well THAT explains it

If my very fancy scale is not lying to me, I've dropped 4% body fat since the end of October - down to 35%!!! I kind of think it's telling the truth, because my clothes are fitting me in a way I would expect if I were 5 lbs lighter than I actually am. So YAY PUSHUPS!!! And misc other weights I've been doing... but it's mostly been the pushups.

progress is progress

Down another pound this week. I missed Tuesday's workout but ran and did pushups Friday. Today I ran halfway across the park to get to coffee on time, but I ran the downhill part so that doesn't really count and I will go out for a proper run this afternoon. I'm going to do my pushups in a bit and I think I'll do just plain squats with the laundry detergent as well. I don't feel like going up to Sue's for a workout and she's got bugs now too anyway.

The belt I normally wear has probably 2 inches more of a "tail" on it now than it used to. :-D

Ooo, and because I seem to have been abandoned by the rest of the family today, and the chores are mostly done, I think I will haul out my pilates DVD too. And I can still spend a good amount of time knitting. It's better than a spa day.

Well no, not really. But it's cheaper than a spa day!

should I try to exercise if I already feel like crap?

Yesterday I was supposed to do a run and pushups. Unfortunately, the dog had a seizure in the middle of the night, necessitating half an hour of cleanup and the child sleeping crammed into a single bed with me for the remainder of the night.

So I wasn't feeling great the next morning. Plus the viruses decided to come back and make my nose stuffy, although I had no other cold symptoms. Physically, I probably could have managed a run, but I wouldn't have enjoyed it. Plus the dog needed a day of couch-time, so I didn't have a need to get her out too.

I pretty much sat on my butt all day, and I'm ok with that. I missed a run, oh well. I did my pushups today - I'm on week 4 now! - and my nose is completely clear and I feel much better. I feel a bit like the last two weeks have been a write-off, but I think there's a greater danger in too much self-castigation than in a bit of justified slacking. I'll squeeze a run in on Friday, somehow, and I'm looking forward to it.

Also, I have discovered that squat-overhead press exercises with the laundry detergent container are pretty great quick full-body workouts, if done in sets of 12.

exercise is good, but viruses work too

I'm down another pound and a half this week, after skipping my Tuesday workouts and only managing a run on Friday - no pushups or weights. I could almost feel my body bashing the viruses into submission, so maybe that had something to do with it. I was worried it was muscle atrophy but I did my pushups this morning - I redid the last day of week 3 instead of moving on to week 4, but it was ridiculously easy and I knocked off 20 in my last set, so I don't think my muscles suffered any from the almost-week of rest.

So I think I'm just going to keep going as I am until after Christmas, then in January do a couple weeks of super-low-carb. We're heading into the holiday-party season now, and while I don't have a problem avoiding the cookies and whatnot, denying myself the joys of carrots and apples seems just mean. And probably unnecessary.

Today I'm going to do my run then head up to Sue's for a weights workout. I'm following the beginner weight routines on stumptuous.com, which is a fantastically awesome site that everyone should check out.

is it wrong that it's harder to resist my own cooking?

Today is my little girl's birthday - she is 3! Growing so fast... sniff. And now able to make certain birthday requests. Like strawberry cupcakes.

Hoo boy - this was WAY harder than hallowe'en. Hallowe'en is just crap junk, that I find it easy to say no to for a couple of reasons. But my own baking? Uuuurrrghhhh...

The upshot of it was, I made Stirling test the cupcakes, taking only the tiniest nibble to reassure myself he wasn't just humouring me that they were good. But the icing... the icing got the better of me. It started with a tiny lick, just to make sure I had the sugar/creamcheese balance right. Then I had to make sure it was ok with the strawberry puree added in. Then it was some sort of crime to leave the bowl with ANY microbial icing remains, and Stirling was in the tub, so what was I supposed to do?

So I ate some icing. Not as much as I would have in the good old days (when I would have baked cinnamon buns this morning just to "use up" the leftovers) but some. And I am not surprised that I am way hungrier today than I have been for a while, but I have still remained in control and not eaten anything starchy or sugary, except some grapes that Stirling bought that I'm reluctant to give to Rowan because they're non-organic and probably loaded with pesticides. (So, yeah, I shouldn't eat them either.) But this is apparently what happens when one sends one's husband to the grocery store with no cash and the request for cupcake papers that cost all of $1.50 - he feels obligated to buy something else.

ANYWAY my jeans are fitting much better and my cold is going away, so I'm not going to get all freaked out about a little icing.

ack, stupid viruses

Well so much for my plans this week - the cold bugs caught up with me. I think I can get rid of them quickly though. They seem feeble. I expect that sitting on my ass today with multiple cups of tea, some good chicken broth with kimchee and a couple zinc lozenges (and a hot bath) ought to do them in. But I can't do a cold on super-low-carb because I NEED oranges, so I'm just going to postpone that. And my run that I was supposed to do today, that just doesn't seem like a good idea.

Mmmmm bath....

Oh, and I've discovered a great new way to not snack - knitting! (But my appetite has been crap for the last couple days anyway.)

Hrm.

