tan fat

so... we all know that tan fat looks better than, oh, say, BLINDINGLY WHITE GHOST-COLORED FAT, right? especially in the summer? especially in a dress? especially when photographed? especially when arms, chest and face have a runner's tan? and that tanning is baaaaaaaaaaad for you!

cue: summer weddings, baby!

ya'll, i am NOT wearing pantyhose in july! or possibly EVER AGAIN. so.

cue: jergen's natural glow express.

so, i bought it yesterday, naired my gams (like i do because my leg hair is mostly too fine to shave) and slathered it on. ummm, perhaps slathered TOO much. because it took like half an hour to dry. so that was at like 1pm. by last night when i was showing my husband my "new" dresses, i had... some color. i wouldn't say a tan, exactly, but some color, for sure. today, i slathered on a touch less at 6:30am. it dried in about 15 minutes. i'm wearing jeans now, but i'm confident that more color is developing. after tomorrow's application, i'll probably even have... A TAN. then i think i'll buy the "firming" natural glow for upkeep/imaginary firming.

that's the good news.

the bummer news? my last spinning buddy went and got herself all knocked up. and then this morning? after i got up at 5:15 to go to spinning? all alone? i walked in on core bootcamp. apparently my spin class has been canceled or moved. huge bummer. at elast i got in my 3-miler yesterday!

weekend:

1. birthday dinner for the man of my dreams.
2. weddingsqueeeeeeeeeeee! (hello, lemon drop martinis, my long lost love...)
3. post-wedding brunch.
4. cook-out.
5. maybe another cookout.
   

stfu. that's a lot of food & drink. and i will track whatever passes through my lips. i will also workout. and maybe even swim!

jogging weather

i'm a fair-weather jogger. that's got to change. but today, tomorrow and sunday should be within my limited jogging weather, so i'll get a lot of workouts in.

152.4 today. still gunning for 152.0 on monday. this week is going to have to be very "clean" foodwise because of a family reunion weekend out of town.

now i'll make my grocery list!

short on sleep

ahem. last night i stayed up until midnight. MID. NIGHT.

bad idea.

after spinning (which i still <3 despite the fact that old ladies took our seats and i had to look at myself in the mirror and DAMN i've never sweated so much in my LIFE) e came up for a cigarette. she quit when last i did, but we both realize that the key to pulling this off is having one occasionally, socially, so that we don't end up doing a swan dine off the wagon. i had a harp then, and we watched the revelers from my balcony.

after she left, i checked my ck diary and realized i was supposed to get a "no-pudge" brownie-- the mix that you add fat free yogurt to? they are so good-- but first i wanted to chill a little while, so i watched last week's chuck and then grabbed a shower. bu the time i was out, it was about quarter to 11. mister man was at a friend's house. i make the brownies because, while i don't eat back exercise calories, i do realize it's important to fuel my body. (it's working, btw, i'm down a full pound from monday!)

i also made this morning's breakfast so i would be sure to get a filling, wholesome, balanced meal when i woke up cranky. and boy, did i wake up cranky.

i have no idea how i'm going to deal with today. coffee, i guess.

i have dr. y, which means a ruby tuesday meal of smart eating petite sirloin with mashed cauliflower and broccoli. yum. then i have bk for 60 minutes and a half-hour walk home. then? ANOTHER BROWNIE. i freeze them as soon as i make them in my awesome pre-portioned brownie pan. and then i microwave one for 25 seconds or so and ooooh, is so goooood. really, they are delicious and don't taste like ass. which is a nice quality in a 130 calorie brownie.

was that a tangent? probably. i should get another cup of coffee.

well... that's a blow to the ol' ego

167.0

all weekend i joked that if i didn't gain five pounds, my birthday had been a failure.

umm... success?

it was 168.0 yesterday, though.


in any case. life goes on (oh blah dee). last night i had the good sense to eat a snack bar before working out later than usual. it made a huge difference. i had a special k protein meal bar in chocolate-peanut butter. basically, it tasted like candy. but later i had protein-powder burps. ew. umm, let me handle this in a more organized fashion.

