What a Weekend

I don't think I've needed a weekend as badly as I needed this one in quite some time. After some crazy/bad/heartbreaking stuff happening at work this week, I needed a couple of days to regroup and get my mind back in order.

I did a little stress eating (bad bad bad, I know) but got right back on track. And it wasn't even THAT bad (not like a pre-band episode of stress eating) but I need to confess, I went for Mexican food on Friday, ate about 1 and 3/4 chicken enchiladas with sour cream, some beans, and a few chips and felt AWFUL for the rest of the day. Physically, not mentally. I ate too much, too fast and it felt like it was just sitting in my throat. That was around 1:30. I got home from work and went to the gym - not to punish myself for eating crappy but because I felt like I NEEDED it. I walked 2 miles on the treadmill, it worked, I felt better, and I ate a small dinner around 11:00 PM. I was truly not hungry before that.

On a good note, that made 4 workouts during the week, which was my goal. I'm going to have the same goal this week.

Yesterday I had the opportunity to meet a lovely band blogger, Melissa. She is thinking about getting banded. She asked about a gazillion questions about the band and my experiences thus far (which was totally cool with me since it's my favorite topic of conversation). She and I went swimming, went out for a yummy dinner which was my first time having sushi since getting the band (and it went down fine, thank goodness, as I have really missed it), and talked and talked and talked and...well, you get the idea. I really enjoyed meeting her, even though she thought I might be a rapist and murderer. I did not rape and/or murder her. However, I did make her feel my port. She was surprised how unobtrusive it was and that it really wasn't a big deal to have it there under my skin.

Last night my dear friend Jen came over to my parents' house (I was house sitting - that's what I call it when I go over there when they're not home to use their pool and get some quiet time) to hang out with me and sleep over. We went out for brunch (I had a veggie omelet with artichokes, onions, avocado, and goat cheese - YUM!), got pedicures, and shopped. It was a nice relaxing day.

As for the Summer Meltdown - I "only" lost 1.6 pounds this week for the challenge. And I don't mean "only" as in "I didn't do well". I mean it was just a whole lot less than last week. And that's ok. I'm not in a race. I'm thrilled that with the truly awful work week I had, I didn't gain weight. That's pretty awesome.

No Zumba :-(

I showed up at the gym bright and early for the Zumba class. I had a Flatout bread and some hummus for breakfast to get some complex carbs as suggested. I had my towel and a bottle of water. I was nervous, but so excited. Well, the lady who teaches Zumba is out sick this week. The substitute teacher did a sculpting class instead. It was a good class and I DID IT and I'm sure I'll be sore tomorrow (lots of squats and lunges) but...it wasn't Zumba.

As Grace would say: Awesome. Except for not really.

Oh well. Next week.

Shakin' in My Boots

I am going to Zumba at the gym tomorrow morning. I am SCARED. Hearing about how so many of my band sisters love Zumba has encouraged me to try it, but hearing about the soreness and hurting in muscles that you didn't know you had is just a bit frightening. Any last words of advice? I'll make sure I have a protein shake before I go, and a nice big bottle of water for during, and a nice big bottle of Tylenol for after.

I saw a new low on the scale yesterday morning - 244.8. However, after Mexican food with some friends last night, I bounced back up to 245.6 this morning. I am totally cool with that because I'm still down a total of almost 7 pounds this week after my bounce up after last weeks pizza fest.

I <3 my band!

BYOC on June 11, 2010

1. What was your first pet?

A cat named Stormy. We got her when I was in 7th grade because I got all A's and B's on my report card. I desperately wanted a cat for my whole life before that, and I loved her so much. She lived to 19 years old and I was very sad to have to take her to the vet when my parents were out of town to have her put to sleep. She was a good kitty.



2. (I am SO skipping this one altogether. Sorry!)

3 & 4 – I’m combining these two cuz this answer could be long. A follower (thanks Steph) asked if I could ask what a daily meal plan looks like for each of you – out of curiosity and out of possibly learning new foods to try.

Breakfast: Coffee with Splenda and milk, and 2 hard boiled eggs. On gym mornings I might have a sugar free Carnation Instant Breakfast made with skim milk before the gym and one egg afterwards, or some leftovers. This morning I had the instant breakfast before the gym and about 1/3 cup of leftover turkey taco meat with a sprinkle of cheese, a dab of light sour cream, and a spoonful of salsa. Tomorrow I will have my leftovers from today's lunch.

Lunch: Chicken breast with black beans and salsa, a "power lite" burrito (under 500 calories) from Tijuana Flats, meat or seafood with brown rice and veggies, a Healthy Choice or Lean Cuisine frozen meal, leftovers, chicken meatballs (I like the Aidell's pineapple teriyaki ones) with steamed broccoli...it totally varies from day to day. Lunch is my biggest meal of the day.

