Marinated Cucumbers and Tomatoes

Last night I whipped up a little cucumber salad to have as a snack today. Considering I wasn’t following a pre-determined recipe, it came out really good! LOL!

2 tablespoons Seasoned Rice Wine Vinegar
1 Packet Splenda
Salt and pepper to taste
Handful of Cherry Tomatoes (quartered)
About a cup of sliced Cucumber

Stir the vinegar, splenda and salt and pepper together in a small bowl, then pour over the tomatoes and cucumbers. Refrigerate for a few hours of overnight. (Or not, if you’re starving. LOL! It tasted pretty good last night too)

Add a little bit of diced red onion too – if you like onions (I don’t. I can’t eat onions unless they’re cooked.)

Longest 3 weeks ever…

So, tonight I FINALLY was able to complete “Week 3: Session 1” – Run 3 minutes, walk 2 minutes (10 times). I’ve been working on that rotation for about 2 weeks now. LOL! Week 3: Session 2 will be a breeze then – Run 2 minutes, walk 2 minutes (9 times). And after that the next few sessions seem easily within reach.

I’ve finally managed to get myself running on the treadmill, which I think has been the critical thing for my being able to complete this session. I think before, when I was running outside, I was getting too hot (it hasn’t been cooling down enough at twilight recently), and I was also probably getting dehydrated. Even tonight, running in an air conditioned gym, and basically drinking a huge bottle of water – when I stopped running, I felt dizzy. I don’t know if that’s really normal or not. I do have a doctor’s appointment in about a month and I guess if that keeps up, I’ll ask her. Either way, I still prefer running outside, so I need to figure out a way to keep a water bottle handy.

These are the types of simple questions that always make me feel like an idiot. I mean, what do “real” runners do? I never see the joggers I pass on the road lugging a big jug of water with them. How do these people not get dehydrated?!

In any case, I did see someone bicycling with something like this: Amphipod Full Tilt Velocity Waistpack – basically the water bottle goes on your back. I’m not sure how well it works for running, but I’m really tempted to try it. REI I think is one of those stores that has a really good return policy if I recall…? Don’t like it – bring it back, even if you’ve used it kind of thing. So even though $32 seems like more than I’d want to spend on a water bottle – I’m willing to try it if I know I can return it if it doesn’t work out.

In any case, I’m feeling really good about tonight’s victory. 50 minutes or running/walking. Go me! 😀

The Slippery Slope

I got a big pile of work dumped on me last week. I worked over the weekend, including the evenings. I’m kinda freaking out because it’s just a LOT to get done. I don’t have any doubt I’ll be able to do it – just not sure what it’s going to cost me in terms of time and sanity.

Some people say they don’t know how they’d get anything done working from home – that there’s too many distractions. For me it’s the opposite. I have a hard time focusing on anything else when there’s a big to do list on my desk. So instead of taking the night off, I’ll just keep working. Or even if my brain is fried and I really can’t focus any more, I’m still at my computer, attempting to get some of the work done. (Of course, the problem is that there is always more work (a good thing and a bad thing) – so there is always a to-do list. It never really goes away. So I never really just stop stressing about it)

I was supposed to go to the gym last night and do the weights (which is hard to get motivated to do in the first place) but I didn’t go. I did run on Sunday, but the whole time I was running, I was stressing out about the work I could have been doing. This is the slippery slope that got me into trouble the last year – almost right around this same time. I stopped working out, and I stopped my diet – and BAM! 10lbs later… Some people go to workout to help them relax and “let go” of work – and if my to-do list isn’t too long, sure, I can do that too, somewhat. But right now? Working out is incredibly stressful.

Still, every day I don’t workout brings its own stress. Especially given the fact that this past weekend I wasn’t as on target as I could have been. (Yeah, there was that whole bottle of wine incident). So, there’s an Aqua aerobics class tomorrow – no better time to try something new than when I’m super stressed out and feeling very unmotivated to exercise!!

