It's all about the calories

I won't talk too much about the last few days. Let's just say there was a dinner at Charcoal Pit for my husband's b-day, a dinner at Friendly's - just because. Another dinner out Saturday when we lost power for several hours. Suffice it to say I haven't lost any weight this past week.

This morning I weighed 140.5 lbs. Today was a good day! Watched Most Eligible Dallas while finishing 3 miles on the treadmill this morning. I had some interesting food choices, but overall, I moved more and ate less.

Breakfast - yogurt and a banana
Lunch - Chocolate covered almonds and a chocolate chip cookie. I know, it all started out with a trip to the cafe for a diet coke - they were giving away cookies with every purchase. I do NOT turn down free sweets. And for some reason the chocolate covered almonds seemed like the perfect compliment to the cookie. I had packed my lunch, but I knew this would tide me over.
Late Afternoon snack - apple, 1/2 tomato with a tiny slab of fresh mozzerella, a tiny bowl of whole wheat pasta with a pesto sauce. (this was part of what was supposed to be my lunch that I decided to eat around 4pm as I was pretty hungry).
Dinner - 1C portion of my crock pot concoction - Pork tenderloin, diced tomatoes, white kidney beans, brown rice and taco seasoning. Low cal, tasty and good for you (minus the sodium from the seasoning - but that's part of what makes it good!)

According to my fitness pal app, if today were like today, I'd weigh 135.5 lbs in 5 weeks.

I just need to put about 100 of these days together. That's the hard part.

141: It’s not just a route number in Wilmington – much to my chagrin.

That’s the official number on the scale this morning. I guess it could be worse. I haven’t been treating myself very well for close to 4 weeks now and I wouldn’t have been at all surprised if the number was higher. I did manage to drag myself out of bed this morning around 6am and get in about 30 minutes of cardio and some core exercises. I may try to walk at lunch, but I’m so busy at work, that might not be possible.

Spending 3+ hours this week watching Elliana’s tumbling classes has really made we wish I could just stand in the background with my own private spotter and attempt to do all the things they are learning. That would be a great workout! I even went so far as to try to do a back bend this morning. Not sure what happened to my arm strength, but I’m guessing that trying to support 141 pounds is much harder than the 100 or so that I needed to support that last time I actually did one. I could barely get my head off the ground – it wasn’t pretty. But I may have found a new goal in all of this. I want to be able to do an unassisted back walkover in another 4 weeks. I can already do a cartwheel and a round-off (or “round-up” as Ells like to call it). I have one of those exercise balls that I can use to stretch out my back, and I’m pretty sure I know what to do to get my arms stronger. I’ll have to figure out the rest on my own and see what I can accomplish. While I will continue to watch her practices periodically, I need to remember that staying at the gym is far better than sneaking out to McDonald’s across the street for a little snack.

My diet so far today is on track, as usual. You know I usually don’t screw things up until after 1pm.

I’ll check back in later to provide the dirty details.

If anyone knows of an open/adult tumbling class, please share.

Another Day of Gluttony

So, how did yesterday turn out you might be wondering? Dinner included a giant bowl of linguine and clams, along with a few bites of chocolate layer cake with chocolate cream cheese icing. Curse you Aurora Pizza!!

Today wasn't much better:

Kashi cereal with almond milk (200 calories)

Blueberries (100 calories)

Cantalope (80 calories)

Lunch @ the Queen - a few slices of gourmet pizza, half a grilled chicken sandwich, some french fries and some eggplant fries. (who knows how many calories - too many I'm sure)

White chocolate macadamia nut cookie (170 calories) I really need to stay out of the cafe at work - always get me in trouble.

McDonald's hot fudge sundae w/ peanuts (375 calories)

Total calories = 1600+

Calories burned = big fat, bloated zero.

Every morning this week, instead of be-bopping down to the treadmill and getting my sweat on, I've been enjoying lazy mornings in bed with Ells and Dash watching my trashy TV before 7am. We watched Toddlers and Tiaras this morning. Elliana knew Eden Wood would win the pageant - duh. Dash just chewed on his stuffed turtle.

