Archive for Eating

Ugh. Stinkin’ life.

{ November 8, 2010 @ 7:51 PM } · { 321, Allison, Bitching and Moaning, Eating, Exercise }
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So…it’s been a while.

To be fair, I haven’t been paying much attention to healthiness and exercise. We went to D.C. at the end of October, work has been slightly manic and I’m trying to get things locked up for our special wedding date of 9/10/11 (People are already booked for that date! DAMMIT!).

I skipped out on a Social Media Atlanta function tonight. Why? I haven’t done laundry in a month. My apartment looks like a tornado hit it. I was out late at the Mumford & Sons concert (which was AMAZING…I’m listening to the album now and my heart wants to be back at the concert). There were just things I had to take care of before I could even begin to fathom going to this event. I’m sorry, but having underwear for tomorrow seems infinitely more important all of a sudden.

With the moved up wedding date though, all the time I had in the world to get healthy for it feels like it has gone out the window. I’m hoping to be put back on some sort of track soon. But in the meantime, my washer just went off and there’s a few more loads I have to do tonight.

The Day After Halloween

{ November 1, 2010 @ 5:14 PM } · { 321, Eating, Goals, Sara }
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November first has arrived and that can basically mean one thing: there is a lot of candy in my office.  Most people probably have this problem.  I didn’t want to buy candy for trick-or-treaters because I knew that I would buy the candy that I like and would end up eating half of it.  So, point there. However, there are people in my office who not only bought candy for trick-or-treaters, but also took their children out.  On a side note, I was thinking earlier today that those parents taking their babies and toddlers trick-or-treating are really using the kid to get candy for themselves and this is not frowned upon. Does no one stop to think that the one-year-old being carried up to the door is not going to be gorging on Kit-Kats later?

Back to the candy. So, when co-workers came in today, so did candy. I am really trying to stick to my LBD challenge here and I really can’t do that if I make pumpkin cinnamon rolls for the rally brunch and take my friends to eat German candy is floating around my office. My saving grace is the lack of reason for going into the back part of the suite and seeing pictures like this:

Thank you Ava Gardner.  You made me back away from the Kit-Kat slowly and shamefully.

Sneak Attack

{ October 19, 2010 @ 4:53 PM } · { 321, Eating, Goals, Sara }
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Fall is here and for the next two months, so is all the wonderful holiday food and candy.  Normally, this would be where I would keep working out and still manage to fall off the wagon at the same time.  I’ll go running and all, but the fact that October is the start of pumpkin-y goodness, mesmerizing Kit-Kat commercials, and days of bingeing, I realize that I need to come up with a plan. 

Normally when I get on one of my health jags, it’s when I have a goal.  Sadly, I have been lacking in goals.  This past year I have been setting them according to when I am going to see people.  The first was when a friend was returning from Afghanistan.  Another was for a check-up.  I was thinking a very short-term one could be when Allison comes to see me IN 9 DAYS!!!! (Attach a variety of screams and jumps here) Another goal is when my parents come to see me for Thanksgiving and then when I go home for Christmas.  I have to say that currently none of these goals are really inspiring me since there is so much pumpkin pie in abundance.  I also don’t really have any rewards to my goal either.  Shopping gives a certain high, but a lot of times I actually get irritated with having to get rid of clothes and get new ones because it is so expensive.  Food is not a way to reward yourself, so I am trying to find a way to motivate myself.  Any suggestions from my partners-in-crime?

One idea is a competition. A friend of mine is in the middle of a bet with one of his best friends to see who can get a six-pack first. Then I guess they go back eating Count Chocula with a vengeance, but is there something we can come up with instead of guiltily having to come here and say that I had a s’more milkshake last night (which I totally did, but I was at a going-away dinner and they are soooo good and I lack self-control at times.) Maybe plan a trip when we have money? Think on it and get back to me.

So, There’s A Lot I Want To Tell Y’all

{ September 30, 2010 @ 4:57 PM } · { 321, Eating, Exercise, Sara, Thankful }
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I’m having a good day.  I’ve been giddy for most of it and I think I will be giddy throughout the night, into tomorrow, and hopefully into the weekend (knock on wood.) The first bit to cause giddy-iness: Election are in full swing now.  I know this sounds horrible to most people, but inside the beltway, sitting on top of a hill, it means I can wear jeans to work and not have to worry about hearings and such.  It means I can leisurely read Deepwater reports…ok, leisurely means I’m reading them while wearing  jeans.

