When the Log rolls over...

[foodfromafar]

Hi, Christina! A huge positive is your sticking with the challenge even after a challenging month! I don't think my pics show any change at all since August, but I'm determined to stick with it anyhow. It would've been fun to do Leigh's challenge together, but I certainly can understand timing issues. I'm hoping it starts after my son's birthday party on Oct 11 and ends before Thanksgiving! I guess I'll find out.

Keep up the good work!!

[ceebee]

Christina, your goals sound good! I like how you are focusing on the big picture with how much progress you've made this year. Working on posture is a very good goal. Sitting at a desk with good posture is a workout in itself!

[Celestialmom]

Christina, I agree with the others--you've done a great job this month esp with an injury. As for the goal of being happy with the way you look, that's a wonderful goal and one that most women never attain. Good for you for tackling that head-on.

[beach_plums]

Thanks everyone.

Originally Posted by beesknees

I think you have done very well this month considering the ankle and everything. I really like your goal of changing your perception of yourself. I realized the other day I was writing my weight on a doctor's form and realized I started writing the wrong higher weight. I can't get myself to think of these changes as permanent. Keep your head up....soon enough you will be able to work out like you want again.

Isn't is weird? When I went to the doctor I groaned when it was time to be weighed because I didn't want to see that high number. But 144 (with clothes and shoes, right after lunch) is so much less than last time I was weighed at the doctor. It is hard to remember that I am changing and making progress and to think of it as permanent.

Originally Posted by foodfromafar

Hi, Christina! A huge positive is your sticking with the challenge even after a challenging month! I don't think my pics show any change at all since August, but I'm determined to stick with it anyhow. It would've been fun to do Leigh's challenge together, but I certainly can understand timing issues. I'm hoping it starts after my son's birthday party on Oct 11 and ends before Thanksgiving! I guess I'll find out.

Keep up the good work!!

It would have been fun to do Leigh's challenge together. I wanted to, but just couldn't fully commit; I've got another month of healing to do.
I did my ankle exercises the other day, and dang! It hurt!

Originally Posted by ceebee

Christina, your goals sound good! I like how you are focusing on the big picture with how much progress you've made this year. Working on posture is a very good goal. Sitting at a desk with good posture is a workout in itself!

Yeah, when I stand, I sway my back, and when I sit, I slouch. Oddly enough, the two don't counter act and make everything right. So, at work, I sit on a ball, which helps so much! Except, of course, on days like today when I'm wearing a slick-material skirt. I tend to slide right off the ball. So, I'm in a chair trying not to use the back. Maybe I should consider a stool.

Originally Posted by Celestialmom

Christina, I agree with the others--you've done a great job this month esp with an injury. As for the goal of being happy with the way you look, that's a wonderful goal and one that most women never attain. Good for you for tackling that head-on.

It's really hard! Yesterday I looked at my back-view photo and hated it. This morning, I looked at it again and thought, it's not terrible. It's not where I want to be, but it's better than it used to be. What's even more interesting is that I'm actually really proud of the front and side views compared to where I was in Feb. Maybe it's because I see the front and side views every day in the mirror. I have no idea what my backside looks like.

Anyway--food yesterday came in around 1690; not as big of a deficit as I'd like, but a small one anyway. I was really hungry yesterday, which seems to be a trend on my day after workouts. I think it's because I workout in the evenings and usually have just a shake and a small meal afterwards.

Oh, and I made Anne's chicken and salsa in a crockpot recipe yesterday. It turned out really good. I had it in a salad with goat cheese and a dressing made of soy yogurt and salsa. The goat cheese and dressing gave it a bit of a tangy-bite. Perfect with the spicy. I'm having it for lunch again today. I'm going out to dinner with my sister tonight, so I'll save a few calories for that too.

[Karen411]

Originally Posted by beach_plums

It's really hard! Yesterday I looked at my back-view photo and hated it. This morning, I looked at it again and thought, it's not terrible. It's not where I want to be, but it's better than it used to be. What's even more interesting is that I'm actually really proud of the front and side views compared to where I was in Feb. Maybe it's because I see the front and side views every day in the mirror. I have no idea what my backside looks like.

Changing your perception of yourself is a really hard thing to do. I was doing weight-loss meetings last year and someone suggested telling yourself "I'm beautiful" every day. In my sarcastic mind, I'm thinking "yeah, right, that'll happen." It took me a while to come around to the mindset that the idea has merit and I'm really not that bad. I doubt I'll be telling myself that I'm beautiful every day ever, but I have changed my perception of myself and my critical attitude of me (partly by using your "good thoughts for the day" method), which has really made a world of difference. So, basically, thanks for being a positive thinking role model .

[beach_plums]

Thanks Karen. I really needed that today. I've been really kind of down lately (discouraged, frustrated, and so on), and haven't stopped to find the good. Time to re-focus, and redirect my thinking on the good. No, I don't think I'm going to tell myself I'm beautiful every day. But I do need to make note of the good things each day.

That said, good things for yesterday:
1. I actually only worked 8 hours! That's huge for me. I got in the office at 7:30, took almost a full hour lunch, and left by 4:30.
2. I came home to a wonderful smelling kitchen. There's really something to be said about coming home and having dinner ready.
3. I took Suzee to the dog park last night; she was super cute about it--way too excited! Her happy dog face it too cute.

