Taco Tuesday FTW!

Today I started off the day by taking a metabolism test at the gym at work. I found out that my metabolism is normal and my caloric goal had been off by a whopping 18 calories. In short I found out that I'm fat because I eat too much. It wasn't exactly rocket surgery, but it did take away an excuse.

So I tracked my calories today. I went to the gym over lunch and ran on the robotic exoskeleton. I left work at 3:30 (getting there at 7 sucks, btw) and put air in my tires. John met me at my house and we rode to Cumming. The Cumming Tap is about 30 miles round trip. The ride, along with healthy eating all day, allowed me to have 3 pints of beer and three vegan chorizo tacos without going over my goal.

I'm feeling pretty good. I feel focused now. I am also thinking about the tacos. They were the best tacos I've ever had. If you ever want to head to Cumming on a Tuesday night let me know, I'll be all for it.

Grief Bacon

According to Jennette Fulda in Half-Assed the German word for the weight you gain from emotional eating literally translates to grief bacon. I've been eating a lot of grief bacon this week, and I've decided it's time to stop. I've been skipping workouts and eating way too much. It hasn't made losing Cooper any easier, but it has made it harder to button my pants.

I've decided to get back on track. Today I was at the gym at 7 to lift and at 12 to do cardio. I met Hot Toddy after work for a 75 minute walk. I tracked my food. In just one week I've expanded my stomach and have lost perspective on what makes a normal meal. It will take a few days to get back on track, but I'll do it (especially because Ivy is back on track now, and reading about her weight loss inspires mine).

My motivating tune today is one of my favorite get your butt working song. The video is poor quality, but it's the best I could find.

Um, yeah, about the past week....

So I lost my mojo. Big time. I'm not going to dwell on that. I'm going focus on the positive.

I did a circuit at lunch. It kicked butt. We did each activity for four minutes, with 20 seconds doing the activity and 10 seconds resting. It actually kicked me back into gear. I tried running after work. I ran about 20 minute and my hip bothered me a little bit (yeah, so I hurt my hip and haven't been able to run - neato). I probably need to stay away from running for a bit.

I tracked my calories, even the dessert and wine ones from the Flying Mango. I did OK, and would lose a half a pound a week if every day was like today. I'm heading into the weekend with a positive attitude and a desire to stay on track.

Blar!

I haven't seen my motivation since Thursday. I tracked my food today. I did the elliptical at lunch. I walked/ran 2 miles. I wanted to run three, but it was too hot.

I think the stress of work is getting to me. I have Thursday afternoon, Friday, and Monday off. I'm hoping to chill, clean my house, and get back on track.

Motivating Monday

A Good Fail

Today I went out to lunch instead of working out. I had spinach and artichoke pizza with an alfredo sauce, root beer, and egg rolls. It was divine. After work I had a work sponsored happy hour. It was my intention to go for one glass of wine. Three hours, three glasses of red wine, a mini crab cake, and some cheese later I was on my way home (note passage of time between drinks and food consumed).

On my way home I decided I shouldn't run. I've worked out 4 days in a row, and my muscles have been really tight. I decided some time off would be good. When I was walking Cooper I realized I was very tired. Either I was going to be asleep before John was done with his bike ride or I was going to have to get moving. I opted to get moving and ran three miles.

These were not the fastest miles ever. Amazingly they were faster than my normal runs two months ago. It kind of sucked. I kept telling myself I could stop after the next song. I did take one walk break, but ran three miles total.

I went over my calorie goal for the day. Running three miles does not make up for my lunch and happy hour. Even though I am at a net gain for the day I feel really good about they day. I know that the next time I go to happy hour I will stick to one glass of wine (running after three *really* sucks). I feel like I'm making progress even if the scale doesn't agree.

Wednesday

Today I tracked my food. I ran at lunch. I don't really have anything interesting to say. I suppose that is a good thing. When I have something to say it's usually because I've eaten something I probably should have.

Dinner Out....Again....

I go out to eat a lot. Usually once or twice during the week and 2-3 times on the weekend. It's my chosen form of entertainment. But it's getting old. It's really hard to eat well when you are at the restaurant where the onion rings were voted best of Des Moines. So tonight, at Maxie's with friends from my old gym, I ate too much. Not so much that I will gain weight, but enough that I won't lose. The worst part is the onion rings weren't that good. They were not worth it. If I knew then what I know now I would have skipped the onion rings and fries and gone with wine instead.

I ran for 30 minutes at lunch. At the end of the 5 min cool down I had exactly 3 miles done. My left hip flexor and hamstring are sore, so running wasn't as comfortable as normal. If I'm still off tomorrow I'm going to do the elliptical and some weights instead of running.

Motivating Monday

Today I did the elliptical with Kelly at lunch and ran about 2.5 of my regular 3.25 route. I tracked my food. I had a great day. I have been living it up on the weekends lately - too much food and wine, too little moving. I'm enjoying myself, but each week it gets harder to get back into routine. I also need to work harder just to maintain my weight, which is really bad when your goal is to lose weight.

I like to think that I'm not the only one that has trouble getting into gear at the start of the week. I decided I would start sharing motivating songs that I love to run to (I'm totally ripping the idea off from Liz and her Tunes on Tuesday). My workout music is a strange mix - hip hop, ska, country, and punk are the most common).

This week it's the Dixie Chicks and Sin Wagon. I can't say enough about how much fun this song is to run to. I sing along as I run down the street. I don't know if it's the banjo or the lyrics. Either way it works.