Cake.... Twice....

How often is cake served to you TWICE in one day? How often would you turn it down twice in one day, or even at all? Well, cake was served TWICE to me yesterday and I have to say I did not turn it down either time. Geesh.

Lunch was a catered Mexican food lunch w/ tortillas, meat, guac, beans, and some dulce de leche. I can't pass up dulce de leche. sorry.

Dinner was at my first visit of my book club. We were served Mexican food and then offered birthday cake with the books name on it. It was soo adorable I had to have some, especially since the host went out of the way so much.

I guess this just means I have to go light this weekend. No biggie.

I had a dream last night that I missed my 3rd day of the 5k training. It's not until Saturday, so not sure what I was thinking. I am definitely going Saturday morning though. Woo hoo. It's only 2 miles, I have no excuse. Next week, I actually start adding a bit more mileage. Eek. haha ;-)

I would say I would do some sort of weights today but I am really sore from my workouts earlier this week. Ouch.I could barely sit myself up in bed this morning because my shoulders hurt so bad from the push ups. hahaha.

I might work late tonight, or I might just go home at a regular time and relax. Mike works tonight so I will have the place to myself again for a few hours.

Do any of you have weekend plans yet?

The only thing I have so far is to go on the run on saturday, go to a Co-Op place here, and go out to dinner with Mike because he got a kick ass job yesterday! Woo hoo!

What I actually Ate Yesterday
B: English Muffin w/ pb & honey, Coffee w/ chocolate soymilk
S: Fiber one bar (ended up killing me later in the day, will not eat it anymore)
L: fajita taco, shrimp wrapped in bacon, beans, rice, dulce de leche
D: Tortilla w/ beans, cheese, chips, guac salsa and bday cake

What I plan on eating today
B: English muffin w/ pb & honey, Coffee w/ chocolate soymilk
S: Coffee w/ chocolate soymilk, blueberry muffin bar (quaker)
L: Einsteins, bagel sandwich
S: leftovers from einsteins, perhaps the cookie. mmm.
D: Something healthy. Considering this fast food salad place (yes, you heard me right and isn't it AWESOME!) or something else that is healthy at home after the lunch...

Planned Workout
None

Yes... I Actually Did a Morning Workout...

Yesterday at lunch I realized that on Wednesday (today) I had a Book Club meeting after work. This meant that my plan to do a 2 miler after work, for my 2nd day of 5k training would not work out. I knew I could not quit on the 2nd day, so I forced myself to run in the morning. If you read this often, you know I hate working out in the morning, or at least the thought of it since I really never do it. Well, I ended up actually doing it this morning and Mike actually joined me. We got up at 5:50 am and did 2 miles around the neighborhood. It was notably cooler, but the humidity was ridiculous. I just looked, around 85%. Let's just say the sweat was pouring down the entire time. hahah.

Now that I am done though I feel great. It was a lot of fun to do it so early and already be awake while getting ready. I think I am more awake than usual and will probably require less coffee.

I would say I would do this more often, but then I wouldn't be able to run at the "town lake" because I would rather sleep than spend time driving there and back. I love running there, so I might just do morning runs every once in awhile, or perhaps if I know I have plans after work, etc.

Oh yeah, some of you were wondering what I decided on last night... and it was a workout at home. I did 150 squats (50 each of 3 kinds). I did 30 push ups. And I did 100 sit ups. Nothing too big, but I was sweating when I was done.

I tried to make some fancy type of dinner for myself, but nothing really worked out. I got the flavors down, but I would not offer it to anyone but myself. hahah. But I definitely finished it. And I did not eat dessert even though I was really craving it for about an hour. The craving went away though, so its cool.

Today at work we get a catered lunch. I have no idea what it will be, but I should find out soon. I like to know early enough so I can plan my snacks around it. You know, if it is a heavy lunch make sure to go light on the snacks, or if it is a light one, who cares. I like to have a plan, as you can tell. haha.

What I actually ate Yesterday
B: sourdough muffin w/ pb & honey, coffee w/ soymilk
S: 1/2 of my chocolate pb smoothie
L: pizza pita pocket
S: honey roasted peanuts, a tiny bit of my smoothie
D: Rice w/ veggies and pork and some cashews. While waiting for the rice to finish I ate a few fritos as well. Evil fritos.

What I plan to eat today
B: sourdough muffin w/ pb & honey, coffee w/ soymilk
S: granola bar
L: catered lunch, no idea
S: peanuts or almonds or something
D: no idea, being served at the book club

Workout Today
2 mile run

Day 1 5K Training Over

Yesterday I completed my first day of my 5k training. In theory it sounded really easy, only 2 miles in less than 30 minutes. It would have been MUCH easier though if it wasnt ridiculously humid and hot at 7pm. Normally I am not too bothered, but I ran on streets that were not very shaded by mistake. By the time I got home I was sweating profusely for about 30 minutes after my run. Geesh!

I did plan on going to the gym to do my first day of training but when I parked in front of the gym I checked my gym bag to see if everything was packed in there. I was missing a sports bra. Booo. So I decided to just go home, use Map My Run and figure out where in the neighborhood I could run to equal 2 miles. I found a decent little area to run in, despite the non shaded sides of the streets I chose to run on. The shaded side did not have a sidewalk though... boo.

The best part of the run is that one of the streets I run on, pretty much the last street I run on to complete the run is appropriately called Victory! hahaha. It definitely felt like "victory" to get on that street for the second time yesterday. haha.

