Monday, November 17, 2008

ugh. giant headache all day from lack of carbs.

am feeling fat in general, and my will-power is next to nil cuz i think it's nearing that time of the month. Too much information? WELL TOO BAD!!! HAHAHAHA

have been cursing this diet in my head all day, as well as cursing the students for needing so much of my time for retakes. i am definitely a grumpy gus.

here's the menu for the day:

breakfast: 1 egg over-easy (I ran out of spinach)
lunch: carl's jr. lettuce-wrapped burger (*sigh* I really need to go grocery shopping so I can stop eating these)
dinner: my will power gave out, and i had a bbq pork wrap from costco. It was delish!

I felt really guilty for having had carbs, so I got off my duff at around 9:30 and went to work out (sets/reps/weight):

squats: 2/10/95
overhead dbell raises: 2/10/15 (my arms are so much weaker than they used to be...)
rows: 2/10/60
lunges: 2/10/2x20
swiss ball curls: 2/10/bw
push-ups: 2/10/full-body

I am a little sore today, which is a good thing. I am at home waiting for my new 52" Sharp aquos tv to be delivered, and then I am going to go for a swim in our community pool. It is freakin' hot for November this year, and I may as well take advantage of it.

i'm hoping the physical exertion will make me less of a (whiny) bitch. we'll see...

The ish really hit the fan for the rest of the week.

I didn't get a chance to update my blog, and now I don't remember exactly what I ate. I will say I was good up until Friday (I remember i had a caesar salad from Wendy's for lunch on Thursday, and a southwest salad from Jalepno Grille on Friday), and then Saturday hit...

Tong and Sawamura got evacuated from their home mid-morning on Saturday because of the fires, so they left me alone to staff their interns as well as mine in primary care and ocular disease for a few hours until the front desk could find somebody to help cover. I didn't have time to go buy a carb-free lunch (worked straight through lunch), so I caved and had a granola bar one of the students gave me. By the time I got home, I was ravenously hungry, and the only thing we had on-hand was ramen/instant noodle packets (I couldn't stand the thought of eating another carl's jr. lettuce-wrapped burger) and grapes. OMG, I really miss fruit. Fresh, cold, juicy, sweet fruit. It makes me question how good this diet is if I can't eat nature's candy.

Sunday was friend's thanksgiving in LA:

breakfast: 1 egg, over easy
lunch: grilled fish from California Fish Grill (haha, pretty obvious choice, I guess)
dinner: turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, pecan pie, creamed corn, sweet potato pie, wine... you name it, I had it. :)

Now, it's back to cutting carbs. This diet is very inconvenient when emergencies happen... need to be better about planning ahead (but who knew there were gonna be fires in Brea??), because not eating at all is not an option. Ppl with more will power may be able to do it, but not i.

day 9 (tuesday)

breakfast was nonexistent today, because I had errands to run, and just plain forgot: a slice of cheese.

lunch (w/ a family friend): carl's jr. guacamole burger, sans bun (I really need to stop eating these, but a salad just didn't sound like it would cut it after I'd pretty much fasted all morning)

dinner: cucumber and chicken stir fry (leftovers)

so I've been obsessively weighing myself every morning in the hopes that all this pain is be worth it. A couple of days ago, I was down a pound, and I was feeling very lean (have you ever noticed how your body feels when you're burning calories even when not doing anything? You can actually feel the burn). Today, the pound i lost over the last week or so is back, and i'm not feeling quite so lean. There must've been some hidden carbs in what I ate yesterday. :(

and all this is happening the day before my weekly weigh-in for the biggest loser competition! I was hoping to be able to post a loss two weeks in a row (which hasn't happened thus far). boo-hoo.

guess I'll have to hit up the gym tonight to boost the burn.

day 8 (Monday)

breakfast: spinach and egg scramble, 2 sausage patties

lunch: reduced-fat southwest salad from trader joe's, minus the black beans *sniff*
1 container of spicy ranchero-styl egg white salad (packed with protein, pretty few calories)
peanuts (I think I OD'd on these, cuz I felt kind of sick afterwards)

dinner: southwest salad from stonefire grill (lettuce, nappa cabbage, avocado, onions, jicama, bell pepper, tri-tip) and roasted chicken breast -- i didn't realize i ate two different kinds of southwest salads until now... i am getting repetitive.

snack: string cheese

Day 7

feeling refreshed after 10 hours of sleep (I was in bed by 10 pm last night... I am still not a loser)!

breakfast: spinach and egg scramble, sausage patty (this is becoming default meal for me, but it's very tasty and satisfying)
lunch: sausage wrapped in lettuce, with a little bit of onion (bbq with church peeps... I brought mac and cheese, and veggie salad... it's getting easier to turn down carbs).
dinner: cucumber and chicken stir fry, no rice -- something's missing... but I managed.

