Suddenly, about an hour ago, I realized I wasn't in pain anymore. Partly, I think that it is the 800 mg of Ibuprofen that I took this morning and partly, I think that it's my back sorting itself out. Last night I felt like crap. I literally crawled up the stairs to bed and woke up several times in the night, basically every time I tried to move, a shooting pain would wake me. This morning when I got up, I was able to stand up straight but I was walking very slowly. I took one 400 mg Ibuprofen when I made it to the washroom. After breakfast, I took another one and was feeling not to bad by the time I got to work. I'm still walking a little slower than usual and I have to be very careful on the stairs but I'm feeling almost good right now. I know that I won't be able to lift anything heavier than my purse for the next few days and I'll be extremely cautious when I'm exercising (at this point, twisting myself in the wrong direction will just cause me to re-injure myself).
Obviously, I haven't worked out in 2 days now and I do miss it but I don't want to attempt it again until at least tomorrow, possibly Saturday. Eating today has been good. Yesterday's was okay until after dinner. I was feeling really rotten and both of us had had a really bad day so we did some emotional eating at the Dairy Queen. Lately, I don't beat myself up about stuff like that. I know that on the whole, I'm doing so much good for myself that an occasional visit to the DQ or a caloric splurge on something else is not going to make me gain all my weight back. I just can't do it everyday and I don't.
At this moment, I'm just really relieved to be feeling better. I may actually be a position to enjoy the long weekend instead of laying, flat on my back on a heating pad watching reruns of the Love Boat on TV land!
Thursday, July 31, 2003
Wednesday, July 30, 2003
I'm a pretzel. I feel like one anyway. I'm walking all kind of crunched up today because my back is giving me problems. It's done this before and usually, it's stress related. It's not always stress related though and I'm wondering if I slept funny last night or something. I've been taking a lot of ibuprofen for it and wasn't able to workout this morning because of it.
Last night, we were up later than normal because we had dinner guests and I'm thinking that I must have slept in a weird way or something. I kind of slept in this morning and then could not get out of bed. It was a struggle just to get my lunch made and get myself showered. Fortunately, I know that this passes in a day or so but unfortunately, I'm not in a position to be off from work right now because there are only 2 people in our unit and the other person is on holidays. I'm also wondering if this isn't a cold in my back or something like that. The reason I say that is because I almost never get headaches and I had a killer headache yesterday afternoon. Whatever it is, I hope it passes soon.
We got to looking at some photos last night that had been taken last summer and fall. I can't get over what a difference 51 pounds makes. My body is still big and huge but it's not all bloated looking like in those photos. I was amazed actually. So other than being over medicated and in a significant amount of discomfort when I walk or move, I'm having an okay day. Dinner last night was super healthy and delicious and my eating so far today is great. I'm working on eating more of a variety of fruit so today, instead of grapes I brought some cantaloupe with me. It was awesome.
Hopefully tomorrow I'll feel more like exercising again. I miss it when I can't do it and I get really frustrated when my back does this because there isn't anything I can really do for it except to let it run it's course.
~ ~ ** ~ ~
This week's Wednesday Weigh-in is a one-liner:
What keeps you going?
Many things keep me motivated:
* How good I feel when I exercise and eat well is addictive and that keeps me going
* Writing in this journal, posting on the Weigh-Better board and recording my food and activity in Fitday helps to keep me honest, I feel accountable, not only to myself but to the folks who read this. If I gave up, I'd feel that I'd let myself and everyone down.
* My goal of longevity. I want to be a little old lady who walks around the block in a pink track suit when I'm 80. If I quit, that's not going to happen.
Last night, we were up later than normal because we had dinner guests and I'm thinking that I must have slept in a weird way or something. I kind of slept in this morning and then could not get out of bed. It was a struggle just to get my lunch made and get myself showered. Fortunately, I know that this passes in a day or so but unfortunately, I'm not in a position to be off from work right now because there are only 2 people in our unit and the other person is on holidays. I'm also wondering if this isn't a cold in my back or something like that. The reason I say that is because I almost never get headaches and I had a killer headache yesterday afternoon. Whatever it is, I hope it passes soon.