Today the goal is do some weights, and not use my legs for cardio. I will either go to the gym (I brought my sports bra this time and shoes!!) and do weights, or go home and do plannks, sit ups, push ups, etc. We shall see how it works out, but either way, it definitely will.

I made a smoothie last night with my new blender for a snack later today. It has carnation instant breakfast, almond milk, banana, and a tiny bit of cashew butter. This might be too big for a single snack so my goal is to drink half for the morning snack and the other half for the afternoon snack.

Ohh also I made pita pizza pockets last night. Mmmmm. Put tomato sauce, cilantro, onions, cheese and little piece of bacon into the pockets. Amazing. I am going to be eating the same thing today for lunch, minus the bacon. Amazing.

Mike tried it last night and told me it was good and told me that I am definitely becoming quite the chef. hahaha. I love that. I have soo much fun with cooking now, esp with experimenting with new healthy meals.

Also, as for specific races, I am not signed up for any, and frankly I am a bit intimidated. I think Mike would do one with me, but it still scares me a bit. Not sure why though........ What would you suggest I do to make the anxiety about running an actual race go away?

What I actually ate yesterday
B: English Muffin w/ pb & honey, Coffee w/ chocolate soymilk
S: Kashi Pumpkin Flax Seed granola bar
L: couscous w/ veggies
S: honey roasted peanuts
D: pita pizza pocket

Planned Food for Today
B: English Muffin w/ pb & honey, Coffee w/ chocolate soymilk
S: 1/2 smoothie
L: pita pizza pocket
S: 1/2 smoothie
D: pork stir fry

workout for the Day
15-20 minute weights

The Weekend that Ran Away from Me

I hope everyone's weekend went well. Mine went pretty well.

On Friday I went for a run after work (sorry the yoga thing did not work out). I did interval running again for the most part. I ran for 1.5 miles and then did interval for 1.5 miles. I ran really fast for part of it, and was definitely sore all weekend from it. Shows it is working right? ;-) Afterwards Mike and I and his friend just hung out at home and watched American Psycho.

On Saturday Mike and I and some co-workers were supposed to go to this pool about 45 minutes outside of Austin, but it was closed due to contamination from the rain. Boo. So instead I went to farmers market. I bought the amazing salsa from there, and didn't end up buying much else. Mike and I and the friend walked to the capitol and explored the building. We also did some more walking downtown, in the heat. It turned into quite an adventure.

Afterwards Mike and I went to get burgers at this place near the river. They are basically like in-n-out so I am very happy. They are much healthier burgers and fries. Mmmmmmm.

I was supposed to meet up with some co-workers but the day just ran away from me and I had plans to go to the movies to watch Midnight Cowboy and The French Connection. Those movies were pretty interesting. After Midnight Cowboy Mike and I were hungry for dinner and only had 15 minutes to get some food before the next movie. We ended up going to Pita Pit. I had never been there before. There was one at my college campus, and I think we even could use our dorm money on it, but I was scared of it because of the whole wheat pitas because I thought they would make me sick. Plus I vegetarian that year and I had no idea what a falafel was, or anything aside from chicken there pretty much. haha. Anyway.... I ended up getting a falafel pita with all sorts of veggies and it was delicious. I want to go there again! haha.

After the movies Mike and I explored downtown more, and had a few drinks at some of the bars.

On Sunday Mike and I took the pups to the dog park, Bull Creek, where they could actually jump into a creek with other dogs, etc. They love this park and so do I!!

Other than that I did some errands, did laundry, did work for this online excel class I am taking, and made a delicious dinner. I made couscous w/ grilled zuchinni, squash, bell peppers, cilantro, onions and cilantro pork. mmmmmmmm. Delish. I have leftovers today too.

Did you notice the only day I ran was on Friday? yea me too... Oh well.

But I am starting a training program for a 5k. I know I can already run a 5k (at least the distance) but I would be incredibly slow. I am going to do training for a 5k, then go up to a 10k, etc. I think this will definitely improve my stamina and help me become more athletic. I will try to remember to put a link to this later today. Today I am supposed to run 2 miles in less than 30 minutes. I can do this, most likely. Mike is working tonight so I think I might just go to the gym for the run and then do a few weights.

I am sticking to my goal this week, no more desserts during the week, only drinking one day a week, working out, eating a little less, etc.

What I Actually Ate Yesterday
B: Oatmeal w/ frozen strawberries and trail mix
L: Baked Beans, w/ salsa, fritos, tortilla, 2% cheese (it was weird.... but tasty... but bad for me)
S: apples w/ peanut butter
D: couscous dish, w/ 100 cal pudding w/ 100 cal pack of chocolate chip cookies, and then chocolate pretzels

Planned Food for Today
B: English Muffin w/ peanut butter & honey, Coffee w/ light chocolate soymilk
S: granola bar
L: couscous dish
S: crackers & cheese
D: pita pizza

Planned Workout
30 minute run, perhaps some weights.

New Goals

I completely forgot to write yesterday. I had so much going on, I am not surprised.

The last two days I have not worked out. Mostly because I am DRAINED and because I didn't feel like running in the mud (it is raining here)... or traveling to the gym.

