and now for something completely different.

I know this is unrelated to weightloss, but check it out -- I finished knitting my first pair of socks!



Side note: It's a lot harder than you might think to take a decent photo of your own feet!

apparently i'm a frail old woman.

My hip hurts. And it’s really stressing me out.

It started hurting on Friday, and Saturday when I went out for my run, I noticed it was really stiff when I started. It felt fine as I was running, but when I got home, it felt sore again. I’ve worked out every day since then and always the same thing: sore when I start working out, fine while I’m actually working and then MORE sore when I stop. Usually the soreness goes away by the next day but today it’s still achey.

Of course, since I watch The Biggest Loser, I’m super stressed that I somehow ended up with a hip fracture, which would be totally just my luck. Though I suppose it’s more likely that it’s just a strain. I also thought it might be my sneakers – the ones I bought are designed for over-pronators (like me) which means it holds my foot (and thus the rest of my leg) in a totally different position than what I’m used to. And the hip that hurts happens to correspond with the foot that normally pronates the most. So maybe, even though they’re technically the right shoes for my feet, they’re putting more strain on my hip?

I just … argh. I hate my body and here’s yet another great reason for it.

I’m also not sure if or when I should consider seeing someone about it. As I’ve mentioned here before, I’m terrified of doctors and any kind of health care, and I haven’t been to see a doctor in over 10 years. I would have no idea who to even go to … I don’t have a family doctor, so do I go to a walk-in clinic? The emergency room (where they could actually do x-rays)? A sports medicine place?

ARGH.

Sorry for being all venty. Problems like this just really get my anxiety going. I hate body issues. I think this is why I basically ignored my body for so long.

more photographic evidence (the best kind!)

I snapped a picture of myself this morning right before I went out for a 'run'. (I know!) It felt like a moment I wanted to commemorate. Anyway, looking at the photo reminded me of some photos I tried to snap for this blog back before around Christmas. I wanted a picture of myself but every one I took 'made my face look fat'. In retrospect, I guess my face just WAS fat. Today's photo was another nice reminder of how far I've come.

Today:


December:


Neither are particularly flattering photos, but I feel like I'm two different people in these photos. (You can also get a glimpse of how much the apartment has changed since I moved in, since this is the exact same view. Ah, how much difference a woman's touch can make!)

Anyway, my 'run' this morning went okay! Inspired by everyone's comments on my running post, particularly those that said I might find myself surprised at how much I was able to do, I decided that I would after all give the first week of the Couch to 5K plan a try.

AND I TOTALLY DID IT! Okay there was one block about 2/3 of the way through where I only ran for 30 seconds instead of a minute, and I did two minutes of walking instead of 90 seconds, but that was the only one I modified. I was able to do the rest as the plan says! I AM AWESOME. I kind of felt like I was going to die, but in a good way.

I've been snapping a lot of photos today, including the stuff I'm eating. I'm going to try to start getting more photos up on the blog, so PREPARE YOURSELVES.

quick WI update.

Weighed in last night and was down 3.6 lbs! I had to step off the scale and back on because at first I didn't believe it. I guess Boot Camp is really working for me!

Anyway, I'm pretty thrilled! Now I've lost 36.2 lbs total! And I'm a mere 1.4 lbs away from the 210s, HOLY COW! I guess that's gonna be my goal for next week, to get out of the 220s.

Happy Friday everyone!

my inner fancy girl.

Today is so funny. I feel like a “fancy girl”. Do you know what I mean?

I know some girls (women), and probably you do too, and everything about them always seems so polished and pulled together. Everything they do seems so much more graceful, and even if you are both doing the exact same thing, you always feel like the fancy girls can pull it off and you just look like a big shmoe. My friend Allison and I used to call these kinds of girls “The Scarves” because they seemed to be the only people we knew who could pull off wearing scarves. (Although in the past year or two, scarves have kind of taken over and now many (less fancy) girls wear them. Which is fine, but ruins our clever terminology.)

Anyway, yesterday I picked up a couple of new pieces of clothing – black dress pants, a pair of black pointy-toed kitten heels, and the sweetest grey and white short-sleeved sweater. And I kid you not, I feel like a fancy girl.

This morning I cut up my strawberries, for my granola, as I always do – but I felt dainty.
I washed my hands in the bathroom and I felt polished.
I am typing emails and editing video and just doing regular work stuff but I feel strangely graceful. It is true, people, I feel like “A Scarf”.