We got to looking at some photos last night that had been taken last summer and fall. I can't get over what a difference 51 pounds makes. My body is still big and huge but it's not all bloated looking like in those photos. I was amazed actually. So other than being over medicated and in a significant amount of discomfort when I walk or move, I'm having an okay day. Dinner last night was super healthy and delicious and my eating so far today is great. I'm working on eating more of a variety of fruit so today, instead of grapes I brought some cantaloupe with me. It was awesome.
Hopefully tomorrow I'll feel more like exercising again. I miss it when I can't do it and I get really frustrated when my back does this because there isn't anything I can really do for it except to let it run it's course.
This week's Wednesday Weigh-in is a one-liner:
What keeps you going?
Many things keep me motivated:
* How good I feel when I exercise and eat well is addictive and that keeps me going
* Writing in this journal, posting on the Weigh-Better board and recording my food and activity in Fitday helps to keep me honest, I feel accountable, not only to myself but to the folks who read this. If I gave up, I'd feel that I'd let myself and everyone down.
* My goal of longevity. I want to be a little old lady who walks around the block in a pink track suit when I'm 80. If I quit, that's not going to happen.
Tuesday, July 29, 2003
Today is going well so far. This week's going well actually. My eating has been on plan and I've exercised the past two mornings and feel great about that. My brother and his GF are in town this week, we saw them at my folks' place last night and they'll be coming for dinner at our place tonight. We're going to barbecue. We picked up some beautiful, lean, pork loin last night. It's been marinating in fresh lime juice and fresh basil since last night. We're also having grilled peppers and squash and stir fried mushrooms (portabello) and broccoli with garlic, balsamic vinegar and ginger. It should be really tasty and healthy. Living with a chef definitely has it's advantages at times like this. We got a beautiful seedless watermelon and a huge cantaloupe for dessert. One of the nice things about entertaining at home is the controlling of the calories. I find that the bad carbs are so hard to control when I eat on the "outside."
Yesterday's Progress Prompt, a day late and a dollar short:
Kraft, one of the largest food industries in the nation, announced this month that it's reducing amounts of unhealthy fats and oils in their food products. Do you think it will really make any difference in our battle against obesity? Why or why not?
I'm not sure which "nation" that Kraft are one of the largest food producers of but I'm going to assume that the prompt writers are American. I think that this move, which is being thoroughly documented at the Ban Trans Fat site, is good but it's not happening soon enough. These products provide a direct health threat to everyone, not just obese people. Reducing the amount of saturated fats in all food products will benefit everyone, not just folks who are losing weight. I urge everyone to read the data on trans fat. As I've said before, it's frightening stuff but you're always better off being well informed than you are being ill.
Yesterday's Progress Prompt, a day late and a dollar short:
Kraft, one of the largest food industries in the nation, announced this month that it's reducing amounts of unhealthy fats and oils in their food products. Do you think it will really make any difference in our battle against obesity? Why or why not?
I'm not sure which "nation" that Kraft are one of the largest food producers of but I'm going to assume that the prompt writers are American. I think that this move, which is being thoroughly documented at the Ban Trans Fat site, is good but it's not happening soon enough. These products provide a direct health threat to everyone, not just obese people. Reducing the amount of saturated fats in all food products will benefit everyone, not just folks who are losing weight. I urge everyone to read the data on trans fat. As I've said before, it's frightening stuff but you're always better off being well informed than you are being ill.
Monday, July 28, 2003
I noticed something really quite neat on the weekend: my legs are coming back. Now, don't think I lost them like the way that guy lost his dick in "Detachable Penis" or that they were amputated. My legs were covered (and still are I guess) with a big layer of fat. The fat layer is getting smaller though and I can see my old legs starting to poke through.
I have a picture of myself that was taken during the summer I was 14. I was wearing blue satin shorts and a tube top (yes, so what?! I was 14, it as 1981 for pete's sake, it was "fashionable" okay!?) and I'm standing bare-foot on a flat rock with Lake Ontario slapping against my ankles. Whenever I see this photo I think, "wow, I had me some legs back then." Of course, back then, I thought I was fat because my mother had told me that I was. I'm not going into the whole horrible/boring mother thing again... I just would be really really pleased if I could ever look like that again.
