I am getting back on track after Christmas. I went through the last part of December feeling like crap. Why? It was self-inflicted. I chose to eat poorly and dropped the ball on exercise. (I shouldn't be too hard on myself because I did run twice when we were in Vegas for three days, but overall, I know I can do better.) After working out half-heartedly and sporadically for a couple of weeks, I am back on the treadmill.
The last couple of days I've mixed it up a little. I do about 10 minutes or maybe 1 mile on the treadmill and then jump off to do something else (weights, the punching bag, etc.) for a few minutes. It helps break up the monotomy of the treadmill and gives me more of a full body workout.
Today I did a total of 3 miles on the treadmill. I broke that 3 miles into three 1 mile segments, with leg work in between. I also did some core stuff at the end. I think the whole thing took about 55 minutes. It was really pretty tolerable, maybe even enjoyable. It went really fast. I think tomorrow I may do something similar.
I am wondering if maybe I could find a cheap pair of dumbbells that I could add to my little basement workout room. I have 5 pound and 8 pound ones, but I am wondering if some 15 pound ones would be beneficial to me. I need to pick up on the strength training. I have decided that running is great, but I think that strength training might be the key to keeping off a few pounds now that I am in my 30's.
I'm also eating better. This is my third day of the Eat Clean-Eat Real Food plan. I had a major slip-up tonight. I decided to make myself some oatmeal (not instant) on the stove. I thought I would add just a little bit of wheat bran. I do not recommend adding wheat bran to your oatmeal. To counteract the odd flavor of the wheat bran, I had to add some brown sugar. Then more brown sugar, and finally, more brown sugar. This directly contradicts my master plan to greatly reduce the sugar in the diet. But overall, I am eating less added sugar, more fruit, and more fiber.
Tomorrow night there is a UNI men's basketball game. Bill and I will be there, of course, and I already see the challenge of changing what I eat at the games. I love getting big prezels, and I love getting the carmel corn. Because I am reducing white flour and simple carbs, I should pass on both. I guess I could get a piece of cheese pizza. This is not necessarily ideal, but I think it's okay in moderation.
For the spring semester, I intend to plan a little better to make sure I keep on track with exercise and food. I can pack food instead of eating whatever I can scrounge up at work. I can avoid cookies and candy when they turn up in our faculty work room. I can actually put my work outs and runs on my calendar and schedule around them.
My primary motivation is that I feel fatigued (and grumpy) when I don't exercise and eat right. I've always thought I was a person who needed a lot of sleep. Maybe I am. However, I learned about two years ago that I had lived most of my life in a state of dehydration. I would be on my way to the start of a 1/2 marathon drinking a Diet Coke. I lived and died by the diet soda. And I still do, unfortunately. But a couple of years ago I decided to drink more water (and water with those little Crystal Light packets). I realized that I was a lot less tired--because I wasn't continually dehydrated. I am wondering if maybe I can eat better and see a similar increase in energy. I also need to start drinking my water again. I need to set a goal--maybe 60 ounces a day?
Honestly, I've never really struggled with exercise. I have taught aerobics since I was about 19, and I started considering myself a serious (although definitely not fast) runner when I was about 25. Last summer I did four 1/2 marathons. I currently teach step aerobics at the rec center once a week. The eating part has always been much harder than the exercise part for me. Someimes I fall off the exercise wagon, but usually I regroup quickly and get back in gear. I think a couple things help with this: 1) I get paid to teach aerobics and have no choice on whether to show up; people are counting on me, and 2) You can sign up for races several months in advance, and this serves as motivation for training.
In summary, for those of you who are reading this and have made it this far despite how boring my post is, my goals relate to eating better, exercising regularly and hard, and also drinking more water. I am thinking I need to make these goals more specific--obviously eating "better" and drinking "more" water could be more specific. More on that at a later date.
A week and a half until I return to work...I have a love/hate relationship with both Christmas and summer break. I love my job, but I do look forward to academic breaks when I don't have to grade, lecture, do administrative tasks, etc. However, when those breaks come, my excitement doesn't last long. I don't know whether or not I can say I get bored, but I just don't know what to do with myself. Now, of course, I could go into work and find plenty of stuff to work on. However, I don't want to do that because I will soon be there 40 hours a week and I want to use this time to NOT work. Yet, when I am NOT working, I don't know what to do. Here is what I did today:
10:00 wake up (yes, at 10:00, and that's the earliest I've been up in 3 days)
10:30 eat breakfast
11:00 change into workout clothes and workout
12:30 take a shower and put pajamas back on (why kid myself and pretend I'm actually going somewhere today?)