Day 6 (Saturday, November 8)

had clinic at 8 am, so breakfast was next to nil: a couple of slices of cheese
lunch: carl's jr. low carb burger (again... i'm going to have to stop eating these)
dinner: 1 egg over easy, a couple of sausage patties

passed up on going out for drinks with friends because
1. I was too tired and lazy to drive up to Pasadena after work
2. even if I had the energy/motivation to drive the 50 miles that google maps said it would take, I wouldn't have been able to drink anything. I would've just been standing around staring at ppl, so I decided to sit at home alone with alfie and watch the boob tube. I am not a loser, I am not a loser, I am not a loser...

Day 5

the challenge of eating out with people who love carbs and dessert, summarized in two words: it's hard.

here's today's menu:

breakfast: spinach and egg scramble, with a couple of sausage patties
lunch: chopped salad from corner bakery (lettuce, avocado, bacon, chicken, bleu cheese)
dinner: seared tuna over a bed of greens, bowl of miso soup
snack: string cheese, walnuts

my friends ordered this toast thing at dinner that looked freakin' awesome. Two 2-inch thick slices of toast, hollowed out, and filled with ice cream, topped with cubes made of the center of the toast.

it doesn't sound so great, but trust me. It looked dericious.
damn this diet... :P

Day 4

I'm finding that late at night, i really really really want carbs.

Didn't get to post yesterday because I was pooped.

Here's what i ate:

Breakfast: spinach and egg scramble, with a couple of sausage patties (incidentally, I HAVE been eating the omega 3 eggs... I just didn't know that's what we've been buying... silly ed)
Lunch: grilled chicken caesar salad from panera. I am proud of myself cuz i didn't eat the croutons, and saved the french baguette for my bro.
dinner: spinach and tofu salad, with some rotisserie chicken from costco, caesar dressing.
snack: walnuts

Phew.
this has been a somewhat tough week. I should also add that I managed to decline a delicious-looking birthday cake for a friend at bible study. Man, that was tough. I dunno how I'll be able to turn anything down at thanksgiving!

Day 3

it's getting a little easier... but maybe because i'm eating such fatty foods:

breakfast: scrambled egg with spinach and sausage patty
lunch: low carb six dollar burger from carl's jr.
dinner: cheese and sandwich meat (I was still full from lunch)
snack: walnuts

had a nice headache through the afternoon, but that was after watching some students practice SLE through a teaching tube, so I can't tell if the headache was from that or from the diet. Tomorrow will be a good indicator.

Day 2

today's menu:

breakfast: scrambled egg with steak strips
snack: cottage cheese (I didn't know this was a nono)
lunch: 3 sausage patties with cheese melted over them
snack: walnuts
dinner: steak strips sauteed with tomatoes, onions and spinach

I complained this much about not having a cheat day cuz I miss milk and fruit, and got the smackdown. :( I will keep my bitching to myself from now on. Haha, or at least to those who are sympathetic (aka Paul is an insano slave driver, but i'm sure he will get results).

Day 1

1: the number of days I've been on the Paul V. version of the TNT diet. Wanted fries with lunch, and candy while at work, but I managed to keep myself from partaking both times.
It's been a little bit up and down. I am def missing the carbs, but I feel pretty good so far. I think the main challenge to this will be eating out with ppl. Went to lunch with Bobby, and we both ordered salads.