Yesterday, I stood in front of my full length mirror in my bedroom and looked at my legs, really checked them out. They definitely look slimmer, a lot slimmer. This is from the biking. For the past several weeks, when I've looked at my bare legs, I couldn't see any change. I know that they are smaller because I've got the measurements to prove it and my pants are all big through the legs. They just looked really gross, bumpy/ripple-y and large. The bumps and ripples are really getting less noticeable. My calves are looking muscular and my knees, well let's just say that I have knees and not little bumps that sort of stick out from my fat.
Later in the day, I was bending over, putting a DVD into the player and my hunny commented on my legs, that they looked a lot thinner. Confirmation! Just what I needed, I definitely have slimmer legs. yay! I think that most of the weight I have lost so far has happened below the waist. I mean, I've lost some all over but I'm noticing the biggest change in my hips and legs. The "saddle bags" attached to my outer thighs are shrinking and my butt feels like it's getting less droopy. My ankles hardly ever get swollen on humid days now and when they do, it's just a little bit and they don't hurt like they did last summer.
I'm really happy about this. I'm happy about a lot of things lately. Even when I have a lapse and give into a craving for something bad, instead of beating myself up about it, I'm trying to focus (a la Taylore) on how much I do for myself now, that is good for me:
I could make the list longer but I think you get the point! I'm really trying to keep really positive and constantly remind myself of how far I've come so far! I would suggest that, whenever you're feeling like kicking your own ass for being "bad," that you kick once and then make a list of your "good" behavior. It really helps me to keep focused on the big picture...Or is that the smaller (me) picture?
I have a picture of myself that was taken during the summer I was 14. I was wearing blue satin shorts and a tube top (yes, so what?! I was 14, it as 1981 for pete's sake, it was "fashionable" okay!?) and I'm standing bare-foot on a flat rock with Lake Ontario slapping against my ankles. Whenever I see this photo I think, "wow, I had me some legs back then." Of course, back then, I thought I was fat because my mother had told me that I was. I'm not going into the whole horrible/boring mother thing again... I just would be really really pleased if I could ever look like that again.
Yesterday, I stood in front of my full length mirror in my bedroom and looked at my legs, really checked them out. They definitely look slimmer, a lot slimmer. This is from the biking. For the past several weeks, when I've looked at my bare legs, I couldn't see any change. I know that they are smaller because I've got the measurements to prove it and my pants are all big through the legs. They just looked really gross, bumpy/ripple-y and large. The bumps and ripples are really getting less noticeable. My calves are looking muscular and my knees, well let's just say that I have knees and not little bumps that sort of stick out from my fat.
Later in the day, I was bending over, putting a DVD into the player and my hunny commented on my legs, that they looked a lot thinner. Confirmation! Just what I needed, I definitely have slimmer legs. yay! I think that most of the weight I have lost so far has happened below the waist. I mean, I've lost some all over but I'm noticing the biggest change in my hips and legs. The "saddle bags" attached to my outer thighs are shrinking and my butt feels like it's getting less droopy. My ankles hardly ever get swollen on humid days now and when they do, it's just a little bit and they don't hurt like they did last summer.
I'm really happy about this. I'm happy about a lot of things lately. Even when I have a lapse and give into a craving for something bad, instead of beating myself up about it, I'm trying to focus (a la Taylore) on how much I do for myself now, that is good for me:
- I eat a healthy, well-balanced breakfast, every day
- I exercise for at least 30 minutest, 5 to 6 days a week, every week
- I read the labels on everything I eat
- I get 8 hours of sleep most nights
- I drink water, all day (my skin says "thanks")
I could make the list longer but I think you get the point! I'm really trying to keep really positive and constantly remind myself of how far I've come so far! I would suggest that, whenever you're feeling like kicking your own ass for being "bad," that you kick once and then make a list of your "good" behavior. It really helps me to keep focused on the big picture...Or is that the smaller (me) picture?
Sunday, July 27, 2003
Yet another great article from Yahoo!. We already eat a tonne of stuff on the list, particularly daikon, chinese cabbage and broccoli!
