My Food Log

I'm going to try and track my meals and to be better about doing it! 

So here goes:
Special K Protein Shake
Chobani Vanilla yogurt
Cherries (24)
100 calorie pack of Kettle Chips (co-worker brought in from her vacation)
Tilapia (seasoned with no salt, just herbs)
Blueberries
M&Ms (small handful to help rid a headache)
Celery with Natural PB (such a pain to mix!)
Roasted pine nuts and almond slivers
1/2 can of Progresso Split Pea soup
Bite of Salmon (seasoned with rosemary, garlic, olive oil - made for tomorrow's lunch)

The Verdict

I sprained my back :(

This means 3 weeks of no exercise or unnecessary walking.  So I will be reading a ton, laying on the couch equipped with my ICY HOT pack and pillow under my feet and back.  To be honest, this just sucks. 

If only

... the weigh-in was this morning the scale would have read 160.0.  Oh well!  At least I'm getting the number down.

I didn't sleep a wink last night because of my back pain.  When I did close my eyes, I had a nightmare I was in a wheelchair and couldn't get into my apartment because there is no ramp!  Then I started to think about how a ramp could get installed to the door of my apartment.  Talk about an over-achieving worrier!  That's how I feel.

I managed to score a doctor's appointment at 4:15.  I don't have pain sitting or walking, just laying down or trying to switch sleeping positions.  The pain was so bad I even made a heat pack out of a tube sock and uncooked rice.  I microwaved it for 3 minutes like the instructions said but, HOLY HOT!  I had to move so much to adjust the placement of the sock that I caused even more discomfort to myself!  Luckily when I called Scott, crying naturally, he let me know the ice pack was also a hot pack.  Since I had taken the ice pack out of the freezer to use the sleeve it was in for my sock heat pack, it had already thawed and into the microwave it went!

ouch

I woke up Sunday with back pain.  I joked with my Mom that it was the stress coming back now that vacation was over.  This "stress" has not gone away.  My back is killing me!  I don't have a primary care doctor but am in the works of finding one.  Maybe I need a chiropractor?  I don't know.  But if this lasts until the weekend, to the doctor I go!

I did manage to bike tonight for 30 minutes.  So back to the work-out grind, back pain willing. 

Summer 2011 Photos

Looking snazzy in purple on "Purple Night" at the beach

Aren't they just the cutest? 

Scott and I decided to invest in a Sony A33 camera.  It's been great!  I'm excited to take photography classes from Ritz Camera and learn the basics of photography.  I was relieved that the camera finally shipped and arrived about a week before I was to go to Seattle.  Here are some photos I captured in Seattle and in North Carolina.

Waiting in line for the Space Needle tour

Water, city, and mountains

SIB

Seattle skyline at night

Dad looks tiny next to his 300 lb nephew

Proof of our Blood Pressure party, only 1/2 of the participants

We play family card games, my grandmother is a hustla

Double rainbow, can't see the other one

Trying to be artsy, a shame that none of those people are my relatives

My Uncle saying "goodbye" to the Ocean on Sunday morning at 5:00 am

D-Day

It said 161.7.  Not very happy, but not disappointed.  I did just come back from vacation; so my body isn't back to it's normal cycle yet.  But that number reads better than the number I saw on the scale yesterday!  All my St. Thomas paperwork needs to be turned in by noon - consider it done! 

See!  I snacked at the beach but I did try to be good!  Here I am eating an oversized wheat-puff-thingy from Wegmans! 

Reflection

So tomorrow marks the end to the St. Thomas challenge.  Let's just say I'm not too excited to step on the scale tomorrow morning.  I know it won't say 150 and for that matter, I don't think it'll read 158 - the lowest I reached during this journey.  However, no regrets.  I promise to continue my blog and to achieve my goal.  In retrospect, there are things that I could have done differently.  I could have also taken the easy way out and made my goal much simpler, but I wanted to challenge myself and see what I could do.  If 5 lbs is all I lost, I'll take it!  That means I'm 1/3 of the way there.  Since I'm a fan of rambling, I think that's what I'm going to do.

Looking back to New Year's Eve, maybe I should have realized then that 2011 was going to be a very testing year.  Scott and I decided not to go out and celebrate.  Instead, we opted for a quiet night in.  Looking back, we had different ideas about how we wanted to ring in the New Year.  Whereas Scott was alright with falling asleep at 10:30 way before the ball dropped, I wanted to have the traditional kiss at midnight while sending all my close friends and family the obligatory "Happy New Year" text.  That night we went to bed angry at each other.  It's a stupid thought, but sometimes I wonder if we would have been happy and cheerful as the ball dropped, maybe we wouldn't have been thrown so many curve balls. 

Sometimes I feel like I talk too much about Scott.  I can't help it!  He's more than my boyfriend.  He's my go-to person.  Without him, I don't know who I'd call randomly for my stupid questions.  He doesn't judge me and he's always been there any time I've needed him.  We've already been through so much together, things married couples haven't experienced.  Through everything, I feel like we've always had each others' backs.  I've learned a lot in 2011 about our relationship that has really solidified that there is no one else I want to spend the rest of my life with. 

Scott's mother is doing well and I plan to have dinner with them one night this week and share my Seattle visit with them.  It's amazing to know how much Kathy has accomplished.  Over the 4th weekend, she ran in her first 5k.  Both of Scott's parents are planning to fly out to Seattle in August to visit him.  Looking back on everything that happened this year, I still can't help but be amazed by her strength.  Seeing the love shared between Scott's parents let's me know that that is the type of husband he will be.  (Stop laughing at me, Scott! jk)

When my Dad had his heart attack in April, I couldn't help but feel scared.  I was afraid I would lose my Dad.  It was in that moment that I understood on a deeper level what Scott and his brother were feeling at the hospital in January.  Things have changed in my immediate family for the better.  I know I've said over and over that my parent's didn't live an unhealthy lifestyle, but there is always room for improvement. 