It’s weird because for most of my life I thought of myself as big-boned. Awkward. Even elephantine. Like the tuba in rooms filled with clarinets and flutes. And obviously I have miles to go before I’m done this ‘weightloss journey’, but I’m starting to feel, even now, like deep down I might actually be … delicate. I might have an inner fancy girl.

I also had the following kind-of awesome conversation with my boss this morning:

Her: Your hair looks nice today, did you do something different?
Me: Yeah, I straightened it -- I bought these new clothes yesterday so I felt like having nice hair today too!
Her: [pausing, looking at me thoughtfully] You are really transforming, you know?
Me: Yeah, I’m totally a beautiful butterfly.

I know I responded glibly, but I think that comment is going to stick with me. I really AM transforming. I wrote, way back when I first started this blog, that “a change has come to Andrea”. I guess I was right.

running with body + soul.

Yesterday I picked up the new issue of Body + Soul, which I sometimes like. I bought it because it had an article about the “World’s Best Diet” and some power foods that could help your health. WELL, the article turned out to be a summary of a book I already own! Ha! Oh well, it was still nice to look at all the pretty pictures.

Anyway, it had an article in it about how to get started running. Running is something I desperately want to do. I don’t know why, I just feel so drawn to it. But for some reason, I’ve been terrified to get started. I go and look at the Couch to 5k plan about once a week, and I *think* about doing it, but to be honest, it actually seems too hard for me.

The first week of C25K recommends starting with alternating 60 seconds of jogging and 90 seconds of walking, for a full 20 minutes. That’s 8 full minutes of jogging, your first time out. I honestly don’t think I can do that. I guess maybe I should TRY it before I say that, but I have a pretty good idea of how fit I am at this point in time, and I don’t think I’m up for 8 minutes of jogging.

But anyway, the Body + Soul running plan is even simpler – it really is for beginners. You can find it online here, but here are the basics.

- You start with a 5-minute brisk walking warm-up.
- Your start with only 10 minutes. (excluding the warm-up)
- You alternate jogging 30 seconds to 60 seconds, with walking 60 seconds to 120 seconds.
- You do that for just 10 minutes.
- You do this 3x a week, slowly increasing your running time until you can run all 10 minutes.
- After you can run all ten minutes, you slowly work on running longer, but never increasing by more than 10% (i.e. 1 minute) per week.

If you do the minimum amount of running the first week (30 seconds) and the maximum amount of walking (2 minutes) you would only have to run for a total of 2 minutes your first time out. As opposed to the 8 minutes you would have to do on C25K. It just seems so much less overwhelming to me – plus to think I would only have to do it for 10 minutes!

I don’t know. I do 100% believe that your workouts should be challenging (dare I even say HARD), but I also feel like when you’re first starting, sometimes you need to tackle something you KNOW you can do, so that you don’t get discouraged straight out of the gate.

Anyway, I plan to give this a try. I have Boot Camp tonight, but tomorrow night, I’m lacing up sneakers and going running.

But only for 2 minutes. :)

Anyone else interested in giving it a try?

caffeination.

I discovered a new love this weekend: Starbucks cappuccinos! They are delicious! I guess I’d never tried a ‘real’ cappuccino before – only the nasty overly-sweet “French vanilla” stuff they sell at Tim Horton’s and/or gas stations. So this one was quite a revelation. It was 3 pts for a tall, because I got it made with whole milk, but honestly it was so rich and filling and delicious, I don’t think I’d want to switch to non-fat milk, even if it would save me the points. So this will be a weekend treat, I think – and it’s great for me because I have a REALLY hard time getting my milk servings in.

I have a grapefruit to eat later this afternoon when I get hungry and I can’t wait! It smells amazing -- I just keep picking it up and sniffing it. I look like a total weirdo but oh well!

WI results and boot camp #4.

Well, I went to weigh in last night and was delighted to find I was down 2 lbs! For a total of 32.6 lbs! It's not quite as great as it sounds -- that 2 lbs is for two weeks, since I wasn't able to make it to my meeting last week. BUT given how I was just complaining about how the scale wouldn't budge, I'll definitely smile and be happy with my 2 lbs.

Last night was also my 4th booty camp class -- and I SUCKED. Seriously I couldn't do anything. But I compared notes with some of the other girls in the class afterwards, and found they all felt the same. It wasn't that the moves were any harder, either. I think it's just a weird workout cycle -- it's easy, then it's hard, then it's easier, then it's hard again, then it's easier, etc.

