just a blog

The week is long, but Monday is longer. Only thirteen more Mondays- minus a half for Pres day and one for finals week - only 11.5 more Mondays. Totally do-able.

I am exhausted. I probably overuse that word, but I think I really am exhausted a lot. This is normal for the beginning of the week because my weekend usually messes up my sleeping schedule and the beginning of the week sucks. I don't like my weekend messing stuff up, but I don't like going to bed at nine on a Saturday night either. I also don't like drugging my self up with PM medicine on a Sunday night to fall asleep on time. Gah. There's no real solution here, I just have to suck it up.

On a happy note my good friend Sarah has a boyfriend :) Just in time for Valentine's Day too. I made her promise me that she would call with all the cute details, so that I may continue to live vicariously through everyone else's love life.

I think posting a food journal is helping less than the time it's taking. It helped so much at first, but I've come to a point where I don't think I need it anymore. I am not anti-blogging, so maybe I'll keep doing that. We'll see I guess!

Viva Las Vegas

It's always great to get away, but always much greater to come home. Vegas was fun - I didn't drink that much or eat that much, but I walked for hours. It's true. My mom hadn't seen much of the strip before so we were in and out of 5 or 6 casinos within a few hours. Now I am back and so is reality. I was up bright and early this morning to get to work by six, which I was. I was lazy and slept most of yesterday, and tried to get to sleep early last night, but I couldn't. I did most of my school stuff last week even though I might not remember it all, and now I don't.

On top of it all I have been sucking at any kind of exercise. I had planned that I would do nothing over my vegas weekend, but it turned into nothing all week. I hope to get back on the ball this Wed. My gym at work just started offering a circuit training class from 5-5:30, so that would be great for strength, and then I could just do an easy run after. We'll see how it works out!

For now I am just trying to make it through my Monday... so long. I keep thinking I should do something fun that isn't work or school, but then I would never have time to work out. I barely have the time to do that now, so I guess it's out of the question for now. Oh well. Next year will be much easier.

Breakfast 2/11/08
Oatmeal and a large coffee

Finally Fri (:

This was the longest quickest week ever. It doesn't even make sense, I know, but this week was soooo long. It seems like a month ago I had my Database class; however, my week has flown by. No sense I tell you.

The weekend before finals last semester was spent studying for two classes I truly needed high test grades in for good final grades. I have a gut feeling that's how all of my weekends are going to be spent for four classes all semester. I am really looking forward to summer, so that's going to help me make it through! This is the last semester I have to go full time. This is the last semester I have to go full time. This is the last semester I have to go full time. I just keep repeating that to myself as well.

For now work work work. I can't wait to catch up on sleep.

Breakfast 2/1/08
Joe's O's w/ vanilla yogurt and blueberries.

Sixteen more to go..

Oh my is Monday going to be a very long day. On paper my schedule is much less intimidating than it is irl. A full night's sleep would have been beneficial I suppose, so maybe it will be better next week. I hope it will be better next week… one down 16 more to go. Minus finals only 15 :( Sigh. Coffee is my nearest and dearest friend.

After all was said and done, I should have sleep walked to my bed and passed out, but that didn't happen. It didn't take too long for me to get sleepy, but I don't think I fell asleep until 11 or so. I was also trying to figure out how today was going to work out. Again - paper less intimidating etc. I have my usual work day then straight to school for class until 7:45P. Somewhere in my day I need to do 2m run or cross training, and I'm pretty sure I originally thought I would simply do it after school. Thinking back, I was unrealistic. Unless he rarely holds us the whole time, I really don't see myself wanting to do anything after 8:00P… which got me thinking- I have a half hour lunch break and an acceptable form of cross training is walking. I would prefer a run simply because I need it, but beggers can't be choosers. For now, it's a solution.

Stuff I need to do: Fold laundry, buy books, organize folders etc, wash my car, read Ch 1 for HS, write a reflective essay, roll over my old apple acct into a new IRA, and that's all I can think of for now.

Snack 1/28/08
carrots/cauliflower and hummus

Dinner 1/28/08
Salad w/ random veggies and chicken
I also ate random stuff while I was making today's lunch!!