Here's today's menu:

Breakfast: 2 eggs over-easy w/ tabasco sauce
Snack: 1 stick of string cheese
Lunch: Kaasomething Kobb salad from Islands, with half the dressing (grilled chicken, bacon, avocado, bleu cheese, tomato, and lettuce of course)
Dinner: miso soup with leafy green Asian vegetable (miso, water, tofu, veggies) and 4 meatballs from costco (I forget the brand, but they are tasty!)
Snack: 1 stick of string cheese, walnuts

another long-winded yet mindless update

Alfie is doing much better now that he is on anti-anxiety medications. We are leaving him inside the house during the day in the laundry room. I feel bad for him because this means he has to hold his bodily functions until either myself or my bro gets home (and it's usually my bro cuz I am gone for 10-12 hours at a time... makes me wonder if i should have a dog, but it's a little late for that now... who knew my schedule would suck donkey balls like this when I started??), but at least he seems to feel a lot more secure inside the house.

there is still a little barking when I leave, but for the most part, he's been quieter and calmer. I'm still waking up at 5 am to walk him before I go to work (cuz he doesn't get to run around outside anymore). I'm wondering if the barking will start up again after we take him off the meds. Ay me, if it does.

Stress at work is starting to level off a bit... 12 station is over, and I'm pretty sure my reptutation as a biotch is firm and secure. :P I saw some pretty questionable angle estimates and cornea exams tho.

I can't wait until next quarter when I will have fewer 8 am days. I. CAN'T. WAIT. 8 AM sucked as a student, and it still sucks as a doc. The ironic thing about school is that starting at 8 am doesn't necessarily mean i get out earlier. i am still there until 6 or 7 (sometimes 8) pm. What is the incentive for me to take the early shifts?? There is none...

I made my first appearance at the gym in a while because the little brown dog that lives at my house has been calmer. The gym in Irvine is uber-packed. I miss the unused gym in Saratoga, cuz the squat cage was always empty there.

Yesterday I did exercises with light weights at home during commercial breaks while watching The Biggest Loser cuz I got a haircut yesterday that reveals the fact that my double chin is growing its own double chin. :P I've decided having mirrored closet doors definitely has its pitfalls. Today I am a little sore... it wasn't the best workout, but it's way better than nothing. I'm hoping to get into a routine now so that I can work out more consistently. :)

i kind of feel like throwing up right now. It may be from a combination of breakfast-to-coffee ratio, lack of sleep, and nerves. Why am I nervous? Two reasons, really:

1. I just printed an application for another job while at work. People were walking by... there was much scurrying to get to the printer before they did. There's also the whole "i don't know what to do about my job/life/family" issue that comes along with sending this application off that is really doing a number on my stomach.

2. my supervisor just finished asking me about a student that i graded down for efficiency, who is going on probation. She's contesting grades (particularly mine) and going to the dean, etc. to contest them. I am a non-confrontational type of gal. When she came to talk to me, I didn't back down, but felt absolutely horrible for it. Then she went to the higher-ups, who are now examining how i graded her. I was told that it wasn't my grade that pushed her over the edge of being held back in clinic, but with the amount of scrutiny that is going into this, it sort of feels like it was. Ugh. I love teaching, but it really sucks when they suck.
So now I'm going over everything (again) in my head over what went wrong that day... was I unfair? Did I do the right thing? If I cave-in and change the grade, does that set a precedent that I will always cave? Will I be known as the weakest link? Is it better to be known as the weakest link and be liked, or just be known as a biotch?
Just when I had almost convinced myself I am pretty damn lucky to be in a job that I actually like, and is challenging, this situation comes along... I dunno what to do.

Since my last post, the neighbors have called animal control on Alfie for the one day that I tried to leave him at home. I don't doubt that he was barking all day. I don't doubt that he is annoyingly loud. I strongly resent the fact that my neighbors aren't willing to come and talk to me about it, especially since we just moved in. Nice effing welcome to the neighborhood.

The ironic thing is, I had just talked to Anal Neighborlady the day before animal control was called. I went to her house to talk about the dog situation, and she gave me the whole "don't worry about your dog" speech again. "Somebody called animal control on my dog when I first got him, though, so watch out for the other neighbors. If I leave a note, I make sure to sign it. I don't like when you leave it anonymously like that."

based on the above conversation, I eliminated Anal Neighborlady as the Anonymous Caller. So yesterday, I went around to the neighbors behind us to talk to them. They said they haven't noticed our dog barking or whining, but that Anal Neighborlady has a reputation for being very nitpicky. They guessed she was the one that called animal control.