Second cause of giddy-iness: the Macondo Well was killed. This is the name of the well that caused the massive oil spill in the Gulf and has made me think of filing a claim against BP, asking for five months of my life back.  Since it was killed last week, we thought it appropriate to have a funeral and nothing says mourning like chocolate-bourbon cake (sorry gals, but there has to be some celebration.) So, since we have adjourned, the well has been killed, and the Coast Guard Authorization bill has been passed, among other things, we thought cake would be good.  And possibly pizza.

Third giddy-iness cause: HOCKEY! I have club level tickets to a Caps game tomorrow night (and no amount of slanderous talk from you, Allison, will make me upset) with three friends.

Fourth causation of giddy-iness: my blogging co-horts. *all warm and fuzzies* They wrote some awesome posts today and they always make me think about what I can do/be better.  And this has been a massive theme for me for the past month and a half.  How to be better and re-define myself.  This blog came at the right time when my life needed a huge overhaul and it’s helping out in more ways that y’all could ever know.

So, on the exercise front and eating front.  I’ve behaved myself completely.  No junk or anything.  There was a close call with some sun chips last night, but I put them back.  And my work-outs have been great.  Ballet made me slightly stiff today, but I didn’t realize this until I started working out.  And I also thought I would include this which I thought was a good article (Have I mentioned before how much I love City Sports?)

I also thought I would include for y’all a bit of workplace humor.  Now, we’re kind of strange.  But there is no way that you can get through some of these issues without developing an odd sense of whimsy.

If you have questions about flaming sea turtles, let me know.

You would not believe how hard it was to convince people to leave tarballs alone. Especially the junior Senator from Florida

This is my favorite section from any transcript ever. A rigger was refusing to say something on record because "there's ladies present"

It’s these kinds of things that make me realize how fun my co-workers are and how glad I am to be trapped in the foxhole with them.

Self image, exercising and the whole shebang

{ September 30, 2010 @ 9:29 AM } · { 321, Allison, Bitching and Moaning, Eating, Exercise, Self Esteem }
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I haven’t blogged. I would go back and check to see when I last blogged but I’m pretty sure it would depress me. The fact is, it really has been a nonstop, action packed schedule for me. I say that, and I probably have no excuse given what both Ashley and Sara do, but the fact is that I get up in the morning, come into work around 8:00 and leave late. Last night was our Tweetup and I didn’t get home until 9:30. Tonight is Mashable’s event here in Atlanta along with an interfaith sort and I find myself double booked and not thinking (and quite honestly, not caring) about working out. I want to go home and sleep for a million years, but I find myself waking up in the middle of the night and I never feel like I get a decent amount of sleep. But I realize now, more than ever, the working out has GOT to happen.

The other night, I was out at Target when I spotted a super cute dress and I tried it on. Guys, I looked pregnant. It almost had me wondering if I’ve been carrying a baby around in my belly for a couple of months and hadn’t noticed (and then I would quickly become a girl on the show I Didn’t Know I Was Pregnant). It was a horrible feeling and I didn’t like looking at myself or being myself at that moment. God forbid the day I actually become pregnant–I’ll be so depressed. And it’s not like everything I wear makes me look pregnant–the jeans and top I have on today are fierce as were the wine colored tights I wore yesterday–but in that moment, I hated myself and my body.

The sad part is that this event came after a great day where I played softball for the first time in years and I LOVED IT. I missed it. The swing of the bat, the feel of the glove…it’s an indescribable feeling I get when I play and I realized how much I actually missed it. I gotta figure out a way to get that feeling back and apply it to all my working out.

On the food side, I’ve been trying to eat healthier. This isn’t easy when we have dinner debacles or I’m not even home in time to have dinner with Billy, but I am trying. A lot of fruit is usually in my diet as are almonds. Love almonds. There have been hiccups here and there, but nothing I can’t overcome.

It’s the exercise with my schedule. It’s killing me. I have to find time to work on me and it feels harder and harder to do so.

Be Quiet and Speak Easy

{ September 27, 2010 @ 8:20 PM } · { 321, Eating, Sara, Self Esteem, Victories }
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Sooooo…I didn’t exactly get back on track.  I continued my work-outs.  I had some wonderful Krav classes.  Saturday, I was partnered with one of the instructors. I imagined it was probably a bit frustrating for him, but it was a great class and I learned a lot.