PROS: tasted like candy; 10g protein, 5g fiber; got me through my workout with flying colors.
CONS: 180 calories, 6g fat; >0.5g trans fats, but trans fats nonetheless; protein powder burps.
VERDICT: i'd get it again, if i needed the energy, but i'm not going to add it to my grocery list.

so... then i walked home (1.5-2 miles) in about 40 minutes. all in all, i had a very fit/healthy/weight-lossy day.

but i also had a really crappy day. work is crazy in a bad way and the irs is questioning my refund-- because it's huge, because i didn't make nearly as much money as i expected to last year and they don't want to give the money i DID make back-- and i'm pretty tired.

anyway, today is a new day. it's gorgeous out again and i might walk to tj's for lunch since we have essentially no food in the house. except turkey bacon.

jillian michaels read my mind

so, i'm shredding last night, hitting the last circuit and jillian says something to the effect of "i know all you want to do right now is turn off this dvd and stop, but this is where we have to end strong..."

i'm sore ALL OVER. seriously. every single muscle i have hurts.

my friend, the recovering actor, bought the shred yesterday! i'm excited to have a buddy. i'm also wondering how allison is doing with it. i've been poking around for success stories, but so far i haven't found anyone who ACTUALLY lost "up to 20 pounds in 30 days!" as the dvd cover claims. me? i'd love to lose ten. well, twelve, actually, since i'm taking 6 weeks for it. i'll be finishing the week before valentine's day and my spreadsheet claims i'll be about 158 then. and, ya know, smokin' hot from all this exercise.

so... i'd like to say something about calorieking.com. more specifically, i'd like to say something about the PROGRAM-- the not-free part. the fact is, i've avoided organized *programs* pretty hardcore for, oh, ever. but that wasn't getting me past this complacency and if i kept up my pace from the past three years, i could expect to hit goal sometime in june 2012. uncool. so i decided to shell out the $50 my grandma gives me for christmas and birthday, like clockwork, on a special new year's rate for a year membership (normally $75, or $9/month). first i did a weeklong free trial between christmasish and the third and, frankly, i did little more than track what i mindlessly ate. but these last few days-- i'm all food and exercise planned for today, too-- i've really gotten into it. you set your own carb, fat, protein, cholesterol and fiber goals with their recommendation. they also suggest a calorie goal which you can change, but they don't encourage it. i'm not exactly IN LOVE with the food database since i don't eat out much and when i do it's usually not big-chain places, but i'm slowly getting my usual foods added.

now, so far i have not lost any weight on calorieking (day 3 for serious, mind you). i feel like i'm eating a HUGE amount (1390 calories, plus 209 from shredding) but i'm kind of making myself do it for a month, at least. i mean, shit, i've paid in full! but i think this is going to work. and i love the green checks (when i'm in my calorie range for the day) like... well, like i love cake. bonus points? my guts are doing their job without complaint... thanks to seeing that i normally consume about 5g of fiber a day. hello, fruits, veggies and whole grains! i also expect to see my hair getting thicker and my nails stronger (the rd i was seeing last year said that's about protein) because i'm eating protein THREE MEALS A DAY. and one snack! sometimes two!

i feel like a total pig, but it's getting easier. and i hope shredding does, too. i take SEVERAL 5-second breaks to catch my breath. but. if you want results from 20 minutes a day, you have to give those 20 minutes every. fucking. thing. you've. got.

here's my hat (i'm staying where i'm at)

a couple days ago i heard matthew broderick singing "before the parade passes by" on the radio (i know, i can't explain it either.) and then yesterday i whipped out the immortal ephram levi when i said, "money is like manure... it's not worth a thing unless it's spread about encouraging young things to grow." and for some reason i feel like carol channing in a big hat today.

because i fucking DID IT.

