Never eat uninformed

Last night my husband had a craving for pizza – he really likes the CPK frozen pizzas and they’re relatively small… He had the garlic chicken pizza and I had the sausage-pepperoni-mushroom pizza (I’m a purist). I had a caffeine-free Diet Coke.

Silly me. It wasn’t until after dinner that I looked at the back of the box and discovered that each little frozen pizza is three (3) servings. Yes, three (3).

Now, my husband is almost six-four, and if he ate a third of a CPK frozen pizza, he’d be rummaging in the refrigerator shortly afterwards for the rest of his meal. And truthfully, one whole CPK frozen pizza just about fills me up comfortably. I mean, they’re not that big.

862.5 calories. I ate 862.5 calories. In one sitting. Not including the Coke.

I must start reading labels before dinner.

End of Week Three

I know, they're late. I actually took the photos on Tuesday night as scheduled, but it's been such a manic week that I didn't get around to posting them until now.

My day job has been rather hectic this week -- we've closed a satellite warehouse and moved all of the gear and people into our main warehouse. We had to run an inventory on all of the incoming gear, and of course there were major discrepancies on the numbers. Even the most organized companies will have inconsistencies between warehouses, and we are NOT the most organized company. So it's a disaster of extreme proportions.

Yesterday I had a voiceover audition for a national TV commercial for a cellular company. It was a good audition. If I get it, it will record on Saturday. The nasty part was spending an hour getting to the audition on the 405 freeway in 100+ heat. It got cooler when I neared Santa Monica, but not by much. So again, by the time I got back to my side of the hill and into the gym, I was overheated and dehydrated.

I love my car, but there are times I really could use air conditioning.

My husband has discovered that he has a rather large bone spur in his heel that is irritating his Achilles Tendon. He confirmed this with an orthopedic doctor. Today he had an MRI to see if this can be surgically repaired and is waiting for the results, but in the meantime he’s turned into a five-year-old. He was Mister Manly Guy and stoically shaking off the pain… until he went to the doctor. Now, all of a sudden, he’s an invalid. I asked him if the pain has gotten any worse since he went to the doctor. He said no.

So what’s up with that?

Practicing restraint

Now I'm sorry I called my doctor yesterday. I feel so much better, except for a little bit on tenderness on my bruised head, and I really want to go to the gym and make up for the workout I missed yesterday. It's early yet, and only 80 degrees out.

I know, it's not wise to mess with something like a concussion. It was only a slight concussion - I didn't lose consciousness or anything. But I don't dare defy doctor's orders, and she'll ask, too. And I can't lie to my doctor. She's pretty militant about that, and she keeps a stethoscope in the freezer as well as other methods of torture for patients that don't follow her instructions. Anal probe, anyone?

So now I'm stuck with a whole Saturday to myself with nothing planned. I have no idea what to do. It's going to start getting hot soon. I was thinking about getting a pedicure or something, but by 10am my car will be unbearable. I should do some laundry - after all, most of my workout clothes are sweaty (especially after the heatwave this past week) and probably growing something unauthorized in my laundry hamper. But the DWP is asking that people not run dishwashers and laundry machines until after 7pm to help save energy and avoid rolling blackouts. So that's out.

I'm not one to sit and watch TV or read. I get antsy and start wandering aimlessly around the house, randomly watering plants. I've always had trouble dealing with free time. In fact, I've jumped up and wandered around about three times since I started writing this -- I've checked on the dog, let the cat out and back in, got a cup of coffee, repacked my gym bag for Monday, checked email... If I go to hell when I die, it will be a little empty room with nothing to do. My husband will be home from work at about 4:00 -- that gives me seven hours to kill. And he'll be half-dead when he gets home because he's out in the heat all day. Maybe if I start now, I can get that pedicure and if it gets too hot, I can go to the mall and window-shop for clothes that will fit me when I hit my target weight... and sneak in a power-walk.

Gym, Interrupted

Wow. I have learned the hard way that working out with a concussion, let alone on a 106-degree day, is not such a grand idea.

I went to work out yesterday, as usual, after work. I was still headachy after my noggin-knock and it was unbearably hot outside. That made my little, non-air-conditioned VW a virtual blast furnace, and so by the time I got from my office to the gym, my car was sporting 127 degrees inside with all the windows open. So I was already about a quart low on fluids, and my already pounding head had doubled its efforts.

I managed a whole 60-minute cardio workout, but by then I was so wobbly that weight training was out of the question. I did my usual post-workout stretch (mostly Yoga poses). By then it was about 7:45pm. My car was still an oven. I don't really remember much about driving home, except that it seemed to take forever.

