What Candle?

When you go, go, go they say you're burning the candle at both ends.  But today I was feeling like my candle burned out some time ago.  That sounds worse than it is.  I was just reflecting on what a busy weekend we had and then, ugh, Monday again. 

So last Thursday I went to the gym after work.  I was feeling a little sluggish, which might have had something to do with the food and drink the night before.  I did a 25 minute run on the treadmill and then back/biceps/core work for strength training.  Biceps were particularly challenging so I checked my log - the last time I'd done a full back/biceps workout was 2 weeks prior, which is why it was hard I suppose.  Anyway, I did everything except one bicep curl, I just couldn't get that last one.

Friday morning I hopped on the scale hoping for the best.  I was expecting a gain and hoping it would be less than two pounds, had it been over three pounds I would have been pissed.  So I get on the scale and see 154.6, a .4 pound gain.  Yippee!  How I managed that I have no idea.  Honestly, I think some of Wednesday night's food hadn't hit yet, I read somewhere it can take 2 days to see the effects of food on the scale.  Anyway, I was happy.

I hit the gym after work and did 25 minutes on the upright bike and then legs/shoulders/core.  I'm trying out some new leg exercises, specifically the split squat and the plie squat.  I still don't know what I'm going to keep but I'm looking to drop the leg extensions on the machine.  I so prefer body weight exercises over machines at this point.  Oh, and one of the trainers was working out and he challenged me to some elevated pushups on the bosu.  I did 10 of them!  Actually, I did 10 elevated but hands on the floor and then 10 on the bosu.  That's some fun stuff let me tell you.  Core, balance, chest - a lot of parts working together to make it happen.  I love that kind of thing.  But I'm not convinced these are any harder than regular pushups, just more complicated.  They definitely require more coordination, and they sure look more hard core, which I like. 

So then comes Saturday.  Saturday is the day when all hell broke loose in terms of food.  It started out reasonably well.  I had a normal breakfast and then we took the kids to a family picnic.  There were hot dogs, chips, and watermelon to eat.  I didn't go overboard, I had one hot dog and bun, about 15 chips and some watermelon.  Not bad, right?  Oh, I have to throw in a few pics of my kids here...

Myra enjoying some watermelon.  Thank you Auntie Kristy for the super cute Hawaiian clothes!

Marek in the bounce house.

The three of us getting a hula lesson.

So the picnic was fun and I kept the eating within the normal range.  But Saturday evening we had some friends over for dinner.  Enter the chips with guacamole.  I make some seriously good guacamole and I ate a serious amount of it.  But it was after dinner that I really went overboard.  We had pound cake with strawberries and fresh whipped cream for desert.  I had a serving of dessert like everyone else.  Afterward everyone was sitting in the living room chatting and I was rinsing off some dishes...dammit if I didn't eat at least two more slices of pound cake and who knows how much whipped cream.  I felt like such a junkie standing at the counter eating like that.  I'd had a glass of wine with dinner and I sort of wanted to blame that but I knew, I knew it was my inner food junkie rearing its ugly head.  I finally stopped when I was just too full to eat any more.  What can I say?  I'm not cured.

Sunday morning I tracked everything and in the end I was over 20 points in the red.  Funny thing though, I seem to do better overall when I go crazy on the weekend and then have to be super strict all week to reel things in.  I noticed when I have extra points left during the week I feel more of a struggle.  Anyway, I calculated that if I do all my normal workouts and stay within my daily points I should break even by Friday.  Which means I should be able to see a loss on the scale.  At minimum I'd like to drop the .4 pounds I gained this week.

Sunday morning I had a breakfast meeting.  I ordered an egg white omelet with asparagus, mushrooms and onions and fresh fruit on the side.  I asked for no butter/no oil but who knows, right?  My breakfast was very tasty.  I was dressed in cute clothes that made me feel summery and light and I'd done my hair and makeup.  It all helped me to move on, which is job #1 after a food meltdown.  Get over it, pronto. 

After breakfast I met Miguel at the soccer field to pick up the kids before his game.  I brought them home and made lunch.  I ate black bean salad with some chicken breast.  Miguel came home from soccer a few hours later so I took off for the gym.  I really needed an outside run so I did a 4.6 mile loop around my gym.  And there was a good sized hill that I thought I would have to walk up but I was able to run, which made me feel good.  But most importantly, I completely exorcised any negative feelings I had about my food the night before.  After my triumphant run I did chest/triceps/core for strength training. I've been foam rolling my calves (and IT band) after every workout and I feel hardly any pain now in my calves when I roll them.  Rolling my IT band still hurts like heck but I think it's getting better.  I also wore my calf sleeves that evening and to bed, in case that will help to keep my calves happy.

Today, Monday, I noticed my hips felt a little tight.  I think it's just from doing a longer run than the 2 mile treadmill special I've been doing lately.  Anyway, the tightness wore off by the afternoon and I went to the gym after work.  I did 25 minutes on the upright bike.  I think level 7 is finally becoming less intense.  I'm nowhere near ready to think about level 8, but at least level 7 isn't killing me anymore.  After the bike I did back/biceps/core for strength training.  As an aside, it's been hot lately so I wore shorts to the gym.  Talk about uncomfortable, I felt so self conscious.  I'm used to being more covered up.  A woman I chat with sometimes (and who I want to interview for this blog) was there and I shared my bare legs feelings and she told me it was "one of those self conscious things" because my legs look fine, and in fact I look good.  She even told me her husband described me as "skinny" when he was asking her about me.  Imagine.  I don't feel skinny, I feel like me.  And I guess the "me" in my head couldn't possibly be skinny.  I promise, I'll continue to work on this.  There's got to be nothing more annoying than a supposedly skinny woman saying, "But I don't feel skinny."

Ok, I'm super tired so I'm off to bed.  I might take a peek at the scale in the morning to see how things are looking.  If I do, I'll post it to Facebook so you can all be in on my progress.  

Oh, one last thing.  Official pics came in from the Tri for Fun I did a couple weeks ago.  Here they are!

Laurie and I, pre-race.  Definitely buying this picture, I love it!

Pedal, pedal, pedal...

I love this picture.  Love it!  Look at that thigh muscle.  Muscle makes me happy.

The Big Finish!  (subtract 20 minutes for our wave).

Laurie and I both threw our arms in the air as we crossed the finish line.  The photographer snapped the picture too late and missed it.  Anyway, I think I love the comedy factor of this picture more than arms in the air anyway.  I look like I'm about to collapse on the pavement!