Hunger Pangs

Today at the gym, I did my regular cardio: 20 minutes on the Arctrainer (264 calories) and 30 minutes on the inclined treadmill (310 calories). I attempted a few minutes on the stairclimber but holy crap did that suck. So I'm not even counting it.

I did not hit the drive-thru for breakfast this morning, but I did scarf down my breakfast sammich and banana pretty quickly, and dove into my lunch for my granola bar only about an hour later. I'm still hungry, despite having just eaten lunch (small piece of leftover chicken, orange, and small yogurt), and I'm seriously considering eating the granola bar I found in my desk drawer.

But, dammit, I did not stop at the drive-thru for breakfast. And that is a huge accomplishment.

New Gym!

To celebrate five months since screwing up my ankle (and two days out of the last brace), I bought new sneakers and joined a new gym: Gold's Gym this time around. While I really did like Sport & Health, this place is just over half the monthly fee. Sure, it doesn't have the pool I never used or the free shampoo/conditioner/body wash/lotion I will honestly miss, but it's got a lot of high-quality equipment. There is also a distinct lack of small children in the locker room, which is most likely related to the lack of a pool. Fine by me!

Anyway, I signed up yesterday and tried it out today. Not really in the mood to mess with the weight machines, I went into the Cardio Cinema, which is a darkened room with loads of cardio machines in front of a huge screen playing a movie. So I went in and got on the elliptical and watched a random half hour of Thor. I'm totally out of shape after these five months of idleness and pain, and I worked for every one of those minutes. Anyway, here's the stats:

elliptical machine
35 minutes
2.98 miles
431 calories

Sometimes I almost wish there was a way to measure the amount I sweat. I guess the technical term is "lots".

Oh yeah, I was recording victories! Today's victory: I did not stop by Burger King on my way to work this morning. I'd been doing it far more than I'd like to admit lately, but I've decided to turn over a new leaf. At least for now. :)

Hungry McGrumplesaur Awakes

I am so starving. I could barely wait until 11am to eat lunch. I would switch my afternoon snack to morning except that I need to eat something right before going to the gym after work. So I just suffer. Hmmph.

Of course, I'm probably a special case, because I'm one of those people who can eat pretty much nonstop between breakfast and lunch, but then am almost never tempted to snack in the afternoon or evening, both of which are written into this program.

This past weekend was somewhat momentous, so I thought I'd share.

Saturday

• My husband and I went out to eat for the first time since starting Nutrisystem. We had Mexican food (Guadalajara in Charlottesville, VA), where we both ordered the chicken fajitas. They came with Spanish rice and refried beans, and of course there were chips and salsa on the table. I ate zero chips (!!) and only ate half my meal (and only one of the two tortillas). I did have all of my refried beans, because those are a special favorite of mine, but while I felt fuller than I have since starting Nutrisystem, I ate considerably less than usual and was not hungry.
  
• That evening was tough, though, because it was a party where people brought goodies. I purposely brought a veggie tray with no dip, so I had something to mindlessly munch on while chatting with people. I tried a little of most of the dishes, eating more than I should've, but far less than I normally would've. I also skipped all the crackers and chips (a special victory because Doritos and Tostitos are my favorites!).
  
• Near the end of the evening I was going to try a death bar (this amazing-looking/smelling dessert bar that appeared to be made from chocolate chip cookies, peanuts, and joy). My husband said I shouldn't, and I resentfully threw it in the trash. I was not happy, but at least I didn't succumb out of spite. :)

Sunday

• I had to spend most of the day out on the town. I packed one of my ready-to-eat Nutrisystem lunches (a chocolate peanut butter bar) and figured since one of my errands was right near a Whole Foods, I'd try out their salad bar. Despite being sorely tempted by loads of delicious-looking dishes, I stuck to the veggies and a light balsamic dressing. And I was full enough after that I didn't bust out the bar until about an hour later (though I was definitely hungry by that point).
  