Anyway, I swear the only thing that kept me going last night was watching my heart rate monitor, seeing the 'calories burned', and knowing that it was going to hit 20 degrees tonight and that Shaun and I would be hitting up our local pub tonight for our first PATIO BEER of the season. One hour of boot camp is 7 activity points, and that's the equivalent of half a pitcher of beer, and THAT, my friends, is the kind of math I appreciate.

Hope everyone has a great Friday!

Booty camp, week 2!

Well, I’m still really enjoying my Booty Camp! Yesterday was class #3. I’m getting better at some of the moves (I can hold the plank for more like 8 seconds now! Haha, what an improvement!) Of course, they keep adding harder moves in (wall squats, UGH), so I still feel like I’m working just as hard as I was in the first class. And according to my HRM, I’m still burning about 750 calories each time. Yesssss!

The bad news is that the scale is not BUDGING. I did a bit of research and found that a new fitness routine can actually have that effect (and even cause gains), since you retain a crapload of water while your muscles protect themselves and try to adjust. But everything I’ve read said that should go away in about 2-3 weeks, so I’m hoping that even if tomorrow’s weigh-in isn’t great, that next week will be back on track.

I’ll confess, though: it’s definitely a challenge not to get discouraged when your hard work isn’t immediately paying off. I also find myself wondering if I’m just deluding myself: like maybe it isn’t water weight at all, maybe my eating is worse than I think it is, maybe I need to eat LESS, etc. But I don’t *think* my eating is significantly different than it’s been in the last six months, so for now I’m going to try to trust that my body will adjust on its own. If there’s still no movement on the scale by the end of next week, then I’ll re-evaluate, but until then ...

Breathe.
Trust.
And keep holding that dang plank.

easter dinner and a nsv.

My Easter dinner was a success, I think! The food all came out pretty well – the roast pork loin was amazing, I don’t know why I don’t cook roasts more often. I actually bought a meat thermometer this weekend, and I can’t believe I never bought one before! It was only $5 and it took away ALL my paranoia of “Is this cooked yet? I don’t know if it’s cooked enough. I don’t want anyone to get poisoned. I’m going to cook it some more to be safe.” I think I’ll roast a chicken this weekend for Shaun and I, YUMMMMMM.

Now, for the NSV: I got through this holiday without eating a single Easter candy! That’s right – not one egg, jellybean, weird marshmallow chicken, or delicious chocolate bunny. And I totally didn’t care. I KNOW Easter candy is one of those things that’s more sentimental than actually tasty – so I browsed around and looked at all the fun treats at the store, and I enjoyed my *memories* of eating them, but I didn’t feel the need to actually eat any.

So I’m pretty proud of that. Just don’t ask me about how much wine I drank this weekend. :P

booty camp, day 1!

Last night was my first session of the Booty Camp Fitness thing I signed up for.

To be honest, I was kind of dreading it. I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to keep up, that I would spend a lot of time just standing there, staring at the instructor and wishing for death, but the reality was not that bad! In fact, I’d say I kept up pretty well. The warm-up started with five minutes of jogging in place, and my calves started to cramp about 3/4 of the way in and I got pretty worried – when you can’t even make it through the warm-up, that usually means trouble. But we moved into squats and lunges after that, and I’m actually pretty decent at those, thanks to the 30-Day Shred. The instructor even told me my form during the squats was ‘perfect’!

After the squats and lunges, we did some football drills, some floor/core work, about 15 minutes of cardio (punches and kicks, alternating with skipping and jumping jacks), then finished up with a bunch of ab work.

It was an hour of torture, but I got through pretty well. Sure, I stopped lots of times and just marched in place so I could catch my breath, or I modified the movement a little to make it easier, but I noticed pretty much everyone else doing the same thing at various points. Surprisingly, it was the mostly just the ab stuff at the end that I really couldn’t get through – they hold the plank pose for a whole minute! I can do about, oh, 3.5 seconds. It was seriously pathetic.

After the class they took everyone’s measurements (triceps, chest, waist, hips, butt, and thighs), as well as calliper measurements (back of the arm, tummy, and thigh). They’ll take them again at the end of the four weeks, so I’ll be curious to see the results! (I’ll post them here, of course, for anyone that’s interested.) Then I also have the option of signing up for another four weeks, which I’m thinking about.