Breakfast 1/29/08
Haven't eaten this yet but-
~3/4 high fiber Joe's O's w/ yogurt and blueberries

Back to school, ring the bell...

Annnnd life is back to the norm! My second to last under-grad Spring semester starts today. What does this mean? My blog will become less frequent and less coherent. Expect both spelling and grammar errors and very long ramblings with no periods or commas where there should be some because I have so many thoughts in my head and no time for punctuation... right :P

I completed my first week of running and such! In conclusion, the long run Saturday was probably harder than all of the other runs before it and I hate treadmills. That about says it all! Now I just need to keep it up even in the madness of classes, classes, and more classes.

Breakfast 1/28/08
A banana and a handful of Organic High Fiber Joe's O's
I later had a med. navel orange as a snack

Lunch 1/28/08
Turkey sandwich on whole wheat with reduced fat cheese, lettue, avocado, shallot, and dijonnaise.

food/run

It will be easier tomorrow! That is what I keep telling myself on my runs... the whole two runs I've done :p Last night Danielle and I made it almost the whole two miles without walking. I suppose I would rather run for a longer distance with a few walks in the middle than run the whole time for a shorter over all distance. I don't think I'm too far off from where I left off last summer ability-wise, but I am not in the same shape as I was- that is for sure. I guess I just need some patience :[ I just crossed off day two of training and I expect to be Katie Holmes (HAHAHAHA).

Running: Week 1! (2 miles)
I want to write a little blurb about running every week or so to give me something to compare my future runs to. At the end of last night's run I was so so tired. My legs, lungs, heart, and even my teeth hurt. I can't seem to get into the comfort zone after my warm up. Instead I just end up getting more and more tired and sucking enough air into my lungs becomes more and more difficult. This was just night two of running and will probably write about my Saturday long run from now on.

Dinner 1/22/08
1/8 pepporoni pizza
~1/2 cup of red mashed potatoes
1 cup of steamed broccoli/corn/lima beans

Breakfast 1/23/08
~2/3 cup Joe's O's
~1/4 lowfat yogurt
8 oz of 7-11 coffee w/ a shot of Irish Cream and the coffee shot

A Quiet Afternoon

My usual whacky afternoon has been not that at all! Not as great as it sounds though.. I guess the usual craziness of my day makes everything seem to fly by. Soo... now... everything... is dragging! Anyway, I gave in today to candy. I rarely rarely eat candy, which is maybe why I feel so guilty and needing to get this off my chest, but one of my friends brought by four little fun sized reese's valentine's day candies. Not so fun at all! I should have only had one, but no, no I had three :( It feels better now that I said it :p I did pretty good other than that!

Lunch 1/22/08
Shimp Salad w/ catalina dressing (290 calories)
2 wheat bagels (100 calories)
chicken noodle soup (90 calories)

I didn't eat this all at the same time. I had the salad and a bagel around 11:00 am and ate the soup and another bagel around 2:30 pm. I still have a small apple which I may or may not eat on my way home.

Rain rain go away :(

For the first time in a long time I went for a run last night and it wasn't the treadmill type. I only ran for about a mile, but it was only supposed to ease me into the rest of the week...which is such a wet mess! I totally love rain mostly because it's so rare in SoCal, but none-the-less this is such bad timing! I just hope there are enough breaks in the storm that I can get a few miles in this week... and I suppose the treadmill will suffice in the mean time. sigh.

Breakfast 1/22/08
~1 cup Joe's O's
1/2 cup lowfat yogurt
1 banana

I also just had a blood orange, so good! I will probably also have my morning cup of coffee soon :)

Ouch :(

I started my day today with back pain :( This is the first time in a few months my back has hurt without me doing something obvious to make it hurt. No long drives lately, no weird sleeping arrangements, and no unusual stress or anything. Who knows... This little hitch in my get along made me decide to have a nice relaxing night at home tonight. I've had quite a few lately, but, with school right around the corner my lazy days are coming to quick end!

