Angel Food (lowfat)

Really, it probably won’t be too long until someone publishes a book called “The Salmonella Diet.” I’m finally recovering, after being on said “diet” for about a week and a half. I can absolutely, guarantee you that the salmonella diet will help you lose 6 lbs in 6 days - without exercise, and you won’t even feel hungry!!!!  

Seriously, food poisoning sucks. I’m finally through with all my antibiotics and am hoping that my GI system will be normal sometime soon. I’m finally eating again and will be thrilled to never again drink another electrolyte laced sports beverage, if I can help it.

I realize I’ve not given an update here on my headache/weird CT scan issues. Well, apparently my head isn’t perfectly normal, but there’s nothing for me to be worrying about, either. For now, my primary physician is going to keep treating me for migraines and tension headaches. I’m glad to report that I’ve not had a migraine for a few weeks, and yoga is helping me to manage my tension. Thanks to everyone for the good thoughts and prayers when I visited the neurosurgeon. He was kind and cute, but I’m happy not to ever have to see him again!

Now that all of my random health issues seem to be resolving themselves, I’m looking forward to getting healthy and stronger for my impending nuptials. My pilot-in-training fiance and I still haven’t been able to set a wedding date, but we’re getting close. Within a month, we should be setting the date. Today is the first time in a while that I’ve looked at my wedding planning materials, fave web sites, magazine clippings, etc. I’m actually so excited to be venturing forth toward the wedding, but I’m not yet close to my health goals.

My goal to be more active this year has gone no where. After a fabulous weekend with my pilot, I realize that I want us to be an active, healthy couple together. But, it will be hard for us to be an active couple if we’re not active individuals. An old friend I’ve recently reconnected with on facebook has inspired me to get back into my yoga practice. Yoga helps me to be stronger and better balanced, both physically and spiritually. Even after just two practices this past week, I feel better. I hope to find something cardio-wise that makes me feel as good as yoga does. Swimming, stadium steps, zumba? Oh, what will be the answer to my cardio questions? Stay tuned as I try to find out this summer!

So, wouldn’t you know it? The couple of weeks leading up to my big car accident were really great workout weeks for me. My workouts got me outside, walking and jogging in the beautiful Georgia springtime air. Now that I’ve been cooped up for a week nursing my bumps and bruises, I’m aching to get moving again. I’m going to approach working out very timidly, which is sort of how I’m approaching life in general these days.

I’ve been back at work now for a few days, but my commute still creeps me out. I used to be fearless while driving, which is probably a cause of my running into a telephone pole. But, now i’m at the other extreme. There must be a happy medium where I’m driving with caution but not like a grandma. (Not that there’s anything wrong with grandmas; I just want to enjoy driving again.) Friends who’ve been in accidents tell me that my confidence will return, and I’ve just got to be patient. So, patient I am trying to be.

Back to exercise… I’m going to get walking again. My knees were banged up in the accident, but I think I can handle a nice stroll through the neighborhood. The dogwoods, azaleas, and cherry trees are blooming like crazy this week and are so beautiful. The azaleas are stunning this year, showing off their deep purples and hot pinks. The cherry trees went all out today, probably at their fullest for the year. I got distracted at work several times just looking out the window at the lovely light pink blossomes. The more subdued dogwoods, which are creamy and light green, are my sentimental favorite, though; I’ve loved them since I was a little girl. I say, “Allergies be darned. Where are my walking shoes?”

Walking is just a start of my exercise again; I’d like to run after my knees have healed. Of course, I really want to get back to my yoga, but I know I’m not ready for that yet. I’m trying to get by without my pain meds now; introducing yoga will probably not help with the soreness at this point. I’m still processing through my accident, and one desire that came out of it is that I have a stronger desire to do what I can to live a long and healthy life, to take good care of this body I’ve been given. I’ll never be an athlete, but I can be strong, lean, and well-balanced woman. I’m not too far from where I want to be physically, from feeling how I want to feel. For me, it will be important to ease back into a consistent exercise routine again (note: routine not regimen). I want to incorporate movement and activity into my daily life, so that some time well spent exericisng isn’t out of the ordinary, just part of who I am.

