Cinnamon buns

I know I want to live a healthy life, but with all the stress of this weekend, I have to say - eating just makes me feel better.  I can't exercise because of my ankle, and I'm afraid to look at the scale.  In the meantime, I'm stuffing things in my face like there's no tomorrow.

But it really does make me feel better.

Happy Valentine's Day (the day after)

Valentine's Day doesn't hold much significance to me or my fiancee, so our celebration was minimal.  I was reading Ninety Percent's blog post on V Day, and it made me feel like I had missed out on the lovey dovey holiday.  Kate knows I love and adore her, but what about all my great, amazing friends?  My family?  Maybe they deserve some blue cheese mac & cheese too.

Speaking of our V Day meal, goodness I overate yesterday!  Between the ice cream, tons of mac & cheese, and the chocolate, I don't believe I will get a loss this week.  Plus, I can't exercise right now due to my ankle, so I think I simply need to accept that fact, move on, and eat as healthy as I can for the rest of the week.  For lunch today, I ate rice and a boca burger rather than the DELICIOUS leftover mac & cheese we have in our fridge right now.

I'm halfway through the month, and I have a little more than half (6/10) my life points left on Health Month.  My three rules are:

1) Exercise for 30 minutes at least 4 times a week
2) Stay under my recommended calorie count at least 4 times a week
3) Don't snack after dinner.  3 times a week.

It's a challenging month, for sure, but having these rules 4 times a week rather than 5 (like I did last month) means I know I can accomplish my goals.  I'm glad to have this last week behind me, and for today to start the next week in my journey.  I think my goal will be to lose up to 1 life point.  Let's see if I can do it.

Weekly Weigh-In (186.0)

Current weight: 186.0
Week's weight loss: -2.2
Total weight loss: 40.4

After last week's 2.6 pound gain, I can't decide if this is a good weigh-in or not.  I lost 2.2 pounds in a week, but I feel like I should be able to mirror the 2.6 pound gain from the week before.  After this weekend's atrocious eating (again) I'll take it, though.  


This morning my ankle was hurting, so I decided to exercise on the elliptical rather than take a run.  Maybe I should have just taken a break from working out, because I twisted my ankle on the elliptical and now I'm Ms. Gimpy.  We'll see what this week brings in terms of weight loss as a consequence.  There's no way I'm getting back on the treadmill for at least another week, if not two or three.


I hope to do a more in-depth check-in later this week, and talk a bit about my Health Month rules and how they've helped me this month.  In the meantime, HI!

Weekly Weigh-In (188.2)

Current weight: 188.2
Week's weight loss: +2.6Total weight loss: 38.2


I'm going to say that last week is now behind me, and this week will bring on massive weight loss.  The scale may be reading muscle mass, or typical weight changes, or it might be reflecting on the not-so-stellar eating habits I've developed since I was sick.  


Yesterday I didn't eat that well (hello, Chipotle!), but I did lace up my running shoes and hit the pavement for my final run of my first week of the Couch to 5k program.  It was so much easier to do this run - only my third run this year - than it was two weeks ago for the exact same run.  My legs don't hurt today, and I'm excited to run again tomorrow.


Normally I let "bad" days be begones, but it's good for me to reflect on how I can improve upon my slip-ups.  I need something to keep me accountable, in a way that SparkPeople just doesn't inspire me to do.  So, before playing Health Month this morning, I went back to SparkPeople to log all my calories for the day.  HM helps me keep accountable.  I don't know why their system makes compels me to track more and be honest - with myself and the game - but it does, and I really love it for that.  I do wish there was an easier way to be accountable to others as well, and make it more social.


This week is going to rock, I just know it.  I'm going to start on the second week of my 5k program tomorrow, and I can't wait.  I'm amazed by how much I have fallen in love with running.  Who knew?

Picking myself up and feeling empowered

I've been sick with a cold the last few days, and it sucked.  I finally feel more myself today, and I'm excited to go back to work tomorrow.  I began cleaning up my "sick area" (the couch), and there were so many dishes, teas, cups, and a whole empty box of EmergenC scattered around.  I sure had a party over there, while watching TV, and stuffing my face.

But I'm back from that overeating extravaganza.  I got up at noon today, after calling in sick this morning (and finding my bed again), and after I lazed around for a bit I felt much more energized than I did all week.  My head didn't feel it was on backwards anymore after I took the morning slowly.  At 5 p.m. I decided that I was indeed well enough to try for a run, which is all I've wanted to do for the last week.

And boy did I run!  My last run was on a treadmill, but this time I just ran through the park by our house.  I never realized before just how powerful my body was.  My legs carried me so far so quickly - it felt amazing.  When I'm running a treadmill, I don't see the trees and people whizzing by.  The 60 second runs were a lot more interesting to me than my 90 second walks, and I was eager to hit that 90 seconds so I could again let the world whiz by.

I came home winded, but so glad I went out running.  I feel guilty for not going to work today.  If I can run, I can work, you know?  But I didn't really feel okay until late afternoon.  I'm glad that I took the day to get better, and I'm glad that I did the 2.5 mile run.  I mean, I RAN 2.5 MILES!  That's so cool!  I'm so amazed by what my body can do.

Health Month

I have been "playing" on Health Month since mid-December, and I have to say - it's been fun.  You create your own health rules and decide what you want to track, and then you check in every day or so to see if you've reached your goals.  There's a daily email - if you want it - to remind you to "play".  It's a good way for me to track progress, to be accountable, and to have some fun while doing it.

I think they're trying to make it social - a little like Facebook - but haven't really gotten it there yet.  It's a hard balance - it's more fun to play with others, but sometimes you don't want to admit that you haven't eaten in your calorie goals for three days to all your friends.  But it would definitely make it more fun.

I guess I like HM because you get to compete against yourself.  That's my favorite type of game.  Especially when it means I lose weight at the end!

Sick at home

I'm sick at home and all I want to do is eat.  I hate these days.

I think what I should really do is sleep.