My weekend was rather retro.  It included me and nine other people dressing up, having Italian for dinner, and gaining entrance to a Speakeasy, drinking the most amazing drinks out of old-fashioned glasses, lounging on green velvet couches in dimly lit rooms.  Another venture had three of my gal friends and me in a booth sitting across from four guy friends drinking milkshakes in a 1930’s style diner. And there was also some more shopping. I have moved down a size in tops and dresses and Ann Taylor is making dresses that are Mad Men-esque. 

Of course, I realize that sitting around drinking milkshakes is not going to help me fit into those dresses, but I feel I have gotten those cravings out of my system.  I also can’t seem to wrap my mind around the fact that I can fit into some of these sizes.  It feels like all these stores are messing up their labels.  And in the past couple of months, people have used the adjectives “small” and “tiny” and “skinny” in reference to me, but I can’t quite believe them.  I still feel like I did pounds and pounds ago.  I feel like I have a ways to go. And part of that is saying no to oreo milkshakes.

Off Track

{ September 22, 2010 @ 4:06 PM } · { 321, Bitching and Moaning, Eating, Sara }
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I’m having one of those weeks…not weeks.  Cluster of days that do not equal a week.  I’m determined to turn it around.  I’ve been eating well, but there has been a slip-up a day in there.  Usually in cookie form.  I would like to blame BP for this because of all the investigation reports I am reading, but it comes down to the fact I have no self-control and really need to exert some. However, instead of eating/looking at that cookie and brushing it off, it has made me feel like my entire eating habits are off.  It probably wouldn’t be so bad if I didn’t feel like my work-outs were off as well.  Sure, I have been working out, but I don’t feel as enthused about them as I am normally.  I feel like everything is off.  I have a whole list of excuses ~ my knee hurts, my foot hurts, I don’t like what we did in Krav last night, it’s nice outside and I want to go outside and play, etc.  I am being whiny and I need to suck it up…and stop thinking about shoe shopping.

I can’t wrap my mind around the task at hand, which is bad because I have goals to focus on, whether they are work-related or personal. I know I have to eat better (i.e. ignore the cookies and remember that they will not help in losing weight/fitting into those new clothes). I know I have to realize that I am working out well.  I know I have to read these damned reports, which I am.  It’s just hundreds of pages of lawyers arguing and talk about drilling can make your head hurt and I occasionally need a mini-break or try not to fall asleep at my desk (and the space heater does not help).

So, my goals to get through the week are to a)ignore the cookie a day, which should be easier since my co-worker is not bringing in any more . b)Maybe go for a run after ballet tonight. c) FOCUS ~ on food, work-outs, work, and to take a chance to write, which I haven’t done in a while. d) Realize that I have not failed and I can start over at any time (even in the middle of the day).  Fresh starts and re-inventions are a wonderful thing, a topic which I will definitely delve into later.

It’s Not in the Numbers

{ September 20, 2010 @ 5:44 PM } · { 321, Ashley, Bitching and Moaning, Eating, Self Esteem }
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It hit me yesterday that I have 60 days until my wedding. And I have a sneaking suspicion that my wedding dress isn’t going to zip up if I try it on.

I’ve told you how much I hate tracking my eating and exercising–it feels like dieting, and dieting has been responsible for most of the negative feelings I have towards food and my body.

But let’s face it, folks: I need my wedding dress to zip on my wedding day. And for this reason (and really no other), I’m counting calories. I’m using measuring cups to eat a bowl of cereal. I’m logging into a tracking app on my phone every time I eat a bite. It’s a little like torture, but if it’ll work for the next 60 days, I’m okay with sacrificing a little of my dignity.

Another reason I’ve grown to hate tracking my food is that it forces me to focus on numbers. And despite my recent penchant for solving systems of equations for no reason at all, I’m not a numbers girl. Numbers don’t mean anything to me. And sometimes, they shouldn’t mean anything to me.

Granted, sometimes paying attention to numbers is really important. If I’m not aware that I’m eating 4,000 calories daily, with 75% of those calories coming from processed, fake foods, then that’s a problem, and tracking is a great way to figure out where your nutrition is coming from.

But a lot of the time, numbers don’t mean anything. When I step on a scale, that number doesn’t mean a whole lot. When I’ve got three pairs of pants in vastly different sizes, but each of them fits perfectly, that number on the label becomes ridiculously valueless.

