21 February 2009

Okay, here's the deal

I'm tired. I don't feel like working out because I'm tired. I'm not hungry, I don't feel like eating. What I feel like doing is laying down and reading. So guess what?? That's what I'm going to do. I haven't taken a really, really lazy day in a long time. I'm going to just lie around reading and snoozing today. I've got a ton of reading to do for school. I've got things to get ready for Monday and Tuesday. But I don't feel like pushing myself so I'm not going to. There I've said it and I'm happy. Tomorrow may be a completely different story, but today is lazy day.

Today I'm not a rock star

But it was still a very good day.

I was tired again this morning and didn't get up to workout. I'm not too worried about this. I know that my energy will take a little time to build up to a level where I can do this everyday. I can tell it's getting better because I did not suffer energy drain for a couple of days. Wednesday was tough but I worked out Thursday. It will all balance out again. Then this afternoon I had to go pick up my taxes so I didn't workout then either. But my eating was very, very good. I didn't work out and my food consumption went down too. Naturally. I was pleased with that. So let's see today's list:

  • Protein Shake - skipped, no workout
  • 45-60 minutes of cardio - overslept
  • Breakfast - Starbucks oatcake
  • Work - Done
  • Snack - Skipped
  • Lunch - Lunch meat, flat bread, and hummus
  • Snack - Pretzels
  • Strength - This is a maybe. - Skipped
  • Dinner - Chinese food
So not too bad. I'm happy with it anyway.

Now for tomorrow. It's Saturday and therefore a little more freer. So what's my plan?? How about this:

  • Protein shake and leisurely coffee
  • Strength
  • 30 minutes cardio
  • Breakfast
  • Schoolwork
  • Lunch
  • Schoolwork
  • Dinner
Alright, not very exciting but it's what I've got to do. I may also try to buy car insurance online but I don't need to schedule that.

19 February 2009

May I tell you what a rock star I am??

This is the way it goes. I struggle. I force myself to do a little. I force myself to do a little more. I start to feel it. I start to feel like a rock star. I'm getting there. I definitely feel like a rock star when I'm done working out. It's awesome.

So, as you may have guessed, things went well again today and it's all starting to fall together. It's getting back to where I would rather gnaw off my own arm then break my schedule. So here's how today worked out:

  • Protein Shake - Done
  • 45-60 minutes of cardio - Done
  • Breakfast - Rest of shake
  • Radford High - Done
  • Snack - Done, Fiber One bar not bad
  • Job Interview - Done, job not for me
  • Lunch -Done but it was after my strength training
  • Strength - Done
  • Job Interview - Done
  • Snack - Optional - Done, Craisins
  • Dinner - Done
Not a bad day. I do totally rock.....

Tomorrow will be a nice, slow day:

  • Protein Shake
  • 45-60 minutes of cardio
  • Breakfast
  • Work
  • Snack
  • Lunch
  • Snack
  • Strength - This is a maybe.
  • Dinner
Friday is my late day and the strength is definitely optional. If I don't do it on Friday it will get done on Saturday. That's the nice thing about weekends. For this weekend I will be going for a hike and possibly a bike ride. I haven't ridden my bike in months. I may take it out for a spin. I may even go hit the tennis ball around a little. Yes, it will be a good weekend. I have to remember to charge up my MP3 players for the hike. I have some good books downloaded that I haven't had the chance to listen to.

18 February 2009

Camera stuff

I love my DSLR!! Absolutely love it. I am taking pictures like a drunken fool, I swear. I do 4 photo memes every week. It's crazy. My camera came with a pretty good versatile lens, but I've gotten to the point where I want to do more. I really want a better zoom and a better macro lens.

As usual when I'm thinking of buying something, I headed over to buy.com to see if they had anything on sale. Unfortunately nothing I'm looking for :(

They do have some very cool lenses for some very reasonable prices. This baby is only $799

I would love this lens. It's a 70-300mm telephoto zoom. The one I have now is only 180. I could take some wicked pictures with this beauty. Maybe if I save my pennies....

Of course, I could always go this way:



This is a 50mm macro lens for only $449. I adore taking macro pictures. Those are probably my favorites. I love macros of flowers and raindrops and just about anything else I can get close to. I just may have to go that way to start.