Anal Neighborlady lives to the left of us. The people to the right of us are not home on an extended vacation. There's a row of houses behind us, but the neighbors directly behind us said they are all from Taiwan, and "you know how Asians are... we're loud."

That left the people across the street. I went across the street to talk to them, and the one lady that was home said "I haven't heard your dog at all."

wtf.

somebody is lying. What's worse is somebody is lying straight to my face.

wtf.

Alfie is back at doggie daycare, and is continuing to drain my funds, which were sort of scarce to begin with. :(

I really wanna get away. This other job is looking more and more attractive every day. I have to be careful though... do i want it because it will let me escape from what i'm going through (which, as bad as it may seem now, i know is just temporary)? or do i want it because it really is the better choice?

if i think anymore, my head might explode.

And now, on to the good news. Alfie and I had lots of fun in Vegas this past weekend. There was no barking, whining, and I was able to leave him with his buddies without any problems. I've come to the conclusion that he needs a buddy. I can't get him a buddy, though, until I live on my own in a new place far far away from anal neighbors.

My weight is down despite the trip to Vegas and all the good eats! I'm chalking it up to the fact that I didn't go overboard, and the 3.5 mile breast cancer walk a few of us went on on Saturday. Yay me. :)

we are finally moved in at the new house, and crap is everywhere. Here a crap, there a crap, everywhere a crap, crap.

All I can say is that my bro and I still have so much work to do before the house is comfy, but at least we're here. I already miss the old house, even though this one was a considerable upgrade.

The new neighbors suck ass. Big, big ass. We've been here for two days, and she's written us two notes about Alfie's barking. He has issues with being alone at the new place. He doesn't bark during the day, but if we leave him at night, all hell breaks loose, and Anal Neighborlady gets upset. She writes notes that say "your dog has been barking for hours! Please keep him quiet," but will come talk to us the next day and say "oh, I wasn't upset, I love dogs! I just wanted to come over and pet him and tell him everything was ok." Then, the next night, there's another note: "your dog has been barking since 7:00 pm. It is disturbing the peace BIG TIME!" Did I just miss something? Was that attempt at legal jargon a threat to notify the authorities?

I refuse to apologize, but it's kinda stressing me out. I have been trying to train alfie so that he won't whine and howl when we leave him home alone, but it's an uphill battle. I'm going to have to send him to doggie day care on Wednesdays because I'm gone from 8 AM to 10 PM. Irvine sucks. Old white ladies who never leave home suck.

On the upside, i was reading about how to help dogs with separation anxiety online, and I kept coming across advice to tire the dog out. In order to make him tired, I have to walk him for at least an hour. Before work. That means that Ed woke up at 5 AM this morning to walk alfie for an hour around Irvine. Then, because I was worried he was going to "disturb the peace" again, I drove him to the old house (which is still unrented as of yet), and left him there for the day. I drove back at lunchtime to check on him, and he was quiet as a mouse. Maybe he senses that Anal Neighborlady is nearby, and is protesting his closeness to such suckage when he's in Irvine.

I was dead tired all day, but if this regimen keeps up, the pounds should start coming off. I had to forgo the gym workout tonight because that would've meant leaving alfie home alone... but i didn't want to risk Anal Neighborlady calling animal control to take him away from me! Tomorrow is my day off, so there will be extensive obedience training. I'm hoping to get him "stable" by the end of the week, or my life is gonna be just as pathetic as Anal Neighborlady's. I won't be able to go ANYWHERE. Wish me luck!

two things:
first, go here. I'd copy and paste it into my blog, but it loses some of its effectiveness if you can see the whole thing at once. Thanks to Deb for sending me the link. Made my day.

second, I have been terrible at blogging since i started this thing. My xanga has been severely neglected as well. I think it would actually be cathartic to write about what's going on in my head, but when it comes out, i sound so much like a whiny little bitch. Prolly better to keep it to myself. Keeping things to myself, however, results in me packing on the stress fat and poundage.

