Mall Morning Walk

Couple of miles. Really no reason not to, other than I didn't want to. Then I was going to cut it short because I was tired and had no energy. But it's just walking, for crying out loud! So I pushed myself to complete the loop I had laid out for myself. Turns out I kept a respectable pace, too.

Better than nothing.


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Bike Ride

So yay, I did get outside and on the bike. Very cold when I started. Windy but sunny. I started down the closed part of the parkway, but was so cold I turned around to go uphill first.

Stats from Garmin:

Time:	42:54
Moving Time:	41:20
Elapsed Time:	42:57

Avg Speed:	9.1 mph
Avg Moving Speed:	9.4 mph
Max Speed:	15.3 mph

Brussels Sprouts

Brussels sprouts roasted with olive oil, minced garlic, and vidalia onion. Served with coarse sea salt. Yum!


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Turning point

So I toughed out a few days long plateau and the weight has gone down again- to my "floor" of the past decade or so. And, I relaxed and bumped up the carb level slightly- 30-40 net grams. This is my historical downfall.

But, circumstances are different now. Because I have time, I'm better able to plan and manage my food. Plus, the activity level is up. So can I hang in there?


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Discouraged

Not a high energy week, in contrast to last weekend. And the weight per scale is steadily climbing UP despite low calories and low carbs in. I imagine its water. I think my total calories were too low this weekend, and I bumped them up this week. This week I also allowed carbs to drift up to 25 versus 20 grams as the target. Maybe I need to push that back down. I'll persist for another week before thinking about a change.

I bought Halloween candy yesterday. I want to be on a restrictive diet that enforces the "none at all" before we get into The Eating Season. But if I have no results, it will be hard to stick to rules.

Weight:


Proportions:


Exercise:


Sunday's exercise:


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So much for exercise....

Just spent the last two hours making graphs of my exercise. No food, no exercise, and its the weekend. Time to move!

Shamed into moving

Today I actually felt good, and the weather was perfect. But, I couldn't arrange the schedule to get out and walk. Early in the morning, I felt way less good and just sat around doing nothing before work.

So just now, lying on the couch reading Younger Next Year, the exercise chapters, I got up and took the kindle down to the treadmill and walked while I read. Forty minutes. Yay me.


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Less energy today

Don't know why. I anticipated my run as being a good workout: Saturday, long sleep, a couple of hours after getting out of bed, plenty of coffee and even a bite of cheese. But it was hard hard work. I didn't accomplish as much as I wanted, though I did stretch to do more than yesterday. Sort of.

And I'm not feeling the happy energetic glow from it either, not like yesterday. More tired than glowing. I sat afterwards and I did some mindful breathing for just a few minutes. I think I could have fallen asleep, though I didn't.

So is it because of lingering bad teen feelings? Or a long but not restful sleep? (these things are probably related.). Or maybe I just need more recovery time? All possibilities.


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Really Good Today

Put on the bra right away even though I was thinking I don't feel like running today. Then I ran, and the good feelings lasted until I just took a glorious walk at lunch.

There is a gnawing, a lack of satiety, feeling like I'm missing something. This is the flip side of the over-full sense of completeness after a big bowl of pasta. Except that at this instant my stomach is quite full from my lunch salad.

Last night I was restless and wanting chocolate or ice cream. I got into bed and got a tip on a new exercise book from KCF, and that took care of my need to consume.


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Hanging in there

I analyzed all the foods in detail from my first two days of "Atkins Phase 1" where my net carbs were still over the target 20 grams. I need to eat plain meat, no gravy or sauces, and stick with the leafy vegetables. The treat foods, from categories allowed, need to be severely restricted in portion size. So broccoli with sour cream and Parmesan, creamed to a lovely mouth feel, should be cut off at half a cup, not the two cups I wanted to gorge on.

But meat! During this phase, I can have as much as I want. I'm trying to make protein bigger than fat, which means more fish and poultry, less beef. The guideline is 6 ounces per each of three meals, which is bigger portions than I am used to, especially at breakfast. But better to eat more turkey breast than to have more cauliflower.

I have been skating on the edge of Atkins malaise. Lots of water, eat meat when hungry, nibble on a little bit of salt. Not feeling too bad. Lower energy at lunch partly due to heat.


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Better today

Some reduced energy today, but right now not the malaise of full Atkins flu. I ate ravenously my lunch. I went out at noon, to take a walk, and wimped out based on energy, the heat of the day, and hunger. I stopped to buy a Greek salad and my favorite avocado and artichoke in vinaigrette salad. AFTER I bought it I checked its numbers on MyFitnessPal and it definitely put me over carbs for the day. I dialed back how much of it I ate. My big lesson yesterday was I should eat more protein and fewer vegetables. The raw carrots I voraciously consumed in the car driving home yesterday had many carbs for few fibers.

