Pssssssssssstttt OVER HERE! 256

So I know I've been MIA for the past week and I'm sorry! The following are not excuses but merely explanation--

To my dismay last Sunday I got a headache that decided not to leave until wed (which incidentally was the day we had a snow storm/ ice storm). It was so crazy that they declared a level 3 snow emergency which means the only vehicles allowed on the road are emergency vehicles. What this in turn did was make it impossible for me to work on Wed (when I actually started feeling better)--

back to what was going on with my headache-- I also had a severely stiff neck and the muscles in my calves were so stiff and tight -- I have no idea why I had these symptoms-- and I can't tell if all of this was due to pushing myself too hard at the gym or something completely unrelated.

Anyway-- because my work decided NOT to pay us for the day that by law we could not go to work-- I had to try and make up some time and could only do so on Thursday and Friday-- which basically meant I didn't get home until about 9pm on both days-- too late to go to the gym.

BUT-- I DID go to the gym today. Something else that happened this week aside from not working out-- was NOT watching what I ate that closely-- I still ate pretty well but I actually had a hamburger and frosty from Wendy's one day-- and some chicken strips and a coke on another day. --- it's been interesting to me that my weight has not fluctuated at all from 256 over the this past week-- I did have a minor scare on Wed night when I decided to weigh myself before bed-- 261-- WHAT that's 5lbs (remember what I said about knowing my body)-- by the AM when I weighed myself again I was back down to 256-- who knows how or why this happens-- but rest assured I'm back at it this week!

Here are some photos of the ice storm-- hope you enjoy!

I WANT CUPCAKES! 256

The Spread - 256

I hit the gym last night-- same old workout but actually did some weights-- today I fell asleep and slept past the time the gym was open (7pm) so I'm going to either have to fight the possessed treadmill in the basement or walk up and down the stairs-- or something to get in some exercise yet tonight (I'll let you know tomorrow how that works out)

Anyway I did want to share with you my grocery shopping experience today! I was so excited about all of these nutritional finds/ choices I made--- I also want to share my own *special* recipe on how to make tuna salad (what I had for lunch today).

Here's a pictures of the spread-- this is literally everything I bought-- (well sans 24 rolls of tp)
HOLD UP LET ME CALL A TIME OUT TO TALK ABOUT THIS!!Has anyone ever thought about how undignified it feels to buy toilet paper--- you always have to buy at least 6 rolls-- sometimes 12 or 24-- of course the double roll kind-- today I bought the 24 rolls because I absolutely hate buying tp. 24 rolls though-- man you have to lug that into the house all by itself-- freaking huge. Especially when you're a single gal--it's like announcing to the world "hey I spend a lot of time in the bathroom". *stepping off soap box*

So here is a list of what I bought
*tuna* *propel (I like to buy the 1 liter in mixed berry flavor--- I always drink one of these at work-- and the best part is at Walmart the 1 liter sells for $1.00)*
*cherries, blueberries, green grapes* *baby spinach and Caesar salad mix* *fat free italian dressing* *light balsamic dressing* *guacamole* *tostitos chips* *pico de gallo* *greek salad mix (basically feta, onions and tomatoes)* *eggs**acai and pomegrante juice* *cottage cheese**skinny cow icecream cones (only 150 calories)**go lean cereal* *just bunches cereal* *35 calorie whole wheat bread*--- all of this came to a grand total of $71.00 ouch-- but I have to say I'm very happy with all of my choices-- (although mildly disappointed with the tostitos-- I'm having problems controlling myself to eat those in moderation)

I should mention that before I talked about using Bistro MD as my meal plan-- but I haven't really used that since about Thanksgiving-- it's making choices like those I made today--- and choosing smaller portions -- or alternatives which has really helped me succeed.

Now on to the TUNA SALAD. Incidentally for lunch @ work I've basically been buying just tuna salad for lunch (no bread)-- the tuna salad they make is awesome with cut up little red onions and celery-- very little mayo and lots of good spices-- I just fill up on that and fruit for lunches. I decided this weekend to make my own tuna salad which has had rave reviews by some friends. I want to share it with you!
The ingredients-- light miracle whip, tuna, dill pickles, guacamole, two slices of 35 calorie whole wheat bread, dill weed, seasoned salt, paprika and onion powder-- typically I also like a slice of lettuce and tomato to accompany this sandwich but the tomatoes didn't look great @ the store-- so I made due with a side of pico.

Ok so it's pretty self explanatory-- I do everything to taste--but one secret I will tell you is that you should take a tablespoon of pickle juice (yes the dill pickle juice) and add it to the tuna salad mixture-- (this is a secret from my Grandma)

I was a little disappointed with my salad today-- it's been a while since I made mine with miracle whip (sometimes I just go without it all together and add in all the spices to the tuna)-- basically I put in too much miracle whip and had to add another can of tuna-- but it still wasn't the best tuna salad I've ever made.