I had an uneventful dinner at home -- Sushi from our local restaurant and some light vegetable tempura. Lots of water. My energy level bottomed out so I took a shower and went to bed early.

I woke up at 2am, feeling strangely dizzy and slightly nauseous. I went to splash some cold water on my face, and when I looked in the bathroom mirror, I realized that my left pupil was a pinpoint, but the right pupil was wide open. I guess I hit my head harder than I originally thought.

I went to lay down on the sofa. I felt moderately better when I was more upright -- the nausea worsened if I lay flat -- so I propped myself up with the sofa pillows. The cat woke me up every 45 minutes like clockwork (which is why we lock her out of the bedroom), so she was my little concussion wake-up call. I went into the bedroom and crept back into bed at about 5am.

This morning I felt hung over. My legs are weak and crampy at the same time... it's sort of like a really bad hangover, but without the rolling stomach and fuzzy tongue. My eyes feel like they're trying to pop out of my head, and the bump on my forehead is making it hard to move my eyebrows. I stopped on the way to work to get some Gatorade, which helped, but not much. I've been pretty muddle-headed most of the day. I called my doctor, who said I was suffering from the effects of extreme heat exhaustion, and she chided me for working out on such a ridiculously hot day and after bumping my head, to boot. She said to lay off at least until next week.

It's another 100+ degree day, too. So after work, I'm going to just drive my little deep-fryer on wheels home and rest until Monday.

One of THOSE days

I shoulda stayed in bed. I woke up this morning and for some reason, could NOT get my butt out the door on time. I woke up on time, but it was all downhill from there. When I finally did get to work, I was taking my briefcase & gym bag out of the car and got distracted by the fire station across the street from my office (firemen -- lots of them), and when I turned back to the car, WHAM! I smacked my forehead on the edge of the door. Hard. Really hard. Nice bump and not so nice headache. Which I still have -- plus the added bonus of a nice bruise. That's what I get for ogling firemen.

It's about 102 degrees outside with abnormally high humidity for Los Angeles. Okay, so it's not Miami, but we LA folk aren't used to any humidity. And I don't have AC in my car, so driving is not the usual happy occasion, especially since people get really snarky when it's hot outside. And why does everyone seem to be in such a hurry to get to that next red light? Other drivers keep passing me with quite a bit of attitude, even though I drive at a reasonable speed, at least along with the rest of traffic. It's not like we're on the Autobahn... LA traffic is stop and go at best, so it's pointless to get all rude just to get 15 yards ahead.

Well, enough venting. Gotta go back to work, me and my dented head.

No more hiding - End of Week TWO

Ok, this very well could be the bravest thing I've ever done; Posting photos of myself online, for millions of eyeballs to gawk at, in a bikini... when my booty is clearly not ready for public display (well, maybe not the bravest, but definitely the most defiant). But there it is. Cellulite and rolls and all.

I'm realizing, after remembering my anatomy lessons from college (and confirming it by talking to a real, certified personal trainer as well as a nutritionist), that even though I have not seen a lot of visible results (nor has the scale at the gym budged more than a pound or two, darnit) I AM making headway. The subcutaneous (under the skin) fat you see in the photos above is simply spillage from the much more dangerous fat that has set up camp in between muscle tissues and amongst my internal organs, and quite probably inside my arteries.

So when a moderately overweight (such as myself) person starts an intense workout program, for the first few weeks -- and up to two months-- most of the fat loss is internal, meaning that the nasty stuff that's deep inside and invisible gets burned off first. At the same time, I'm building up new muscle tissue, which explains my weight in pounds not really going anywhere. Fat weighs considerably less than lean muscle tissue, so until I lose a serious amount of that nasty inside fat and my muscle growth slows down, the scale will not budge, and might even (gasp) go up.

When my body feels that enough nasty inside fat has been burned off, THEN it will start eating away at the less dangerous (but much more emotionally traumatic) blubber that is just under the skin and making all of those lovely, lumpy curves you see there. At that time I will probably see a more rapid loss in actual pounds and inches. But it could take a while, and only if I keep going.

This is usually where a lot of people get discouraged and give it up, and start looking in the yellow pages for a good plastic surgeon, or some other shortcut.

But, now that all of this interesting information about the mechanics of organic weight loss has been brought to light, it simply makes me want to work harder. I know that if I keep it up, I will push past this initial plateau and start seeing visible results.

In the meantime, I finally sleep soundly at night. My skin feels and looks smoother, younger and healthier. My thinking processes and attention span have become more focused and intense. My voice has become richer and a little bit deeper. And I feel much more energized and much less lethargic. These improvements to my life and well-being alone are worth the hard work and sweat I've put in so far.

