Sifen's Journal

September 24

Iwan, Journey, Cherry, pequin--- thanks! Today I WILL jog another 2.5 miles, I WILL meet or exceed my water goal, and I WILL eat a ton of fruits and veggies! There, now it's already written and I can't go back on it. :)

I've also managed to start today off properly this time, so hopefully that will bode well for the remainder of the day. I hope everyone has a wonderful, active, waterlogged day!

Sifen

3:00 pm: Today, I jogged 2.5 miles! Not "1 mile then 1.5 miles." Not "1.5 miles then 1 mile." I jogged a full 2.5 miles without stopping or slowing down!!! YES!!! I'm getting to the point where 1 mile is almost no effort to me, and that's a wonderful feeling. But then today at the 1.5 mark, my body was like, "You know, I've got enough energy to keep going, want to shoot for 2?" and my mind was all, "Aw hell yeah!" And then at the 2 mark, we're all, "You know we're a little tired, a little sore, but we're not gasping or struggling--- let's do the full thing!" And it was done! And it was awesome!! And it only took half an hour, so that means I jog at 5 mph!!!

Okay, excessive use of exclamation points there, but I am really proud of myself and extremely psyched and pumped up. :D

DAILY RECAP for SEPT 24:

Breakfast: Bowl of oatmeal w/milk and syrup, 8 oz grapefruit juice (365 cal)
Lunch: Slice of whole-grain bread w/1 tsp mayo, cayenne pepper, turkey, and a slice of swiss w/handful baby carrots and 8 oz of 2% milk (425 cal)
Mid-afternoon: Pudding cup (130 cal)
Late afternoon: Apple slices dipped in honey (~100 cal)
Dinner: Mug of homemade chicken soup with challah (dunno, can't be more than 400 cal since I skimmed all the fat off after it chilled overnight)
Dessert: Piece of honey cake (~200 cal)
Total cals = 1620
Water: 88 of 86 oz completed
Fruits/Veggie servings: Grapefruit juice x2, baby carrots, apple, combo carrots/onion/celery (from the soup)
Exercise: Jogged 2.5 miles(!!!)

Yays for today:
- Jogged 2.5 miles straight! (And yes, I'm going to continue to be excited about that for awhile... at least until it becomes habit :))

Boos for today:
- None!
 
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That is excellent news! Keep it up Sifen! I only run two or three times per week, but whenever I have run, I notice that I feel fitter and happier the rest of the day.
 
ToothlessFerret said:
That is excellent news! Keep it up Sifen! I only run two or three times per week, but whenever I have run, I notice that I feel fitter and happier the rest of the day.
Click to expand...

Definitely! I love jogging, I'm so glad to have started it up again. I doubt I'll keep up the six-days-a-week pace I'm on right now forever, but until I slow down it feels absolutely great every day.

Sifen
 
September 25

Happy Monday, everyone! At least as happy as a Monday can be, anyhow. Today's my 'day off' from jogging, which means time to thoroughly clean the apartment, which is a bit of exercise in and of itself. Nothing else to report at the moment, so hope you all have a great day!

Sifen

12:48 am: I started feeling really bad about the way my skin looks this evening. So I made it worse by eating ice cream. Well, not literally; ice cream isn't going to affect my skin, but if I keep eating it I'm going to feel horrible about myself and start regaining those two pounds. It's just hard sometimes; I'd rather heal up than lose the weight, honestly, but I don't know which is more likely to happen. Making an appointment with my dermatologist tomorrow.
Tomorrow, sheesh. Tomorrow will be better because it has to be. I'll jog, and that will make me feel better. Then I can work on eating better and drinking more water.

DAILY RECAP for SEPT 25, final update 12:54 am:

Breakfast: Bowl of oatmeal w/milk and syrup (265 cal)
Lunch: Mug of chicken soup and raisins (~420 cal)
Dinner: Pasta shells w/ricotta and peas (don't know, at least 400?)
Dessert: Piece of honey cake (~200 cal)
Noooooo: Bowl of ice cream (300 cal)
Total cals = At least 1585
Water: 60 of 86 oz completed
Fruits/Veggie servings: Raisins x2, combo carrots/onion/celery, peas
Exercise: Cleaned the apartment

Yays for today:
- None. *Sigh*

Boos for today:
- The ice cream. The not eating enough vegetables. The not drinking enough water. Need I go on?
 
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September 26

Feeling better today, I just need to get back into the swing of things after last night. There are some things I can't fix on my own... but damned if there aren't some that I can! Going to lose this weight whether my skin gets better or not. Hope you all have a wonderful day!

Sifen

1:30 pm: The first few steps of jogging I did today were a little scary. It was as though the muscles in my legs froze up for a minute and I almost stopped, but then they relaxed and I was okay and kept going. Anyone ever experience anything like that?