ANYWAY-- moving on-- I toasted the bread and slapped on some guacamole on one side-- tuna salad on the other and some pickles to the top. I want to let you know that I know guacamole isn't the BEST food -- but it does have a lot of *good fat* in it-- and this particular guacamole is 50 calories for 2 tbs and 1 gram of fat per 2 tbs-- so in perspective it's not that bad.

So here is the final product. I did add some grape tomatoes and pico on the side (but didn't take a photo). If you try it let me know what you think!!!! If I wasn't really watching what I eat I'd probably add a slice of provolone to this sandwich and call it a day!Incidentally did you notice I'm down to 256 today (yesterday I was thinking while working out-- tomorrow I'm going to weight 255-- well I didnt' get what I was hoping for but I'll still take it :o))

Cutting out the Fat and the Cancer --258

Today I continued on my 90 in 09 quest and hit the gym up for 35 minutes on the treadmill. I burned a total of 375 calories.

What I really want to tell you about is how I've decided to cut out the fat and cancer. What do I mean by that-- well I'm cutting out my fat-- I'm getting rid of the things I don't need--

When you have cancer (unless it's beyond help-- terminal) the doctors go in to cut it out. If they can't cut it out they kill your immune system to get rid of it. So that's exactly what I decided to do last night-- cut out the cancer. It's painful yes-- but I decided to completely let go of that guy-- I deleted him as a friend on myspace-- he was causing me so much anguish over telling me all of these wonderful things and then outright rejecting me for the way I looked. -- all this in turn has done is make me angry and sad at the same time-- it's been distracting and killing me softly-- so I decided to cut him out-- kill the cancer that was killing my focus-- that was killing my self esteem.

Now for the healing process-- I deserve better-- I'm more than a sparkling personality-- so much more and I don't need a cancer that makes me think or feel otherwise.

The Possesed Treadmill 258

In the deep recesses of my basement stands a treadmill that is folded up-- a nordictrack solaris to be exact. It's been sitting in my basement for about 10 months-- it was placed there by my parents. I know they had issues with it so I assumed it was DOA. When I was talking to my Mom the other night about the hours of the YMCA and how particularly on the weekend it's hard to get to the gym in the allotted hours. She mentioned to me that I should use the treadmill in the basement after inquisition she revealed the treadmill indeed worked.

Well I know myself pretty well and I know if I don't actually go to the gym I don't push myself as hard. Under the circumstances-- between being sick and my utter distrust of my tivo actually recording all 3 hours of the LOST premiere I decided to "take one for the team" and swipe the cobwebs off the solaris.

It was more difficult than I thought to even pull the machine into a place where I could drop the bed down (the wheels on the machine are in an awkward place that render them virtually useless). Once I got the treadmill into a spot where I could drop the bed, I realized that the cord was only about 4 feet long (why do all treadmill companies feel that the front of your machine should only be 4 feet from the wall?)-- anyway that's a gripe in and of itself. My point is I then I had to search for an extension cord-- which I didn't have. --- My brain started working and I figured out that I actually had a power cord strip that was just long enough to bridge the divide between the socket and the minx tail of a power cord. I plugged her in and SUCCESS I saw the light on the power cord light up (I wasn't entirely confident that the socket I plugged it into actually had power). I hopped on the treadmill with so much enthusiasm only to be perplexed as to why nothing on the machine was lighting up! I remember there was a "reset" button on the actual treadmill so I flipped that on and off-- still nothing--- then I see a "key" emblem adorning an indentation that was reminiscent of a half dollar-- what kind of key would go in there? I saw then that there was a strap wrapped around the side of the grip bar with a circular adaptation (which magnetically attaches to the indentation)... POWERED UP and ready to go now!

I jumped on the treadmill again and messed with the speed-- up to 3.8mph @ 6% inclination. As I'm getting comfortable about 3 minutes in (and finding the built in fan) I noticed that all of the sudden the belt was moving slower and slower to a stop! WHAT? I proceeded to walk and actually move the belt myself which somehow triggered the machine to boost into warp speed 5 mph-- so I was faced with running or falling off-- in a split second decision I found myself running-- then the machine readjusted to about 4 mph and stayed there--- until 30 seconds later it powered down again to nothing. I thought "damn it-- the one time I try and work out at home and this happens" I went through these cycles of nothing to warp 10 s and settling every minute or so until I hit 10 minutes. I considered giving up all together but I remembered my commitment for the 90 in 09 and decided running or not I would have to stick it out for at least 20 minutes.