Learn to run: on hold

This is the second time I’ve tried to complete the week 3: session 1 run. (Run 3 minutes, walk 2 minutes x 10) I don’t know if it’s that I’m getting dehydrated, or the heat is sticking around a little longer the last few weeks (or both), but I’m able to get to about 30minutes, and then my body just quits. I feel sick to my stomach and I know if I don’t stop, I won’t even be able to make the walk back home. I’m also wanting to try to work in a few new things too – so I can’t commit to running 3x a week. I want to try an aqua aerobic class, there’s a new dance/aerobic type class starting soon, and I need to squeeze that weight training in. I’m not giving up completely, but just going to change things up. I’m going to try to run at least once a week – and I’m going to keep trying to finish the full session. I’ll go for as long as I can and stop when I start to feel sick.

Taming the Lion

There was a great analogy that was posted on the MyFoodDiary forums: Addiction is like a roaring lion. Addicts who use tobacco, alcohol or drugs have to slam the door to the lion’s cage and walk away to recover. Food addicts have to open the cage and pet the lion three times a day for the rest of their lives.

I’m certainly not saying that food addictions are harder to handle than drug or alcohol addictions. But there is something uniquely difficult about an addiction where you can’t just avoid the trigger completely. You have to eat. You can’t just walk away from food. You can’t draw that clear line. There’s no monitoring needed – the solution is very clear: DO NOT DO THAT.

This is not the case with food. With food, you gotta go in there and make nice with the lion. To me, that’s why diets like MediFast (I also tried this one very briefly) and Jenny Craig are so appealing. Follow these instructions on how to pet the lion, and it won’t eat you. But the problem, of course, comes when you have to fly solo – the lion looks awfully hungry.

While I did gain some weight – maybe in comparison to others, I never let it get too bad. But I feel I was lucky in that I quickly realized how easily it could be to just keep packing on the pounds. These are all reasons why I now monitor what I eat as carefully as possible. If I have to go into that lion’s cage, I’ve got to know exactly what I’m doing, when I’m doing it, how I’m doing it because otherwise, it’s all over. If I could quit food cold turkey, I would. But (a) I love food!!! and (b) well, you can’t. Sorry. I may be thinner now, but it’s something that I’m going to always need to keep on top of. I’ll never be able to turn my back on that lion.

Beyond monitoring/calorie counting, a few other things I do to keep the lion under control:

If there’s snacks in the house, do not leave them where they are easily reached or seen.
When I go shopping, I try to buy a few healthy snacks to help with random cravings. I’ll look for the healthiest, lowest calorie things I can find. But even then, if you’re just going to town on the bag, it’s not going to be good. Also, if I see it, I’ll start craving it, even if I wasn’t craving it to begin with. So I’ll put them out of sight. (On top of the fridge or waaay in the back of the pantry) That way I have them when I really need them, but I won’t just want them because “they’re there.”

Do not bring bad things into the house!
Maybe this goes without saying, but I’ve heard people who are on diets say they suddenly lose it and eat a whole bag of Doritos. Uhm. WHY is there even a bag of Doritos in the house?? Do not buy things that will tempt you or have portions so ridiculously small that there is no way you could stay within their range. Sometimes the kids want some of these things, and I tell them point-blank – Sorry, we’re picking out healthier snacks – not just for you but for me too. Clear out the pantry and the fridge of unhealthy food. Throw it away! And do not bring more into the house.

Pay attention to what you’re doing
This does kind of fall in the monitoring category – but I think it’s worth mentioning. It’s way too easy to grab the bag of “healthy snacks” and bring them next to the computer – and eat the whole bag without realizing it. (Or maybe that’s just me) If I want to snack while I’m on the computer (which is probably not a good thing to begin with, but whatever), I’ll go measure out a portion, leave the bag in the kitchen, and then bring just the measured portion with me. That way, hopefully when the portion is gone, I’ll be done, and if I still want more, at least I’ll be aware of what I’m doing: get up, measure out a second portion, leave the bag, go back to the computer. Sure, if your computer is close to the kitchen, this is probably not going to work for you. I’d say the best bet is just not munch by the computer at all in that case.

Choose wisely
There are some days that lion is just loud. And really damn hungry. Some days you just want a massive huge plate of food. On those days, I’ll try to deal with it by getting a whole head of lettuce, which thankfully isn’t very calorie dense, and having a massive salad. (Of course watch how much dressing you put on, that stuff adds up). I’ll add in some cooked chicken to add some protein, and that usually does the job.