I would go to the gym after work today but I forgot my shoes. Probably not very good to workout with flats on right? haha. Oh crap I made plans to do yoga after work, but obviously can't do that with flats. I might have some random shoes in the car. Hmmm. Or maybe you don't wear shoes when y

Mike is going to something tonight until after 7, so I might go for a run right after work. That is my goal at least.

Tomorrow I am supposed to go to this place about 45 minutes away from here that looks AMAZING. A few people from work are going and Mike and I want to check it out. It is like a natural spring or something with a natural waterfall, and a cool place to hike.

I want to spend Sunday relaxing. Sounds amazing. Also, goal: alone time. I have not had more than 30 minutes to myself in awhile. I do not know how people do this all the time. Maybe that is why I feel so much better after running, since technically it is some alone time? Probably.

So I am in a funk when it comes to breakfast foods. I am scared I am going to get sick of oatmeal soon, and I don't want to, so I need advice for good breakfast ideas. I am not a fan of eggs, and cannot things with tons of wheat in it.Let me know what you eat, and I maybe I can take a few ideas from that and incorporate that into my next few weeks.

I am finally realizing, completely, that this weight is never coming off if I don't cut back on some food for a bit. I think I felt before that that was some sort of diet, but I think a diet is really considered something like Atkins where you only limit yourself to certain foods. I want to eat what I want in moderation. I have not been moderating well, esp in the last few weeks.

Goal:
1) If I drink, only one day a week, and no more than 2 drinks
2) No more desserts on week nights
3) More freaking water
4) Workout at least 4 times a week
5) Incorporate more weights
6) More fruit and veggies in the afternoon

Have a great weekend everyone! I will try to write, but cannot promise anything.

What I actually ate yesterday
B: Toast w/ cashew butter and honey & apple, Coffee (w/ chocolate soymilk
S: Kashi granola bar
L: Bagel sandwich, provided by work w/ cookie (ugh) and fruit
S: Birthday Cake - Office party
D: Half a bowl of soup, half a bagel with ff american cheese single, and a tiny piece of pie (ugh)

Planned Food for the Day
B: Toast w/ cashew butter and jelly & apple, Coffee (w/ chocolate soymilk
S: Kashi Bar
L: No idea... did not pack a lunch... hopefully a salad somewhere.
S: Pretzels w/ cheese
D: Quinoa w/ veggies and pork tenderloin

Planned Workout
Yoga (if I can find the shoes) or running at town lake.

Weird Night --- Making a Better Morning

Last night worked out weird. I was supposed to go see the movie Shampoo at this old theater with Mike and a co-worker. I got to the theater first and discovered that the shows that night were canceled. I let everyone know before they drove there and then went home.

Mike and I decided that we should instead take the dogs to the park. We go to the park, and as soon as we get there Emily starts barking at some creature but we couldnt figure out what. Last time this happened she found a snake in the water. Mike finally figured out what it was, a BAT, most likely a dead bat.

I am not too familar with bats but did just read an email about a rabid bat in Austin that attacked some kayaker so I freaked out thinking either out dogs were getting rabies or passing it into to me. I am pretty irrational about these things, I know. So when I got home I called animal control, because this bat looked dead and the article said call animal control if you see a dead bat.

Mike kept telling me I was being ridiculous, but I would rather be on the safe side when a deadly virus is concerned. The animal control people said only if my dog had the bat in her mouth would we have to go to the doctor and/or vet about the rabies situation. And let me know all about that. It is probably not a big deal, but still weirds me out, especially when you read the description of rabies online. Scary!

Also while giving the dogs a bath last night Ender scratched my leg pretty bad. I am just annoyed with that because I have cute dresses to wear and can't do that with ugly scratches on my legs. Boo.

Today I am still irritated with the situation from last night. Especially since this morning I already spilled coffee all over the carpet, a coffee table, my purse, and the remote control. I am trying my hardest not to let this start a downward spiral of bad things happening to me. Whenever I get in a bad mood bad things happen, so I am just going to trick my fate by getting into a better mood. Sounds good right?

I will work all day, then go on a run tonight. Can't wait :-)

What I actually ate yesterday
B: Coffee (w/ chocolate soymilk) (2), oatmeal w/ trail mix, flax seed, applesauce
S: Nutri Grain Bar
L: Pasta Salad (tortellini rustica)
S: Goldfish
D: Gyoza w/ rice and veggies

Planned Food the Day
B: Coffee (w/ chocolate soymilk) (2), oatmeal w/ trail mix, flax seed, applesauce
L: Pizza (work lunch stuff)
D: Grilled Pork, Veggies, Rice, lots of garlic

Planned Workout
Run - (interval?) - 30-45 minutes

Yoga in the Morning for Me

I knew I had plans tonight so I thought it would be a great idea to workout in the morning, even though I hate working out in the morning. I decided I should have no problem with doing yoga from Exercise on Demand since it is a relaxing workout.

I woke up at 5:50 so that I could be done with the workout by 630. Last month it was getting light at this point, but in this last week or so it has been getting darker later and later in the morning. So when I woke up, and realized it was soo dark it just made me more tired.

Once I finally found Exercise TV on Demand the program would not load. I had to restart the system and do everything all over again. No biggie.

So I chose some yoga rejuvenation thing. It started out fine, but frankly it was BORING. I wanted to just go back to sleep. I really don't think I even got much of a workout, at all. I probably got a good stretch, but thats it. Oh well. And now I am more tired than usual. I am already on my second cup of coffee. Not sure this will give me much hope for working out in the morning, probably just give me hope to not hang out with friends so I can workout at night. haha.

