A Whole New Start

What has been happening since I last blogged? I lost my job, got my motorcycle license and dated a couple of different men, none very seriously. It’s been 3 weeks since I was laid off and I’m definitely going stir-crazy! I’m actually waiting to hear if I got a job I really want that I interviewed for twice last week, the pay is good, the work environment is great, the only downsides are that it is further away and will be 8-5, so no more working from home.

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Today’s Plans

Practice on Susan’s Motorcycle, around her neighborhood – Done
Add red streaks to my hair – Done
Clean! – not done, went to the movies and dessert with Lu, instead
Get at least a minimal workout in – Done

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Skin & Makeup

Morning Cleansing:
Rinse face with warm water
Kinerasse Intense Eye Cream
Earth Science Moisturizer with SPF 15

Makeup:
Bare Minerals Eye Shadow in Cultured Pearl
Lancome Definicils Mascara
Concealer
Chanel Tinted Moisturizer

Evening Cleansing:
Earth Science A-D-E Creamy Cleanser
Earth Science Azulene Eye Treatment
Earth Science Fragrance-Fee Moisturizer

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Health, Fitness & Diet

Notes

Today’s Diet

• Breakfast
  • Old-Fashioned Oats
  • Flax Seed
  • Cranberries
  • Slivered Almonds
  • Chopped Walnuts
  • Honey
  • Lucerne Light Yogurt

• Lunch
  • 2/3 of a Combination Vietnamese Sandwich from Lee’s Sandwiches
  • 1/2 of a strawberry lemonade

• Dinner
  • Personal size pepperoni pizza at the movie theater
  • Slice of vanilla bean cheesecake from TGI Friday’s

Reflections on today’s meal:
Breakfast was good, but the rest of the day not that great. I really need to try and look for better options when I’m out and about.

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The book scene

Current Read: Nothing today, no time.

Cleansing, Day 2

So far, no direct results from the cleansing, but I’m assuming that it’ll take at least a few days to start feeling the effects.

It’s a really quiet day at work, with very little to do, since the rest of my team is at a conference in the city. May just work from home this afternoon.

9:00am:
McCann’s Quick Cooking Oats with 1 tsp of each of the following… dried cranberries, blueberries, cherries and raisins, almonds, walnuts and wheat germ
Mix1 Hi-Antioxidant Fiber Drink in Orange-Carrot (the extra fiber in these make them a little too powdery)
GNC UltraMega for Her Vitamins

12:30pm:
Peanut Butter Chocolate Chunk cookie (bad, I know, but I can’t resist Specialty’s cookies when they’re just sitting there waiting to be devoured)

2:15pm:
Lunch at Thai Pepper
Broccoli Prawns (ate all 5 prawns and most of the broccoli, but left the carrots because they were soaked in the greasy sauce)
Fresh spring roll
2 tsp peanut sauce
Frozo’s Fat-free Froyo (Original Tart) with mango, blackberries and lychee

I’ve Been Bad

Yes, I’ve been bad, in more ways that one. I realized that I haven’t updated my blog since January, and I’ve fallen off the wagon in regards to really paying attention to what I eat. So far I’ve maintained my weightloss, although I have no idea how. I also have a new incentive to get back in the habit, my friend Lucy’s wedding is coming up and she has asked me to be her bridesmaid, so I definitely have to look better for the wedding pics!!

So, to kick-off a new phase I’m doing a whole body cleansing, which I’ve heard helps to clear out your body and give you lots of energy, both of which I need. Today is day one.

Weight: 182.7lbs

Results of Cleansing:
Nothing, yet, since this is my first morning.

9:30am:
McCann’s Quick Cooking Oats with 1 tsp of each of the following… dried cranberries, blueberries, cherries and raisins, almonds, walnuts and wheat germ
Mix1 Hi-Antioxidant Fiber Drink in Dark-Berry
GNC UltraMega for Her Vitamins

12:30pm:
Organic Bistro Spiced Chicken Morocco with green beans, carrots and a chickpea-almond pilaf
Rachel’s Relax Vanilla Chai Yogurt

6:45pm
2 cups of fresh pineapple
11oz Vita Coco Coconut Water

8:30pm
Organic Bistro Ginger Chicken with Green Tea Vegetables and Almond Pilaf
1 cup Fage 2% Greek Yogurt
1 Tbs honey

Woohoo!! First Short-Term Goal Achieved

I was quite excited when I weighed in this morning, my first short-term goal of 182.2 lbs has been achieved and passed.

WI: 181.1 lbs

9:40am: Brown Cow Bluberry Nonfat Yogurt, Vita Coco Coconut Water with Peach & Mango, Honest Tea Pearfect White Tea
12:15pm: Organic Bistro Spiced Chicken Morocco While Life Meal and a bottle of sparkling water
3:05pm: 10 baby carrots & cup of herbal tea
6:00pm: 6″ Subway Turkey Breast on Honey Oat, no cheese, with oil &vinegar dressing and veggies, most of a bag of Baked Lays, and a bottle of water
9:00pm: Gym
10:00pm: PowerBar Performance in Chocolate

The Discovery Channel National Body Challenge is starting again and I’m signing up for that to see how their workout and recipes are. And next week my office’s version of The Biggest Loser starts, so I’ve joined that as incentive to keep losing weight.