i did hit my calorie & nutrition goals, despite having to drink 8oz of light egg nog to get there and i SHREDDED. and dude... DUDE. ouch. so, a little science lesson: vertical motion is HARD. it's harder than horizontal motion. i don't know why, but i bet it has to do with GRAVITY. the shred? is ALL ABOUT jumping: jumping jacks, "butt-kicks", squat-presses, up, down, up, down, up. the. whole. time. let me tell you, i've done a LOT of exercise videos and i've NEVER been GRATEFUL to get to the BICYCLE CRUNCHES before.

i'm sore today. and i woke up hungry (this, i think, is good). i made five of my famous giant cookies (chocolate chippers in an 8 inch tart pan) for my trainer-in-training brother to take skiing and i refused to give them up until he showed me a really good stretch for my calves. "i can do that!" he chirped. then he paused. "can you hold up your own body weight?"

i'm doing it right now, aren't i?

but seriously folks, YES, as a matter of fact, i CAN. and DID. for the 30 seconds it took to prove i could do that stretch before he peace'd out and i DIED.

i read on a calorieking message board that jm herself recommends shredding 4 or 5 days a week-- not 30 days IN A ROW. so i'm taking weekends off, i think, well, actually just cross training on weekends. thus, the 30-day shred will take 6 weeks. i'm okay with that. and right after, i'll start my classes. and after that: RUNNING.

so, anyway. that's the good news. bad news? the tuesday drop brought me... right down to where i was last tuesday. 169.4. i predict... i predict i'll be down ten or fifteen pounds and an easy size 12 by the end of the month.

how much do you think a clark's nevus weighs?

because that's what my suspicious mole was, so it needs to be taken OUT now, two weeks after it was taken OFF. crap.

i'm feeling less overwhelmed now, knowing that tonight's class will mean the third of 6 that make up this program over-- which is halfway-- and i won't have two classes in the same week again. also, my darling husband has cleaned the kitchen and done the laundry AND plans to clean our front living/dining/library room tonight. that leaves me with just a little baking, shopping and cleaning to do on saturday.

speaking of shopping, last night's visit to trader joe's had me playing one of THOSE girls. you know the ones who buy salad, yogurt and ice cream. the ones wearing stilettos to buy groceries. well, i was wearing kitten-heel pointies, but that's not really the point. my point is what i bought: 3 clif bars (all peanut & something flavors, and i don't recommend the peanut toffee blast or whatever), 3 larabars (trying cherry pie today!), turkey lunch meat, asiago slices, shampoo, conditioner, dish soap and mini chocolate bars. how did i become a person who doesn't eat real food?

oh well. real food or not. i'm ON the horse and not falling off this week!


edited to add: cherry pie larabar is a winner! the texture is odd, but the tartness totally overwhelms the likely "protein bar" flavor of oddness. plus, i like that larabars have a short ingredient list. these are dates, dried cherries and almonds. rock on!

daily fluctuation

if i were weaker-minded (or perhaps just having one of my weaker-minded days) i would worry. i ate MORE OR LESS normally yesterday and fluctuated up 1.2 pounds.

OMGDOESTHISMEANANYANDALLFOODMAKESMEFATTER?

uhhh, no. but diet soda make me puffy, we know this. as does my husband's heavily-salted cooking. (mmmm, but turkey burgers, new potatoes and corn on the grill while i make flashcards from my accounting notes? FUCKING DELICIOUS.) and i STILL haven't worked out. i suck monkey balls. but weekends were made for letting the mister sleep in while i relax with a book on the stationary bike, right? right.

has anyone enjoyed a light frappacino lately? years ago, when i first considered the switch, they were GUH-ROSS, but lately they're tasting perfectly nice... i think they used to be made with aspartame but now it's a splenda/sugar blend. well, i get my weekly sbux treat today while i make gre vocab flashcards. bliss. (ps: i <3 learning new words!)