So I've been starch-and-sugar-free for 3 weeks and I've lost all of 5 lbs. Well, I guess that's not bad. I missed my Friday workout because I was too busy being interviewed on TV and stuff, but I ran yesterday - week 4! 5 minute running stretches! - and I seem to recall managing my pushups on Friday too. I am going to do a garage workout today, I think - and ride my bike up there for extra fun.

I'm still amazed at how well the running is going. I can DO it! I have never, ever been a runner, and I am resorting to it out of desperation - but I am pleasantly surprised that it's not been horrible or uncomfortable or anything. I feel good at the end of a run, and while my legs do protest on the last leg, it's not unbearable.

But I would like to see a little more weight loss. Just cause. I'm going to do a 2-week super-low-carb stint just to kick-start the weight loss. It's not actually that hard, at this time of year... there are no tomatoes, no fruit except apples and pears, and the only carberific stuff around is yogurt, milk, carrots, rutabagas, beets... I can avoid those for a couple weeks. Lots of kale and cabbage and greenery!

A real workout

Today I did the first "real" workout I've done in a long time. I did my run (and messed up and ran an extra 3-minute block instead of a 90-sec one... oh well, it felt good!) and then I popped over to my friend Sue's garage where my weights now live. I had forgotten how absolutely crappy that weight set is, but oh well... it will have to suffice. They're heavy things I can lift, if not exactly comfortably.

I did my pushups there too - bumped down to column 1 of the hundredpushups program, but it doesn't matter, I'll get there in the end. I alternated sets of pushups with weights - squats, then deadlifts, then shoulder presses, bicep curls, and chest presses until I realized they were just backwards pushups and probably redundant by that point. And I did lots of nice stretching plus my back exercises, which I have been neglected. I felt all lovely and loose and floppy afterwards.

So... tomorrow is a rest day, then Thursday is a pushup day and Friday is the start of week 4 of the running program, which involves 5-minute blocks of running, yikes! I guess I can manage it.

Food is still no problem, and I am finding myself far less hungry as time goes by. It's noon, and I'm not starving for lunch like I used to be on an oatmeal breakfast.

progress

I'm more than halfway through week 3 of the Couch to 5K running program and it's going really well. I am SO SO SO thankful for my orthotics - *all* my running foot pain is completely gone and I don't even think about my feet when I'm running. Today the last leg was kinda hurty but in a good way - it made me think "oh, hello leg muscles, welcome back and you have 2 more minutes of running to put up with, enjoy!"

I took my weight set over to my friend's garage and will start doing quick weight routines there - since there is a mat, and space - three times a week.

I am just heading into week 3 of the hundred pushups program. I've been here before and I know week 3 gets HARD but I will do it, I will I will I will.

And still - no problem laying off the starch & sugar. I feel really good and really energetic.

I don't think I've lost any more weight though... I'm pretty sure I will need to step up my activity level, or go super-low-carb for 2 weeks to kick-start some weight loss... we will see, right now I am just enjoying being active and feeling good.

me + starch = bad

Today at lunch I was in pantry-cleanout mode and decided to heat up an ancient can of Caribbean-style black beans for Rowan and me. They didn't have any sugar in them and I figured that they're high enough in fibre to cushion the starch from my brain.

Um, no. I DID throw in some leftover pork, and I ate mine with gobs of sour cream for extra fat (and, indeed, 1/2 a small bowl was enough to make me feel full). But 20 minutes later I found myself at the fridge with my hand reaching towards my crunchy turnip sticks. I was able to stop myself and realize that I was still full from lunch and had NO reason to eat them, but it was a bit scary - I didn't even think about it until the turnip sticks were in my hand. And yes, it was just turnip sticks, which are not about to make anyone fat - but I'm sure if there HAD been chips or something around, my little paws would have been heading for them.

Also, I feel kind of bleh this afternoon and couldn't even convince myself to ride Bikey over to Cook St. Village. That's really not cool.

So no more beans, for now... they were delicious, but fortunately Rowan really liked them (she actually ate nearly twice as much as me! but she hardly ate any breakfast) so she can have the rest for lunch tomorrow.

feeling good

It's been almost a week since my big mind-shift and I've had no problem avoiding sugars and starches. The only real challenge was a party last night where almost everything was sugary and/or starchy, but I'd had a good dinner and I didn't really want any of it. I did, however, find it difficult to socialize because everyone was clustered around the food and it *was* hard to keep looking at it.

So, Hallowe'en is over, and I didn't even come close to slipping up. Woo!

I feel really good, actually, more physically than mentally. I am still adjusting to the thoughts that this mode of eating is permanent. On one hand, I really believe that it's a much healthier way to eat - but I will miss bread, especially. Not only its taste, but its versatility and ease of use. I suppose I will get over it eventually, and maybe in 5 or 10 years I'll see if I CAN eat just little bits - but to be honest, I'm a little scared of that so I'll just cross that bridge when I come to it.

I've also been doing the hundredpushups.com program and the Couch to 5K running program. Both are going well, and it's a time investment I can manage. Running is SO much more comfortable with my new orthotics, I am kicking myself for not getting them sooner!

Overall I feel less bloated and yucky, and yesterday I weighed myself and I'm down to 161.5. My clothes are more comfortable already.

So - so far, so good!