1:00 eat lunch
1:00-3:00 put away laundry, work on syllabi and course websites, make a smoothie
3:00-5:00 sleep
5:00 wake up and eat dinner
8:30 play Scrabble online with my father
I didn't leave the house, and I don't want to leave the house despite having some sense of cabin fever. I just don't know what to do. I need a hobby to delve into during academic breaks. Something I can really look forward to doing. (Yes, I know, I've said this before but nothing changes.)
Tomorrow I have to be back at work for a couple hours or so, and Thursday and Friday I have some plans to see friends during the day. So it appears that I cannot just alternate between pajamas and workout clothes. I will have to wear real clothes.
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
Monday, December 27, 2010
Eat Clean-Eat Real Food
Believe it or not, 2010 is coming to a close. I have never been a big proponent of New Year's resolutions. However, I like to think that I am always on some quest (although sometimes misguided) to better myself. I like to think that the best time to make positive changes is always NOW, not on January 1. If you know you want to do better and be better, why wait until a date in the future?
In some ways, I have found myself in a rut lately--maybe since Thanksgiving. When I say in a rut, I am referring to my exercise and eating habits. Today I have been thinking about revamping how I eat. Although I am continually on a half-hearted effort to lose weight, I think it's time to make a different plan. Instead of focusing on the scale, I want to focus on my energy level. I could stand to lose a few pounds, but more importantly I think that sometimes I sabotage my energy by eating stuff I know I shouldn't eat.
Mostly, I am speaking of sweets. If I could reduce the amount of sugar and white flour I consume, I would feel a lot less sluggish. I know this because I've done it in the past. Cookies, cake, and candy...even if very small amounts, make me feel like crap. I tend to think I am more negatively affected by sugar and white flour than most other people. I also think they are addictive substances for me. I say this because I will eat four huge frosted sugar cookies--even though I don't even want the last three. I eat them anyway, and they don't even appeal to me. I can't explain it. I've never been addicted to drugs or alcohol, but I can only imagine it's something like this. You don't really want something and you know it will make you feel like crap, but you consume it anyway.
So, I won't say I am giving up sweets--because I don't believe in "swearing off" certain foods or food groups. I will say I am greatly reducing the amount of sweets I consume. If I eat sweets, I can't stop. If I don't eat sweets, it's actually less of a struggle. I have been doing some reading on being addicted to sugar, and I think I am.
There is a diet out there called the Eat-Clean Diet. It's a common sense plan. I don't intend to follow it like a Bible, but I like some of it's components and it made me think. Basically, you eat protein, healthy fats, and complex carbs. It's real food. Very little refined sugar, very little white flour. I looked at some of the recipes on the website. Lots of whole grains, fruits, vegetables, oats, wheat bran, wheat germ, flaxseed. Real food. Not the fake food I am used to at this point.
My goals are to eat sweets only very rarely and avoid what I would call "fake food." I eat some things that are low calorie, but also have little nutritional value. I need to knock that off. The Eat-Clean Diet suggests you give up alcohol and soda. I am NOT giving up alcohol. I say this not because I drink a lot, but because I drink a little. I probably don't even have a drink once a week at this point, so I don't think that whether or not I give up drinking will make a big difference. If I want to have a couple of drinks with friends occasionally, I will. About soda...I drink only diet pop. I shouldn't even drink that. There's nothing natural about pop, diet or not. Although the soda I drink has no calories, I know it's not good for me. However, I am not willing to give it up at this point. I am willing to drink more water (along with my diet pop) at this point.
Since Bill moved to Denver for the year, I have been eating a lot of a few things---like frozen waffles. I have decided that I can still eat my frozen waffles. Tonight I made my own waffles for freezing. They are a healthier version. I modified a recipe I found. Here is what I did:
Oat Waffles---
2 cups whole wheat flour
4 teaspoon baking powder
1 tablespoon Splenda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon wheat germ
2 tablespoons wheat bran
1/2 cup Egg Beaters
1/4 cup oats
2 cups fat-free milk
2 tablespoons canola oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract (not imitation)
In a bowl, combine 1st 6 ingredients. Combine Egg Beaters, milk, oil, and vanilla in another bowl; stir into dry ingredients until combined. Bake according to waffle iron instructions.
This made enough waffles for every morning this week, and I am freezing them. I put one in the toaster tonight and it came out perfectly. I would also think about using the same recipe in the future and using some raisins, blueberries, dried cranberries or something like that in the batter. This is definitely a heartier waffle than I am used to. Probably more calories, but tastier and also more filling.