Lunch 1/17/08
3/4 cup of mushroom risooo...something
Brocolli and Carrots

Horrible Snack 1/17/08
Jeannette and I split a very small order of french fries
A plum after that

Dinner 1/17/08
Burrito w/ beans, rice, carne asada, and cheese
~3 mimosas :)

Breakfast 1/18/08
1 cup Joe's O's
1/2 1% milk
Coffee (black)

Sleeping Beauty

I think there something wrong with me. I was sleepy last night by 8, and fell asleep watching Alias before 10. It's not like I haven't sleept 7 1/2 - 8 hours the last few nights... why am I so sleepy :( To make things worse I over slept this morning. WHY? So now I am sitting at work yawning like I can't remember the last time I slept with 9 hours of sleep under my belt. I make no sense what-so-ever.

So this morning when I drove in, I was told by the guard to not take the first right because of a leaking water pipe. To me it just looked like coned off area of sprinklers gone awry. The crisis manager just informed me that it's actually the main water pipe to the site that has a leak and if it goes so does all of our plumbing. Now we're just waiting for the city to come and assess the situation... six feet under ground. If they have to turn off the water, or it bursts, or whatever messes up our plumbing - we all go home. Unless I can reschedule a meeting I have in Redondo Beach, that happy number of people will not include me. Sigh. I could use the sleep :p

Lunch 1/16/08
Healthy Choice Pizza
Garden Salad w/ Balsamic

Snack 1/16/08
4 more stinking sugar cookies!
a rice cake, berries, and cottage cheese

Dinner 1/16/08
Lasagna (mmm mmm)
baked fries
mixed vegatables
1/2 cup of ice cream with chocolate syrup

Breakfast 1/17/08
1 cup of Joe's O's
1/2 cup 1% milk
banana

Fri is still so far

I'm beginning to think posting just once a day will be more realistic. In the morning everything is much quieter, no emergencies have happened yet, and I actually have the time to take a break. I did de-clutter some of my room last night. My whole desk area was looking lovely, but then I had to relocate some of my drawer clutter to my desk. None-the-less, I made progress. Now I just need to get to under my window, my garage, and the dreaded under the bed.

Needless to say, I did not get to the gym, but I think organizing for school is very important! Oh and I am consistent both in the fact that I ate ~1,600 calories yesterday and again 150 of those calories included sugar cookies. Doh!

Lunch 1/15/08
Left overs from the night before!

Dinner 1/15/08
Pasta w/ marinara sauce and peppers
Mixed veggies

Breakfast 1/16/08
~1 cup Joe's O's
1/2 cup 1% milk
1 banana

Or maybe not

The gym didn't exactly work out last night. Come to find out, I was very tired. I ran by the store after work, which is something I really needed to do. I was running very low on lunch options, so getting some better food was just as important as making it to the gym. Given that I was falling asleep a little before ten, I think it was a night of rest well deserved.

I did, however, keep count of calories just to see get an idea of what I may eat in a day. I had a grand total of 1,670. Not too shabby. That did include an extra 150 calories from four sugar cookies. The gym might happen tonight, but I also might organize/clean my room.

Dinner 1/14/08
Salad w/ balsamic dressing
1/2 cup brown rice
half a chicken quesadilla w/ guacamole

Breakfast 1/15/08
3/4 cup Joe's O's Cereal
1/2 cup milk
~ 1 cup of strawberries, blackberries, and blue berries

Need to make gym time

I am pretty burnt, but I really want to make it to the gym tonight. I ate a snack, so if it holds out there's no reason I can't run home, change, and run back out to the gym. I doubt I'm actually that burnt out, I just miss sleeping in and feel like being lazy. We'll see how I feel in a few hours.

Snack 1/14/08
I ate my other flat bread sanwich and had a small piece of candy cane :) I have an apple and some crackers floating around if I get hungry before dinner.

So say the experts

I caught a brief special on the biggest loser and apparently an essential piece of losing weight is counting your calories. Interesting. I'm keeping a piece of paper and pencil with me and giving it a shot. We'll see.

