Going for it.

Breakfast:
- 1 piece whole wheat toast with peanut butter
- 1 cup fresh pineapple
- 1/2 cup Special K Vanilla Almond

Lunch:
- bowl of leftover beef stir-fry with pineapple and bell peppers (homemade)
- 1/2 container strawberry banana yogurt

Exercise:
- 20 minutes treadmill (3.0 mph, 15.0 incline)
- 10 minutes on the Cross Ramp
- 40 minutes on the Treadclimber (3.0/3.5 mph)
- yoga class (1 hour)

Classes start today. To be honest, this is the first time I've not looked forward to going to classes. I'm so sick of university it's ridiculous. I'll be SO glad to go military when I graduate, grad school is not even remotely an option at this point.
 
Hi!
Thanks for stopping by my diary. I'm glad to know I'm not the only pop corn addict!:lurk5:

Boy, you do excercise a lot! I wish I had that will power. I do yoga too.I find it helps me control the emotional eating.

I've got to go now, today is being hectic. I promise a longer post is coming soon.

Ciao!
 
Snack:
- peanut butter sandwich on whole wheat (Yeah, I know. I'm a peanut butter addict. It's practically my favorite protein.)

I was soooooooooooo hungry coming in from class. Ravenous even. I think all that exercise this morning really ramped up my metabolism. Good thing I believe in healthy weight loss, which includes lots of exercise AND healthy food. :D

Classes were okay. I had Technical Writing and The Ethnic Novel today. Lots of CUTE guys in Tech Writing, and old English major friends in Ethnic, so they weren't too bad. I just hate having the syllabi read to me in the first class of the semester; I've been at university for five years - why don't these people trust me to be able to read a print-out on my own already?

The gym was fun, but yoga was terrible. It's my second time with this particular instructor, and I remember why I never took classes with her now. She goes through the forms WAY too fast (I do yoga for relaxation, NOT cardio), and her choice in music is absolutely atrocious! Who really wants to listen to "Home On The Range" or "Mary Had A Little Lamb" in instrumentals while doing yoga? Ugh.

Luckily, the other four classes are taught by other instructors. So goody for me.

India: I probably wouldn't exercise as much, but I'm on a strict deadline to lose a specific amount of weight so I can meet weight and BMI requirements for the Navy, so I have to push myself as hard as I can. I eat a lot to make up for it, though. ;) Thanks for popping in!
 
When I first started my fitness program, I couldn't even do a single regular pushup.

Now it's official. I can do five real pushups in a row. Not girly-girl, on-your-knees pushups. But straight-backed, elbows-at-a-90-degree-angle pushups. My dip is still a little bit more shallow than I'd like, but it's a start.

:party:

It may not seem like much to some people, but this is a HUGE breakthrough for me. I was so worried about pushups in the Navy PT tests because my upper body strength is really bad, but now, only a few weeks after starting my workouts (working to stabilize my core muscles through yoga and torso weights and my arms through chest presses, bicep/tricep weights, and dips), I can actually do not just one, but five in a row. Won't be long until I'll be pumping out forty at a time!!

(YAY!)
 
Dinner last night:
- 2 1/2 rum-glazed ribs
- a couple mouthfuls of stuffed eggplant (rice-it wasn't very good)
- piece of buttered Italian bread

Actually slept until 8:30 today for the first time in about a week, so maybe my body is getting accustomed to the training. I did wake up briefly at 4:30, but not even long enough to sit up.

Breakfast:
- bowl of Special K Cinnamon Pecan
- peanut butter sandwich on whole wheat
- 8 strawberries

Ugh, I'm PMSing like a mother, too. It suuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuucks. I'm giving the scale a wide berth for two weeks, probably.

I don't have class until 3:55, so I'm headed to the gym after I go to get my car checked out.
 
That is so awesome about the pushups... thats one of my goals for this year... I"m totally impressed that you can knock out 5 of them - well done on your hard work and accomplishment :D
 
Thanks Mal! I am SO pumped about it, it's ridiculous.

I've always wanted to be in the military, but since I've been overweight and out of shape my entire life, I mostly kept the desire to myself because I didn't want people to laugh at me. "Her? In the military? Yeah, right!"

