Getting/staying fit!

[Firiel]

Okay, over the school year, I was in great shape. I usually worked out between an hour and two hours every day. I ate plenty of fruits and vegetables and hardly ever even ate desert. I was in really good shape. I lost somewhere between 15-20 pounds and was feeling great.

 

However, once summer came, I started slacking off. Working out meant spending less time with my boyfriend that I only live near during the summer... I eat a lot of meals at his place (and he doesn't really eat healthy) or eating out. And then vacations and all that... ugh. Plus, I don't have much money which makes it easy to just eat Top Ramen all the time.

 

So, I've gained about six pounds. I can see the flab on my stomach, and my abs are disappearing. I can see my legs getting more jiggly too. So I decided I've had enough. I'm not going to let myself go. At the beginning of the year, I was about 150. By the time school got out, I was probably about 132. Now, I'm 138. I want to get back down to the 130-132 range and stay there.

 

This whole week, I've been really good about working out. I work at the YMCA, so it makes it hard for me to make excuses NOT to excercise. On Thursday, I swam a mile, jogged for fifteen minutes, did some interval work, lifted weights, and did abs. Friday I felt pretty bad, so I just did 20 minutes of cardio and abs. I ate pretty well both days except after work. I'm starving during work, and it makes it really easy to binge when I get done, especially since I got over to my boyfriend's house. I have sunflower seeds in my car to snack on during the drive home. And I recently brought over apples and carrots to my boyfriend's house to make it easier to make healthy decisions. It's still hard, though. Especially when we make brownies! (I had one today... and ice cream...

 

So yeah, I started this journal to basically keep me accountable. My goal is to do abs every day I work out (I'm not working out today because the YMCA is closed for the 4th), to regularly swim AND run, and to lift weights several times a week.

 

So we'll see how it goes!!!

[Firiel]

I didn't do that great today. But it was a holiday, so I guess that's understandable. For breakfast, I had granola and skim milk at my house, and then low fat string cheese and a brownie (oops) at B's house.

 

For lunch, I had an apple and then we went to a fast food restaurant where I had a chicken sandwich with mayo (so not horrible) and a peach sundae for dessert (it was small, but still not a good decision).

 

For dinner, I went over to my parents' house. I had a Fiber One bar, too many tortilla chips, and we made burritos, so I had one of those. I also had grapes and a cookie that I couldn't resist.

 

I didn't work out today, but I did do ten minutes of ab excercises with my sister and a couple sets of both bicep curls and tricep kickbacks. Unless I go for a walk, I won't have a chance to work out tomorrow, so I'm hoping to eat extra healthy!

[Firiel]

I did really well for most of the day. Just the end of the day is so frustrating for me! The evening gets so long without food! I need to get to sleep, so I'm not going to chronicle everything I ate. I was doing well all through work. B took me out to dinner to eat, and I got the soup and salad combination. I had the tortilla soup without sour cream and I didn't have dressing on my caesar salad. So that was good!

 

I only had a few bites of his ice cream when we were watching a movie at home, even though I was really tempted. However, I did have a few donut holes, even though they weren't even that good! I don't know why I always give into the stupidest temptations! At least I could have eaten something yummy! The few bites of ice cream I had were divine!

 

So yeah, my problem is that in the past, I've always eaten healthy by avoiding temptation. But I can't do that now because his eating habits surround me with unhealthy choices. *sigh* Oh well. I did better than yesterday.

 

I'm excited for tomorrow, though. I just made myself a salad with lettuce, carrots, cucumbers, and turkey along with plain yogurt mixed with cherries and a bit of honey for my lunch tomorrow. I haven't decided what I want for dinner yet. Maybe a peanut butter and jelly sandwich again. Nothing particularly amazing healthwise, but it's not bad and it's cheap and easy. I'm also going to try to swim 1.5 miles tomorrow. That'll be the farthest I've ever swum at once, and it should take me an hour or so.

[NEVEAH]

Hi Firiel,

What works for me is writing EVRYTHING down that I plan to eat in advance for the week, and not diverting from that plan. Every 2-3 hours I'm eating something, so I'm not hungry.I have one cheat day a week, usually Sunday. Maybe writing down a weekly meal plan will keep you honest. It takes pracice and willpower, but once you get used to it, it's second nature.

