Torturing Depravities

I'm giving up wheat for Lent.

I'm not Catholic, but since I have friends who are, I'm joining their little Lent Club. I might have a shred of success if I have groupies who are torturing themselves with various depravities. One friend is giving up facebook.

I give her 78 hours.

Also on my Lent list (I am unfamiliar with the details of Lent, but I can't imagine giving up two vices is such a bad thing) is fast food. Fast, cheap, easy, and inherently evil. However, since saving money and good calories are both high on my list of To-DO's, I see no viable reason why they should remain a weekly routine. In the event that my friends want to go out, my only allowable choices will be sit-down restaurants that are a bit on the expensive side to deter frequent visits. Even then my food choices there will be planned out beforehand.

I didn't go to the gym this morning. I awoke to my roommate's alarm which meant it was too late to go. I'm thinking of hiring a conscience. This way I can text him/her and ask permission to eat sugar, wheat, etc.

Maybe if someone else tells me no, I'll listen.

An Emotion Salad: hold the dressing.

Let me share with you how my day started...

I woke up a little groggy at 5:45am after almost 6 hours of sleep. As I get older I realize that 6 hours just doesn't carry me as far as it once did. Case in point, here I sit, alone in the quiet of my apartment, ready for bed at 9:47pm. It is a fitting end to today and one I am completely satisfied with. My usual "Let's go to the gym!" sensation was absent this morning and had been replaced with the emphatic call of a warm blanket and soft pillow. Ordinarily a choice between sleep and gym is an easy one. My love of routine beckons a dependable call, and I inevitably choose the workout. Last time I had a distinct prompting to stay home and sleep a bit more, I ignored it which resulted in a feeling I can only compare with what I imagine being trampled by a flock of mall shoppers must feel like.

So I skipped the gym. Strike one.

Then, I stepped on the scale. Strike two. (I'm up 2 pounds from last week. Crap.)

Next, I put on a shirt that used to fit me, but somehow didn't any longer. Strike three.

Finally, I decided to forgo the green smoothie for a protein bar. Strike four.

I'm fairly sure I should have called in sick at this point and stayed in bed (or maybe headed straight to the gym). Rarely do people survive four strikes in a 30 minute period.

Nevertheless, I went to work.

And I was productive. Go figure. Despite the memory of my small shirt, the realization that my scale must be lying to me, and the understanding that gym neglect twice in one week is unforgivable, I had a great day. This is no excuse for any of the aforementioned pitfalls to go uncorrected, however. I completely understand that my next green smoothie will have to be painfully healthier than normal and that I will eventually have to dig that shirt out of the trash, but I've concluded that guilt does not have to overrun daily functions, as it normally does, when perfection is not acheived. Today happened. It is what it is. Tomorrow is a brand new Saturday.

I love Saturdays.

For The Brave Souls With Long Attention Spans (or with nothing to do)

I seem to have the workout thing down. I enthusiastically hop out of bed every morning at 5:45-ish. I try really hard to be at the gym and working out by 6:30 so I can get in a full work out and feel like all the sweat was worth something. Still working on escaping chocolate cravings. I'm a girl and I have lots of chocolate-loving girlfriends, so it's been an uphill climb that isn't going so well. Meh. Ya win some, ya lose some, right?

I saw several document-worthy events as I battled the ArcTrainer. (I'm convinced these were early-Nazi torture tools) And even more as I moved on to the circuit and tried to push myself through 25 gruelling pounds on the weight machines (don't make fun. I'm a little wimpy). For some reason, the following made me giggle:

There is a guy who I see there on almost a daily basis. A somewhat-rounded twenty-something of Hispanic background, he is often accompanied by his two friends whom I can only assume are family members or caring (and relatively fit) friends who drag him out of bed every morning. He is one who seems to be under the impression that mere gym attendance-not vigorous use of the equipment itself-is all one needs in the quest for a "healthier you". (By the way, I have no intention of seeming judgemental here, as I believe anyone who has the motivation to get up and work out is praiseworthy. However, his level of dedication to the rigors of a morning workout are pertinent to this story...) I usually see him on the treadmill for several minutes following a jaunt around the track once or twice. He occasionally vests temporary interest in the weight machines.

I was trying to push through the remaining half of the circuit when I saw him in the weights area. Making sure he was in clear view of a perky, obviously-dedicated, young gym attendee (who happened to be female), this stalwart champion bravely strode up to the free weights and took a deep breath in preparation. (I will note here that the weights are set up so that the heaviest are on the bottom, the lightest at the top.) Looking over his options, he courageously grabbed hold of the second set from the top.

Keeping his eye on the conquest he was hoping to impress, he began lifting in quick succession. Sweat forming on his brow, I counted as he lifted each set to his chest as quickly as he could, eyes squeezed shut in concentration; ...four, five, si-...Five! Exhaling, he took a breath between reps before beginning again, this time making nearly seven reps with the eight-pound load...