Finally, after being awestruck by my brother's Pass In Review and his amazing lifestyle in San Diego, I decided to go for it and cornered myself into either realizing my dreams this spring or having to deal with a huge failure. I've been accepted (provisionally) to grad school, but I have absolutely no intentions of going. The military is pretty much my make-or-break destiny at this point. I have no Plan B, and I didn't give myself one on purpose - that way, I have no choice but to excel. I've always been someone who easily settles for second place because I'm not very competitive and I'm a pretty passive person in general. I need that to change about myself.

I wanted to go military, but I accepted the fact that I was never going to be fit enough to do it a long, long time ago, which led me to pursue my backup dream, which was going into publishing. But now that I'm about to leave college with a double degree, suddenly the "backup dream" doesn't look good enough anymore.

So I decided to train my heart out. And now that I can actually do a few pushups and run for ten minutes without feeling like I'm going to keel over, I know that this is a dream I can actually achieve, if I dedicate myself and put up with a little short-term sacrifice.

It's nice to see your dreams materialize in front of you through your own hard work. :D

Lunch:
- chargrilled chicken breast sandwich on whole wheat w/ lettuce, tomato, and pickles
- salad w/ chargrilled chicken strips (VERY little dressing - I just put a little dollop on the side and dipped my fork in it...great trick for making sure you don't overdo it on the ranch and negate your healthy salad choice!)

Exercise:
- Treadclimber (3.0 for 2 minutes, 3.5 for 3 minutes, in interval): one hour [calories expended: appx. 800]

I'm going back to the gym with my family tonight, so I didn't do weights or anything because I'm saving them for after class. Don't want to overdo it, otherwise I'll be dragging butt in front of my folks.
 
there are a lot of people out there who will knock the military -I amnot one of them... for the right person and you are the right person - with a lot of drive and determination, it' a great future... Sounds like yo've made the right decision for yourself :D I'm gonna bug you to stand up straight :D
 
Mal - The thing that really bugs me sometimes is that a lot of people I respect really *don't* respect my decision to join up because it's so different than the lifestyle I've led up to this point. My best friend was HORRIFIED when I told him I wanted to go military when I got out of college. He was all, "You spent five years at three universities just to get out and have people scream at you?"

Even worse, my absolute favorite English teacher at my university is very, very disappointed in my decision. And told me so straight-up, to my face.

I had previously talked to her about moving to New York and going into publishing up there, and she was *so* excited for me because she's always been a big believer in my writing ability and my biggest supporter in the academic community. (She even nominated me for Student Ambassador of the English Department.)

Now I guess she feels like she never really knew me that well, because she didn't anticipate me dropping all my literary post-college plans for something I could have done with no college at all.

I've always been the easygoing hippie Buddhist in my friend group, and spent my college and high school careers in and out of protests and civil rights groups. I've always admired the military, but since I hung out with a bunch of pacifists and political liberals, I just kept my secret desire to "drop and give twenty" on the down-low.

I don't really want to join for any political reasons - I'm probably the furthest from the "average" American soldier as you could possibly get. But at the same time, I don't know why it surprises people so much sometimes. Both my grandfathers were in the military - one Air Force, one Navy (in WWII). My mother was going to join, but she couldn't because she only has one kidney. My brother is in the Navy, and both my mother and father work as defense contractors.

So now that I've gotten so much negative feedback about it, I'm just not bringing it up to anyone but my immediate family anymore. They, at least, are fully supportive.

Hopefully I'll get into Officer Candidate School, so certain people won't feel like I'm wasting my "hard-earned college education"...
 
That's good that your family is supportive, at least. I'm sorry that more people in your life aren't.

I see the military sort of like I see some religions: it's not what I was raised with, and I'm not likely to ever join myself, but I've know too many decent, respectable people who feel it was the right choice for them not to consider it a respectable choice.

Thank you, for wanting to serve our country. :)
 
maverick said:
My best friend was HORRIFIED when I told him I wanted to go military when I got out of college. He was all, "You spent five years at three universities just to get out and have people scream at you?"

Even worse, my absolute favorite English teacher at my university is very, very disappointed in my decision. And told me so straight-up, to my face.
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Gosh, that's just so rude of them. You sound very committed to your decision. It wouldn't be my choice of career now, but when I left college I did go for the officer grade (don't know what it's called in the US) entry and I got turned down! And yeah, I'm a hippy pacifist too, but I think I was just attracted by the armed forces as a career. Plus, in my country, there is not much active duty (apart from UN peacekeeping), to speak of, which made it way more desirable.