I hate making excuses for myself, though. I'm obviously this round and fat because I let life get in the way of the ultimate goal of sexiness. If it were really my top priority, I wouldn't let things like family, work, and the temptation of baked/fried/frosted/buttery/sweet/savory/refined carb-filled/high fructose corn syrupy goodness get to me, and i'd be the sexiest bitch out there.

everything's been about family lately, and it's been driving me nuts. It never ceases to amaze me how willing I am to do the exact same things for my friends, but when asked/told/forced to do it for family, I rage. Weekly small group meetings with church friends has served to show me how hypocritical I am. While it sucks to be a hypocrite, it's a good thing I have some sort of checks-and-balances system in place, or i'd be one self-absorbed mofo.

After a lot of kicking and screaming (in my head) about the injustice of my life (wah wah wah, nobody else has to deal with this, why should i?? I'm getting the heck outta dodge), I've decided to suck it up. As I said before, things could be a lot worse. I want to be able to look back on my life with no regrets. It's morbid to say, but if i lost my family today, I'd feel pretty damn guilty about the resentful thoughts that have been running through my head lately. My family is insane, but it's all outta love.

phew. Having said all that (sorry if it's a little cryptic, but it makes sense to me, and this post is mainly for me), it's time to get down, dirty, and hardcore about the biggest loser competition. We finally moved to the new house last night. Half my stuff is at the old place, and half my stuff is at the new place, but i already feel ten times less stressed just because there has been some action. I do not "wait and see" well.

There are a couple of gyms on the way home from work, a pretty decent-sized pool in our community, and a little brown pup that needs walking so that he doesn't drive the neighbors crazy whining when I leave him home alone. I keep thinking, "something on the scale better budge soon (Daph, I totally feel ya on the scale issue... but, like you, I also have some poundage to drop)," but in the spirit of this post, I'm going to appreciate what I have, and work towards what I want rather than whining about what I don't have. In the very least, I have not gained weight since the competition began, and that's a start!

just stop pressuring me (poor me)

been feeling very stressed out lately, and when I'm stressed, I pack on the pounds because I seek food for comfort, and stop exercising.

also, my oldest bro and his family were here to visit, which made it virtually impossible to get a workout in.

what's going on in my life, you may ask?
1. work is really starting to pick up. I'm teaching a lab, staffing at a new offsite, and picking up more hours in clinic. Teaching the lab is fun, and it's really not that much more work, but more hours in clinic and the new offsite are a little stressful. Last week, I had to go back to work after bday dinner for my dad to finish grading to meet the end of quarter deadline. I was there by myself until 11:45 pm. I also had to go in for an emergency corneal ulcer case I was following on Sunday. I think I was at that damn place every day of the week. I'm having flashbacks of 2nd and 3rd year.
Not having two days off in a row really sucks ass. I dunno how other people do it.

2. the new house my parents bought in irvine is almost ready. This means my bro and I will be moving there soon. My dad is still living with us until the remodelling is complete. I am not looking forward to packing up all the crap we have at this house. Where am I gonna come up with the time to move?? Also, living at the new house will add about fifteen minutes to my twenty-five minute commute. Goodbye sleep...

3. I am leading a small group/bible study group for church. It's been really great to meet people, and get more involved, but it's also a huge responsibility. I feel guilty if I don't want to go to our weekly meetings and/or church on Sunday because I am supposed to be an example to other people. Last week was especially bad because I had to choose between church group and family. Luckily, my niece and nephew were at Disneyland, so they didn't miss me. I was dead tired after work because we'd gone to Knott's Berry farm the day before, but still managed to make it to the meeting. I am starting to feel my age, because I don't bounce back from lack of sleep like I used to.

my stress is probably all internal because i feel obligated to be at so many places and/or perform at a certain standard. If i had lower standards for myself (ie, be a shitty staff doc/lab proctor/small group leader), my mental tiredness might not be so bad.

if i can just get off my duff and into a gym, i think the endorphins would kick in, and the stress would cut back. I'm finding it so hard to muster up the motivation to go to the gym after work though, cuz all I wanna do is sleep (it's a vicious cycle). Gonna have to start packing my gym clothes and not allowing myself to go home until I've been to the gym.

all-in-all, though, i should stop complaining. Things could be much, much worse (ie, i could be homeless and hungry with HIV or something). :)

New World Record!

Not really... I am just impressed that I am posting 2 days in a row!

Worked out with D yesterday. I'm very glad I am going with her, because she has pushed me to new heights with the weight. She also bought me a pair of gloves with which to lift (thanks D! I don't have to worry about my ugly callouses when I shake ppl's hands anymore!). Now we are even more badass-looking -- not necessarily actually badass.