• Later that afternoon, after tromping around DC for 3 nonstop hours, we stopped at a Starbucks to hit the bathroom. They had the most amazing-looking apple fritters, and I was hungry. But I didn't have one.

Today

• I was exhausted when I woke up this morning and was tempted to run through the McDonald's drive-thru just to get a large soda, but knew I'd be too tempted by my beloved sausage burritos, so I skipped it.
  
• In the office kitchen were all kinds of goodies: cucumber sandwiches, chocolate cake, scones, chocolate-pumpkin Bundt cake, and chocolate covered strawberries. I sat and stared at them on multiple occasions but managed not to actually put anything into my mouth.

Tonight I start the First Day to 5k program (again). Here's hoping my knees cooperate.

Hump Day Happies

Weight change this week: -1
Weight change so far in 2011: -8

I attended the goodbye luncheon for my former supervisor today. It was at T.G.I. Friday's. I thought long and hard about what to eat, and ended up with a half sandwich/half wedge salad, with water to drink. It was really tasty, and at the end of it I felt like I could have eaten more, but didn't need to. So that felt good. You can't imagine how hard it is for me to resist french fries!

I wasn't really in the mood to go to the gym tonight. I didn't feel like lifting weights and most of the cardio was off-limits while I recover from yesterday's fall on the ice. So I went up to the indoor track, loaded up one of the Podrunner mixes, and told myself that I didn't have to do anything in particular, but I wasn't allowed to leave that track for the entirety of the hour-long mix.

And you know what? I mostly walked, but I ran quite a bit too. I took it easy, careful to put most of the impact on my toes, not worrying about speed. And I kept moving for that entire hour.

And most importantly, my knee didn't hurt at all. Score! :D

Victories 2/1/11

When I left my house this morning, I immediately slipped on the completely invisible ice and landed hard on my tailbone. It hurt. Kind of a lot. But though I was tempted to treat myself to something yummy to help me feel better, I resisted, and went straight to work.

However, because of my injury, I decided to take the day off from the gym. I'll go tomorrow - but I'll have to be gentle.

Victories and Gym Recap 1/31/11

I really need to get back on the bandwagon with this. It makes me feel good and it really helps keep me on track.

• Last night I dreamed it was Friday, and it was so convincing that when I woke up I almost skipped breakfast because it was doughnut day (my office provides free doughnuts and bagels every Friday). When I realized it was Monday, I was so disheartened, and considered just going to McDonald's. But I stayed home and made my own breakfast instead.
  
• Thought about McDonald's again on the way to work and very nearly stopped, but managed not to.
  
• Felt starving around 9:30am (I have "bottomless pit" days every now and again, where I feel hungry pretty much all day long). Once again considered McDonald's (dude, I really love their sausage burritos), but once again managed to resist. It helped that my coworker gave me one of her diet shakes, which means I consumed only 230 calories instead of two or three times that.
  
• Felt hungry all freaking day. Ate oatmeal before going to the gym, then ate a normal-sized dinner. Still hungry, but it's almost bedtime so I'm resisting.
  
• SO many things to get done tonight, but I refused to use that as an excuse to skip the gym. Yay!

But, because I am so swamped, I went "easy" on the gym today: 30 minutes on the recumbent stationary bike, 10.8 miles, level 7. I don't remember the "calories burned" count, but it was something like 182.

Victories 1/13/11

• My coworker brought in homemade cupcakes and offered them to the group. Later he offered them to me specifically. I declined both times.
  
• The 2-liter was Coke was still in the office kitchen, tempting me, at the same level as when I first saw it. I dumped it out and took the cap for the Coke Rewards code.
  
• I was on my own for dinner, and I could have easily gone out and gotten fast food. But no, I had leftovers from last night.

All-in-One 1/12/11

Got lots to report, so I figured I might as well put it all in one mega-post.

First: the weekly weigh-in. I've been dreading this.

Weight change this week: -1
Weight change so far in 2011: -6

Second: victories!