One of the most frustrating experiences on a weight loss journey can be to show up at the gym feeling motivated only to discover that you’ve forgotten your sports bra. I know that some women better than I would’ve sucked it up and worked out anyway. But, my C cups do not need to be subjected to high intensity cardio without a little extra something to keep them in place.

I am proud that even after my 45 min commute back home and despite being hungry for dinner, I popped in a pilates DVD and worked out for 40 minutes. Pilates doesn’t quite replace cardio, but I focused my workout on my abs and arms, and they are feeling it today. Magically, I lost .4 lbs overnight. Woo-hoo!

For those who care, I did remember to pack the sports bra this morning. With any luck, I’ll be out of my photography class early tonight and can get to the gym before it closes.

Yesterday, I was suffering a major case of the “I can’t believe I’m not engaged yet” blues. I wanted nothing more than to go home and have a pity party, but instead I went to work out. I did a cardio intervals work out on the elliptical, alternating 3 minutes of a steady but quick pace with 1 minute of a vigorous pace. Despite not being a regular exerciser, I can already tell that my intervals are getting easier to do.

I wish that I can say that I had a workout high that lasted all evening, but it didn’t. I am proud of myself, though, for not succumbing to tv and snacks as I wanted to do. Instead, I ate just 3 triscuits while cooking a dinner of cranberry beans. I turned on the TV, but mostly as background noise while I accomplished some much needed house cleaning. I was rewarded with a slight drop in the scales this morning. Thank God something feels like its going right.

It feels absolutely blissful not to be counting WW points. I am steadily losing pounds (well, okay, ounces) this week and no longer feeling like everything I eat will have a negative affect on my diet. On my other blog (see the blogroll), I wrote today about a West Indian Vegetable Curry that I’ve been eating all week. It is wonderfully tasty, healthy, and low in points for those who care. I do care about how the food I’m eating will impact my overall health. More important to me, however, is that what I eat tastes good. The stuff I was starting to eat while still on the WW flex plan was as interesting as cardboard, tasteless but low in points. So, I’m enjoying my meals again. Enjoyment, in turn, leads not to overeating but to true satisfaction with my diet.

So, with my diet in a happy place, I’m going to try to get my exercise routine into a happy place, too. It has been in a decidedly unhappy place lately - actually, in a non existent place. My week’s photography assignment is finally finished and under control, meaning no more getting home after midnight this week, so I’ll be heading to the gym after work. It will feel good to jolt the muscles out of their rusty confinement. They’ve been aching after I’ve spent 11 hours over the past two nights standing in the photography lab. It is as my muscles are practically shouting to me, ” we need to be stronger, make us stronger.” So, I’m gonna try.

My motivation to eat a sane amount of food over the weekend lasted about twelve hours. Friday night, I had one bowl of chili at my parents house. When I got home, my roommate and his family had made juicy ribeyes and baked potatoes. I love ribeyes. I was able to resist their beckoning sheen of fat, solacing myself with four glasses of wine (8 pts, I know) and some fried okra.  Saturday I was even weaker in the face of adversity (re: unhealthy food). Where did it all come from - the brunch, the mac n cheese, the grilled burgers, the chocolate chip cookies? I ate about twice what I should have.

It was no surprise that on Monday that I weighed: 159.0. A - .2 weight loss for the week, which barely counts.

This morning, after a mere 1 day back to counting points, I am already at 157.6. (At that rate, I’ll weigh 20 lbs by 2008!) Joking aside, I am cautiously optimistic about this week. Counting points seems to get easier every day. My big goals for the week are to exercie more and to be 157.0 by October 1. I was a dismal exerciser last week, only doing one day of cardio, one day of weights, and one day of yoga. I don’t want to be skinny and flabby like before. I want to be skinny and strong. Blogging and an email support system is really, really helping to keep my encouraged and moving toward those size 8 jeans again!