Here's what we did (sets/reps/weight):

• squats (2/10/95#) triple digits here we come!!!
• pushups (2/15/BW) still struggling with the last 3 of each set
• seated rows (2/10/80#, 75#) see prev post about plateauing... can't seem to get much higher than this before it becomes too difficult to maintain form
• step ups (2/10/55#) really hate these. Can't wait until we don't have to do them anymore.
• prone jackknife (2/12/BW)

yesterday really challenged me. It felt great. After the shaky, nauseous feeling went away, that is. :P The thing that impresses me the most is that D stayed at the gym to go to a cardio kickboxing class. She is hardcore (and pretty badass, actually).

I am taking the more slackerish slow and steady approach. Gonna try to get some cardio in tonight after work.

I rack disaprine. All the time.

I am blogging under duress because somebody threatened to kill me if I didn't update this thing.

I don't have my journal here with me, but I will try to go from memory.

I took a week or so off from the gym while Daph3000 was out of town to try running. A friend of mine wanted me to run the Nike+ Human Race on Aug. 31. It's a 10k, which is 6.2 miles. I can't run a mile without stopping. You do the math. After a week of training, I was starting to see some gains in my endurance, but my knees started to hurt. I do not love running. I do not love pain. Therefore, motivation to do the Nike+ Human Race is next to nil. It doesn't help that my brother is doing it, and is able to run 5 miles. Just keep rubbing it in. How is it that we are from the same gene pool??

Luckily for me I fear commitment, so I didn't sign up for it before I could prove to myself that I could run a mile at a time. Ah yes, it is nice to be a slacker/failure.

Life got really hectic at home and work last week, so I didn't make it to the gym. It was a friend's birthday party on Friday night in downtown LA that really put me over the top as far as working out. Going to work after 3 hours of sleep does not make Ed a happy girl, nor does it make her want to lift weights the next few days because it takes her waaaay longer to recover from sleep deprivation now that she is old... er. The shit's gonna hit the fan soon when school starts. I can see it already (picking up another 8 hours in clinic, 3 hours of lab, and 2 hours of observation).

Worked out with D on Tuesday:

• deadlifts (2/10/75#,85#)
• overhead dumbbell raises (2/10/2x17.5 --> the 20#'s were taken up... didn't feel like waiting...hate when that happens)
• wide grip lat pulldowns (2/10/75) I think i'm starting to max out on these... 80# makes it really hard to keep up form, and it seems like I've been at 75# forever.
• lunges (2/10/45#)
• swiss ball crunches (2/20/BW)

Got another workout tonight with D, then she and others are off to paradise for a week! We will be switching to Tuesday/Friday workouts because my work schedule is gonna change starting Aug. 18. I want to start training cardio on the off days because my endurance sucks. D and I are thinking of starting a Biggest Loser competition, but it's not as fun when there's only two of us. Let me know if you are interested!

Long overdue...

Yes, that's right. I am a lazy ass. I should be updating this more regularly, but out of sheer lack of will power to force myself to go to my car and get my lifting journal out, I haven't. So much for wanting to cover 10,000 steps a day...

Anyway, I won't bore you with the details. Here's the latest workout D and I did yesterday. I think we have a week or two more before we wrap up phase 1 with the AMRAP workouts (oh god...):

Squats (sets/reps/weight): 2/10/75#
push-ups: 2/15/bw -- I was hoping to increase the reps by now, but the last two or three of these are still kicking my ass. I will say the first five or ten are a lot easier than when we first started.
seated rows: 2/10/75#
step-ups: 2/10/55#
prone-jackknife: 2/12/bw

On a side note, we've run into a couple of very helpful strangers at the gym who've offered us some good advice on form. It makes me wonder what else I've been doing wrong...