Spending this week on vacation with my parents made me thankful.  I had the opportunity to watch as my parents played in the ocean.  Yes, I said played!  I even got to watch them in a paddle ball match.  The best part?  My Dad running to return the ball and falling :)  Why?  Once he hit the sand I thought, "OH NO!"  But as soon as he stood up laughing, I felt relieved that he was still around to be able to fall and get back up.  It's taken some time to get him to stop saying that he has a "bad heart" but in his own time he has to accept what happened to him.  Before we left for North Carolina, he got the verbal "clean bill of health" but decided until it was in writing, he wasn't going to push it.

How many people can say they packed a blood pressure cuff in their suitcase?  How many families can say they had a "blood pressure party" while on vacation?

So tomorrow is the day.  We'll see if the scale reads 1, 5, or 15 (ha) lbs lighter.  I did this challenge with an eye on the prize but have learned there is a lot more to wellness beyond the physical kind.  I know what challenges I will set for myself in the coming weeks.  I know I want to will do another 10k before the summer ends.  I have a lot of things to look forward to in the near future!

Not the final post I had planned out in my head, but when I get to typing/talking nothing really comes out as planned.  :)

I read something in Women's Health about a research study testing the affects yogurt has on weight loss.  I'm telling you, I still believe my theory, yogurt = weight loss.  Before we left for vacation, I made sure to buy a yogurt for each morning.  I've decided I only like the Chobani Lemon 0% fat. 

Being on vacation has been great.  I just wish I was able to pull myself away from checking my work email and relax.  I don't know what it is, but I hate knowing that I am getting behind.  It already feels like this week is flying by, I don't need it to go any faster by thinking about all the work waiting for me on Monday morning.

I didn't bring my scale with me.  1. I didn't want to pack it.  2. I didn't want to worry with stepping on it every morning, noon, and night.  Monday my sister and I ran about 2 miles and walked 1 mile.  Yesterday we ran 2 miles.  Today we took a break.  I've decided to not set an alarm.  By the time I get up (7:30/8), it's already really humid! 

44 :)

Here :)

All,

I am still alive!  Aren't you glad??  Taking two vacations during the last two weeks was not a great idea for blogging, nor was sending my computer to the Geek Squad.  I finally have her back, yay! 

Let's see, I left Seattle at 158.4, I came home and weighed 160.7.  I blame the intake of alcohol and not being on my normal routine.  However, it was an amazingly awesome experience mostly because Scott did such a great job having activities planned.

Here we are about to board our dinner cruise on July 4th to see the fireworks:

I'm in love with this picture, maybe because I think my hair looks good or because I was so happy to see Scott :) 

Before I left for vacation, I weighed myself on Saturday morning (July 9th).  The scale was at 160.0.  I'll take that.  I know my goal is to be at 150.0 lb, but I can say that I am proud of myself for losing 5.  I still have this week and plan to take advantage of running on the beach and walking in the evenings.   So we'll see.  For me, my goal doesn't stop on July 18th.  Now that I have my DVD player back, I can start up my 30 Day Shred and P90X routines.  It's crazy how much you rely on a computer, but I'm glad to have her back :)

46 :)

Hello from Seattle :)

I apologize for the previous test post.  I had set up my phone to be able to update my blog and I thought it worked but it looks like it didn't!  After sending the test post, I wrote an actual post, but it doesn't appear to have posted.  So ....

Hello!  I'm in Seattle and it's been great!  The flight wasn't terrifying, just a really long 5.5 hours by myself.  I arrived around 1:30 and Scott and I set off to have partake in Happy Hour at Ivar's.  I missed that kid :)  We had clam chowder, salmon Caesar salad, and fish and chips.  Drank a few beer (4 or 5, gasp!) then had some steamed clams.  Yesterday (Friday), we headed off to the Space Needle and then to the Seattle International Beerfest.  Great time, great beers, and great weather!  I can't really describe the atmosphere here.  There's a lot of interesting people and the fashion is all over the place.  For example, we saw a girl in shorts and a bikini top at the Beerfest but also saw people wearing winter jackets and hiking boots.  In my opinion the weather was nice, jeans and a t-shirt with a zip-up.  Later in the evening we walked down to 88 Keys and saw a dueling piano bar performance.  We've been to Howl at the Moon (Charlotte 2 or 3 times and Baltimore 1 time) a couple of times but never had we seen two women on the piano.  It was very entertaining, thanks to someone having a bachelorette party and no shame.

Today we walked down to the Public Market.  Holy crowded!  We got to see the guys at Pike's Fish Market throwing fish and we saw the original Starbucks.  The crowd was too intense so we made our way out of there and got lunch at a bagel shop.  All in all good day.  Next stop is a duck tour of Seattle and dinner somewhere.  Tomorrow we're heading to the Mariner's game then going to a fancy restaurant for dinner.  Monday, Scott made reservations for a fancy dinner cruise to see the fireworks.  I'm really excited!

I'm kinda afraid of the scale on my return.  I've been drinking more here than I have for the last month.  Since I won't be back to my scale until Wednesday morning, I'll have to do my weigh-in then.  Off to not thinking about weight and enjoy my time with Scott!