faster than my last 5k back in February. The only thing I think that would have made a difference is the heat. Since I don’t really have any control over that, I guess I wouldn’t really have done anything differently.

Here are my official results for the race: