Off the wagon

Bad news for me. I fell off the wagon and then got ran over by it. Claire came into town and I have just had no ability to do well on my calories at all!! So here is my plan. I am jumping back on... right after my bday (I may as well admit to myself that I am going to eat the drunken noodles at my favorite Thai place right?).

Is there such thing as negative calories?

Yesterday I threw up all day long and didn't keep anything down. Plus I think I threw up some of the food that I ate Tuesday night. So, my net total for calories is probably negative. Not fun. But, it made it easy to stay in the calorie limit. :)

Sonic Shake

Today I got a regular chocolate shake at Sonic. I hadn't had very many calories so I wasn't too worried about how many it was. When I checked online later, I realized it was 610 calories! Holy Cow! I still stayed in my limits today, but I really wish I didn't use almost half of my calories on that one snack. This calorie counting is extremely eye-opening. It's almost impossible for me to eat out at all, especially if it isn't planned in advance.

Holiday calories shouldn't have to count! (Then again, I would celebrate every countries holidays if we used that logic!) I only went over by a 100 on the 4th of July. I was sad to have to count that day as my 1800 day. Had I known, I probably would have had another cookie. Maybe it was better I didn't know, because that deviled egg was definitely worth it.

However, I tried a new sandwich the next day which cost me the loss of my 1st point. The Monte Cristo is a delicious ham and cheese sandwich dipped in egg then fried and sprinkled with powdered sugar. It was half my points for the day, but it was such a busy day I still only went over by 30 calories. Had I skipped the bad salad and just enjoyed the yummy sandwich I wouldn't have gone over, but now I've learned and will keep better track of my calories at restaurants.

I need to stop having ice cream at the end of every day that I have extra calories because I am not having quite the success I hoped to have with this contest. 1500 calories might be too high for my short stature to count as a diet. Normally you lose a few pounds right away before it gets hard, but I hadn't lost anything. When Amber told me how well she was doing I realized I needed to improve my workouts since the calorie counting wasn't enough. So this past week I worked in three times with the weight machines at the gym as well as running slower, but twice as long and have finally lost two pounds! Not enough to really brag about, but at least it's finally a start. I'm also at the point that I enjoy exercising again. So even if I lose this bet, it will be worth it.

Cool Website

I found this page yesterday while searching for the calories in something I had eaten. It shows what 200 calories of different foods looks like. I like the visual and it makes me realize that I really would probably enjoy eating a whole bunch of fruit than a few M&Ms or half a candy bar, etc. So, maybe I can remember that when I'm craving a snack. If I'm going to eat the calories, I should get the most nutrition out of it as I can. Anyway, here is the link http://www.wisegeek.com/what-does-200-calories-look-like.htm

Dove Miniatures

I thought I would share a new found favorite. This little ice cream treats are only 60 calories each because they are small - not because they are diet. And they are delicious!

Bikram Yoga

Today I went to yoga again after a far too long hiatus. It kicked my butt, I just got out of the shower and I am heading to bed even though it is only 8:45. It also felt great! Seriously you walk out of the studio on a natural high. Today the high took a little longer to come because I was a little shaky, but after 2L of water with a couple of electrolyte packets in it, I felt fantastic.

The 110 degree studio for 90 minutes of yoga is a bit intimidating - it took me weeks (possibly months) to work up the nerve to even try it. Now, I actually think it is a fantastic beginner yoga because it is just a set series of 26 poses in the same order every time. You do each pose twice. The other thing that I really like (surprisingly) is the heat - and I am not a summertime person. The difference in my flexibility in that hot room than at other times is remarkable. It keeps all of your muscles warm enough to really get a great stretch.

My general strategy is to pick one standing pose each time to really work and push at and the other poses I just try to do at a comfortable place. Since it had been so long since last time, this time was more difficult and I pushed myself too hard on all the standing poses, so I ended up having to sit and rest on the second set of several poses.

Generally I get voraciously hungry a few hours after yoga - I am hoping to avoid all that by just going to bed - and I really hope I don't have to use my 1800 day tomorrow.

Eating at Camp

After a week at camp, I'm probably in last place. It was much harder than I anticipated to try to keep track of every little thing that I ate and then try to stay within the 1500 calorie limit. After adding everything up for the week though, I only missed it on 2 days (thanks to that 1800 calorie day!). So, I didn't get my points for Thursday or Saturday.

On the plus side, though, I was able to get more than my 3 days of exercise. I made sure that I worked out on Monday and Tuesday mornings just in case there weren't a lot of opportunities at camp. But I was able to go on a good 5 mile hike, 3 two mile hikes down to the lake, and go canoeing twice during the week. It was great.

Pet Peeve

I have a new pet peeve and that is when restaurants don't publish their nutritional facts anywhere - online, in store, no where.

Obviously this was an issue for me last night. My FIL was taking us to eat at this great Mexican restaurant and so, wanting to avoid a debacle like last time, I went online to plan my meal. No such luck. I ended up getting the salad with grilled portobello mushrooms and with all non-veggie items on the side. After adding in a bit of cheese, some balsamic vinaigrette and some fresh salsa - it was down-right delicious. Later that evening, after adding up all my calories for the day I realized I was rather on the low side and had 1/2 an ice cream sandwich - delish!