On the bright side - I documented the day. There's always tomorrow. I have high hopes for an early morning workout and a better diet day. Mama's gotta get caught up on LA Ink.

How do YOU get out of a working out or dieting rut?

140+ and I can't move my arms

Hello, my name is Catherine. It’s been 2 weeks since my last blog entry.

So, apparently vowing to document everything I eat doesn’t necessarily lead to better eating. I guess it works when you actually keep your word and actually document and share your daily intake. Sometimes I feel like I can’t stick to anything for more than a week or so. What is wrong with me?

So, since my last post I have had mostly bad eating days. Today, for example:

Kashi cereal with almond milk (200 calories)
½ Chicken pesto sandwich (200 calories)
8 honey wheat pretzels (120 calories)
2 white chocolate macadamia cookies (340 calories)

It’s only 2pm, I’m up to 860 total calories for the day, and I still have to eat dinner. The last week or so of my diet looks about the same as above, if not worse. I haven’t done any serious cardio in over a week. I did manage to train with a friend at the gym this past Sunday. I hadn’t lifted in at least 6 months. We did chest and biceps, along with some core work. Today is the first day I have full range of motion back in my shoulders. I was up all night due to severe muscle pain in my shoulders and arms. And I’m not usually a wuss when it comes to pain, but what I did Sunday was just plain stupid and I am now paying for it. I’m considering dipping into my cache of Vicodin/Percocet just to take the edge off for today.

I am going to attempt to get back on track starting now and continue to update here with my diet and exercise regimen, assuming I create one. I am back up over 140lbs and really just frustrated and pissed off at myself.

Otherwise life is grand. I got to travel to Chicago last week for work and experienced an unexpected upgrade at the Four Seasons Hotel, a fabulous client reception at Morton’s, and a very overpriced massage the next morning. Elliana is now a fulltime member of a competitive cheerleading team and starts her twice a week tumbling and choreography instruction this week. Braedon is signed up for fall ball in a new league where he will get to try out his pitching skills. Chris will be coaching. I am supposed to be teaching ballet at HAC in September once a week, yet I haven’t been to a ballet class since March. Chris turns 40 on the 16th, and I’ve got a few surprises up my sleeve for him over the next week or 2. And I just got tickets to Dorney Park for the beginning of September. I keep forgetting to tell the kids about it, but I know they will be thrilled.

I’m still contemplating that dragonfly tattoo, but I’m thinking that after 3, I may cross over into some kind of bizarre tattooed counterculture. If it’s any easier to lose weight over there – I’m in!

Cat's Mid-Vacation Check-In

So I've not posted in a few days. Been too busy enjoying the beach and the weather! Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday were mega-beach days. 4+ hours in the sand. Braedon has mastered the boogie board and we have to drag him out of the water to eat lunch. Ells is all about making friends of all ages on the beach. She flutters around and by the end of the day she knows everyone within a 50 ft. radius by name. Evening entertainment has included a mini-date night for Chris and me on Monday, the Ocean City Maryland Boardwalk Tuesday and some Mexican food on the beach at Que Pasa in Dewey Beach.

Monday, I got in about 30 minutes on the treadmill at the gym. Tuesday morning I ran outside just over 3 miles. It was much cooler and I didn't feel like I was going to throw up from the heat - always a bonus. Today, I decided to take a break - no workout.

My food intake hasn't been disastrous, but it hasn't been great either. Breakfast and lunch each day have been pretty much the same, Fiber One cereal with almond milk, and a half of a cold cut sandwich with some pretzels and maybe a protein bar. Monday night dinner was some chicken and pork barbecue with some evilly delicious corn bread. I may have had a martini or 2 on my mini-date. I also may have taken the kid's to a candy store late night. There were chocolate covered Oreos & pretzels and a truffle or 2. Tuesday was boardwalk pizza with an ice cream cone. Tonight I ate way too much guacamole, and we went to Candy Kitchen, Kohr Brothers AND Dolle's. Need I say more?