[fitzy21]

positive attitude is everything. you've made great progress!

[beach_plums]

You're right. I'm working on getting the attitude back in check.

[GinnyLou]

Good talk going on in here. I also think you have done a great job and I can see the changes.
I am going to have to make this chicken. I could almost smell it when reading about it. LOL

[beach_plums]

What I really loved about the chicken is that there was absolutely no prep work. And it turned out pretty good too!

In the spirit of thinking positive, here's my good thing for yesterday:
1. I missed the bus from the office to the train station last night after work. Normally, that would have been a bad, but instead, I walked the mile. It gave me a chance to really clear my head and get some thoughts together--much needed! And, by the time I got to the station, I realized that my ankle didn't hurt. It was fatigued, but not tender or sore or painful. So that was really good too!
2. I went to dinner with my sister last night, which also came with a trip to the mall. I managed to eat really well and still in my slight deficit. I'm pretty happy about that. And, I bought a dress. Not that I needed it, but it was too ridiculous not to get. It's a black and purple mod dress that could also probably be used as a Star Trek costume if I ever needed one, with the right accessories. I tried it on just to be silly, but it turned out I really like it, and it was oddly cute on. Plus, it was on clearance, so how could I not get it?

Food yesterday: calories 1457; protein was a little low, carbs were a little high, but all-in-all, I can't complain.
Today I'll workout-back and chest plus ankle stuff. Fun.

[realcdn]

Originally Posted by beach_plums

What I really loved about the chicken is that there was absolutely no prep work. And it turned out pretty good too!

It's one of those dishes that you could probably reinvent and make it better (ie. you could brown the chicken with pepper and salt, maybe a little chili powder). You could add freshly chopped hot peppers to kick the heat up a little. You could add the salsa ingredients separately (tomato, onions, pepper, cilantro, etc.) chopped fresh.

Sometimes though it's nice to just dump stuff in the crockpot and walk away.

I have a low-carb slow cooker book in front of me (borrowed) and trying to decide what to try first. I'll have to dump the recipes into FitDay because they're using 'net carbs' and I want to make sure the macros are good.

[beach_plums]

Anne, I thought about reinventing it and even bought veggies to put in, but never quite got around to it--that happens a lot.

Please post some of those recipes once you find out about the macros. I'm apparently all about the crockpot right now. It's just so easy and usually quite delicious.

[realcdn]

Will do. I suspect I'll get a chance to really look at it over the weekend. It's Canadian Thanksgiving so I have three days off, although I do have a test on Tuesday night.

[beach_plums]

A long weekend. That sounds wonderful!

Workout for yesterday:
Incline Bench Presses: 3 sets w/65lbs--8, 7, and 7
DB Flies: 3 sets 8 w/15lbs each
Close-Grip Seated Rows: 3 sets--8 @ 80lbs, 7 @ 80lbs, 10 @ 70lbs
Close-Grip Bench Presses: 3 sets--10 w/45lbs, 10 w/55lbs, 8 w/65lbs--this was a new one for me, so I really didn't know where to start. Next time I'll start with 65lbs and work my way up.
Leg Extension: 2 sets 15--youch!
Ankle Crap: Point and flex foot w/band: 2 sets 15, move foot side to side w/band: 2 sets 15, calf raises-both feet no ledge: 2 sets 15. Ice and advil. It's a little sore today, but not terrible.

Good thing for yesterday:
Corn-Beef and Cabbage. Yum. I love this stuff and don't eat it nearly often enough.

Food for yesterday: Pretty darn good. I came in at just about 1590cals. So, for a workout day, that's jsut about a 400cal deficit. More than planned, but just how it worked out.

I'm hoping to introduce a little cardio into my day today by attempting to ride a bike in the cardio-room downstairs. I'm not sure that I'll make it; I don't know what the schedule today totally looks like. Right now I have about a half hour to do it at lunch, but that's always changing. I also don't know if it'll hurt or not. This will be my first attempt at riding a bike since the whole coffee-incident.

[missjane]

Do you have a recipe for corned beef and cabbage? I like both of them, but I don't actually think I've had them together, except in a Rueben. Does corned beef have a lot of sodium? I think I may need to try to throw something together. Let me know what you did.

[beach_plums]

Jane, I just buy the corned beef that comes with the spice packet--it's got bay leaves, peppercorns, and a couple of other spices that I can't remember off the top of my head. Throw it in the crockpot with mixture of water and beer (cider also works really well). For the cabbage, I boil that separately; I like it a little more crisp than it would be if it were in the pot too, but you can do it that way. My mom and sister slather the cabbage with butter; I prefer eat it plain.

The process of corning beef does include salt, so there's a pretty good possibilty that it's high in sodium. On top of that, I think that the pre-mixed spice packet is higher in sodium than if you put something together yourself. I like the convience of the packet though. I have a tiny kitchen and storing a lot of extra spices really isn't an option. As it is, my spice rack is piled too high. For an every now and then meal, I don't worry about the sodium. On most days, I have very low sodium intake.