Dinner: A piece of meat or fish and some roasted or steamed veggies. Tonight we had pork chops and roasted broccoli.

Snacks: Light string cheese (I like the 2% milk twisty cheddar and mozzarella one by Polly-O), Greek yogurt, Skinny Cow ice cream, South Beach Diet high protein cereal bars (the peanut butter ones are amazing). I haven't really been doing a lot of snacking lately. My 3 meals a day have been satisfying me pretty well, especially when I am super busy at work. I haven't even really been tempted by the Twizzlers my dad brought in to work to keep in his desk, which used to be a huge favorite of mine.

5. Repeat question: What blog or blog comment stayed with you or stuck with you the most this week and why?

Sherry's (Two Sticks or a Lighter) post about refusing to diet anymore made me want to shout, "Right on, band sister!" And TracyZ's (One Foodie's Band Quest) post about the way her old self ate and how Old Tracy would laugh at New Tracy made me think about the way that Old Stephanie was. I like the new me a whole lot more.

Hot Summer Meltdown Challenge Starts Tomorrow!

Yay Weekend and BYOC!

What a week! I am so happy it's Friday night and I don't have to set the alarm clock tomorrow. Today was a little tough, eating wise. One of the women in my office baked up a storm and brought all the "goodies" in - TWO kinds of oatmeal cookies, peanut butter cup cookies, lemon bars...and guess what? I did not have a single crumb. I told her that I was just starting to like her, but that was over. I kinda meant it too. I was tempted...oh boy was I ever...but I felt like it would have been a very bad idea since I just had pizza for dinner last night (and a leftover slice for breakfast). The good news is that I STILL have another slice leftover in the fridge...and this was an "individual" pizza. I ate at this place (Mellow Mushroom) in the past and was easily able to eat the entire individual pizza in one sitting. So, big improvement, but after a carb-fest like that, I thought a bunch of sugar would have been stupid.

I got home from work and my husband wanted to...order a pizza. I refused the pizza, but ordered chicken with lemon wine sauce on it, ate half of the chicken, most of the side salad (but skipped the croutons), and about 1/2 cup of pasta, and put the leftovers in the fridge for tomorrow. You'll never guess what I did next. I threw the garlic rolls in the garbage, without taking a single bite of one! I don't think I've ever done that in my life.

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BYOC Time! As Drazil says, "It's Friday again - time for 5 teeny questions you can copy and paste into your own blog so we can all get to know each other better! Play if you want to!"

1. If you could live anywhere in the world - where would it be and why?

Probably somewhere in North Carolina or Georgia. I think I'm a little bit of a southern girl at heart. I think it's hilarious that I need to go north to be in the south (since I live in Florida) but I absolutely love the Blue Ridge area. My husband and I spent our honeymoon in a gorgeous cabin (with a hot tub in the bedroom!) in Blairsville, Georgia and I fell in love with that area.

2. How old were you when you got drunk for the 1st time?

I'll tell you, but you have to promise to not have my parents arrested, ok? I was 10-ish and in fifth grade. It was Passover and I kept sneaking sips of the four traditional glasses of wine. I was wasted by the end of the night. My parents made me go to school with a hangover and it's a lesson I have NEVER forgotten. I rarely drink. I'm going out with friends tomorrow night and guess who's driving, as usual, so everyone else can drink?

3. What was your favorite toy growing up?

Spirograph, gears, and magic sand. I was a geek even then.

4. What's your favorite season and why?

I LOVE the fall. Living in Florida, I don't get to experience it much, but the cool, crisp weather, apples, and the smell of the leaves are just so amazing.

5. Repeat question....which blog or comment spoke to you or stuck with you the most this week?

Grace's vlog made my heart hurt for her. I've been thinking a lot about her and hoping she's feeling a little better.

Day on My Plate

I like reading all of the menus of what different bandsters are eating. I'm trying to get a better idea of how many calories I am eating per day, and also have a record of what's working and what isn't, so I'm going to try to do a few of these per week. So, here's what I ate today, along with approximate calorie counts. My goal is 1400-1600 calories per day:

Breakfast:

2 coffees with 1% milk and Splenda (100)

2 hard boiled eggs (120)

Morning snack:

Chobani 2% Greek yogurt - pineapple flavor (so delicious!!!) (160)

Lunch:

Healthy Choice frozen meal (chicken parmesan, pasta, broccoli, and apple crisp) (350)

Afternoon Snack:

String cheese (60)

Dinner:

4 oz. flatiron steak (300)

White beans with carrots and spinach (90)

1/3 cup (probably not even that much) leftover tortellini with pesto (150)

Bedtime Snack (I didn't even want anything, but I'm on these damn antibiotics that need to be taken with food):

String cheese (60)

Total: 1390 calories

I'm not eating anything else today and now it is bedtime.