How Cruciferous Vegetables Fight Cancer
Cruciferous vegetables treat potential carcinogens the way Tony Soprano does a snitch. By the time members of the cruciferous family (see list below) are through with them, there's nothing left but harmless substances to be excreted.
Cruciferous vegetables' anti-cancer firepower comes from phytochemicals called isothiocyanates, which stimulate our bodies to break down potential carcinogens. Sulforaphane, found in broccoli and in even more concentrated form in broccoli sprouts, is a well-known isothiocyanate. It stimulates the body to produce enzymes that detoxify carcinogens. Among men and women aged 50 to 74 in a study from Harbor UCLA Medical Center in Torrance, Calif., participants who ate the most broccoli (average: 3.7 half-cup cooked servings weekly) were only half as likely to develop colorectal cancer as subjects who said they never ate broccoli.
Broccoli sprouts contain 20 to 50 times the amount of sulforaphane in mature broccoli. That means you'll get as much sulforaphane in a few tablespoons of broccoli sprouts as in a pound of broccoli. When scientists at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore fed broccoli sprouts to rats for several days, and then gave them carcinogens, the animals developed smaller, fewer and slower-growing tumors than the ones that didn't eat sprouts.
Watercress contains a powerful compound called PEITC (phenethyl isothiocyanate, if you're wondering), which is not only cancer-preventive in general, but specifically blocks the nicotine in cigarette smoke from causing lung tumors in animals. PEITC is at its highest levels in raw watercress, although some remains after cooking.
Many cruciferous vegetables also contain indole-3-carbinol, a compound that affects sex-hormone metabolism involved with the progression of prostate, breast and ovarian cancers. Men between 40 and 64 who ate three or more half-cup servings of cruciferous vegetables a week were 41 percent less likely to develop prostate cancer, according to researchers at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle.
MEET THE CRUCIFERS
* Arugula
* Beet greens
* Bok choy
* Broccoli
* Brussels sprouts
* Cabbage
* Cauliflower
* Chinese cabbage
* Collard greens
* Daikon
* Horseradish
* Kale
* Kohlrabi
* Mustard greens
* Radishes
* Rutabaga
* Swiss chard
* Turnips
* Watercress
How Cruciferous Vegetables Fight Cancer
Cruciferous vegetables treat potential carcinogens the way Tony Soprano does a snitch. By the time members of the cruciferous family (see list below) are through with them, there's nothing left but harmless substances to be excreted.
Cruciferous vegetables' anti-cancer firepower comes from phytochemicals called isothiocyanates, which stimulate our bodies to break down potential carcinogens. Sulforaphane, found in broccoli and in even more concentrated form in broccoli sprouts, is a well-known isothiocyanate. It stimulates the body to produce enzymes that detoxify carcinogens. Among men and women aged 50 to 74 in a study from Harbor UCLA Medical Center in Torrance, Calif., participants who ate the most broccoli (average: 3.7 half-cup cooked servings weekly) were only half as likely to develop colorectal cancer as subjects who said they never ate broccoli.
Broccoli sprouts contain 20 to 50 times the amount of sulforaphane in mature broccoli. That means you'll get as much sulforaphane in a few tablespoons of broccoli sprouts as in a pound of broccoli. When scientists at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore fed broccoli sprouts to rats for several days, and then gave them carcinogens, the animals developed smaller, fewer and slower-growing tumors than the ones that didn't eat sprouts.
Watercress contains a powerful compound called PEITC (phenethyl isothiocyanate, if you're wondering), which is not only cancer-preventive in general, but specifically blocks the nicotine in cigarette smoke from causing lung tumors in animals. PEITC is at its highest levels in raw watercress, although some remains after cooking.
Many cruciferous vegetables also contain indole-3-carbinol, a compound that affects sex-hormone metabolism involved with the progression of prostate, breast and ovarian cancers. Men between 40 and 64 who ate three or more half-cup servings of cruciferous vegetables a week were 41 percent less likely to develop prostate cancer, according to researchers at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle.