Through sport, I have know a good few guys who have been through it. They all made great careers out of the army and got to retire early (in their 40s) with excellent pensions.
 
That's good that your family is supportive, at least. I'm sorry that more people in your life aren't.
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Thanks. It's not too bad though - I've never really been someone who looks for approval from other people, so it hasn't been as hard on me emotionally as it probably would for some people. Just sort of a maverick I guess. :D

I see the military sort of like I see some religions: it's not what I was raised with, and I'm not likely to ever join myself, but I've know too many decent, respectable people who feel it was the right choice for them not to consider it a respectable choice.
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Yeah, it's definitely not for everyone, that's for sure. It can be a really difficult life (very geographically unstable) but there are perks, too.

Thank you, for wanting to serve our country.
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No problem! :D

Gosh, that's just so rude of them. You sound very committed to your decision. It wouldn't be my choice of career now, but when I left college I did go for the officer grade (don't know what it's called in the US) entry and I got turned down!
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I'm worried about not making it into officer's school too (there's LOTS of competition since 9/11) but if I don't, it's really no biggie. I'll just go enlisted like my brother did. :) I don't think my friend and teacher were trying to be rude, it's just that as an English major and a civil rights activist, I've always traveled in pretty liberal circles, and lots of people I know are not fans of the military...or the American government, for that matter.

And yeah, I'm a hippy pacifist too, but I think I was just attracted by the armed forces as a career. Plus, in my country, there is not much active duty (apart from UN peacekeeping), to speak of, which made it way more desirable.
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I'm definitely attracted to it as a career, too. If I go in, there's a good chance I'll make it a lifelong deal if I enjoy it.

Through sport, I have know a good few guys who have been through it. They all made great careers out of the army and got to retire early (in their 40s) with excellent pensions.
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One of the reasons I'd like to go career, too. :gnorsi:

Thanks for stopping by you guys!
 
Dinner:
- bowl of turkey and dumplings
- two pieces of toasted Italian bread w/ butter
(and water of course)

Didn't go to the gym tonight, because a) My family was watching Biggest Loser until 9:00 :D and b) It is storming like a mofo outside. My parents didn't want me out in inclement weather, so I abstained.

I think I'm still going to do some "commercial reps" while watching TV tonight though. During each TV commercial, I try to do 20 crunches and 5 pushups.
 
Breakfast:
- 2/3rds of a piece of whole wheat toast (with boysenberry preserves)
- 1/2 a banana
- about 8-9 chunks of fresh pineapple
- cup of coffee halved with milk

Wasn't very hungry this morning, but I ate anyway since I have to go to the gym. Definitely going to lift weights first thing this morning, as upper body strength is just as important for me to be cultivating as the cardio is.

I also have to go visit with my cousin before I go to class, as she called me last night and wanted to hang out a little. (Sigh.) I never realize how anti-social I am until someone invites me to do something. I'm definitely a lone wolf by nature, even though a lot of people want me to do things with them all the time; I'm a definite introvert and lots of people don't understand WHY I would rather be by myself. I've always been the aloof one.

In any case, I have lots of iffy history with my cousin. She was a manipulative, violent drug addict for a long time (if you've ever seen the show Intervention, you'll know the kind of person I'm talking about) and she treated pretty much everyone in the family like shit, including me. So it's always awkward for us to get together.

I realize she needs my support because she's pregnant and a soon-to-be single mom, but she just doesn't seem to understand (or care) that I have a lot of my own big-time issues to deal with, graduation from college and entry to the military at the top of the list. I just don't have time to just sit around and "hang out" right now, especially to listen to someone bitch and moan about their problems when they refuse to do anything to rectify them.

Gods, doesn't that sound sanctimonious? It makes me feel terrible to think things like that (Buddhists shouldn't think things like that about people, right?) but if I'm going to be perfectly honest, it makes me very uncomfortable to be around "weak" people and emotional victims. I'm not talking about physical strength here, but people who just wander aimlessly through life, f*cking people over and getting f*cked over in return. Or people who make constantly bad decisions even though they've been given good advice over and over again.

I think it's because I'm the person people come to advice for (my nickname was the Zen Master at my last college) and it drives me crazy when people ask me my opinion and then ignore it completely. Why did you tearfully ask me to help you if you were going to ignore me or do the opposite of what I said or, even worse, get defensive and angry about what I tell you to do to help yourself?

