New Workout Clothes!

One of my absolute favorite shows ever is Gilmore Girls, and, even thought the show has been off the air for several years, it continues to metaphorically rule my world. R once told me that when I try to be cute, I speak like them. Which is probably true. In one of the episodes, Lorelai is invited to go on a fishing date. She's dreading going fishing, until she finds out that there are special fishing clothes:

Lorelai: I look adorable! No one ever told me that if you fish, you get to buy an outfit. I'll do just about anything if I can buy an outfit.

That's pretty much how I feel. If it involves buying new clothes, then I am totally down for any and all experiences. Most of my workout gear is either old or too snug, so that means new workout clothes!

I can't go into just any store and pick up stuff without trying it on. In fact, there usually aren't any pieces even close to my size. But Old Navy XXL fits me perfectly, and I love knowing that if I pick up a pair of yoga pants or a sweater in XXL, it will fit me just great. FYI, even though I olnly started contemplating doing yoga within the last week, I've been practically living in Old Navy yoga pants for about six months. They are so freaking comfortable. Nothing is better than lying on my sofa watching The Daily Show in Old Navy yoga pants. Although, this is the first time I've ever bought Old Navy activewear with the intention to use them while being active. First time for everything.

Here's what I bought:





I can't wait to use them! 

Note: I'm going to be AWOL until late Monday due to my camping trip.  I'll be keeping notes on everything I eat/drink and workouts.  There will be lots of calories and lots of activity time, though I'll try to make sure I'm burning more calories than I eat.  Or drink.  Mostly drink.  See you Monday!

Baby Carrots and Tomatos

Another day has passed. I didn't workout today. It was my day to give my body a rest. Tomorrow I'm going to do an DVD I have with resistance bands. I love those bands--it's the only time when working out really feels like playing.

Tomorrow is going to be a busy day. I need to go shopping and pick up the supplies for this weekend's camping trip, and then I'm volunteering at a local school. Then it's back home to pack to get ready to leave town bright and early Friday.

Here's a quick snack recipe I made today. It was really simple and delicious, and it only has 235 calories.

Steamed Baby Carrots and Tomatos
9 oz. Baby Carrots
7 oz. Grape Tomatos
1/2 Tbls Butter
Garlic salt, salt, and pepper as desired.

Put everything together in a microwave safe container with a lid.
Microwave for 8 minutes.



The tomatos and carrots were surprisingly good together. Very sweet and filling. I really hate to cook, but steamed veggies are too easy.

Healthy You Challenge Check In #1

Today is my first Healthy You Challenge Check In. I'm really excited. Here are my stats for the week:



All the numbers come from FitDay. I just entered them in an Excel spreadsheet so I could play with the data.

Obviously today and Satruday weren't great. Both times the calories are way up due to alcohol. Saturday R and I went to a pub with some friends and today we went to happy hour and had Mojitos. I'm not too upset about it. Overall for the week, I think I did pretty good.

Normally this will be where I mention how many pounds I gained/lost this week. Unfortunately, I'm too fat for my scale.

Last year when I started trying to lose weight the first time, I bought this awesome fancy scale. However, I now weigh more than it can handle, and when I step on it says, "OL." Boo-hiss. I know I weight 320 lbs. because I weighed myself at the gym last Wednesday. I don't want to rely on the gym scale for weight-loss though. It only measures in whole numbers and jiggles a little. It's the old analog kind that I absolutely hate. I also don't want to buy another fancy scale. I'd rather spend that money on new workout gear and healthy food. So I'm going to keep monitoring my weight at the gym, but my official Drop 150 posted weight will stay at 320 until my home scale says something other than "OL." Thus my crazy stats will help me stay on target, even while my exact weight is unknown from week to week.

Three Weight-Loss Lessons I Re-Learned Today

1.  My body learns quickly.

Today is day six of my new healthy lifestyle, but my body already wants to be treated like it's been on it forever.  It may take two years or more to drop all the weight, and my muscles might not be any stronger, but my body has already adjusted to having nutritious food available every four hours or so.  Thus today, when I was in a hurry and left the house with no snack, my body revolted.  After five hours, my blood sugar crashed, and I wanted to eat my own hand.  Luckily I was in a situation where I couldn't get fast food or junk, but if it had been available, I would have. When I got home, I ate about six hundred calories, but I still don't feel back to my pre-crash self.  The whole situation could have been avoided with a banana or yogurt tucked away in my purse. 

 

2.  The thought of exercise is always a thousand times worse than the exercise itself.

This morning when we got up, R went straight to the gym.  I sat on the couch for an hour, trying to convince myself to go.  The hour that I wasted was much less enjoyable than the pleasure I got while working out at the gym.  Fulfilling my goals feels so much better than the joys of laziness and procrastination. 

3.  I need to pay attention to my fiber.

Healthy Living is not just about eating fewer calories or healthier food.  It's also about the balance of those foods.  My body needs certain nutrients, and when I don't pay attention, I don't get them.  Fiber seems to be the hardest.  Unless I pay careful attention, I won't get even half of the grams my body needs.  Calorie counting is not enough for proper nutrition. 

Eighties Movies, Pain Pills, and Yoga Pants

Fittingly enough, The Incredible Shrinking Woman in on HBO right now, the old Lilly Tomlin movie about the woman who keeps getting smaller and smaller.  I remember seeing this movie as a kid, and I always thought I'd enjoy living in a doll house if it ever came to that.  Now that I'm a three-hundred pound woman, I feel I have the opposite feeling.  The amount of space I take up seems right.  I know I'm too big, and I know I'm bigger than most other people.  But when I sit down on my couch, or lay down in bed, I don't feel like I'm taking up too much space.  It's one thing to want to lose weight, it's another to think about how I take up too much space.  Of course I get reminded from time to time, like when I fly on an airplane and have to suck in my gut to get the seatbelt to snap. How I look and how I feel sometimes are so disconnected.  I want to look better, but I don't necessarily want to be entitled to less space.  

Today was a good day.  Met my food targets easily.  Lost the motivation to go to the gym, but I worked out at home instead.  Comcast OnDemand has great Exercise TV programs.  I did one from The Biggest Loser.  Broke a sweat right away.  It was my first adventure with the dumbbells since returning to healthy living.  My arms still burn a little.

My back started hurting from the pilates, and it hasn't gotten much better.  I called my pharmacy to refill the pain medicine I used to take.  It started hurting in December.  From January through March I took perscription meds to reduce the pain and swelling.  The last two months it had gone away completely, but now it's back.  Ugh.  Hopefully, if/when I lose twenty pounds, the problem should go away entirely.  The doc said it wasn't caused by my weight, but that it exasperates it.  And when my back hurts, I don't want to move at all, which leads to gaining weight faster.  It's a vicious cycle.  

Tomorrow I'm going to Old Navy to buy some new workout outfits.  I have all the sports bras a girl could need, but all my workout pants suck.  They're either too old/have bleach stains/have holes/pilling/faded, etc.  I'd like to get a few pairs of their yoga capri pants. 

I also need to zip over to Target and get a new bathing suit for my Memorial Day camping trip. I may hate being a size XXL or 24 or whatever, but I do love buying new clothes.

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