Just when I thought things were starting to look up...

I came down with a horrible case of the flu on Thursday. I am miserable. Wait, you say, didn't you just have the stomach flu last weekend? Why, yes. As a matter of fact I did. Now I have the severe bodyache/headache/painful cough/sore throat/MISERABLE EXISTENCE kind of flu. Otherwise known as Influenza B.

So, um, yeah, I haven't really been doing much of anything lately.

Back to the Basics...

Okay. I have been dealing with all kinds of crap for the past two weeks which has rendered me unable to work out and eat the way I want to. I have also been dealing with a lot of negative feelings about myself. Let's face it: I am completely depressed over how much weight I have gained. I have been thinking a lot about what I could change and do differently. What could have gone wrong over the past year that has caused such an enormous, depressing change in my size?! I have tried so many things--I gave up dairy, I gave up meat, I gave up sugar, I started killing my knees by running etc., etc., etc. Nothing has worked. I just keep getting bigger and bigger and more and more depressed. At the beginning of the year I had said I was going to start weighing myself weekly and see where it went. Well after a few weeks of that I just about threw the freaking scale across the room. And I am so not kidding. Way too depressing.

Here is my new plan. Back to Body For Life. I am going HARD CORE on BFL. I think that possibly one explanation for my weight gain has been a gradual, unintentional increase in portion sizes. I have done Body For Life twice (after 2 pregnancies) and it worked each time. So, I am going to do it again--perfectly. If, after 12 weeks, I have not lost a significant amount of weight I will find a doctor and they will figure out what is wrong with me.

On that note--today I did great! I am still not feeling well (it's getting old), but I went ahead with my plan.

I did 30 minutes on the elliptical before breakfast, which was two slices of french toast on whole wheat bread with some peanut butter and banana. No picture, sorry!

I ate breakfast late, so instead of a snack, I just had lunch. I recently (while sick and unable to eat much of anything) discovered this delicious soup--

So I even measured my portions and had one cup of soup as my veggie serving, five crackers and some grapes as my carb and a piece of light string cheese as my protein. For fun I calculated my whole lunch was a mere 250 calories.

Afternoon snack was whole wheat toast with peanut butter, bananas and a drizzle of local honey. Yum.

Dinner today was egg salad sandwiches. I had mine open faced on homemade whole wheat bread with lots of added veggies--celery, lettuce, tomatoes, purple onions and sprouts. I did have one more small slice of bread plain because I wanted to taste it. I added ground millet and quinoa along with the wheat flour, so I wanted to see if it tasted any different. It was good.
Tonight I did an upper body workout and I have been making a conscious effort to chug water like a crazy person. For the time being I'm off DC again.

So, back to the basics. Wish me luck. I really need this to work.

I will be back.

I miss blogging! I miss my old life. I hadn't intended to take an extended hiatus from this here blog, but it has turned into that.

I just have nothing to blog about. Between my knee issues, home remodeling projects, weather issues and now an illness that has affected all of us for days on end...what do you want to know? I haven't been working out nearly as much as I would like. Lately I haven't really been eating at all because nothing sounds remotely appealing.

Hopefully my life will return to normal soon. Now I will return to my place on the couch.

Change is in the air

Well, we have had a lot going on recently. From illness, to remodeling projects, to freezing temperatures to basements flooding...it's been a wild ride these past few weeks. So I'm sorry for the absence of posts.

A few changes may be forthcoming in my lifestyle. I'm seriously debating the whole marathon idea. I hate to quit. I really don't want to give up. But my knees have still not recovered. I don't want to risk my future joint health because of my desire to be able to say I've run 26.2 miles. I'm considering setting my sights a little lower--a triathlon, maybe, definitely a 10K or maybe the Warrior Dash. I hate this. I really want to be able to run. I want to be a runner, an athlete. We shall see...

Also, I'm reconsidering the vegetarian thing. I feel like I've given it a good, fair try--I haven't really eaten meat since the day after Thanksgiving. For the most part it has been a good experience, but I feel like I am really not getting what I need. I can't explain it really--I just feel like my body does not feel right. I also have noticed a major change in my eating habits since I started the vegetarian thing--I am so much more snacky. I never used to be like that. I feel like I am just constantly trying to fill something in my diet that is lacking. Maybe it's meat?? I'm not planning to go hog wild now. I still believe that a mostly vegetarian diet is the most healthy way to eat. So that is what I will do now--mostly vegetarian. And I am still all about cage-free, free range and organic meat.

Anyway--my workout routine has been a bit off since our workout room flooded and I haven't been able to run. I have been doing the elliptical and Pilates. I will be happy when our workout room is functional again!!

Here is what I have eaten today. ..

French Toast made on homemade whole wheat bread with egg whites, vanilla protein powder, almond milk, cinnamon and vanilla with peanut butter, bananas, chia seeds and sugar free syrup on top. Wow. I think I want to have that again tomorrow. It was dang good.

Lunch was quinoa cooked in vegetable broth topped with black beans, tomatoes, corn, spinach, sprouts and pita chips with a little light Ranch as well. It was very filling. Quinoa is the perfect grain you know--it is a complete protein and carb all in one.


Then dinner was what we call "Strogaburgers" made with ground turkey and turkey bacon, fat free cream of mushroom soup and fat free sour cream served on 100 calorie, whole wheat "Thin Buns."

I haven't been doing my set morning and afternoon snacks at all lately--but I seem to want to stuff my face every night after dinner. I need to work on that!