[Firiel]

Hi Firiel,

What works for me is writing EVRYTHING down that I plan to eat in advance for the week, and not diverting from that plan. Every 2-3 hours I'm eating something, so I'm not hungry.I have one cheat day a week, usually Sunday. Maybe writing down a weekly meal plan will keep you honest. It takes pracice and willpower, but once you get used to it, it's second nature.

 

That's a good idea. It's just not for me. I've never been able to plan ahead in that amount of depth. I think I could benefit from trying the same type of idea but just maybe plan out the next day. That's kind of what I did today, and it worked out well.

 

For breakfast, I had granola and skim milk. Lunch was amazing, probably because I was so hungry by the time I had a chance to eat it! I had the salad I made last night as well as the cherries and yogurt. The cherries were cut in half, so some of the juices had leeched out into the yogurt which really made the whole thing taste better. The tastes were less distinct so the sort of sour taste plain yogurt has wasn't as noticeable. Dinner was just a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and a banana. I had two snacks of sunflower seeds today as well as a snack of some cherries and turkey burger while I was making my lunch for tomorrow.

 

My workout was good. I swam 1.5 miles (which is the most I've ever swum at once by a full half a mile!), then lifted for thirty minutes. When I lift I generally do fairly light weights with fairly high reps. I try to pick a weight with which I can do about 10-12 reps. Then I did a ten minute ab routine. I was pooped!

 

I've been swimming because I'd like to tone up my arms. However, as much as I like distance swimming, I feel that doing intervals would probably produce better tone, yes? I also may eat something else tonight as I feel I may get hungry before bed. If I do, it will be peanut butter on bread!

 

Hopefully tomorrow goes this well!

 

Edit: Forgot to add! I weighed myself today, at the same time I always do, and I was 136.5 lbs. Yay! I'm sure some of that was water weight because last time I weighed myself I was pretty much down to eating only Top Ramen which will undoubtably cause water retention, but I was glad to see the scale going down even after just a few days.

[Firiel]

I ate well today! One bite-sized caramel and a few potato chips are the only questionable things I had today. Yay!

 

I had to take it easy working out because I was still pooped from yesterday. So today I swam 500 yards and ran for about 10 minutes, then did just a touch of speed work. Then I did the stationary bike (quite leisurely!) for about 25 minutes. Fairly light lifting, abs, and then I was done!

 

Ever since I lost weight, I've noticed I get cold SO easily. I don't have as much fat to keep me warm! That's one thing I miss! Also, it was kind of nice when my clothes actually fit me instead of falling off all the time!

[Firiel]

Hmmm... today didn't go that well. I had some potato chips and sherbet today, but I didn't really have dinner, so I guess it wasn't too bad.

 

I did work out today, though! I ran for thirty minutes and then did ten minutes of abs. Yay!

 

I have to go out of town for a wedding this weekend which I'm not looking forward to. Harder to eat well, harder to work out. Lame!

[Firiel]

So, the wedding didn't go too badly! Of course, I didn't eat well, but I actually kept up with my exercising pretty well. On Thursday, I didn't work out, but on Friday, I went on a 6.8km hike. Saturday, I woke up and worked out at the hotel... twenty minutes on the treadmill and then some weights. Sunday I went for a 4.8km hike, and today I don't really plan on working out because I am exhausted from the trip.

 

The good diet starts again today! So far, I had a decent breakfast and tomato soup for lunch!

[NEVEAH]

Good job Firiel!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Keep up with it!!! I'm on my third week!!!!

[Firiel]

Gosh, I went and had dinner at my parents' house and after being around my younger sister I just feel like a fat cow. I want to a) throw up my whole dinner, which is an awful idea, and I won't do it and b) eat a ton because I am feeling depressed now, which is also an awful idea.

 

I've been doing a good job of working out and a fair job of eating healthy. But now I just feel awful.

[Firiel]

Gah. This journal was supposed to keep me accountable.

 

Fail.

 

Ok. Today was good. I had cereal with skim milk for breakfast, a breakfast burrito (white tortilla, one egg, one egg white, refried beans, a bit of cheese) and a banana for second breakfast, a PBJ sandwhich on wheat and a spinach and strawberry salad for lunch, carrots for snack, and homemade tomato soup, wheat toast, a peach, carrots, and a cup of milk for dinner. I was happy with the way I ate.

 

I also ran for thirty minutes, lifted, and did an ab workout today. Yay!

 

I just need to not pig out tonight!