After Christmas

I’m so proud of myself for being careful during the holidays and not only maintaining my weight, but actually losing a little bit. Despite Christmas dinner and going out to eat, I’ve still been careful to keep portions small, but still eat the things I like. It’s been a crazy week, between work, shopping for Christmas and Christmas dinner. Had a few friends over and after dinner we went to the living room and played games. I think I’ve gotten them addicted to Taboo, lol. I haven’t done my 15 Minute workout the past few days, so going to try to get that in at some point today. Only plans for today are meeting friends in San Francisco for dinner, followed by another friend’s birthday, in San Fracisco.

WI: 183.3

Update: Time to leave for SF came more quickly than expected, so while I didn’t get a 15 Minute workout in, I did dance for hours on Saturday night, enough that I was really feeling it in my legs the next morning.

Challenged

If you read yesterday’s post (not the 2 book posts) you’ll see that today’s goal was to get up and do at least 15 minutes of exercise before work, thanks to a challenge from my friend Harrison, who said I couldn’t do it. Well, I did! And, yes, I knew he was just saying I couldn’t in an attempt at reverse psychology, but it still worked.

Workout: 15-20 minutes of lower body (to be detailed in a workout post)

Breakfast: Oatmeal with dried fruit and almonds, plus a multi-vitamin and a bottle of water
Lunch: (Catered in) 5 Butternut Squash Ravioli, lemon chicken (1/4 of the breast), 1/2 C grilled asparagus, 1/4 C pineapple, 1/4 C strawberries
Dinner: Korean spicy pork and rice, and a couple of bites of the panchan

When I let Harrison know that I met his challenge, he decided his next Challenge is to at least continue through the end of this weekend, so that will be 4 days in a row of a minimum of 15 minutes of exercise. Think I can do it? I know I can!

8 Days Until Christmas

Only 8 days left until Christmas, I just can’t believe how fast the last couple of months have gone by! Still haven’t finished my shopping or the scarf I’m knitting for a friend, although I should finish that at my knitting group tomorrow night.

Breakfast: Brown Cow Nonfat Blueberry Yogurt
Lunch: Organic Bistro Chicken Citron Whole Life Meal
Afternoon Snack: Total raisin bran with nonfat milk and a Kashi cereal bar, plus 2 Godiva truffles (hormones, but at least I don’t get PMS)
Dinner: 1 cup of Trader Joe’s frozen brown rice with 2/3 cup of Green Giant Healthy Weight vegetable mix

I’ve been super frustrated all day, too much to do at work and not enough focus or time to get it done. The new Aprimo system first got blocked by our security system, then once I was finally able to get in, the entries were done incorrectly and I couldn’t access them. I now have to wait for a co-worker to get home from dinner with his mother and unlock each of them, so I’ll be at this all night. But, at least my frustration was a good push. Finally got around to calling a psychologist about determining if I have ADHD or not. Since I’ve already taken some tests online that indicate I’m ADHD she said the next step was trying medication to see if it helps. So, I’m to call my General Practitioner to see if I can get a short-term prescription and see if it helps, then set up an appointment with the psychologist. Since it’s too late to call Dr. Katie’s office tonight, I’ve marked on my calendar to call first thing in the morning.

Tomorrow’s Goal: My friend Harrison has challenged me to get in at least 15 minutes of working out before work in the morning, so that is my goal!

Feeling Good

I just got back from a crazy few days in Vegas that included some good moments and some bad moments. Good moments included seeing friends I hadn’t seen in a while or had never met offline. Bad moments included going to the hottest club in Vegas and it sucked, wall-to-wall people and people smoking, which made me sick. And, despite the cold, dry air in Vegas, my skin didn’t dry out like it did last time!! A big thanks to my co-worker who recommended Earth Science cleanser and moisturizer! My skin is reacting well, getting rid of the dryness that always happens in winter, without setting off a flare up of eczema. And, it’s cheaper than the stuff I’d been using before, which I can really appreciate.

Luckily, after weighing in, I still lost a bit of weight after the last week *grin*. But, let’s see how tomorrow is after today’s office potluck.

WI: 185.6lbs

3.4lbs more to hit my Short-term Goal Weight #1! Can I do it by the end of the year? It’s possible, but I’ll just have to wait and see how my will power holds up. Signed up for the “Biggest Loser” contest in my office, it starts in mid-January and goes through mid-April. Hopefully it will be even more incentive to workout and watch what I eat, since someone else will be weighing me in weekly.

My mood has been pretty good, especially Sunday. I don’t know what it is about Sundays, other than the fact that they are the beginning of a brand new week, but I’ve been finding myself in a positive mood when I get up.