DAILY RECAP for SEPT 26:

Breakfast: 1/2c lowfat vanilla yogurt and blueberries (150 cal)
Lunch: Turkey and swiss sandwich on whole grain bread w/2 tsp mayo and two slices of pickle, plus handful of baby carrots and 1c milk (530 cal)
Mid-afternoon: 1c grapefruit juice (100 cal)
Late afternoon: Small bowl of the shells-peas-ricotta mixture (300 maybe?)
Dinner: Regular bowl of above (400 maybe?)
Dessert: Raisins (260 cal)
Total cals = 1540 cal
Water: 48 of 86 oz completed
Fruits/Veggie servings: Blueberries, baby carrots, grapefruit juice x2, peas
Exercise: Jogged 1.5 miles, then 1 mile

Yays for today:
- Jogged

Boos for today:
- Not enough water. I think I just got sick of peeing every ten minutes.
 
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Weird. Could be cramping, do you stretch before you head out? Are you getting enough calcium and potassium? both can cause leg cramping if the levels are low.

Hope you're feeling better. Sometimes you have to take the attitude of que sera sera, your skin will clear up in it's own time. It's good that you called the Dr. maybe they can give you some options. Good Luck! :)
 
Go you, Sifen! At least you're out there running. My schedule this week has been so hectic I haven't been able to make it to the gym but I'm hitting yoga and the free weights today before Girl's Night Out.

The cramping sounds like a lack of potassium. You might try adding bananas into your five-a-day servings of vegetables/fruits. They'll help keep you from locking up like that most likely.

You're doing great! Keep going!
 
September 27

Thanks pequin and kristin! I hadn't thought it was cramping since I always stretch out really well before jogging, but I didn't know about the calcium/potassium thing. I'll have to go out and get some bananas and make sure I drink my milk today!

Unfortunately the doctor's outta town until October 10, so I'm just gonna keep on doing what I'm doing and not worry about it until then. :) Que sera sera indeed!

Sifen

3 pm: So today, I was able to run 1.5 miles, but after I rested (and did some serious stretching to make sure my legs wouldn't cramp!), when I came back out my legs were really not working. Not cramped, just... not working like they should be. Yikes. I'm going to take it easy for the next few days and try to offset my lack of real exercise by eating as well as I possibly can. I don't like not jogging, but it would suck even worse if I stupidly injured myself and had to take weeks off. So from here to Friday, it's walking or nothing. Grr.

DAILY RECAP for SEPT 27:

Breakfast: 1/2c lowfat vanilla yogurt and blueberries (150 cal)
Lunch: Slice of whole-grain bread w/peanut butter and raisins (330 cal)
Mid-afternoon: 1c grapefruit juice (100 cal)
Dinner: French toast made with whole-grain bread, cream cheese, and a little cinnamon and brown sugar. (~350 cal)
Total cals =
Water: 30 of 86 oz completed
Fruits/Veggie servings: Blueberries, raisins x2, grapefruit juice x2
Exercise: Jogged 1.5 miles

Yays for today:

Boos for today:
 
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Hey Sifen,
It looks like you're on track and doing well :)

I've definitely found potassium helps against the cramps!
 
September 29

Hi folks! There's no "Sept 28" post, since... well, I'm not sure why. I think I was just upset at taking time off jogging or something and was ready to toss the diet too-- shells/ricotta/peas for both breakfast and lunch (not too bad really, but not great) and had ice cream during the day. Sheesh. I don't even know how much. Dinner was pretty healthful though-- broiled chicken and sesame-style noodles w/carrot and green pepper.

Which brings me to today. I thought for sure that between not getting my water in this week, having ice cream two days, not jogging as much as I'd like, any number of a myriad of things that didn't go how I wanted it to, that I would have gained weight this week. And somehow I lost a pound in all of that, and I'm at 169! I feel like I cheated somehow, that I don't actually deserve it with all the screwups I'm having lately. But really, I know what I need to take from this-- not every day is going to be perfect, sometimes there's going to be ice cream in the freezer, and so long as I keep going the weight will eventually come off. So there, Rocky Road!

Yesterday was supposed to be my check-in with my five goals, I'll just go ahead and do that today rather than make a separate entry:

1. Join a local gym and start weight training: No. I don't know when this is going to happen, but it will. Unfortunately I have to wait for some other things before I can do it, which is why it's taking so long. Not gonna stress, though. This one stays unchanged until I do it.

2. Don't eat or snack past 8 pm: Abysmal. I think I just plain forgot about this goal this week. Have to work on it.

3. Drink 86 oz or more of water every day: Again, didn't do it this week. It's not quite realistic yet. Changing to 60 oz until I can reliably increase it.

4. Jog 2.5 miles 6 out of every 7 days: YES. This, I have been able to do, with the exception of the past two days, taken off so I don't injure myself. I'll see how today goes later.

5. Record calories for at least two meals each day: I've been pretty good about this, getting an understanding of what is in each food, but it's hard when I prepare large batches and don't know how much is in a portion. Lots of guesswork.

That's all for me now, time to try and have a good day, even including the 'happy hour'. :) I hope everyone has a great day and a wonderful weekend.

Sifen

3:32 pm: While doing my second leg of jogging, towards the end there was a DEER on the trail, bounding towards me! At first, since there was a woman walking behind it, I thought it was her Great Dane or something... and then I noticed the antlers. It turned off the trail before it reached me, but really, how neat is that?