But I can't wait until that bikini starts to look GOOD.

Resisting temptation

Okay, I'm pretty proud of myself this morning. It's Friday, and for some inane, unknown reason, people at my office seem to find it appropriate to bring in all sorts of terribly fatty, sugary, REALLY BAD food to share. This morning it was bagels, doughnuts, gargantuan muffins with chocolate chips... nothing healthy, of course.

I'll admit - the wafting odor of warm "Krispy Kremes" was difficult to ignore. I have a soft spot for Krispy Kremes. Actually, I have several soft spots --many of which are directly related to Krispy Kremes, and those are the same soft spots I'm working on burning off.

That fact alone gave me the strength and willpower to calmly walk right by the open box and keep on walking (that, and my week one back-fat photos that I posted earlier). The nectarine on my desk looks pretty good right now.

But more importantly, I proved to myself that my resolve to see this thing through and reach my goal is stronger than my love of Krispy Kremes.

Made it through week one!

SO... a whole week, and I worked out EVERY weekday after work! I'm starting to get used to being sore all the time.

Although there hasn't yet been a significant weight loss, I have noticed some positive changes to how I feel... my digestive system seems to run more smoothly, or at least I don't feel all gassy and bloated all the time like I used to. I definitely sleep better, but then that could be exhaustion. My facial skin feels smoother and the tone is more even and brighter. Perhaps from increased circulation?

It's occurred to me that I will probably have the most difficulty toning my upper arms. Unfortunately, I was cursed with my paternal grandmother's arm flab, and I've had it to some degree ever since I was a teenager. Even when I was seriously underweight from chemo, my arms were still carrying a lot of excess flesh, and I just KNOW that's going to be a whole lot of work to deal with. I know that it's impossible to "spot tone" anything, so all I can do at this point is keep up the cardio to lose body fat, and keep up with weight training to strengthen the muscles in hopes that they will help burn the fat and increase my overall metabolic rate. As I get close to my goal, I'll see how that's coming along.

All-in-all, though, I have to say that I am pleased with my first week of serious training.

A Good Start

Yesterday after work I dusted off my gym shoes and started my rather ambitious weight-loss program. I plan on losing 30 pounds by the end of September.

I confirmed that my starting weight is 160. How I got to 160 is beyond me... I am very careful to eat well. It's gotta be the desk job. I guess that even if you stick to a healthy diet, it doesn't mean bupkis if you sit on your fanny all day at a computer screen. (Gee, I wonder if I can sue my employer for creating an unhealthful working environment...?)

So (just so I can keep track), here's what I did: 15 minutes at medium intensity on recumbent bike as a warm-up. 15 minutes on rowing machine at high intensity, 15 minutes on treadmill at medium incline at 4 mph (walk-jog speed). 100 reps on "Roman Chair" -- both sides (abs and lower back). 15 minute cool-down and stretch. I wanted to hit the elliptical machine because I always get a great cardio burn on that, but the line was so long, I'd still be there. I did suprise myself in the stamina department. I worked out pretty hard, yet my heart rate stuck to a reasonable 150-160 BPM through most of it. Although I did discover that listening to "The Young Dubliners" while rowing is a great way to make my heart rate spike up to 189. Must re-think my iPod playlist.

So tonight I will do a similar cardio workout (hopefully I will be able to score an elliptical machine this time), and then a leg/glute weight routine. Then Friday it will be back to abs and lower back.

Here's my plan:
Cardio every day (M-F)
Monday, Wednesday, Friday: Abs & lower back
Tuesday: Arms & upper back
Thursday: Legs
Saturday: Perhaps a Yoga class or swimming? Or maybe a good day of gardening.
Sunday: Rest

Since I tend to pack on muscle bulk really easily (eat your heart out, guys) I thought I'd keep the arms & legs to one day a week each. And since I seem to always have a back ache, I figured that my core muscles seriously need strengthening.

A good plan, to start, I think.

I can't stand it any more!

I looked in the mirror when I got home from work and was disgusted for the LAST TIME! I have loaded up the gym bag, and I'm posting these incredibly unflattering photos ONLINE for everyone to see and poke fun at. No wonder I'm not getting the roles I'm auditioning for!

So it's off to the gym, 5 days a week, starting tomorrow. And I hate the gym (see earlier post: ) but enough is enough. I am giving myself until September 20, 2005 to lose 30 pounds, and get rid of all of those ROLLS. Ugh. I can't believe I let myself go like that. And I REALLY can't believe that my husband didn't say anything!!

Wish me luck - I'll be posting new photos every week so we all can track my progress!