Two weeks from today school starts once again. I'm kind of excited about the new classes, but that is all subject to change after the first week. I have two classes Mon, one Tues, and the last on Wed. I like how the schedule will work with my 9/80, but I am considering adding a fifth class. Again, it is subject to change after the first week, but if the classes I have are easy enough I might try and add a Thur night, or there's an Econ class on Saturday morning from 9-11:45. The upside to a hectic Spring schedule is a whole summer without school or I could take summer school and have one less class to take next year. There's a much bigger possibility that none of this will work out, but we'll see.

Breakfast & Lunch 1/14/08
1 Banana
1/2 cup milk and wheat chex
1 rice cake

Flat bread sandwich
1 cup of chili

Haven't given in yet!

I have refrained from eating anything crappy all day. Yay! I've got about 30 min left of work and then it's home and to the gym. I'm a little tired from trouble sleeping last night, but if I hit the gym and tire myself out even more I should fall right to sleep.

lunch 1/7/08
Turkey Sandwich w/ cheese, lettuce, cucumbers, onion, and dijonnaise on wheat bread.
~8 oz of veggie chips and a banana


snack 1/7/08
One serving of trail mix and I am think about eating my apple!

All together I have probably eaten about 1200-1300 calories. I'm trying to get a rough idea of how many I eat on a normal (non-crap eating) day :)

M-F

Reality is, I probably won't track my food on the weekends... or every other Fri :p

My weekend was ooookay. I did eat at least one sweet thing every day, which is really a goal to not do! I am going to go all day today without any sweet non-sense. In addition, I am going to the gym after work today. Another place I have been coming up short; however, I need a hair cut and I really want some more low lights, and hitting the gym all week would give me the reason to do such a lovely thing :)

Breakfast 1/7/08
~1 Cup Wheat Chex
~3/4 Cup 1% milk
1/4 cup strawberries

I have to brief this morning, but I plan on getting my cup of coffee in somewhere! I had a lot of trouble getting to sleep last night so I am quite sleepy today.

TGIF

So glad it's the weekend. I should start some kind of calorie tally, but today is not that day.

Dinner 1/3/08
A most delicious lemon chicken, sweet potatoes, and vegatables. Followed by a chocolate and cinnamon toast. My new year's resolutions are a work in progress.

Breakfast 1/4/08
About a cup of Joe's O's (dry) and a banana. Within the next hour I am absolutely going to make some coffee which will be black with a little sugar.

I did find this interesting :)

FMI (for my info):
My BMR is 1578.5- how much I would burn if I just laid around all day. Based on how active I am, I need 2170.4375 a day to maintain my weight; however, this is not what I want to do, so I am going to shoot for 1670 calories a day. I guess this means I will have to pay some attention to calorie content :p.

Snack 1/3/08
3/4 of a Tangelo

New Year. New Resolutions.

I don't even think I made any last year, but this year I have a few things that I am going to focus on:

1. Cutting out junk food. It isn't that I don't eat healthy things most of the time-I do, but I think a day rarely goes by where I don't partake in something delicious and crappy. So, occassional junk is fine, but I need to cut way back.
2. Paying attention to the rest of the world. I don't know when I got so trapped in my own bubble, but I seem to have forgotten about the rest of the countries in the world.
3. Start a new language. I will forever regret if I die speaking only English.
4. Read at least one book a month. If I averaged out the books I read over the year, I DO read at least one a month; however, most of them occur during the summer months. I have to stop using school as an excuse!
5. Exercise, exercise, exercise. Duh.

Lunch 1/3/08
Half a turkey sandwich on wheat bread, carrot sticks with ranch, string cheese, and 100 calorie pack of chocolate toucans. I love the TJ's lunch bag!

"they" always say..

Whoever they are, they have managed the leak the miracle diet trick into every health article known to me: Create a food diary. I have tried and failed a few times to create a written record of said diary to include calorie counting, fiber content, etc. etc. So, with the inspiration of my dear roommate, I am going to toss the required nutrient info, and in an effort to be a healthier me, simply write down what it is I eat throughout the day.

Healthy Eats is probably a misleading title, but I thought it might provide some motivation for me to skip my guilty pleasure of spicy chips and diet soda. Plus I love AB :)

Breakfast 1/3/08
1/3 cup lowfat cottage cheese and a medium size banana. I have some Joe's O's I plan on snacking on before lunch should I get hungry.