Goodness, Gracious, Great Balls of Fire!

It's been a MONTH since my last post. Well, I'll be a monkey's uncle (ok, not really, but you know what I mean!).

Life has been crazy, so I'm sorry for not having updated.

First off--I started with a Personal Trainer. Let me tell you, I fully believe this is one of the best decisions I have made. I have had only had 3 sessions so far (it would have been 4, but my first session was on the day of the CRAZY east coast earthquake and was therefore cancelled), BUT I can tell you my trainer has pushed me so much further than I would have ever pushed myself. I used to give up after 20 minutes on the treadmill, doing 3.0 mph and a 3.0 grade for 15-20 minutes. I am now semi-easily doing 3.2 mph at a 4.0 grade for 20 minutes....and that's just the warm-up!

I've lost only a couple pounds so far, but I've gained confidence and muscle. It's relatively expensive, but I figure if I make the investment in myself now...in 20-30 years I won't be having to shell out oodles more money to doctors for health bills.

The only downside (aside from the expense) is the overwhelming nausea I get from it. The first training day, I had a protein shake for breakfast and then went to work out. I didn't want to go work out on an empty stomach and I have heard that you should eat protein before working out. Anyway, by the end of the workout, I went to the bathroom and hurled it all up. Won't be doing that again.

2nd training session was in the afternoon, so I decided to have a handful of almonds ~1 hour before working out. Still left feeling nauseous. But I only had 2 water breaks, so I chalked it up to not having enough water.

Yesterday, I took more water breaks, but no snack beforehand. We had to quit 5 minutes early.

I've been told that because of my thyroid issues it's going to take my body a little longer to adapt to such an intense exercise routine. I'm hoping next week everything settles down.

But on a positive note, my trainer said she can definitely see an improvement already. We're increasing weights on weight training already, and starting next week instead of walking on the treadmill, we're going to start to jog! w00t, w00t!!

This afternoon I made tabouleh. It is currently chilling in the fridge. I can't wait to take it out in an hour and go to town on it. It's sooooooo yummy (and healthy)!

Happy labor day weekend!

Meg

Date Night

My boyfriend and I are trying to eat healthier and exercise more.

We're still in an early phase where we eat out ALL the time. I don't mind that--I don't know how to cook for 2 people (let alone ONE). I came from a family of 6, so don't expect me to make food for less than 8 (yeah, that statement is probably correct). But eating out all the time has its drawbacks, too.

Anyway, point is, I'd like to find healthy options. "Why don't you just have a salad" you say? Mostly, I find salads to be lackluster, or really, when it's all said and done, it all tastes the same to me. Nothing is "entertaining" about a salad to me.

Actually come to think about it, I really find all food to be lacking in the entertainment department.

I had an amazing opportunity a couple of weeks ago to eat in Chinatown in San Francisco. I know it was an authentic restaurant because 1/2 the people in there eater were chinese....and it took a good 30 minutes for us to get our meal, so it couldn't have come straight from a bag. Can't get much more authentic than that. The person I was with exclaimed, "Isn't this GREAT!? It's probably the best Chinese food I've ever had!" To me it tasted like the chinese food I can get down the street from my apartment.

I hear all the time from fitness gurus that I should slow down when I eat, enjoy my food. But what if I sincerely just cannot find the joy in anything I eat?

I digress. My original point of this blog was to ask, what in the heck do I eat when my boyfriend and I go on a date and I'm not a fan of salads?

Meg

Sore! but in a good way

Day 5 of pull-ups and my abs are KILLING me. But wait...shouldn't my arms be sore?

Well, to be honest, my arms ARE sore, too. Just not as badly as my core. When I've been doing my reps, I've been focusing on tightening my core, too. And as a result, my core and legs seem to be getting just as good of a workout as my core.

Today I had allllll intentions of going to 11:30am yoga at work. I brought my clothes and everything. And then at 11am, I get this massive headache and feel like I'm going to puke.

I really feel lately that my body just hates me. It's rebelling. I've been seeing my chiropractor about twice a week for the past 2 weeks because my neck is so tight that I'm getting headaches. We also discovered that the muscles in my jaw is particularly tight. We're not sure which came first, the jaw issues or the neck issue, but they're feeding off each other. A massage on Monday night helped alleviate the pain quite a bit.