I also made some muffins tonight. Again, I made some experimental modifications to the recipe. Here goes:
1 cup oats
1 cup cinnamon applesauce
1/2 cup skim milk
1/3 cup Egg Beaters
2 tbsp ground flaxseed
2 tbsp + 1 tsp canola oil
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
3/4 cup wheat flour
any dried fruit???
1. preheat oven to 350.
2. combine oats, applesauce, milk, eggs, flexseed, and oil in bowl.
3. combine other ingredients in another bowl.
4. make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients and pour wet ingredients into it.
5. stir until ingredients are combined.
6. use batter for standard muffins or mini-muffins.
I made mini muffins. To be honest, they could be better. I like them with a little spray butter (which is an example of the fake food I am trying to give up). However, I was planning on adding about 1/2 cup of raisins, but I didn't realize we were out of raisins. I think it would also be good to add dried cranberries or blueberries--or dried cherries would be really good although they are expensive. So, if you try making them, make sure you have some dried fruit to put in there. Otherwise, you may find them a little...boring.
Well, that's the beginning of my "Eat Clean-Eat Real Food" campaign. I am hoping I can continue to try some recipes and work on modifying some existing recipes so I can eat stuff I feel good about. I am also going to pay attention to how what I eat affects my energy level.
Bill and I were in Las Vegas last week to watch college basketball. This was a great reminder to me that when I eat crap, I feel like crap. Of course, NOT eating crap in Las Vegas is difficult--although not impossible. I have eaten very little of nutritional value in the last week, and my energy level is virtually non-existent. Go figure.
As for our trip to Vegas, it was a lot of fun. Our team won the tournament, which was fantastic, and we also enjoyed some Vegas fun, such as the strip, a tremendous buffet, and the Freemont Street Experience. I admit that we are not really Vegas people. Bill only gambled away $14 in the four days we were there, and I didn't gamble at all. I also only had three drinks the whole time we were there. We did make it out to the Hoover Dam. We also toured a chocolate factory that had the largest cactus botanical garden in the world (I think). A highlight was getting to see an old friend who I met in my undergraduate days. She is now working at UNLV.
Although it was fun, it's good to be home, even though home has 8 inches of snow. It really isn't that cold here now--it's in the 20's--so I have no right to complain about our weather. Ahhh, Iowa in the winter...when 20 degrees is warm...I am a native Midwesterner.
In some ways, I have found myself in a rut lately--maybe since Thanksgiving. When I say in a rut, I am referring to my exercise and eating habits. Today I have been thinking about revamping how I eat. Although I am continually on a half-hearted effort to lose weight, I think it's time to make a different plan. Instead of focusing on the scale, I want to focus on my energy level. I could stand to lose a few pounds, but more importantly I think that sometimes I sabotage my energy by eating stuff I know I shouldn't eat.
Mostly, I am speaking of sweets. If I could reduce the amount of sugar and white flour I consume, I would feel a lot less sluggish. I know this because I've done it in the past. Cookies, cake, and candy...even if very small amounts, make me feel like crap. I tend to think I am more negatively affected by sugar and white flour than most other people. I also think they are addictive substances for me. I say this because I will eat four huge frosted sugar cookies--even though I don't even want the last three. I eat them anyway, and they don't even appeal to me. I can't explain it. I've never been addicted to drugs or alcohol, but I can only imagine it's something like this. You don't really want something and you know it will make you feel like crap, but you consume it anyway.
So, I won't say I am giving up sweets--because I don't believe in "swearing off" certain foods or food groups. I will say I am greatly reducing the amount of sweets I consume. If I eat sweets, I can't stop. If I don't eat sweets, it's actually less of a struggle. I have been doing some reading on being addicted to sugar, and I think I am.
There is a diet out there called the Eat-Clean Diet. It's a common sense plan. I don't intend to follow it like a Bible, but I like some of it's components and it made me think. Basically, you eat protein, healthy fats, and complex carbs. It's real food. Very little refined sugar, very little white flour. I looked at some of the recipes on the website. Lots of whole grains, fruits, vegetables, oats, wheat bran, wheat germ, flaxseed. Real food. Not the fake food I am used to at this point.
My goals are to eat sweets only very rarely and avoid what I would call "fake food." I eat some things that are low calorie, but also have little nutritional value. I need to knock that off. The Eat-Clean Diet suggests you give up alcohol and soda. I am NOT giving up alcohol. I say this not because I drink a lot, but because I drink a little. I probably don't even have a drink once a week at this point, so I don't think that whether or not I give up drinking will make a big difference. If I want to have a couple of drinks with friends occasionally, I will. About soda...I drink only diet pop. I shouldn't even drink that. There's nothing natural about pop, diet or not. Although the soda I drink has no calories, I know it's not good for me. However, I am not willing to give it up at this point. I am willing to drink more water (along with my diet pop) at this point.