MEET THE CRUCIFERS
* Arugula
* Beet greens
* Bok choy
* Broccoli
* Brussels sprouts
* Cabbage
* Cauliflower
* Chinese cabbage
* Collard greens
* Daikon
* Horseradish
* Kale
* Kohlrabi
* Mustard greens
* Radishes
* Rutabaga
* Swiss chard
* Turnips
* Watercress
Wow, I just realized that I haven't written anything all weekend. I guess that nothing really super exciting (because, you know, my life is just one big roller coaster ride after another!) happened this weekend.
I have been pretty busy around the house. I had a big list of things I wanted to get done this weekend and was able to get all but one of them done. I really wanted to mow the law this weekend but the weather didn't exactly cooperate with us. Yesterday, it threatened rain all day and then last night, it did rain. It was really humid and hot here today and the grass was way too wet to cut. Hopefully tomorrow after work we'll get it done.
I'm so happy about the stuff I did get done though. The whole house is clean and our guest bedroom is (for probably the first time ever), completely devoid of clutter. It looks so nice. The bookshelves are organized, the boxes of "stuff" are gone, my sewing corner is all set up and ready to go. We could actually have company now! We have had overnight guests before but they've either been family or really close friends who didn't mind the mess. I can't get over how happy clearing up that room has made me.
Our office is in great shape too. We don't have a basement in our house so our third bedroom is our computer room, storage space. It's also really organized now. There are a few boxes to go through yet but they are neatly piled in a corner. We also carted a huge load of stuff to goodwill and threw out of a bunch of other miscellaneous stuff that has been floating around. We have a few pictures to get back up on the walls of our bedroom and the bathroom (and the guest room too, now that I think of it) to get everything back together.
Because I was so busy working around the house that I didn't workout. My eating was pretty good thought. I mean, Saturday is my "break" day but I never go overboard. Even though I don't totally count everything, I never end up going that far over what I'd normally have. This is a good thing for me! I decided too that I'm not going to measure myself every week. Once a month should be fine. I will still weigh myself every Saturday though. Yesterday's weigh-in showed me down another pound. I'm really happy about that! I wasn't sure what the scales would say, it had been an odd week for me. Sometimes, I'm just so thrilled to be not gaining back any of what I've lost so far that a loss is like gravy!
Tomorrow I'll be back to normal workouts, in my nice clean and organized house! My weekend's been wonderful, productive yet relaxing. I hope everyone else had a great weekend too!
I have been pretty busy around the house. I had a big list of things I wanted to get done this weekend and was able to get all but one of them done. I really wanted to mow the law this weekend but the weather didn't exactly cooperate with us. Yesterday, it threatened rain all day and then last night, it did rain. It was really humid and hot here today and the grass was way too wet to cut. Hopefully tomorrow after work we'll get it done.
I'm so happy about the stuff I did get done though. The whole house is clean and our guest bedroom is (for probably the first time ever), completely devoid of clutter. It looks so nice. The bookshelves are organized, the boxes of "stuff" are gone, my sewing corner is all set up and ready to go. We could actually have company now! We have had overnight guests before but they've either been family or really close friends who didn't mind the mess. I can't get over how happy clearing up that room has made me.
Our office is in great shape too. We don't have a basement in our house so our third bedroom is our computer room, storage space. It's also really organized now. There are a few boxes to go through yet but they are neatly piled in a corner. We also carted a huge load of stuff to goodwill and threw out of a bunch of other miscellaneous stuff that has been floating around. We have a few pictures to get back up on the walls of our bedroom and the bathroom (and the guest room too, now that I think of it) to get everything back together.
Because I was so busy working around the house that I didn't workout. My eating was pretty good thought. I mean, Saturday is my "break" day but I never go overboard. Even though I don't totally count everything, I never end up going that far over what I'd normally have. This is a good thing for me! I decided too that I'm not going to measure myself every week. Once a month should be fine. I will still weigh myself every Saturday though. Yesterday's weigh-in showed me down another pound. I'm really happy about that! I wasn't sure what the scales would say, it had been an odd week for me. Sometimes, I'm just so thrilled to be not gaining back any of what I've lost so far that a loss is like gravy!
Tomorrow I'll be back to normal workouts, in my nice clean and organized house! My weekend's been wonderful, productive yet relaxing. I hope everyone else had a great weekend too!
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