Lucky Loses It

AThe BF got me up early this morning and even though last night I had several mixed drinks and wine AND thai food for lunch, the key is balance.  I pushed through a steep 1.38 mi hike, got my heart rate up and burned 201 cal according to my HRM.  What's a nicer reward than this good view? This is from Claremont Canyon, near the Oakland and Berkeley border. A wonderful clear morning.  After my hike, I went to the Y. I did some weights and 20 minutes on the elliptical to get some extra cardio. It was a shoulder and back day: Overhead raises Front raises 5lb Lateral Raises 5lb Push downs  Pull downs 65 lb 12x3 Chest Press 40 lbs 12x2 And for fun: Glute press 60lbs at 12 reps x2 Seated Leg Press 110 pounds 12x2

I swear, every time I start a diet, it seems as if the heavens open up and social invites for drinks and dinner and pizza fall into my lap. I am a hermit, I like my alone time and I find that sometimes social outings also test my very low will power. Sigh. I had pizza at work this week. The BF and I have veggie frozen pizzas in the fridge for quick meals during the week when we have had a lower carb day. We ration these out, and I jazz them up with extra vegetables like frozen spinach, mushrooms, kale or a protein like tofu. I still had pizza left over from the work luncheon in our fridge and when I got home from the gym last night I was starving. I haven't been very good at planning post work-out recovery meals. I know it's only the beginning of my "new routine" again, but I gotta plan better. I got hungry at work and ate my Luna Bar that I had planned to eat after work . I didn't bring my shaker to blend a Vega One shake (chai, anyone try it yet?) AND I did...

I managed to not kill myself today after work at the gym. It was my first attempt at a pseudo "leg day"! Today's workout included: Leg Press 12 reps, 3 sets, 120 pounds Leg Extensions 12 reps, 3 sets 40 pounds Leg Curls 12 reps, 3 sets 40 pounds Standing Calf Raises, 12 reps, 3 sets, 45 pounds Seated Calf Raises, 12 reps, 3 sets, body weight Squats with cables (30 pounds) 2 sets of 10 Abdominal Cable Twists, 2 sets of 12, 20 pounds 30 minutes on the treadmill, run/walk 5.0 mph. ran for 3 minutes walked for 1 Whew. I foam rolled to my heart's content after and sat in the hot tub at the gym for about 5 minutes. My body doesn't hate me...yet.

Well, I won't say I failed yesterday, since I knew I was going to have pizza for lunch, but the guilt set in. I have a co-worker doing the Whole 30 diet who cannot really eat anything offered in the normal/fast/cheap realm of food. Office catered lunches are usually a bevvy of starch, sugar and carbs galore. I admired her discipline to bring her own food and sit out the staff birthday lunch. My office has gotten better about healthy lunches since I started, but this month's luncheon was focused on red velvet cake and pizza. I had a side salad and limited my selection to two small pieces. I sat with another coworker who was on a diet who only had a plate filled with salad and hot wings. I felt bad for letting myself enjoy pizza. I felt that I "failed" at 3 pm though when I had a third piece. I knew I wasn't working out that night because I had a chiropractor appointment after work, but I also don't want to trap myself in a mentality of "you can't ea...

It burns! If I'm going to be accountable and really put it out there, here are the photos/experiences that really upset me and pretty much were the straw that broke the camel's back in this body of mine. I work in a corporate environment, so I have to dress up. I'm used to being able to wear comfortable clothes, yoga pants and turn workout attire into reasonably disguised 9-5 wear. Not here. I've managed to buy some dresses here and there and I've found some scores in sales racks. I'm a fan of easy on, easy off, especially gym days. I have this one dress though, that I didn't try on before I bought it. It fits everywhere except for my arms...my big matronly arms. The last time I wore it, I had painful chafing and basically felt like my circulation was being cut off because it was so tight around the circumference. Food Baby Ah, bloating. Ever since my surgeries, my digestion has been less than stellar. Every day I find something else that causes me...

Well, here I am. All over again. This post will be long because, well, I'm starting from scratch. If anyone ever finds this blog, I'd like to give some background on where I've come from and what my intentions are.  I'm going to count this as day 1, the first day in a very familiar journey of mine that I seem to revisit time and time again. The journey of losing weight and gaining strength and feeling confident. Why is it always so damn hard? The feeling has slipped away from me time and time again, yet this last time it's staying away far longer than planned. I've documented my ups and downs, my woes and wows all over the place, social media, my other blog etc, but nothing ever really sticks . Life threw me for a loop since April 2012 when I had to have a full hysterectomy . I had been working out hard, since September 2011 to lose weight. By April, I had managed to lose almost 20 pounds through running, diet and  weights classes. I even ran a half maratho...