Since Bill moved to Denver for the year, I have been eating a lot of a few things---like frozen waffles. I have decided that I can still eat my frozen waffles. Tonight I made my own waffles for freezing. They are a healthier version. I modified a recipe I found. Here is what I did:
Oat Waffles---
2 cups whole wheat flour
4 teaspoon baking powder
1 tablespoon Splenda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon wheat germ
2 tablespoons wheat bran
1/2 cup Egg Beaters
1/4 cup oats
2 cups fat-free milk
2 tablespoons canola oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract (not imitation)
In a bowl, combine 1st 6 ingredients. Combine Egg Beaters, milk, oil, and vanilla in another bowl; stir into dry ingredients until combined. Bake according to waffle iron instructions.
This made enough waffles for every morning this week, and I am freezing them. I put one in the toaster tonight and it came out perfectly. I would also think about using the same recipe in the future and using some raisins, blueberries, dried cranberries or something like that in the batter. This is definitely a heartier waffle than I am used to. Probably more calories, but tastier and also more filling.
I also made some muffins tonight. Again, I made some experimental modifications to the recipe. Here goes:
1 cup oats
1 cup cinnamon applesauce
1/2 cup skim milk
1/3 cup Egg Beaters
2 tbsp ground flaxseed
2 tbsp + 1 tsp canola oil
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
3/4 cup wheat flour
any dried fruit???
1. preheat oven to 350.
2. combine oats, applesauce, milk, eggs, flexseed, and oil in bowl.
3. combine other ingredients in another bowl.
4. make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients and pour wet ingredients into it.
5. stir until ingredients are combined.
6. use batter for standard muffins or mini-muffins.
I made mini muffins. To be honest, they could be better. I like them with a little spray butter (which is an example of the fake food I am trying to give up). However, I was planning on adding about 1/2 cup of raisins, but I didn't realize we were out of raisins. I think it would also be good to add dried cranberries or blueberries--or dried cherries would be really good although they are expensive. So, if you try making them, make sure you have some dried fruit to put in there. Otherwise, you may find them a little...boring.
Well, that's the beginning of my "Eat Clean-Eat Real Food" campaign. I am hoping I can continue to try some recipes and work on modifying some existing recipes so I can eat stuff I feel good about. I am also going to pay attention to how what I eat affects my energy level.
Bill and I were in Las Vegas last week to watch college basketball. This was a great reminder to me that when I eat crap, I feel like crap. Of course, NOT eating crap in Las Vegas is difficult--although not impossible. I have eaten very little of nutritional value in the last week, and my energy level is virtually non-existent. Go figure.
As for our trip to Vegas, it was a lot of fun. Our team won the tournament, which was fantastic, and we also enjoyed some Vegas fun, such as the strip, a tremendous buffet, and the Freemont Street Experience. I admit that we are not really Vegas people. Bill only gambled away $14 in the four days we were there, and I didn't gamble at all. I also only had three drinks the whole time we were there. We did make it out to the Hoover Dam. We also toured a chocolate factory that had the largest cactus botanical garden in the world (I think). A highlight was getting to see an old friend who I met in my undergraduate days. She is now working at UNLV.
Although it was fun, it's good to be home, even though home has 8 inches of snow. It really isn't that cold here now--it's in the 20's--so I have no right to complain about our weather. Ahhh, Iowa in the winter...when 20 degrees is warm...I am a native Midwesterner.
Saturday, December 4, 2010
DECEMBER!!!!!!
Hello December. December is typically a busy month for me because of the line of work I am in (college professor). This is because:
1. Finals are usually right in the middle of December.
2. I have somehow taken a role in organizing the graduation ceremony--which is usually less than a week before Christmas.
3. Final grades are usually due a couple of days before Christmas.
4. I have to get prepped to start my spring classes, which begin in January.
5. Christmas! And the family celebrations that this entails.
6. I love college basketball and find myself at men's and women's games at least 3 days a week.
So December is busy, although not necessarily in a bad way. I woke up this morning to a little bit of white stuff on the ground, which was okay by me. It's sort of pretty.
As I mentioned before, I read "The Happiness Project" over Thanksgiving break. I am playing around with ideas from the book and how I want to incorporate them in my life. One change I have made after reading the book is a very simple one. I make my bed every morning. Why does that matter, and why does it make me happier? I love climbing into a bed that is made, but in the past I haven't taken the time to make the bed. I've decided that the 30 seconds it takes to make the bed (which for me is just basically neatly pulling up the covers) is worth it. In a small way, it does make me happier.