Once I was about 10 minutes into the work out the belt stopped moving all together again-- and never decided to pick back up. I figured that I was probably getting more of a work out making that belt move with my leg power than with a machine that pulls the belt-- I hit 19 minutes (1 minute before I was going to throw in the towel) and the belt started turning @ 6 miles an hour-- I decided this must have been Divine intervention and that I would just stick with it and RUN (not taking the mph down at all)-- now I've mentioned before that I'm horrible at running-- I'm just not built for it being drastically uncoordinated-- being flat footed and knock kneed-- but I figured-- heck it's only going to work for another 30 seconds or so-- wouldn't you know that thing kept going for about 4 minutes when I decided I couldn't stand to run anymore or I would pass out. I bumped the mph back down to 4mph and the belt gave way again-- I decided to throw in the towel at that point which was 23 minutes.

That being said I think I'll just stick to going to the gym. Too much drama getting in the way of my work out-- even though it is kinda funny-- the last thing I need is a possessed treadmill.

I then went upstairs and watched LOST holy cow I love that show! Is anyone else here a LOST fan?

Third Time's a Charm --257

Yesterday I stuck with the idea of kicking it into high gear at the gym-- I walked for an hour and burned about 650 calories! When I got home though I started feeling really sick-- stuffy nose sick (like what I just got over about 3 or 4 days ago-- only this time much worse)

I had trouble sleeping last night-- and woke up a few times during the night. Both times I woke up with my mouth wide open and everything inside (including my esophagus) completely bone dry-- and it wasn't just bone dry it was the kind of (pardon my honesty) phlegm covered then dried out scenario.

I can't help but wonder why (since I've been working out) I've managed to be sick 3 times. The first illness came on like the flu right before Thanksgiving -- but ended up being a deep cough that lasted about 3 weeks-- I would cough so much and so hard that I would throw up-- BAD

Two weeks ago I got the common cold that hung on for a week and a half--- then last night this came on-- I can't help but wonder if this is somehow related to working out-- like maybe I'm pushing myself too hard-- or not getting enough of a certain vitamin or nutrient? Regardless I'm tired of being sick!

In spite of feeling sick I still went to the gym... I took it easy on the treadmill slower pace-- low inclination and only 35 minutes. I'm going to genuinely try and make this through-- keep with my 90 in 09 challenge and do at least 20 -30 minutes of exercise a day.

Let me share with you what I have been doing on the treadmill. I keep my pace at a steady 4mph. For the first 10 minutes I walk with no inclination. Once I hit 10 minutes in I increase the inclination to 1. Once I hit 15 minutes in I increase to 2-- 20 minutes in 2.5-- 25 minutes in 3-- 24 minutes in 3.5 inclination -- 26 minutes in 4.0-- 27 minutes in 4.5 -- 28 minutes in 5.0-- 29 minutes in 5.5-- 29.5 minutes in 6 inclination-- then from the 30-35 minute there is a cool down-- so the machine basically drops to 0 inclination and a speed of 3.2 mph to bring down my heart rate. I found this is a great progressive work out and I think I will continue on with for a while.

PS did you notice my weight went down again-- new low of 257!

90 in 09 Challenge- 259.5

I've been listening to my favorite radio station, KLOVE and kept hearing about Big Daddy Weave's goal to lose 90lb in 09. He's been documenting his journey of weight loss online and you can join him in the challenge. Basically the challenge consists of 3 daily commitments.

1) Nutrition: Recognizing that the purpose of foods I eat is to provide my body with the fuel it needs, I commit to make choices that are nutritious and appropriate in portion size.

2) Exercise: Realizing the positive impact that exercise has on my overall well being, I will spend a total of 20 - 30 minutes each day engaged in physical activity.

3)Worship: Believing that true overall health encompasses spiritual growth which comes from spending time with God, I choose to set aside time each day to be solely devoted to Him.

While admit that this is going to be challenging (especially #2) I have committed to joining in the challenge! If you too would like to join simply visit the website and sign up! They will be sending out weekly support info and the website is updated almost daily with the progress of Mike Weaver. They promise to provide helpful tips along the way as well! It seems like a simple challenge but there is a lot of commitment involved!

Today I went to the gym and really woke myself up about how half- assed my workouts have been as of late-- so I ended up on the treadmill for 70 minutes burning 630 calories and also did some weights on my thighs--- I need to start kicking it into high gear. I'm now more than ever considering hiring a personal trainer-- it just makes me nervous I guess. I mean I've already been able to loose quite a bit on my own... but I think the added support and techniques will probably help me to arrive at my goal much sooner.