• There were two mostly-finished 2-liters of soda in the office kitchen up for grabs: one Diet Coke, one regular Coke. I really like regular Coke (and finishing it off would have meant I could keep the Coke Rewards points), but I only took the Diet Coke.
  
• I wanted a midmorning snack, preferably something in the pastry food group. I had coffee.
  
• I wanted a snack pretty much immediately after lunch, but instead waited until right before I left for the gym, when I had a packet of oatmeal to sustain me through my workout.

Third: gym recap.

Format: exercise - reps x sets - weight - notes (if applicable)

• pull-ups - 5x3 - 112lb counterweight - arms out - Oddly easy again. I dunno.
  
• dips - 12x3 - 112lb counterweight
  
• abdominal crunch machine - 50x2 - 35 lbs
  
• lower back machine - 50x2 - 35 lbs - this is basically a reverse crunch
  
• hip adduction - 15x3 - 90 lbs
  
• hip abduction - 15x3 - 90 lbs
  
• lat pull-downs - 12x3 - 62.5 lbs
  
• lawnmower pulls with free weights - 12x3/arm - 15lbs/arm - no idea what this is really called.
  
• calf machine - 12x3 - 100 lbs
  
• squat machine - 12x3 - 90lbs

The real challenge will be this weekend. My husband won't be around to cook nutritious meals for me, and I'm kind of helpless on my own. Will I be able to resist the siren song of fast food? Only time will tell.

Victories 1/11/11

• Really wanted McDonald's breakfast this morning. Ate breakfast at home.
  
• There was nummy home-made chocolate chip banana cake in the kitchen this morning. I held out until 10am, by which point I was genuinely hungry, and then cut the thinnest sliver I could manage. (And, I admit, partially justified it by noting that I skipped my usual banana with breakfast this morning.) (Because we were out of bananas, not because I was being virtuous.)
  
• When I got home, I was ravenous, but instead of gorging on chips (like I kind of wanted to), I had a handful of peanuts and raisins.
  
• After dinner I felt hungry again within 20 minutes. But I didn't snack. This is a Pretty Big Deal for me because I honestly felt it in my stomach, not just in my head, but I don't need calories right before bedtime.

Man, this is working so much better for me than a food diary. I'd rather boast about my victories than feel like a criminal for every morsel. Positive reinforcement FTW! :D

Tomorrow's the weekly weigh-in. Deep breaths.

Victories 1/6/11

• There was a bag of Fritos up for grabs in the office kitchen when I got here this morning. I love Fritos. I did not take it.
  
• There was candy there later in the day, and I didn't take any. This is a more minor victory, as the candy was in the form of taffy and candy canes, neither of which I'm incredibly fond of, but in the past I have often grabbed whatever was in the kitchen just to try it. And this time I didn't.
  
• I'm #8 on the Week One Leaderboard. Craziness, man! I guess this means I'm only 97.7% of the woman I used to be. And I'm okay with that. :)

The percentage ratio is an odd measure. I mean, I'd think it would skew in favor thinner people, since 5 pounds is a greater percentage of 130 pounds than 230 pounds, but maybe not since (a) thinner people tend to have less weight to lose, and (b) they lose it more slowly. Hypothetically, that is. I've never been in the "last ten pounds to lose" camp, so I don't know if rate of weight loss is at all affected by how much you weigh to begin with. But it sounds reasonable. :)

Victories 1/4/11

• I put less on my plate than usual and did not go back for seconds, though I was sorely tempted.
  
• In the office kitchen were blueberry Bundt cake, baklava, morning glory cake, and half-sized chocolate chip cookies. They all smelled absolutely delicious. I had a single cookie.
  
• More cookies were put out a few hours later. They were home-made and large and very tasty-looking. I did not eat any.

Victories 1/3/11

I've decided not to post my failures unless they're truly epic. (Or funny.) But I'll try to post my small food victories from time to time.

* I did not eat any of the (super delicious) chocolate chip banana cake in the office kitchen this morning.
* We got two summer sausages for Christmas and I took them to work, and then only ate one small slice of each. And nothing more.