And that's the point of the book. Change your life without changing your life. It's a concept that I like. I have a great life, all I need to do is make small changes in my thoughts and behaviors to enjoy it more.
I'm planning to go for a run in a little bit. It will be my first "snow" run of the season. It's not that snowy out, but that crunch-crunch under my feet is kind of enjoyable. It's just a change in atmsophere/scenery, and that's good for me. And I do have all of my ridiculously expensive running gear for winter, so I should get some use out of that stuff.
I should add that I have not been running a lot. I've taught some aerobics and I've been on my spin bike, but running has taken a back seat in the last week. I do feel a bit guilty about that, but I guess I shouldn't beat myself up as long as I'm doing something. The advantage of teaching aerobics is that I get paid for it, and the advantage of the spin bike is that I can catch up on shows from my DVR.
I was giving a lecture in one of my classes the other day, and I was talking about things I do that are ridiculous. So, as I was driving home, I thought of a list of things I do recently that are ridiculous but that I plan on continuing to do anyway:
1. Finals are usually right in the middle of December.
2. I have somehow taken a role in organizing the graduation ceremony--which is usually less than a week before Christmas.
3. Final grades are usually due a couple of days before Christmas.
4. I have to get prepped to start my spring classes, which begin in January.
5. Christmas! And the family celebrations that this entails.
6. I love college basketball and find myself at men's and women's games at least 3 days a week.
So December is busy, although not necessarily in a bad way. I woke up this morning to a little bit of white stuff on the ground, which was okay by me. It's sort of pretty.
As I mentioned before, I read "The Happiness Project" over Thanksgiving break. I am playing around with ideas from the book and how I want to incorporate them in my life. One change I have made after reading the book is a very simple one. I make my bed every morning. Why does that matter, and why does it make me happier? I love climbing into a bed that is made, but in the past I haven't taken the time to make the bed. I've decided that the 30 seconds it takes to make the bed (which for me is just basically neatly pulling up the covers) is worth it. In a small way, it does make me happier.
And that's the point of the book. Change your life without changing your life. It's a concept that I like. I have a great life, all I need to do is make small changes in my thoughts and behaviors to enjoy it more.
I'm planning to go for a run in a little bit. It will be my first "snow" run of the season. It's not that snowy out, but that crunch-crunch under my feet is kind of enjoyable. It's just a change in atmsophere/scenery, and that's good for me. And I do have all of my ridiculously expensive running gear for winter, so I should get some use out of that stuff.
I should add that I have not been running a lot. I've taught some aerobics and I've been on my spin bike, but running has taken a back seat in the last week. I do feel a bit guilty about that, but I guess I shouldn't beat myself up as long as I'm doing something. The advantage of teaching aerobics is that I get paid for it, and the advantage of the spin bike is that I can catch up on shows from my DVR.
I was giving a lecture in one of my classes the other day, and I was talking about things I do that are ridiculous. So, as I was driving home, I thought of a list of things I do recently that are ridiculous but that I plan on continuing to do anyway:
- I get to basketball and football games early (40 minutes early when possible) because I enjoy the atmosphere before the game. I almost missed tip off at the UNI-ISU game this week because I had a late meeting. I was so stressed out.
- I eat about 6-8 frozen waffles a day. There are 10 in a package. Sometimes I eat a whole package a day.
- I wait until the light goes on--and then some-- before getting gas. I honestly cannot remember the last time I got gas before the light went on. I just never do it. I hate getting gas, so I put it off. And when I do stop to get gas, I am very resentful--like "Isn't it ridiculous I have to put gas in my car? Poor me."
- I go shopping online, and put stuff I like in the shopping cart, but never order it. It's like a game...if I were to order something from this site, what would I order?
- I put off using the restroom at work until I am in physical pain. I will have to pee, but I think I don't have time because I feel like I am so busy. I once timed myself though. It takes less than 3 minutes from the time I leave my desk to the time I get back (and that is with proper handwashing). Why don't I just go when I have to? It's not like I'm an ER doctor.
- I keep my house cold in the winter--62 degrees lately. When I get cold, I take a hot bath. Sometimes I take two hot baths a night. Is this energy efficient? Probably not. Why do I keep my house so cold? I think it's so I can tell people that I keep my house cold. I was very proud that I didn't turn on my heat until mid November. Of course, I sometimes took three hot baths a night.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)