Anyway, back to today's headache. I had a sneaky suspicion that the headache was caused by one of two things: 1) hunger...I hadn't had a solid meal in almost 24 hours or 2) lack of caffeine. My coworkers generally go to Subway on Fridays, so I opted to eat rather than go to yoga. After about 10 minutes of eating 3/4 of a footlong and a Dr. Pepper, I felt sooooo much better.

I thought all was right with the world (and my body) and then my body rebelled and wanted to expel what I had eaten...

This weekend is probably going to be pretty busy (or tomorrow will be anyway), so my plan is to get up early and either go for a run, or do SOMETHING to work out before I start my day. That was my plan today, too, but it didn't go so well. 4:30am always comes sooooo soon.

Stay tuned for another blog about eating out!

Meg

Annnnd, I'm back!

2 month hiatus. Sorry!

My brother is engaged. Super exciting, right! Yup! His wedding date was supposed to be June of next year. Great! I can have an entire year to lose all the weight I want/need to look foxy in my bridesmaid dress.

And then...they decided to move up the date to December 10th. I'm in a tizzy! My timeline of dropping weight was halved.

Last Sunday, I decided to buy the Iron Gym's Total Upper Body Workout Bar. I've wanted one for about 6 months now but either didn't have the money or when I did have the money, couldn't find one. Target had one on Sunday so I jumped on picking one up.

It is SOOO much more of a workout than I was anticipating! Not only am I working my arms, but my core is definitely getting a workout from having to support me, as are my legs. I'm short, so I'm actually having to use a step up stool to help a little bit. But I can already tell my body is getting stronger!

Anyway, sorry I've abandoned the blog for a bit. I hope to make it a habit to blog again. :)

Meg

I really need a pedometer...

Today I spent the entire day walking around the streets of Baltimore and the grounds of Ft McHenry. And now I wonder how far I actually walked.

I've had pedometers in the past. But because of where my pants line sits, the pedometer always jabs into my skin and it hurts like something ridiculous. I'd put it on my pocket, but I've been told that that can yield inaccurate results.

I've heard that a Fitbit is the way to go. If only I could afford it now. I know it's reasonable compared to some, but it's still quite a bit.

Do you use a pedometer? If so, what do you use? Is it reasonably priced? Or do you guestimate your distance walked/run?

Hope you're enjoying your weekend!

Meggie

Winning

This week's weightloss: 2.5lbs.

Right on target! I was kinda concerned because at one point it had been 5lbs (I weigh myself daily) for the week, and I know that is not healthy.

Today I got a little off track. Poor planning left me breakfastless at work. So I went downstairs to the cafeteria (I was sooooooo hungry). The first thing I see laid out at the breakfast bar is donuts and pastries. And almost as an afterthought, they have some fruit on the side. And instead of choosing the healthy option, I go for the first thing I see: A glazed, fried donut.

By the time lunchtime came around, I was so busy, I felt guilty for having to even stand around at the microwave waiting for my Smart Ones flat bread to cook. Again with the lack of planning today, at 3pm, I was so stressed out and still hungry, so I went with the "Hungry? Why Wait?" slogan and grabbed a Snickers.

I had softball tonight, and was in charge of the beer cooler. I had a Yeunling, but only 1. I was very conscious of the empty calories. And then I got home and dinner was finishing off the homemade tabouleh I made for Memorial Day. I am considering making more tomorrow because it was so dang good. That, and I have 3 massive (MASSIVE) tomatoes my boyfriend bought me.

But I digress. This is hard. I'm not gonna lie. But I know I can do it. And 2.5 lbs is nothing to balk at. :)

What's your reason to celebrate today?

Meg

Splish Splash!

Small milestones are still milestones no matter how small, right?

So you know the song "Splish Splash" by Bobby Darin? If not, take a listen:

The lyric I'm thinking of now is "I wrapped a towel around me and I opened the door."

Why?

Well, as I said, a milestone is a milestone, no matter how big or small. Tonight, I was able to wrap a towel completely around me. To the point I could almost be like those people you see on tv that wrap a towel around them and can let go without the towel falling.

Best. Feeling. Ever.

And that is all.

Meg