Accomplishments and frustrations

[make_your_move]

Sunny and cold ... but spring is on the way


I made up to exercise again this morning. Did "Total Sculpt + Abs" from The Firm and I actually made it through the entire workout (yea me!). The cardio portion was moderately challenging - the weight lifting is good and the abs portion showed me how much work I need to do ... but I made it through the tape, which is up from where I was on Monday.



So, I'm really happy that I've managed to commit to getting up every morning this week. And yet, every morning I as I wake shortly before 6am, I keep trying to talk myself out of it. Right now its just the thought "I can do what I've always done ... *or* I can do something different" if what I'm aiming for is a different result. So far, I do feel a little different, but honestly, I'm immediate gratification girl. I want to wake up slimmer, toned and healthier just because I actually started exercising. Yeah, yeah, it tooks me months/years to gain the weight, it will probably take me equally as long to work it off, but the slow plog up the hill is going to be frustrating for awhile I think. See, I'm whining, it hasn't been a week yet. *wot-evah*



This week has been pretty good food wise. I haven't been completely carb-free (as I had intended), but I have been extremely concious of the refined carbs I have let myself have. Last night at M's birthday dinner I allowed myself 1 forkful of my favorite potatoes ... and in celebration of her birthday, lapsedagnostic and I shared a bread pudding for dessert. I had 5 not-full-bites and put the fork down. Most mornings this week I've had egg beaters - yesterday I scrambled them with one oz of smoked salmon and a half oz of low fat cream cheese and scallions. Lunch was leftover Indian Chicken (recipe from the SBQE cookbook) Tonight I'm making turkey cutlet parmesan. The recipe asks for low sugar pasta sauce -- *dude* .. do you know tha most of the pasta sauces have sugar or corn syrup listed in the first 3 to 5 ingredients?! Including Newman's All Natural? *feh* Finally found a generic Giant brand, which made me happy. Lunch today will be a spinach salad of some sort.


So, I stepped on the scale last night, just out of curiousity - it's says I'm down 5lbs, which I highly doubt, but it is going down so there you go. Oh, and the smoking? Cravings are less, the cranky is less, but I still want one.

Comments

[bittibuddha.livejournal.com]

*DOOD*

Rock ON!
::triumphant fist pumping::

[make-your-move.livejournal.com]

Thanks for being my biggest cheerleader :)

[bittibuddha.livejournal.com]

i love you so much, damnit.

[make-your-move.livejournal.com]

Hey, I *need* some exercise icons ... where did you get yours?

[bittibuddha.livejournal.com]

i completely bogarted mine from other people. I did a directory search on folks who had "fitness" listed as an interest, and then lifted this one off of someone who hadn't updated their journal in over a year. I assumed she wouldn't mind too much.

[russell-moore.livejournal.com]

"Hey, I *need* some exercise icons"

you can borrow this one ... seems like it would be a form of exercise involved ...

The joys of

[kevin3.livejournal.com]

Watersports! :)


Good job MYM

[sunnidae]

Yay! And you can keep whining as long as you're actually *doing* -- once it's ingrained you'll be as zealous as Ani. ;)

[bridgeoutahead.livejournal.com]

I'm very proud of you. I love seeing my friends do well :)

Keep up the effort and it will pay off :)

[radiant-one.livejournal.com]

*dude* .. do you know tha most of the pasta sauces have sugar or corn syrup listed in the first 3 to 5 ingredients

Yup! Tomatoes are usually too acidy and need some sugar to help them along.

When I make my tomato sauce from scratch (I'll admit it is hideously time consuming and I do it only 1-2 times a year) I need to add about a tablespoon of sugar. But a tablespoon to a huge pot of sauce is not bad compared to the quantities used in commercial products.

A neat sugar free pasta sauce alternative is stewed tomatoes. I can't recall which brand is sugar free but they also come in a variety of flavors.

easy-peasy sauce recipe

[much-ado.livejournal.com]

do you know tha most of the pasta sauces have sugar or corn syrup listed in the first 3 to 5 ingredients

unless i'm in a hurry, i always make my own sauce from scratch, and because i'm essentially lazy, i've developed an amazingly simple sauce recipe ;-)

take one large can of diced tomatoes - can use the plain style or herbed style, but check the herbed ones to make sure they're not sweetened. add one small can of tomato paste; again, check for sugar before adding, and if there's sugar in your default brand of paste, skip the paste and make your own with a quater cup of reserved tomato fluid (from the diced tomatoes) and a tablespoon or so of cornstarch. stir to thicken and add to the rest of the tomatoes in a saucepan, stir over low heat.

from there, you can improvise as you choose. when time and inclination permit, i dice and sautee garlic, onions or shallots, mushrooms, celery, whatever's lurking in the fridge. chopping in fresh parsley, or a little lemon juice and fresh tarragon, can completely change the character of the sauce. spice as you see fit; i generally skip the salt but add pepper.

add meat or not as the meal deems fit.

and voila! it's quick and easy, and takes much the same amount of time, basically as dumping a bottle of pre-made suace into a pan and heating (well, you're oepning two cans instead of one bottle, but any other improvisations/additions are much the same).

and good on you for all the rest of the improvement process, mym. like i'm finding the morning cycling circuits, it took about three weeks to build a consistent pattern, before i realized i'd stopped having to argue myself or convince myself into getting up to do the circuit. now i actively miss the workout on the days (like yesterday) where it didn't happen.

i'm proud of you, babe.

[sweetmmeblue.livejournal.com]

What's your expectations on the cravings?

[make-your-move.livejournal.com]

As in how long they will last? Physically the jonesing has gone down quite a bit. Mentally it's hard not to reach for one when I'm stressed with Quas or the kids.

What exactly are you asking?

[sweetmmeblue.livejournal.com]

I was asking what your expectations about cravings is. See, I never smoked heavily but I smoked cloves, especially when stressed out. I can still taste them, feel them and feel the craving for them. My last clove cig was 7+ years ago. On the other hand I know ppl who smoked for 40 years and once giving it up never had a craving again. However, knowing in advance what your expectations are can help you let you find a way to manage any frustration that may arise.

I think it's great you are working at having a healthier life. Go you.

[totient]

Classico is good for low sugar pasta sauce. About half their flavors qualify.

[liatha.livejournal.com]

I haven't read the labels yet, but Safeway has a new brand called "O" which is supposed to be organic. I haven't tried thier spaghetti sauce yet but thier preserves are awesome, and unlike most organic brands, this one doesn't cost 3 times as much as regular stuff.

Congrats on ALL your successes :)

[kmorris1177.livejournal.com]

You have got to try the chicken pesto. It's amazingly good. I also made a cabbage lasagna the other night for dinner which rocked. (It's basically lasagna (homemade meat sauce) with cabbage leaves (steamed) instead of noodles. You have to try these things!

[kmorris1177.livejournal.com]

Also, I'm down 5 lbs as well but I'm pretty sure it's accurate bc I did a fast before starting the SBD. Day 4 awaits. Tonight's a Billy Joel concert and I'm sure I'll cheat tonight by having a drink. feh!

[http://users.livejournal.com/_o_pixiedust_o_/]

Congrats Mym!!

You are doing fabulous, I can't even manage to get up early every morning. You are inspirational!!

*hugss* keep up the good work!

Go, Girl, Go

[sierra-victor.livejournal.com]

Yea you!

Your long-distance cheer-leader.

S_V

[angldst.livejournal.com]

You rock. :>

-d

[kfitzwarin.livejournal.com]

Way to go! Rah rah rah!!!

Your pork recipe is *divine*....