After working out last night, I went to a bible study group, where I met a literal doubting Thomas (his name is Thomas, haha). I told him what D and I are trying to accomplish, and the first thing he said to me was "be careful, you don't wanna do too much weight because you don't want to get bulky, right?" Ugh... and *sigh* It makes me wanna get bulky just so i can kick his ass. Just kidding. That wouldn't be very Christian of me. :P

I will say, tho, that talking to ppl like that just makes me wanna do it more so i can prove them wrong. Now if I can only clean up the eating and get lean to show off the awesomeness that is developing under my layer of flab (I've noticed my shoulders have great tone... too bad the arm flab masks it, dammit)!

work and holidays really mess with my motivation to work out. I was supposed to work out on my own on Thursday and Saturday last week while D was in Vegas. Did I? noooooooope.

what did I do instead? I went out to Chipotle on Thursday with my bro and ate half a burrito bowl (I would get credit for not eating the whole thing except that I finished it off later that night... dammit).
Friday was July 4th, which started off with McDonald's Bfast (nailing my coffin shut here), a burrito, iced vanilla late from coffee bean, wine tasting in Santa Barbara followed by an ice cream cone at the pier, and vegetables and pasta for dinner. H-ohhh boy.
We didn't get back from SB until about 2 in the morning, so I spent Saturday recovering from the previous day. Had a "sensible" late breakfast, and skipped lunch. Went up to LA for dinner at C&O Trattoria with the bro again, where I managed to stop myself from eating the entire pasta dish... but not before I had eaten five or six (or eight) garlic knots. Ay me.

By the time Sunday rolled around, I was feeling pretty guilty about having gorged myself all weekend and not worked out, so I went to the gym:

exercise: (sets/reps/weight)
squats: 2/12/65#
push-ups: 2/12/bw
seated row: 2/12/70#
step-up: 2/12/2x20#
prone jackknife: 2/10/bw

I am really starting to hate step-ups. They are te.di.ous. I upped the weight considerably from last workout cuz according to alwyn's plan, i'm cutting down on reps. This is where i was before my long-ass break from working out when i moved down to so-cal. It'll be interesting to see how far i get this time.

I was still feeling guilty about not working out all weekend, so I decided to catch up by going to the gym again last night (two days in a row is not recommended, so I didn't push myself):

deadlift: 2/12/65#
dumbbell shoulder press: 2/12/2x15#
wide-grip lat pull-down: 2/12/70# (second set at 80#... ugh... might be too much)
lunge: 2/12/2x15# (forearms got tired, so switched the second set to a 40# bar)
swiss-ball crunch: 2/20/bw

i have another workout scheduled with D tonight. I'm not too sore, so I think I should be able to manage it. Hopefully i'm not ruining myself by doing these workouts back-to-back. Moral of the story? DO NOT PUT OFF WORKING OUT AND TRY TO CATCH UP!!!

today was my day off, so any activity was "bonus."
I went for a walk with Alfie, and got some NEPA in by making multiple trips from my car to my office, and to clinic. Wish I'd worn my pedometer, cuz I bet it added up!

really need to clean up my eating, cuz I can feel my core flab building up again. I managed to not eat too terribly today... not unhealthy food; prolly just too much of it. :)

ah well. Tomorrow is a new day with no mistakes in it!

Ain't nothin' but a G thang, baby

and by 'G thang,' I mean Girl thing.

I decided to join the club and start a fitness blog.  If you wanna read the inner workings of my mind, go here. It may not be public for long, tho, because I'm gonna start teaching soon, and I don't want my students to read my rants about how terrible they or I have been in clinic.  :P

   

Daph3000 and I have been consistently working out for a week, and I am damn proud of us.  We are 4 workouts into Phase 1 of the NROL for Women workout, and are showing the boys how it's done.  

I start work this week, so my schedule's gonna change, but hopefully we can still keep a workable schedule for us both to follow.  I'd hate to have to start over yet again.

I wimped out on my workout today and lifted the same amount of weight as I did last workout because I was feeling like sh*t all day, but D dropped it like it's hot (in the 4 workouts that we've done, she's lifting as much weight as I am in most of the exercises, and has passed me in some of them!):

WORKOUT B2 (how come I can't underline??):

deadlifts (sets/reps/weight): 2/15/50

overhead dumbbell press: 2/15/2x15

wide grip lat pulldowns: 2/15/65

lunges: 2/15/2x15

swiss ball crunches: 2/15/bw

it's not a good time to weigh and measure myself (i'm sparing you from tmi), and I don't think I want the www to know my stats, but I'll post in the form of X+/-.  Hopefully it'll all be minuses, but realistically, I'm aiming for mostly minuses.