Of course, I'm almost ready for a better camera. I got a low end model because I'm just starting out. But I'm almost ready to move up to something better. I wouldn't mind picking up the Sony A350. Now that's a nice camera :) Okay, I can't buy one right now so I should go do something productive, like look for something I can afford :)

A little bit further today

Okay, I screwed up yesterdays list and today didn't go quite as planned, but I still figure it's a success .

Here was the list from yesterday:

  • Protein Shake - Done
  • 45-60 minutes of cardio - Overslept so didn't have time for this
  • Breakfast - Protein Shake
  • Work - Done
  • Snack - Done
  • Lunch - Done
  • Snack - this one is a maybe - This one didn't happen
  • Strength - There is no strength on Weds.
  • Dinner - Done
Last night when I got home from class I was exhausted. Completely and totally exhausted. I was so tired my eyes burned. So I wisely went to bed. But the alarm went off this morning and apparently I just turned it off. I don't remember hearing it but I woke up an hour later and it was turned off. So I did not get any workout this morning. I don't do strength on Wednesdays so I could have done my cardio when I came home but I had a couple of stops to make and it was kind of late when I got home. So no workout today.

What is absolutely fascinating is that on the days I workout twice I burn about 2500 cals. Now I'm not sure if it's the actual exercise or that I'm just more active in general on days I work out twice. I'm generally running around trying to get everything done so that may account for the extra calorie burn. Today, with no workout, I'll probably end up at about 2000 cals. Interesting.

Okay, tomorrow's list:

  • Protein Shake
  • 45-60 minutes of cardio
  • Breakfast
  • Radford High
  • Snack
  • Job Interview
  • Lunch
  • Strength
  • Job Interview
  • Snack - Optional
  • Dinner
Not too tough. I should have no problem doing all this tomorrow. On a really good note, my eating has been spot on. Fruits, vegetables, protein, and carbs that don't bother me. Gotta run. Lost is on...

17 February 2009

Sometimes you have to crawl

Well writing those silly lists really seem to make a huge difference. Once I have a plan in my head I will pretty much stick to it unless something drastic happens. Here was today's list:

  • Protein shake - Made a big one and I couldn't drink it before my workout.
  • 45-60 minutes of cardio - 60 minutes Done
  • Breakfast - the rest of my protein shake
  • Radford High school - Done
  • Have a snack - Yogurt, fruit and flatbread
  • Go to job interview - canceled :(
  • Lunch - wasn't hungry
  • Strength session - Done
  • Do some schoolwork (there's more then enough to keep me busy for days :) - eh, whatever
  • Have a substantial snack - Done
  • Go to class - not for an hour
  • Bring food to class so I don't eat when I get home - hummus and flat bread will hold me
I think I can handle the last two so I'm going to say it's been a good day.

Tomorrow will be a little harder since I'm in school all day but the plan is:

  • Protein Shake
  • 45-60 minutes of cardio
  • Breakfast
  • Work
  • Snack
  • Lunch
  • Snack - this one is a maybe
  • Strength
  • Dinner
In many ways it's easier since I'm in school but in other ways it's harder since I don't know what will come up during the day. But it's okay because I have a plan.

I've been doing this so long you would think it would be second nature by now. But I guess every once in a while I totally need to chuck everything and just go back to real basics. I did this when I weighed 225 lbs and wanted to lose weight. I planned out everything so that I would eat right and get some activity in. As time went on I still planned food but I let the activity planning slip a little. Recently it's been getting a lot worse. But you know what, if this helps it's easy enough to do. Probably boring to read but I really do blog for me :)

16 February 2009

A good day...

This morning I posted my list of things to do today. Here it is:

  • Workout 45 - 60 minutes - Done
  • Clean the house - Done
  • Get the laundry going - Done
  • Do school work - Done
  • Have lunch - Done
  • Do a strength session - Done
  • Do more schoolwork - Done
  • Have a snack - Not done
  • Do yet more schoolwork - Will do after dinner.....
I'm pretty darn pleased with myself. I buckled down and just did it. Did the workouts I wanted to do. Did the schoolwork I've been avoiding. I just did it. I'm very proud of myself. On tap for dinner is baked pork chops, spinach, pasta. A good dinner if ever I saw one. After dinner I will get things ready for tomorrow. On tomorrow's list:

  • Protein shake
  • 45-60 minutes of cardio
  • Breakfast
  • Radford High school
  • Have a snack
  • Go to job interview
  • Lunch
  • Strength session
  • Do some schoolwork (there's more then enough to keep me busy for days :)
  • Have a substantial snack
  • Go to class
  • Bring food to class so I don't eat when I get home
There it is. My plan for tomorrow. It appears that if I lay it out in detail it tends to be clearer in my head and easier to follow through on. I'm happy with today and tomorrow will be good too. Just do it.