Now for those who have lost interest and skimmed the above (those who haven't, I commend you. I'm frequently very wordy...), you can read this part. The following is what made me laugh.

Just before his second set of almost-seven was over, an older gentleman came over to scrutinize his free weight options. He had to have been almost sixty-five or older with thinning grey hair and an even thinner physique. He was dressed in a white wife-beater and gym shorts (black socks included and sweat band firmly in place on his forehead). With a swiftness and grace that can only be compared with sunflowers blowing in the ease of the spring winds, the older man stepped in front of my Hispanic subject, snatched the very lowest set of free weights, and easily walked away.

I can only imagine my subject's embarrassment as he noticed the slight chuckling of the girl he once sought out to impress. If I didn't know he was Mexican-ish, I would have thought he was a cherry.

Step Two: Consistency is key...Did I lose those AGAIN??

I have a feeling each blog entry I have is going to start just as my journals all do; "I haven't written in a few days. I'm really bad at this..."

I was sick for a week so my workouts were practically non-existant. I was grounded from the gym by several do-gooders including moms, doctors, and co-workers in an effort to help me realize that working out when ill is more counter-productive than one would hope. I ignored their pleas only one time last week and found myself at work feeling worse off than ever. So much for sweating off my cold...

Nonetheless, I am feeling much better now and last Wednesday my workouts resumed. I'm still sore from the 45-minute stint on the elliptical. I think this is a good sign.

I had an appointment with Dr. Shoults on Friday. My re-evaluation is in a couple of weeks. I'm hoping for better results this time! She's very encouraging and gave me some information on a Women's triathalon in August that I'm determined to make it to. It gives me a goal to work toward besides weight loss. I love visiting with her. It feels like I've got a cheerleader out there somewhere.

I've recently tried to take on another deamon: Wheat. I've been challenged by my doctor to forego wheat in my diet to see if these annoying little health issues are based on an allergy to wheat. I started removing wheat, barley, and rye from my everyday meals and snacks at the first part of February.

...and on February 11th, I started taking it seriously. :)

Having to elliminate wheat and it's associates from things I eat has been harder than I thought. The lists of no-no's are extensive. However, I'm including a list of things I've loved about this change because it hasn't been ALL bad...

1.) My energy levels have steadily headed upwards. I'm convinced this trend will continue as I get better at elliminating wheat completely leaving me a chatty, smiling, energetic ball of sunshine. I can just hear the excitment from friends and family...

2.) I'm cooking now. Holy miracles. And I actually love it. My horizons aren't as broad as they should be, and mostly I just stir-fry lots of veggies together, but I'm COOKING. ...and every sucessful endeavor results in a phone call to Mom who feigns excitment well enough for me to believe her.

3.) The pitted edema that has been plaguing me for almost two years now seems to let up when I lay off the hard stuff. This alone is cause for extreme celebration. Ice cream is gluten-free, right? (Just kidding, Dr. Shoults.)

4.) I'm having an intense love affair with veggies. I can't get enough of them.

5.) I can eat sweet potatoes, which are my all-time favorite things ever. Also, brown rice is ok, too. It's nice to know that while wheat is bad for me right now, other forms of carbs aren't. This new mindset makes dinner time so much more fun.

So, it's results time...

(Disclaimer: I'm not confident enough with myself to announce my weight to the world, but I will post weight loss as it occurs.)

Weight lost: This week, 3 lbs.
Total loss since the blog started: 9lbs.
Inches lost: I have no idea. I don't own a measuring tape.

Step 1- Accept the challenge.

I have one true confession before this whole thing starts: I have no idea how this works. I can imagine that blogging is much like journaling; something that is absolutely my biggest failure. Nevertheless, I am intrigued by the idea that this may indeed prove to be a great benefit...if only just to keep me motivated.

This idea was, in fact, spawned by a friend who was helped in the attainment of his own goals by the very concepts that I am now trying to apply. His motivation for success came with his very own blogging (partnered with a friend who had the same goals in mind.) I find this idea somewhat foreign. Blog? ME? I had never considered it a valuable or successful form of communication. Facebook? Absolutely. Text? Like a madwoman. But blog? Never! Nerds blog. Boring people blog. But me? I couldn't fathom it. My dear friend Adrienne has a blog. I don't think she's nerdy or boring... or any combination of the two. She's quite the opposite, actually. She's funny and easy going and motivational and very intelligent. (Quite the catch, guys!) It was these aforementioned friends that spurred this idea on. I moved from hesitant to curious to interested to downright excited all within a 12-hour period.

...and here we are.

So here is Step One: Accept the Challenge.

Health issues coupled with an intense yearning for all things chocolate have lead me to a somewhat icky place in life. On the heavy side with numerous health risks staring me in the face, change was needed.

...and since Obama has nothing to do with this "change" (thank Heaven) it might actually stick.