DAILY RECAP for SEPT 29:

Breakfast: 1/2c lowfat vanilla yogurt and blueberries (150 cal), 1c grapefruit juice (100 cal), 1 slice honey cake (~200 cal) = 450 cal
Lunch: Broiled chicken w/sesame noodles w/carrots and green pepper (no idea at all, though it couldn't be higher than 600 cal)
Dinner: Was very unorthodox and made of hors d'ouvres served at a party. Mostly crackers, bread, cauliflower and cheese; one glass of wine; one bottle of soda (eep! I know!); two brownies; and several (maybe five) baked phyllo-dough goodies filled with mushrooms, size = about 1" each. No idea on the cals, but besides the soda and the extra brownie, I feel pretty good about the whole affair.
Total cals = Who knows?
Water: 48 of 60 oz completed
Fruits/Veggie servings: Blueberries, grapefruit juice x2, cauliflower
Exercise: Jogged 1.5 miles (18 min), then 1 mile (12 min), then walked .71 x 2 (to the party and back), don't know the time so counting it as 20 min (it was more than that)

Yays for today:
- I'm jogging again! (One unscheduled day off and it feels like forever...)

Boos for today:
- Soda (for the first time in a long time) and one more brownie than I should've had
 
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Not too bad, at least you're getting your exercise in right? Congrats on the lb, a step in the right direction! Hvae a great day!! :D
 
Thanks pequin! Yeah, it seems like exercise is just about the only thing I can do reliably right now, but it is something. :)

It's funny, while jogging today I was thinking about how I put some of the weight on in the first place. And thinking about it, I now have even more respect for those of you who live with (or are) guys, especially teens/early 20s guys.

See, my final year of college I lived in a four-bedroom house with three housemates, all male. Aside from the having to deal with less-than-ideal housekeeping conditions, I didn't really realize the food we were getting. Sometimes I would shop, sometimes they would shop, but the food was communal. So that meant there were always Pop Tarts and Hot Pockets in the freezer, cookies and chips in the pantry, and (especially with the particular guys I lived with) an eternal stock of soda in the fridge. And I thought nothing of eating just like they did.

Now I live with my boyfriend (not one of my former housemates, we've been together for almost three years now) and there has never been soda, chips, or frozen food of that variety here. We both have a weakness for ice cream and cookies though, so that's one thing to try to handle. :) But it's a lot easier with the rest of the temptation foods not being around.

Heh... long-winded entry about basically nothing, but again, kudos to those of you who are losing weight in the face of temptation!

Sifen
 
September 30

Hooray for festivals! Boo for bad food at them! Oh well, 'twas a one-time thing, and I am now off to go hear some good singing. Hope you all have a great day!

Sifen

5:46 pm: I learned some new things about cold-weather jogging today. For example, throwing a sweatshirt over my t-shirt and shorts isn't going to cut it so far as cold goes. I ended up going back to the apartment and adding a fleece under said sweatshirt and a knit hat for my head. Brr. Also, there is no happy medium of warmth once you get going... it's either freezing or sweltering. But I will gladly take sweltering over freezing any day! :D Furthermore, I have learned that I have a definitive Southern girl's mentality about what "cold" is: It's only 50 degrees F (10 C). *Prepares for northern-climate folks to laugh at her and tell her she don't know cold for nothin'*

DAILY RECAP for SEPT 30:

Breakfast: 1/2c lowfat vanilla yogurt and blueberries (150 cal)
Lunch: Broiled chicken w/sesame noodles w/carrots and green pepper (no idea at all, though it couldn't be higher than 600 cal)
Mid-afternoon: Festival time! Had half a pumpkin funnel cake (bad Sifen!) and a small cider donut. Lots of walking though.
Late afternoon: Baby carrots and lots of 'em
Dinner: Peanut butter sandwich on whole-grain bread with raisins and an apple
Dessert: Slice of fresh apple pie
Water: 24 of 60 oz completed
Fruits/Veggie servings: Blueberries, baby carrots x2, raisins x2, apple
Exercise: Jogged 1.5 miles

Yays for today:
- Had a great time at the festival
- Managed to deal with 1.5 miles of cold before retreating indoors (man, gotta buy a pair of sweatpants or something, these shorts are killing me out there!) so about 18 min

Boos for today:
- Funnel cake and donut!
 
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bah! why must you remind me of the cold, I'm dreading the cold weather. right now it's perfect bewteen 60 and 70... guess i'll have to tough it out. :p
 
3:32 pm: While doing my second leg of jogging, towards the end there was a DEER on the trail, bounding towards me! At first, since there was a woman walking behind it, I thought it was her Great Dane or something... and then I noticed the antlers. It turned off the trail before it reached me, but really, how neat is that?
Click to expand...

Isn't that so very cool!?! I've been watching a male & female deer almost all summer and the male's antler's are definitely getting bigger. I also see red tail hawk, golden eagle (1) several times the last couple of weeks, coyote, opposom and the only fox I saw was dead :(

I love the animal contingency of my walks!
 
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