Last night I went on a run though. It was a good one. Well at first it started out pretty sad. I wanted to quit after the first 2 minutes, then the first 10 minutes, then again at the 15 minute or so mark. So I stopped at a certain point and walked and told myself I would do interval running. So I did. I actually liked it a lot. I would mark a point to walk to and then just run (as in actually run, quickly) for a good few minutes. Then start it over again, quite a few times until I finished. I actually passed some people, and felt stronger afterwards. :-)

Oh yeah, I think you might find this funny. When I start out on my run Mike and I always do pull ups at the pull up bar. Well we went with Mike's friend (the annoying one, if I have mentioned him before that is what I call him) and he was talking about how awesome Mike was at pull ups and how he can only do a few. So After Mike went and I went up and did 5 in total. Annoying friend could only do 2. He is a fast runner though and started to make fun of me for running slow and how he was so much faster (see how annoying he is?) and so I said yea but I am girl and I can do more pull ups than you so hah. The boyfriend laughed at him. Love it.

I didn't get home from the run (which we had a late start to), and a quick stop in the grocery store, until 945pm. I made a quick sandwich on a ciabatta roll w/ tomato, mozzarella, and basil. Mmmmmmm. By the time I was done it was time for bed so I really had no time to even think of wanting ice cream or whatever junk I crave in the evening. I think I prefer eating earlier though despite this up side to eating late.

Also, if you like Bright Eyes, listen toConor Oberst's new album. Ahhhmazing so far.

What I actually ate yesterday
B: Coffee w/ light chocolate soy milk, smootie (carnation instant, almond milk, banana, almond butter)
S: Kashi Bar
L: Roast Beef sub (subway), sun chips
S: Pretzels & small thing of cheese
D: Tomato Basil Mozorella on Ciabatta Roll

What I Plan to Eat Today
B: Coffee w/ soy milk (2), Oatmeal w/ trail mix, apple sauce, flax seed
L: Pasta Salad from Whole Foods
S: Pretzels and Cheese
D: Quick Sandwich

Exercise for the Day
Yoga for 30 minutes.

Weekend Recap

This is one of the first times ever I am glad the weekend is over! Woo hoo! I survived.

The ex, her best friend, and some other people came over to my house on Saturday. Luckily they came later than was expected. We pretty much just hung out at my place, went to the pool, and then went out to a house party later that night. I have not been to a house party since college. Felt strange. But either way the ex not too bad, but still, not going to be friends or anything.I was friendly though during the whole thing.

On Sunday we all ended up hanging out again. We went to this public pool type thing, which is really natural spring water in a pool or something. You pay like $3 to go there. Not too bad. The water was waaaay too cold to go into though, at least at the time of day we went. Or maybe it wasn't and I was just a wimp. That is more likely.

I will not mention my thoughts on Batman since some of you have probably not seen it and I do not want to ruin anything. :-)

I did get some things done this weekend though. I got a cute haircut. I imported my old phone number my old sprint one, to my new at&t phone. I got some shopping done at whole foods, which I have been waiting to do for a month and a half. I got some stuff for tomato, basil and mozzarella sandwiches on ciabatta rolls. I had one yesterday and it was amazing. I also got some stuff to have some mexican style bbq pork pita pizza things. Mike made a TON of pulled pork over the weekend so we have to figure out new ways to eat it so we don't get sick of it. haha. I also got some other fun stuff.

Oh yeah, I decided to buy stuff for smoothies, and then after I was done purchasing the stuff I realized that we do not have a blender. Ours broke and we threw it away a few months ago. So I just froze a banana, mashed it in a cup, with some almond butter, almond milk and instant carnation breakfast stuff. I stuck in the freezer, then took it out once frozen and put it in the fridge overnight to unfreeze, but still stay cool. It ended up working out really well and tasted amazing. Only problem is that I am already hungry, not even an hour or 2 after it. lame. Any ideas on how to make it more filling? I can add flax seed to it some time I suppose...

Today it is back to running. I can't wait. It has been waaay too long. I think a week actually. Ahh. I never go that long without working out. Oh well. Luckily the weight has gone down 2lbs or so in a week. But those are the ones that always fluctuate. I plan on getting them below the natural fluctuation soon.

I hope you all had a great weekend. I hardly had time to think. I need to go onto over drive now at work. I signed up for 50 hours a week to get a bonus, and it starts this week. Ahhh.


Oh wait just remembered, someone asked me about my coffee combo. Chocolate Soymilk (even light chocolate soymilk) tastes delicious in coffe. I just had about 1/8 of a cup and it is really good. Low cal coffee. Mmmm.

Planned Food for the Day
B: Coffee w/ chocolat soymilk(light), smoothie (instant carnation, almond butter, banana)
S: Granola Bar (kashi probably)
L: Pasta salad stuff from Whole Foods
D: Not sure.... either some garlic rice w/ veggies and pork, or some other combo with the pulled pork

Planned Workout
Run for 30-45 minutes

Busy Busy Busy - Drained

My readers, or rather commentors, make me smile. Thank you for your support :-)

I will respond to comments individually this weekend I hope. This week is crazy for me.

Schedule for the week:

Wednesday: Classic movie at night, w/ co-worker and Mike

Thursday: Find a cute outfit for dreaded day. Maybe the outfit will make the day better? haha

Friday: Dark Knight with work, then Dark Knight AGAIN with Mike at 1035.