One step at a time.....

So today begins my just do it way of living. It is a holiday so I slept in a little :) I've been up and had my morning coffee and a protein shake. I'm ready to go work out and take on the day. Here's the plan:

  • Workout 45 - 60 minutes
  • Clean the house
  • Get the laundry going
  • Do school work
  • Have lunch
  • Do a strength session
  • Do more schoolwork
  • Have a snack
  • Do yet more schoolwork
That should pretty well cover the day. I have a bunch of lesson plans to write and some reading to do and some creativity to work on. That sounds like a great way to spend the day. I'm off to get it going.

15 February 2009

Stop the whining......

So here's the deal. I'm not like this. I'm not the type to whine and moan and generally be a little b*tch. In every other aspect of my life I'm a take charge person. If there is something to be done I will figure out the best way to do it and just do it. I'm the person that tells other people to stop yakking about it and just do it. I'm the person that acts before thinking things through. I don't know, maybe that's my problem. For so many years I just acted and now that's not working for me. I'm going to stop the whining. I'm going to buckle down and just do it. It's time to take action and stop talking about it. The action plan begins tomorrow and I'm not kidding.

I'm really struggling

I can not seem to find my groove. I get a little routine going, then one little thing will get in the way and it all falls apart. How do I get back to it???

I started off really strong last week, working out, feeling great, it was awesome. Then I got overly tired (which I still believe is due to my lack of carbs) and that resulted in missing a workout. Then 2. Then 3. Ugh!! That lead to a lunch yesterday that should be illegal, it was mostly alcohol. Now I feel like crap. I weigh about 400 lbs and my bodyfat is up to about 300%. Okay, I may be exaggerating a little but not much. I have got to get a grip and get into a routine.

Okay, let's work this out. I do believe that part of the problem is my food. I have changed up my food and I think it may not be working for me. I've been having oatmeal with milk, honey, and almond butter for breakfast. That totals out to about 350 cals, 13 g protein, and 52 g of carbs. If I were to have an egg burrito with 1 egg and some egg substitute, lots of veggies and a healthy wrap, that would total out to about 300 cals, 21 g of protein and 30 g of carbs. And instead of most of the carbs being from sugar (honey) they would be from fiber. Then I could have a yogurt for a morning snack. The Greek yogurt that I love is about 120 cals and lots of protein. Lunch I like to have salads with some protein and a carb like flat bread. In the afternoon a snack like an apple with peanut butter - my favorite. Then for dinner I will forgo the carbs and just have protein and veggies. Maybe have rice or whole wheat pasta instead of flat bread for lunch. Something like that. But I have to get back to eating in a way that works for me. If I have to I will set an alarm to go off every 3 hours so I have something to eat. That's another thing I've been doing, not eating. I believe intermittent fasting works but going every day without eating for 5 or 6 hours is not good. Maybe I should go back to having my protein shake in the morning. I used to have one as soon as I got up before my workout. Then I would workout. Then eat breakfast. Then have a light snack. Then lunch. Then a snack. Then dinner and that was it. Maybe I need to do that to get my metabolism chugging along again. I think I'll try that.

Okay, sorry for the long rambling post but sometimes it's necessary to figure things out. So here's what I'm looking at.

4:30 get up, make shake
5:00 workout - cardio
7:30 breakfast burrito
10:30 yogurt and fruit
1:30 lunch
3:00 workout
4:30 apple and peanut butter
7:00 Dinner

That is 6 meals and 2 workouts. That should work. None of my meals are close enough to my workouts to cause a problem, but they are close enough to fuel the workout. Some days my 2nd workout will be at 11:30 but that will work too. On school nights I will just have to bring something to class to eat at around 7. I can't wait till I get home at 8:30, that won't work. Okay. I'm set. I think this will fuel my workouts and my life and I won't be so dang tired by Wednesday. Wish me luck.

Conversation with Hubby

 So yesterday morning I presented my idea of working out at home to the Hubby. Once I presented it to him, he said he was in. I told him I h...