Unfortunately, that's what you get for being truthful with people. So now I keep the truth to myself about 99% of the time, and keep my own counsel.

So now that I'm back at my old college in my hometown, I haven't really hooked up with any of my old friends. I've just kept to myself and enjoyed not having to play therapist to broken people for awhile.

Especially now that I'm in the middle of serious business, I really just want to spend time by myself, train and meditate and figure things out.
 
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It is funny that people always say they want the truth, just as long as the truth is what they want to hear. I know where you are comming from with the drug addict, I had a freind i worked with that somehow developed a problem and became totaly manipulative. He ripped off a bunch of his friends including me. Got to a point I had to cut all ties.
 
Especially now that I'm in the middle of serious business, I really just want to spend time by myself, train and meditate and figure things out.
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you have to take care of yourself... and do what's right for you...

as dr seuss said - those who mind dont matter and those who matter, don't mind...

if you don't want to spend tme with them - dont...
 
It is funny that people always say they want the truth, just as long as the truth is what they want to hear. I know where you are comming from with the drug addict, I had a freind i worked with that somehow developed a problem and became totaly manipulative. He ripped off a bunch of his friends including me. Got to a point I had to cut all ties.
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I had a really good friend (a best friend, in fact) who became addicted to alcohol and painkillers at my last university, and it sucked to watch him spiral downward from a funny, bright person I loved and respected into a miserable, cunning wretch who stole money from his roommates for drugs and eventually ended up getting kicked out of the house I hung out at.

By the end of our relationship, I despised him and cut him off completely. It came down to a point one night when I had to threaten to call the cops on him.

None of us could even stand to be in the same room with him. Not just because of what he was doing to me and our roommates (I practically lived there, though I didn't pay rent) but because of what he was doing to himself. He was a genius when it came to the music industry (I heard bands that are really famous now months and months before they became big, because he was so engrossed in the underground music scene and made us listen to everything).

Whenever he was real low and asked me for advice, I told him over and over again, "Move out of this shithole town, go to Atlanta, clean yourself up and get a job, get a guitar, take lessons and get involved in the scene there, make a NAME for yourself if that's your dream. It's not just gonna fall in your lap." But what did he do instead? Pop some more pills and get fired from his job. It almost seemed like he did it sometimes to spite what I said.

He tried to get back in touch with me and apologize when he moved back to Huntsville (we're from the same hometown) but I won't have anything to do with him. Because I know who he's hanging with, and he's still the same person he was in Tuscaloosa.

I guess that's why I seethe sometimes when I deal with my cousin, even though she's (sort of) pulling herself up out of the gutter. Because there have been many times in the past when if I had had the opportunity to cut her out of my life forever, I would have.

But I can't do that because she's not a friend. She's family. And I'm probably the only sober friend she's got.
 
Exercise:
- 12 minutes treadmill; 1 mile warm-up run (appx. 100 calories)
- 30 minutes Treadclimber; 3.5/3.0 mph (appx. 400 calories)
- chest/arm machines

Snack:
- Starbucks Peppermint Mocha Frappucino (in the bottle)

Lunch:
- Weight Watchers Salisbury Steak w/ Macaroni and Cheese

I got a nasty shock today. Took a glance at my usual jar of peanut butter on my way to make a sandwich for lunch and my jaw dropped. 16 grams of fat for 1 tablespoon? UGH. So I guess peanut butter sandwiches are out of the question at this point.

Good news, though. I tried one of the random Weight Watchers meals stuck in the freezer in the garage (don't know why they're out there, as I've never seen anyone eat them) and it was actually very tasty with some salt and pepper. A perfect little portion size, too. :D

Went over to my cousin's long enough to watch Death Sentence (with Kevin Bacon) but only long enough to do that. I have way too much other crap to do today. (Just finished making a HUGE cold pasta salad to go with our lime-grilled chicken tonight, so there will probably be enough for leftover meals, I bet.)

Time to knock a few more things off my to-do list before I hit class (and the gym again with my family afterwards).
 
Your peanut butter discovery just made me do some investigation on my own supply. Slightly better...8 grams of fat per tablespoon, but it's the organic, non sweetened peanut butter. All it says in the ingredients list is "freshly roasted organic peanuts". Still, it's tasty with jams or a banana, or a drizzle of honey. :D
 
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