Saturday: Get haircut. Dreaded Day.

Sunday: Excel class training.

Notice there is no workout scheduled? Yeah... I think I am going to suck it up this week and workout on thursday and Friday morning and possibly even Saturday morning. I have to do this. It will be completely worth it. I can do a quick run around the neighborhood. There are cute houses and other fun places to run next to, so I might as well :-)

Today I am ridiculously tired and want another cup of coffee, but I am too full from my last one. It is weird though because I got a ton of sleep last night, although it prob has more to do with TOM than anything.

Oh last night, the gym buddy canceled. And I decided last minute to just go grab a quick sandwich with Mike and then go grocery shopping. I wanted to avoid being starving before the grocery trip, but the plan did not quite work out as planned. We went and picked up sandwiches. I got a sandwich on foccacia bread with keifer cheese, basil and tomato. It was delicious!! But 5 minutes after I finished it, I was starving again, and this was about the time the grocery shopping started. I started to feel really weak, and out of it, and starving at the same point. It felt like I had been active ALL day and hadn't eaten for 6 hours or something. So weird. So I ended up buying more food than I normally would have. Thankfully it was payday. heh. Oh well, I now have the basics at home, whereas for the past 2 weeks I really did not. I am voting this weird reaction was also due to TOM. Oh well. Life goes on.

Today will be a long day, but hopefully a good one :-)

Planned Food for the Day
B: Coffee w/ chocolate soymilk, Oatmeal (w/ strawberries, trail mix)
L: Work is doing something...
S: Pretzels with cheese slice
D: Something quick, like a sandwich

Planned Workout
I got nothing for today, but will do it tomorrow morning :-)

10 Things....

I am not sure I was clear yesterday but the boyfriend really is a good guy but is also really adamant about keeping friendships with all of his friends, even if I am not thrilled about it. We talked for several hours last night, to make the situation better, but that also means I got NO sleep last night, so I will be grumpy again today. haha.

I was reading on Chandra's blog about how to boost your confidence. It got me thinking. I have been pretty down on myself the past few weeks, and I think that I need to start reminding myself that I am actually a person who I like, a person who I have always tried to be. Sure there are a few things that may not be perfect, my weight, my hair, my temper at all points, but I am still a decent person.

So as I was falling asleep last night I was trying to come up with things that I like about myself. I tried to come up with a list of 10 things. I think you should too. It will be fun, and I think it really will boost your confidence.

1) Even though I have a lot of debt, I still paid my way through college and achieved something most people cannot if given the opportunity (or some may argue lack of).

2) I actually like my job. I enjoy the work I do, and I enjoy the people here. This was my main goal since I was in jr high, and I have achieved it.

3) I think I am a pretty decent cook

4) I can often makes friends pretty easily.

5) I keep active and actually enjoy working out

6) I read lots of books, all the time

7) I am there for my friends when they need me and can generally cheer them up if they need it

8) I like the color of my eyes

9) I can often talk out things bothering me and find a solution

10) When I make a goal I usually achieve it

Go for it with yours!!

In others news, I went for a run last night, 3.6 miles in the wrong freaking shoes. haha. I didn't realize it until this morning. My old shoes are the same color as my newer shoes, which is why I made the mistake. This is why I feel like an old lady right now, my joints aching, etc. haha. It is crazy what a difference new shoes, or rather the right shoes, can make.

I finally got paid today! That means after the gym with my co-worker I am going to get groceries, and later this week I can get a haircut before the annoyance comes over, and a cute dress. You have to look great in these situations right? haha.

I have so little food in my house I could not think of food to bring to work today, so I guess I am going to have to just pick something up today. No biggie. I am sure I can find something healthy.

Have a great day, and remember, write a list of the 10 things you like about yourself!

Planned Food for the Day
B: Coffee, Oatmeal
L: No clue, something healthy
S: Pretzels w/ cheese
D: No clue

Planned Workout
Gym - 45 minutes or so.

I have a situation here....

So... I have a situation. The boyfriend is friends with this girl who is friends with his ex girlfriend. The friend is coming into town with the ex girlfriend and wants to hang out. Naturally, I am not a fan of the ex girlfriend. On top of regular reasons, there is also the fact that she has caused many fights with the boyfriend due to some nonsense before, as well as the fact that my impression of her is terrible. The most I know about her is that she was supposed to come with a friend to visit the boyfriend when we first started dating but she didn't want to drive an hour from where she was staying because she didn't have a connection for speed where the boyfriend lived. I guess she has already been to rehab and what not and that was 4.5 years ago, but lordy, sounds super lame to me.

The boyfriend thinks if I met her we would get along and actually be friends. I disagree. I am not the type of girl who is friends with the exes. If I do have to meet them I am polite, but that is all.

The friend and the ex girlfriend want us to all go to the river to go tubing. Sounds like the worst situation ever. Who wants to meet their boyfriend's skinny (and pretty) ex girlfriend in a freaking bathing suit and literally be trapped with them for up to 7 hours in a freaking river. Not me. Forced conversation for that long with people they have nothing in common with would torture anyone.

Plus this week is the worst week of the month for me (if you know what I mean), on top of me weighing in at a terrible weight right now. I refuse to go on some super diet and work out all extreme just becuase the ex gf will be there and I want to look skinnier. Sounds like the worst idea ever really, although the idea keeps entering my mind on and off.