All in all, I liked the experience. The instructor was nice, it was fun to work out with friends (I signed up with two of my lady friends), and according to my heart rate monitor (which I wore, like the nerd that I am!) I burned just over 700 calories! Yippee!

So overall, thumbs-up. We’ll see how I feel after tomorrow’s class though, considering my thighs are already whimpering. :)

i'm already thinking about the weekend.

Ooooh, I am so looking forward to the upcoming long-weekend. I feel like I’ve *just* been holding it together lately, and I need a few days for vegetating.

Of course, I’ve also volunteered to cook Easter dinner this year, so there’ll be at least one day that’ll be busy. Five of my friends are coming over, plus Shaun and I – I’m not so good with cooking for big groups like that, so I’m starting to plan now. So far, this is my menu, but I welcome any fun ideas anyone might have, especially regarding appetizers or dessert.

Appetizers:
Whole wheat pita with reduced-fat hummus
Veggie platter with some kind of ranch dip

Main:
Roast Pork with mint garlic yogurt on the side
Roasted Asparagus
Boiled mini potatoes with whipped butter and sea salt

Dessert:
Fresh fruit with a cream cheese/marshmallow dipping sauce


I tried to keep everything light (in points) but also light in feel – I wanted a menu that felt spring-like, you know? I think this fits the bill.

weekend update.

Well, I did not have the best weekend, eating-wise.

I always hesitate to say that, because I feel like people are going to think I went totally off the wagon, which is not the case. I did stay within my flex points – that’s pretty much non-negotiable for me. But I did do a lot of unplanned eating, got take-out twice and did not even try to limit my portion sizes, and drank a fair bit of beer.

It’s my own fault too. Well, I guess it’s always my own fault, but this time I can pinpoint exactly where I went wrong. I had planned to make a meatloaf dinner for Shaun and I, but after Saturday and Sunday turned out to be long exhausting days (more on that later), I had absolutely no desire to be all home-ec like and spend an hour in the kitchen making meatloaf and mashed potatoes. I couldn’t think of anything else that was easier that I could make for us, so when Shaun offered to order us take-out, I agreed. This happened on both Saturday and Sunday.

The stupid thing is, I didn’t even want take-out. I had tonnes of stuff in the house I could have eaten (pita pizzas, smoked salmon, omelettes, salad stuff, etc.) but nothing that he would really want to eat or that I had enough of for two people. And because we spent the whole weekend together, rearranging ‘our’ apartment and making our first joint-furniture purchases, I was feeling very ‘couple-y” and wanted us to eat together. So I went along with the take-out.

Stupid, right? I mean, I honestly don’t think he would have cared one bit if I’d said, “Hey, actually I want to use up that smoked salmon before it goes bad, so I’m just going to have an omelette but you go ahead and order take-out.” We still could have ‘eaten together’ (ie, at the same time, in the same place) without actually eating the same food. And like I say, HE would not have been phased by this in the slightest. HE is not obsessive and weird about food like I am.

Oh well. Lesson learned, I guess: Speak up more about what I want or need to eat, especially when I have the ability to. There are enough situations where you don’t have a lot of choice about food, that it seems stupid to not take advantage of it when you do.

Anyway, the exciting part about the weekend is that WE BOUGHT A NEW COUCH!



And a dresser!



We went to Ikea super early on Saturday to pick them out and had them delivered later that day. We spent the remainder of the two days cleaning and organizing the apartment. We’re still not done but it’s coming along nicely. And I really feel like it’s ‘our’ place now, and not ‘his place, that I moved into’.

But anyway, that's why I was exhausted this weekend, and not in a meatloaf making mood. I guess it was worth it. :)

WI results

Well, this week I'm down a measly 0.6 lbs. I suppose I've had really good losses for the last 6 weeks, so I was due for a bit of a slow-down while my body adjusts. Plus, at the risk of TMI, drinking a bottle of Pepto-Bismal pretty much turns all your insides into solid rock, so ...

Anyway, I'm feeling kinda grouchy today. It's pouring rain, work is being annoying, and the peach I had at breakfast was very unripe and not tasty. I'd give my left arm (or at least a picture of it) to be home in bed right now, with my sweetie and my kitties.

At least it's Friday. I have a feeling I'm going to have to tell myself that a lot before 5pm gets here. At least it's Friday.