But most of the time, to me, numbers become a marker of my failures. I ate 43 more carbs than I should have. FAIL. I ate on target all week, but the number on the scale isn’t moving downward! DESPERATION! I didn’t measure how many servings of pasta primavera I ate for lunch; now I don’t know how much I ate today and the whole week’s numbers are off. IT’S ALL OVER! Looking at numbers causes me to overlook all the other things happening with my body. That scale refuses to move, and suddenly I’m not thinking about how much more energy I have. I forget write down a meal, and I don’t care anymore that the food I’m eating is fresh, full of nutrients, and building my body to be strong for another day.

So I need your help, people. I’m tracking because I have to–I have a goal (to zip up my dress! yikes!), and tracking is going to help me reach that goal. But I need you to help me keep it real. To help me keep my focus on what’s really important. To not get caught up in the numbers or the mind games they play with me.

Renaissance Faire!!!

{ September 19, 2010 @ 10:10 PM } · { 321, Eating, Exercise, Sara }
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There is really one thing you need to know about my day.  This was involved:

I went to the Maryland Renaissance Festival with some friends.  Yes, there was dark chocolate-covered cheesecake on a stick.  I love it.  I have been thinking about it for the past year.  I also had Steak on a Stake (and it was life-changing) and a lime sno cone. Yeah, I ate badly.  I was at a Renaissance Faire.  I could have gone overboard, but I didn’t.  Like I did last year when there was a lot more fried food and hard cider involved.  It’s no excuse, but…yeah.

Krav was great yesterday.  Grappling.  Flipping people over your shoulders.  It was awesome.  They told us flat up, whoever is bigger, is going to end up winning.  When you’re going against someone in this kind of position, and they’re bigger than you, they have an advantage.  Not that I didn’t make sure they had to work for it.  And then we learned how to flip people over our shoulders.  I was body-slammed so much that it’s surprising that I can move. There’s been a lot of flipping this week, in all kind of ways.  I have bruises in strange places…like under my arm.

I cleaned out my closet this weekend.  Got rid of a bunch of stuff.  All my wool coats have to go because they’re too big. Yay?! Yay! because I get to get new coats. Yay? Because I have to get new coats and that cost money and Yay? because I bought one last year and it makes me sad it only was worn through one season…does anyone need a wool coat?

Where did the week/weekend go?

{ September 19, 2010 @ 9:06 PM } · { 321, Allison, Eating, Exercise }
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Seriously, I have almost no recollection of anything that happened this past week or weekend. There was a lot and I’m feeling quite tired after it.

First things first: I walked a 5k. It was the Kaiser Permanente Corporate Run Walk and I walked with a team of co-workers. We were technically working the event too with a food collection area which was awesome and fun and all that jazz. The 5k took us from Turner Field, past the state capitol building and through Georgia State where I was awash with memories and bitter jealousy over the fact that the campus has grown and THEY FINALLY ARE PUTTING A WAFFLE HOUSE DOWN THERE. Do you know how much I wanted one of those when I went there?! Yeah, yeah…it’s bad for you. WHATEVER. I could’ve killed someone for covered hashbrowns during finals and I had no car to get to my closest WaHo which wasn’t accessible by MARTA. Rant done.

I’m pretty sure I ate badly which we’re trying to remedy this week. But it’ll be another busy week with a cooking class tomorrow night, a dinner at Billy’s sister’s, Inman Park Restaurant Week and the Widespread Panic concert Friday (that’s for work).

However, tonight was the night Billy and I watched Food, Inc., a fantastic documentary executive produced by Eric Schlosser (Fast Food Nation) and Michael Pollan (The Omnivore’s Dilemma). We’ve been in the documentary mood this weekend with An Inconvenient Truth and Paper Clips making up our Saturday night, but Food, Inc. felt more devastating and scary. Maybe it’s because my work revolves around food. Maybe it’s because I can see the food and I’m trying my best to be healthy. I’m not sure, but I know that after watching that movie, one I recommend so many people seeing, I’ll be keeping a closer eye on what I eat and where it comes from. Billy’s feeling it too which helps me out. If we can both make the conscious decision to go to farmer’s markets and buy local, I think we’ll be on a great track.

Wait a second. Was I supposed to exercise this weekend? Um…oops. (It’s still too freakin’ muggy out…doesn’t the Earth know it’s supposed to be fall? Oh, wait. Al Gore says no on that one.)

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