I told the boyfriend I do not want to go to the river with them. If I HAVE to meet them I want it to be in a situation I can escape from. I suggested just going out to bars. He thinks that is a bad idea because I won't actually talk to them, which is completely my goal honestly. He suggested them coming over to our place and just have a bbq and hang out or something. I am sure that will revolve around bathings suits as well by the pool. BLARRGHH. Plus no escape route in that situation either, since they are in MY HOME.

Why can it just be a simple or dinner or something that at least involves me being fully clothes ALL DAY? Only an hour of forced hang out time? Sounds good to me. They are driving in from 2 hours away though so they probably want to actually hang out. Boo to this situation.

I would love to be optimistic about it, but it is really hard to be.

In other news I am going to start eating healthier this week and work out more, not because of this lame situation, but because I need to get back in gear and have been thinking about this for a week now before I found out about lameness. The weight is going up as well as my food consumption so I need to combat this with less food consumption and more workouts.

The plan this week is to go on a run MWF, and go to the gym after work TTH where I will do weights and interval running on the the treadmill.

Planned Food Today
B: Coffee w/ Chocolate Soymilk, Oatmeal (w/ chocolate chips, walnuts and apple sauce)
L: Pita w/ turkey, LF cheese & cilantro pesto sauce.
S: Perhaps second half of pita
D: Pork Gyoza w/ rice and stir fry veggies

Planned Workout
Run - 45 minutes

Austin Town Lake Photos

A few weeks ago some people asked about pictures of the areas I run at. I always forget my camera so I thought I could use some flickr photos, which would probably be better anyway.



-Tim Patterson

This is one of the views I have for part of my run.




-Lewis

This is part of one of the paths I go on.




-Tocs

This is an overview look of part of my run.


-Jeff Hayward
This is what the actual trail looks like, although generally there are a LOT more people. Seriously, there are often running jams. haha.



Bruce Lemons
There are a ton of ice cold water jugs with little cups out for all runners several places around the trail. I think this is fantastic. I wish I knew how to donate to them....




Wheat Pradp

This is where I end the run... well right before these stairs. Often times when I finish my evening runs I get to see the sunset over the river. I LOVE it!!!

I actually ran on this trail today and even extended the run further than usual. I didn't start running until 830 or something around then though so it was quite a warm run. I think I could have done better if it wasn't so hot out. Oh well, I loved it regardless. I want to go out again, but I know I did enough for today.

Isn't it gorgeous though? I LOVE it. I will have to find pictures of the greenbelt sometime too. I don't run that as often though because there seems to be a lot more bugs and it is warmer there than running by the river.

After the run I went to the Peach Fest at Whole Foods. Essentially a ton of free samples with peaches. I had some peach wine type drinks, gelato, hot n spicy peach, peach salsa, etc. After the trip I did some shopping at Old Navy and then went to Borders for a book for my Book Club with several co-workers. I also went to Central Market and picked up a few fun things for meals this week. Somehow I came out under budget. Woo hoo!! I really didn't buy a lot, but I think I can make it last. I have to, at least until Tuesday, aka payday.

I hope your weekend is going well. Not sure what I am doing for the rest of mine. Hopefully laying out with my new book tomorrow by the pool and another run. Perhaps to dog park and even maybe get a haircut. Not sure. Haircuts make me nervous. Hairdressers are usually really mean to me, as in saying i have such ugly hair, etc, so I never want to go. I am not sure if they just want me to buy products to make my hair better or what, but they are generally mean to me. I hate it. I never feel pamped at a hair place, usually just insulted. Booo. But the hair definitely needs to be cut!!

Alright, sorry for the side rant.

I will be heading out now. Have a great day!

Planned Food for the Day
B: Zbar
L: Ham and Cheese Sandwich
S: Kashi Bar (pumpkin spice... the BEST!)
D: Onion Bagel w/ avocado, cilantro pesto, banana peppers, turkey, lf cheese
S: Gelato. Mmmmmmmmmm.

Workout
3.5 miles... approx 45 minutes or so of working out.

Totally Worth it

So I ended up going out with the co-worker as well as another one last night AND worked late. I was actually asked to stay late, rather than doing it voluntarily like I planned. It makes it better that I was asked on a day that I was already planning on staying late anyway.

I had a great time hanging out with the co-workers. I am soo happy and grateful to actually like my coworkers! We went out to this little Italian place on South Congress, where they have an outside area where they play live music and serve both food, wine and other drinks. We ended up sharing a bottle of tasty wine over some great conversation with fun music in the background. Overall, totally worth the $8 it cost to share a bottle of wine :-)

This morning though the scale was not my friend. higher than I have ever seen it. I am sure it is just something lame, because it is pretty hard to gain 3lbs over night when you ate alright the day before. Okay not alright, but not as bad as it would take to gain 3lbs.

We get food if we stay late, and last night the choice was Chili's. All the salads had chicken (I'm allergic) and I didn't want to make the person ordering the food over the phone have to deal with it getting taken off, etc. So I just ordered a quesadilla. Not a low cal choice. haha. Oh well. Life goes on. I only ate half though and now have lunch today. Mmmm. That means low cal dinner tonight and a run. :-) Although I might have to stay late again..... not sure.

If I can get out at a decent time I am going to go on a run, and perhaps an even longer one than I have been doing. Woo hoo!