Breakfast: Oatmeal with fruit, plus a cookie given to me by a co-worker
Lunch: Office potluck, don’t remember it all, but I tried to eat in moderation, especially dessert
Dinner: Total raisin bran cereal with nonfat milk

Went to see the Punisher movie with Lu, too silly with lots of blood and gore. Definitely wouldn’t see it again. Ate a bowl of cereal for dinner before I went, so I wouldn’t give in and eat theater food or stop for fast food on the way home. Seems to have worked, although I’m a bit hungry right now, but about to head to bed, so just have to make sure to have a filling breakfast first thing in the morning. Talked to Lu for an hour after the movie, recapping Vegas, who we’re each interested in, general life and love things, as well as discussing plans for Christmas and NYE. Now we just have to come up with exactly what those plans are, lol.

Blah, Blah, Blah

Did I just not know what to write or is the title a reflection of my mood? At this point I just don’t know.

Did my weigh-in this morning and down another pound, but that’s probably more reflective of my being a bit sick yesterday. Don’t know what was wrong, just suddenly got extremely nauseous at work around lunchtime, so I came home. The nausea faded until late in the evening, when it came back slightly. But, I wasn’t able to eat much, so hopefully I won’t have a rebound after eating today. Especially considering this weekend was a total bust, diet-wise.

A night of way too many drinks on Friday night, although I didn’t have much dinner, but the calories from drinks add up. Saturday, I only ate 1 major meal, but it was good ol’ Southern comfort food, chicken fried steak, 2 eggs over medium, country potatoes, toast and grits, along with a corn muffin with butter. Then my friend Grace took me to her favorite place for pie and I had a slice of the banana cream she recommended. Went to a friends place to watch a boxing match and avoided the pizza, but did have a nice glass of wine. And then Sunday, went to dim sum with a couple of friends, followed by half of a cheeseburger for lunch (took the other half home) with some potato salad and some cookies and other sweets from a wonderful bakery. Dinner was at a Korean sushi place, where I had some spicy pork with some tuna and salmon sashimi. So, now to recover over the week.

WI: 186.8

So, on to a better week, hopefully. But, how do I stay on track while in Vegas this weekend?

Breakfast: 365 (Whole Foods brand) Nonfat Peach Yogurt
Lunch: Organic Bistro Sockeye Salmon Cakes Whole Life Meal with Ginger-Bean Medley and Confetti Pilaf. I really wanted to like this more than I did, but then again, I got it knowing that I’m not a big fan of salmon, but I’m trying to teach myself to like it. I did like the medley with ginger-scented (couldn’t taste or smell it) edamame, sugar snap peas and green beans, but the pilaf was ‘meh.’ At least this meal had tons of vegetables, as do apparently all of the meals in this line. The lack of non-carb heavy meals in the diet frozen dinners usually annoys me, but is this meal worth the higher calorie count and larger price tag? I’ll try some of the other meals by Organic Bistro to find out. Otherwise I’ll just stick to buying frozen veggies and stirring them into my frozen meals.
Dinner: Amy’s Organics Black Bean Tamale Verde with Rice Whole Meal. Yum! At least for the verde sauce, really tangy and perfect. The tamale was good and moist, but otherwise lacked flavor, other than the verde sauce and the masa. The rice was pretty decent and moist.

Head Space

Hmm, in an odd mood today, don’t know the reason. I’m still feeling pretty positive about getting my health and lifestyle together, but still my emotional state feels a bit odd, but I can’t put my finger on it. My stomach was pretty upset in the middle of the night, so I overslept this morning, so I’m now working from home. Working from home is usually more productive, so that’s a positive, and I always eat better since I don’t have to worry about finding lunch, which I usually forget to take, or even worse I eat whatever food is catered in, which is never really healthy.

Have 3 conference calls today, so it’ll be pretty busy, but I’d rather be busy than have nothing to do. (Well 3 con calls turned into 6, somehow)

WI: 187.8
Breakfast: Brown Cow Apricot Mango Nonfat Yogurt
Morning Snack: Kashi Go Lean Oatmeal with added brown sugar, dried fruit, almonds and walnuts
Lunch: 1c potato salad
Dinner: Subway 6″ turkey sandwich on honey oat bread, no cheese, with lettuce, carrots, pickles and oil & vinegar; baked lays sour cream & onion

Workout: went to workout with Jung at the gym around 8:30, got a good start into getting back in the habit. (actual workout will be it’s own post to more easily follow)

Skin is going nuts, went with my friend Lucy to get Mary Kay facials, even though I knew better! I washed my face as soon as I got home, but my skin is so irritated that it’s itchy, flaky and rough in even more places than before the facial. Even tried the microdermabrasion, and even though I was really gentle, it really scraped up my face. The cheek I used it on was tender for hours afterwards, although when I washed my face when I got home, the skin there was very smooth and I wondered if it would actually be a good thing. Apparently not, when I woke up the next morning the skin that was so smooth the night before had become rougher than the skin that I didn’t use the stuff on and is really dry and slightly irritated now. No way will I ever use that stuff again.

Personal Goals for tomorrow: Go to the gym with Jung again and get in a lower body workout plus cardio; work on my knitting for Christmas; unpack another box

A pic from my birthday…

Birthday boy and girl