I am going to try and count calories a little better the remaining days of my vacation, but I'm not making any promises. Here's the deal - my clothes still fit, I don't look terrible in my bikini, and I'm having a great time with my family. Besides, if your chocolate has fruit inside of it, that's healthy - right?

My new mantra: I love my kids, I love my kids, I love my kids!

I do love my kids, but man, are they annoying. I know that are excited to be on vacation, and they are just wound up about going to the pool and the beach. Chris and I have threatened to drive them back home about 50 times today if they don't start listening to us. We both really need to take a deep breath and be more patient with them. Vacations like these are just a reminder that once you have kids, you are totally living for them, and selfishness is not an option. Neither is a quiet dip in the pool or a quick dip in the ocean.We spent about an hour at the pool this morning, had lunch and headed to the beach around noon. A pretty wicked thunderstorm closed the beach around 2:30 and the open-trolly ride home in the downpour made for some comic relief. This is what we do at the beach when it rains:

The kids got some more time in the sand after dinner wading in the water and watching some older kids wake boarding.

I give the day about a 7 overall.

I managed to run outside this morning around 8am. But man, was it hot! I'm used to running in my basement where it's nice and cool, even when it's 100+ outside. I lasted about 2 miles in the actual heat and humidity before I felt like I was going to puke, and had to walk the last mile back to the condo. I also did some ab work this evening - was inpsired by my women's health magazine - perfect beach reading!

Breakfast - 1 egg with a laughing cow cheese wedge, some fiber One raisin bran crunch and almond milk and some blueberries (350 calories)

Lunch - pretzel chips and another cheese wedge and a protein bar (350 calories)

Snacks - 2 Keebler Fudge stripe cookies. (115 calories)

Dinner - 3 steamed blue crabs, 3 hush puppies, a handful of kettle chips and a Kohr Bros. custard. (about 800 calories)

So I'm pretty sure I went over my calories for the day, but I didn't totally blow it. I don't feel deprived and I got some exercise, so I'm not going to beat myself up about it. Still not relaxing all that much - have to work on that. So here's to a better day tomorrow. More beach-time, less rain, less whining and fewer Mommy-threats. Amen.

Destination Relaxation

We piled linens for 3 beds, 4 pillows, clothes for 4 for a week, bathing suits, beach chairs, various sundries, beach towels, bath towels, sunscreen, goggles, computers, phones chargers, camera, 4 humans and 2 dogs into my Pilot around 1pm today. Luckily the dogs only had a short trip to their daycare. The 4 humans suffered through close to 4 hours in the car before we got to the house. The AC was off, and I guess I expected it to be, but it was 90 degrees in the place. So we dumped our stuff, and headed out for dinner and groceries hoping the condo would cool off by the time we got home. Luckily it did! So the kids haven't gotten to swim or go to the beach, or even see a boardwalk yet, but we have 6 more days. We have plans to meet up with a whole bunch of friends old and new, and the community we're staying in offers a ton of activities, along with a fitness center with classes galore. So I have no excuses . . . I did workout this morning, did 20 minutes of interval training, and 20 minutes walking on an incline. Burned about 500 calories and got caught up on NY ink.

Breakfast: 2 full eggs and 2 egg whites scrambled with some laughing cow cheese. I also had a protein bar (400 calories)

Lunch: Wawa Buffalo Blue Chicken Wrap and half of a Take 5 bar (500 calories) Best thing I could find on the road that would fill me up and taste good.

Dinner: Apple Martini - some fried calamari and a few scallops, shrimp, mussels and clams (500 calories)

Dessert: Rita's custard (200 calories)

So today wasn't perfect, and I'm on vacation, so I don't expect it to be. My goal for the next 6 days is to RELAX, get some exercise, and enjoy time with my family and friends. There is no scale here, so I will have to wait until next Saturday to weigh in. That's probably a good thing - for now.

PS. Don't tell work that I have Wifi here at the beach!!!