Money is still lame, or rather the wait for the money that SHOULD be in my account by now is lame. But I can't let some paper, or lack of, ruin my week.

Oh, one more funny thing. I have netflix and I accidentally sent them my blackberry cd instead of the kite runner. Oops. I guess I just have to send the real one back once they give me mine back. Not sure how I did this, but not surprised that I could manage to do something like that. haha.

Planned Food for the Day
B: Coffee, Oatmeal (w/ apple sauce, walnuts, chocolate chips)
S: Kashi Bar or more coffee
L: leftover quesadilla
S: something small
D: Garbanzo Bean mix on a pita

Planned Workout
Run

No Torture For Me

First off, I found this collection of cool Dieting Apps or rather applications to help you with weight loss or fitness, whatever. Pretty cool collection. I want to try some out, but can't right now. Booo.

Second, Claritin is helping with my allergies. Usually it does nothing or very little, but I feel much better today than the last few weeks. I guess my $20 bottle of claritin (generic really) was worth it, even though I have no money.

What do you do when you have NO money but friends want you to go out with them? I am trying to make new friends so its hard to say no, but I really do not want to pay for drinks with a credit card. Super lame right? Blah.

I would normally have money right now, esp with the lower rent, but I had to pay this huge deposit on our electricity bill, and then a new phone, etc. I am suppossed to get money back from my health insurance that didn't exist for 2 months even though I was paying for it. They told me I would get it in 20 days, which to me is a LONG time to give me a refund, but whatever. I guess my cell phone rebate is going to be like 6 weeks. Boo. Can you all just give me my money now? At least 24 hour fitness gave me a refund. Speaking of which, I need to cancel soon. And don't worry, if you didn't read before I do have a membership at another gym already :-)

Today was supposed to be work out in the morning day. But really I am not going to torture myself like that. To me, I like to make exercise FUN, not torturous. I do not want to dread waking up in the morning to go. I like my sleep. Plus it ruins my sleep schedule. I prefer to work out after work, even if it means I get home at 8pm. It sucks though because the person I know who has a membership at the same gym likes to go in the morning and wants us to go together. I want to go together just not in the morning. Oh well.

Oh yeah, today was the first time I craved oatmeal in a long time. It was delish this morning. Mmmmmm. Hopefully it will keep me full for a long time, as per usual.

Today I am either going to have to spend money on drinks, or be lame and cancel because I am broke and instead go for a run. We shall see what the day brings my way.

Planned Food for the Day
B: Oatmeal (w/ banana, walnuts, chocolate chips), Coffee
S: Coffee
L: Soup
S: Goldfish? Almonds?
D: Garbanzo Bean mix in pita

Planned Workout
A run if I get brave enough to cancel plans.

Death by Allergies

I swear I would feel more competent at my job today if I were drunk compared to how I feel with my allergies today. lordy. They have been bugging me for a few weeks now, but today its one of the bad days. Yesterday was pretty awful as well

Often times with my allergies I get hungry for no reason, and feel really weak. The only thing that makes me feel like I can actually lift a muscle is by eating food, and the food that makes me feel the best is the kind high in sugar or carbs. Lame.

I was feeling pretty terrible yesterday and told Mike I was not going on a run. But once he was all dressed for it and ready to go I decided I probably should go, because maybe the running would sweat out the allergies or something. Five minutes into the run I felt MUCH better. I even said to myself during the run, this is the best I felt ALL DAY.

I wish I could go on a run right now so that I could get rid of this feeling. I feel like I am in a cloud right now, like those nightmare versions of the allergy commercials. haha. I think I am going to get back into the habit of taking claritin everyday. Lordy.

Today will be a hard one to finish I think. Perhaps at lunch I will go get some claritn and put an end to this grossness.

In other news, I am happy with the weekend. Although I did not do everything that was planned I got a TON done and feel much better about everything. The weekend felt really long, like an actual vacation. Aww. Also I ran 2 days out of the 3 day weekend, and for me that is something to be happy about. :-)

Planned Food for the Day
B: Coffe w/ soymilk, Yogurt (w/ flax seed, walnuts, apricot)
S: Granola Bar
L: Ham and Cheese Sandwich w/ chips
S: Goldfish or something
D: Garlic Gorgonzola Ravioli w/ tomato sauce

Planned Workout
Walk with the dogs (prob an hour)

I Love Long Weekends

My plans fell through for the weekend, but I am happy about it because I really need a weekend to do nothing.

Yesterday for the fourth I went to the river with the pups and Mike. Ender and Emily actually swam in it! I was too chicken to go all the way in though. Fish nibbling at your toes, and weird things floating in the river kind of creeps me out. I promise to get over it sometime.

Afterwards Mike and I laid out by the pool for a bit with some drinks. After the pool, I made dinner and promptly fell asleep afterwards for a few hours from the heat, alcohol and food. Naps always make me feel gross so the rest of the day was all downhill. haha. We were going to go watch the fire works but we did not go early enough and missed them. Oh well. The night was alright, but I am glad today is a new day.

So far today Mike and I got kolaches (I now plan to lay off those for awhile now), watched Babel and went to Target. I got this pretty cool water bottle to take on runs with me. I also had to get some decongestant because I am now officially allergic to something in Austin right now. It has been a few weeks now of sneezing, drainage, etc. I am used to it though, and am sure it will go away soon. No worries.