So today's afternoon snack is cheese. I had roast chicken for breakfast. I had few calories yesterday, but definitely need to up the protein without upping the fat.

Here are the numbers from yesterday. At least I got fat to less than 50%! But carbs should be closer to 10% than 20%.



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Atkins Flu?

Day two, and feeling crummy? This is awfully quick!

I felt great this morning at the gym, still full of yesterday's optimism. But mid morning, I got a queasy almost pain in my stomach. Almost a headache, and a loss of focus.

I drank some water and ate some salt. Now I'm eating my lunch a bit early, steak and salad. Suddenly famished, but something in the salad or dressing has an off putting moldy overtone. Maybe the mushrooms?

I assume eating will help a lot. More later.


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Capital Crescent

In the spirit of making lemonade, I escaped the hospital for an hour and headed downhill. With incredible luck I found an access point for the Capital Crescent trail, an off road paved hike-bike trail that runs from Georgetown to Bethesda. Filled with mostly bicycles roaring in both directions, but a pleasant walk with a view of some wild flowers. Then back through a cute but obviously tony neighborhood wedged in between MacArthur Boulevard and Clara Barton Parkway. Nearly four miles round trip.


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Out of the Fog

I woke up feeling good this morning - the first time in a very long time. Was it the sun and exercise yesterday?  The extra two hours sleep I got Saturday and Sunday mornings?

I need to clarify "good" - my knees, my back, my hand, my stomach, my head - they all hurt. I'm a bundle of breaking down body parts. But I feel - optimistic? As I rolled out of bed, I didn't need to rush to the coffee - my morning mental fog was missing. At the gym, I felt strong and like pushing myself, instead of just going through the motions.

Whatever it is, I would like it to stay.

What Snow?

Walked to and from Metro yesterday to avoid driving in the snow.

What snow?

At least I doubled my mile.


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Walk

Before workable walk. Sunny. Fun.


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Weigh-In

Lowest weekly average since June!  Down again from last week.  Staying on some form of low-carb, trying to focus on getting enough vegetables.

Not so tough

I tried running some intervals on the treadmill. I quickly got winded, I couldn't even do 3 minutes. Maybe too fast? Anyway, it makes me want to do more because I like the adrenaline from getting the heart rate up.



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Walk in the Cold

Took myself around the neighborhood behind the mall where my girl was getting her hair died bright red. It was sunny but quite cold. I ended up at REI where I was looking for fingerless gloves inside mittens. Didn't find that, but got a peachy pair of fingerless mittens- basically wrist warmers with thumb holes. Twenty percent off, too!

Ended up at a chi-chi grocery store (Fresh Market) where I picked up an ingredient for dinner and got an antipasti lunch-olives stuffed with cheese, garlic, sundried tomatoes, marinated mushrooms, and small blobs of marinated fresh mozzarella. Yum! Not a bad way to spend a couple of hours stranded on Rockville Pike.


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Too Much

I had a relatively big dinner from the hot food bar at Whole Foods. It would have been better to go portion-controlled frozen dinner, though I loaded up on cauliflower and cabbage versus meat. I probably still underestimated how much butter and oil they use in preparation.

I had my mind set on ice cream as this evening's treat. It really was too much. Good, but too much. I don't think I can afford that much sugar. Even though I didn't want it that badly, I was set I was going to have it. Period.

At least it was very good.


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Kids cooking!

What a treat to come home and find my boy was making chicken baked with sauce in the oven, and my girl made red velvet cup cakes. It was such a treat to eat dinner not cooked by me, and a good one, too.


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Sore and Stiff

Feeling not so good at the gym. Long muscles of my back sore, and both knees twingeing. Knees would be from the run, but not sure about the muscles.


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Beautiful walk today

The weather was lively ands the first time I left the building all week. I walked over a mile to my meeting point, then biked back. I haven't been using my bikeshare much but I needed to be quicker. It was actually way more convenient than metro. But it was through busy streets, and I'm not very comfortable in traffic.


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Walking at Downton Abbey

Well, walking on the treadmill in my basement while watching the season opener last night. I only got my mile in, but it was 2 hours long and I stayed up too late watching the whole thing.


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At the Table

I really can't remember to sit at the table to eat. So simple! So not part of my daily life! I just had breakfast while driving. Planned it that way, and didn't even occur to me to plan something different. Only as I was logging it as a meal did I remember. Yikes!

Need to think of reminders, and the logging app is probably the best way.


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