peas, love and happiness

i have NEVER liked peas. and that's odd, because i LOVE veggies. veggies that nobody likes, especially. i love brussels sprouts, asparagus and broccoli. i'm a pretty serious spinach fan. zucchini is my bestest friend int he whole wide world. but peas? the chinese place around the corner from my office used to know me as "without the peas" because i'd order my fried rice... well, without the peas. (now they think i'm a vegetarian because i started going there again and just getting a veggie egg roll and the lady asked if it was my diet and i said yes, thinking, like, wtf, lady, my diet is none of your business, and then i realized she's buddhist and probably a vegetarian... and huh. okay, so now i'm a vegetarian. there, anyway.)

my folks are on vacation this week so we were bequeathed their csa share and it included fresh peas in the pod. so, after putting up a small batch of marinara, two dinners worth of mashed potatoes (i make em from scratch and then freeze them in zippy bags for a fast, homemade side because i'm freaking martha stewart) and a rhubarb pie, i SHUCKED THEM. 3 pounds. and they just smelled so good i tasted one.

you know where this is headed, right? i'm madly in love with raw, local, organic peas.

i went to the track on monday and used the rain yesterday as an excuse to put off the next workout until today and of course, it's raining harder and is also cold. so... i rock that. i guess i'll go tonight. in the rain. and the cold. super. my weight is edging down toward a new this-time low and i think we can expect a small milestone sometime soon.

i'm sort of baffled by the nearness of "overweight." and i wonder how many years of my life i spent "overweight" and thinking i was a total whale. i'm also baffled by the unfairness of the who bmi thing. i mean... really? i only get 20 pounds to be "overweight"? is that because i'm so short??

i'm really trying to focus on my three BIG goals coming up: overweight (7 pounds!), "normal" (27 pounds!) and goal (37 pounds!). and i'm on track to make it to "normal" by november.

linky-link! nutritional info on your recipes

neat.

product review: vitaminwater10, essential flavor

hey, that was fast! and i'm running out of orange-flavored beverages...

the pros: tastes much the same a regular vitamin water, which is to say, like oranges juice but wrong-- in a goodish way. 25 calories in the 20-ounce bottle. plus 5% of potassium, 250% of vitamin c and, well, a slew of other vitamins. funny paragraph on the side.

the cons: tastes pretty much the same as regular vitamin water. creepy super-sweet aftertaste, which must be a side effect of the stevia/truvia/whatever stuff they're both sweetened with. contains no juice.

so... well, yeah, i'll drink this instead of the regular stuff when i'm sick or hungover. i'm a water/seltzer gal the rest of the time. it just feels like such a WASTE to drink calories (and not get tipsy).

product review: trop50 by tropicana

having quit smoking, started exercising regularly, started taking a vitamin and cut a lot of chemicals out of my life over the past six months i managed to survive the winter without one cold. then yesterday? after a weekend in the 70s? and then a drop back to the forties? i had no voice. today is worse.

since i happened to see an ad for this trop50 business over the weekend, i hit my local wawa this morning for a 12-ounce of that and a 20-ounce vitamin water "10" (which has 10 calories per serving). (i haven't tasted that yet.)

so... the main event.

pros: tastes mostly like oj. 80 calories in a 12-ounce bottle. 19% of potassium, 50% of calcium, 150% of vitamin c and a whole slew of other vitamins.

cons: creepy super-sweet after taste. "orange juice beverage with vitamins." pulp free (= FAIL). 42% juice (= MAJOR FAIL).

basically, if i were an oj drinker-- one who needed oj to feel fulfilled by her breakfast experience, i might try to make the switch. but... i only drink it when i'm sick. so, whatever. i'll drink this when i'm losing -- seriously, did you think i was gonna go wasting 170 calories on a BEVERAGE, sick or not?-- and regular old, pulpy oj when i'm not.

later, maybe i'll blog the vw10 (haha. it looks like it's a volkswagen.) and the plain old lipton's decaf & water... all of which i have huddled around me.