The rest of the day I plan to just get some laundry done, clean up the place, and relax. Not sure what is going on tonight but I am out of money so whatever it is, it needs to be free. Oh I forgot I am also planning a run today at the river. I definitely need it to get me back on track with healthy foods.

Oh so last night we made Strawberry Shortcake, and yes, I know not the healthiest. But Mike's friend was all saying "how can you eat that, it is soo bad for you" as he drinks can upon can of beer, and usually is drinking about 6 servings of red bell/vodka drinks a night. He kept giving me crap about calories in that, and in our home made guacamole but then thought he was holier than thou with his massive amounts of alcohol and healthy eating. I tried to tell him that drinking as much as he does is a lot worse than eating the dessert I was eating. He was trying to argue otherwise. I am not 100% sure I was right, but if any of you know, I would love to know.

Have a great one!!

Weird Dreams

Last night I had this dream where I was complaining to my co-worker (one I would NEVER complain to about this) that I tried everything to lose weight, and it was just NOT working. It was kind of silly though, because I know why its not working right now, and that is because I have been eating too much compared to the calories I burn. I thought it was pretty funny that someone in my comments asked if I ate enough yesterday, because I can assure you that I definitely do, especially yesterday...

Yesterday this is what I ate:

B: Coffee w/ soy milk, LF Yogurt (w/ granola, flax seed, strawberries)
S: Fruit, Granola Bar
L: Pita, Potatoes, 1 Falafel patty thing, 1 spanakopita (sp?)
S: Goldfish
D: Mac n Cheese w/ tomatoes, cilantro, onions, garlic, avocado and jalepeno (amazing). And ice cream........

As you can tell I definitely ate MORE than enough last night, which is probably why the scale is not happy with me today. Also because I lifted weights the other day and I always gain according to the scale when I do that. I think its just water retention though and affects me worse when my muscles are super sore like they are right now.

For some reason the boy keeps buying desserts and ice cream and then I can't help but partake. Hello, Cherry Cobbler right in your face? How do you turn that down? I know I can. And after my creepy dream I think I will start to actually just stop over eating. No big deal. Just actually eat portion sizes, or at least stop with the desserts when I eat a regular dinner. haha.

Although I ate more than I should have, I did however go on a fantastic run. I did a 5k run by the river. I ran faster and further than usual. I owe it to my ipod. Best running cd of the week for me right now, Thao and the get up stay down. Ridiculous name, but good cd to run to.

Today is free lunch day at work. We will be served some deli sandwiches from a fancy place I think. yum. Not sure if we can pick what we want, but either way, I am sure it will be great.

Tomorrow I am going to work out in the morning. I am not too excited about this though because every morning recently I have been having bad allergies and essentially just feel like crap in the sinus region until 10am. Maybe the workout will change this? No idea.

PS; Tomorrow is already "friday". woo hoo!!

Alright, need to head out.

Planned Food for the Day
B: Coffee w/ soymilk, LF Yogurt (w/ flax seed, granola, strawberries)
S: Granola Bar
L: Sandwich of some sorts
S: Goldfish
D: Leftover mac n cheese, or pita sandwich thing.

Planned Workout
Run at the river- 30-45 minutes.

New Gym

As much as I want to say I worked out this morning I did not. But that is not to say that I didn't go to the gym. Mike told me yesterday he was going to watch Frankenstein at a local theater, something I did not want to do. So I opted for Monday night to be gym night this week instead of Tuesday morning. Today I will run with Mike instead.

Last night I tried out my new gym for the first time, Premiere Lady Fitness and Spa. Sounds ridiculous right? hahhaa. But anyway it is really nice, and if you guessed it by the name of the place, there are no men. Kind of makes it more interesting I think.

Anyway, the weight machines were nice. I did a lot of those. I am already sore from it today. I probably spent about 20 minutes with the weights. And then after I decided to take advantage of the free a/c and try out running on the treadmill, even though I was annoyed that I forgot a hair tie and my hair was going to be flying around everywhere, or so I thought. I started running at 4.5 mph, and after about 5 minutes I decided this was waaay too slow if I wanted to get to 2 miles any time soon. So I started to increase. I probably increased it .5 mph every minute or two until I got to 7.0 mph. Not sure if this is fast for any of you, but it is super speed for me. I did 7.0 mph for at least 2 minutes. Woo hoo! I also did my much faster speed for 25 minutes. I decided to stop after I reached 2 miles because the plan was not even to do cardio in the first place.

I think I am going to use gym time though to help increase my speed. It is SOOO much easier to run fast when you are in a/c. Running outdoors is much harder, but far more enjoyable. Tonight I am going to go run by the river, and hopefully increase my speed a tiny bit for at least a few minutes :-)

A co-worker of mine was super sick for a week or so. Now my throat hurts and my sinus' are crazy. I am going to say it is just allergies though, because my body feels fine, aside from the slight headache. I do not have time to be sick, especially with work being so intense right now (since I am training, learning new things, etc).

No one every told me their plans for the 4th of july weekend. I have nothing planned yet, but I want to do something with the extra day off. Perhaps I will go tubing on the river. Not sure. Give me ideas people! hahahaha. jk.

Planned Food for the Day
B: Coffee w/ chocolate soymilk, LF Yogurt (w/ flax seed, granola, strawberries)
S: Granola Bar
L: Leftover pasta
S: almonds
D: Garbanzo Bean w/ feta and hummus and bean sprouts in a pita

Planned Workout
Run at the river 30 - 45 minutes