fortuneinthefollowup.com

It has been about 2 weeks since I have actually posted.  Yeah, not sure what’s up with that. :)  I have been working to avoid sweets.  It has been a bit of a struggle, resisting temptation and all.  On Thursday January 31st someone here had a birthday.  Yes, there was birthday cake.  I politely declined and was informed that I *had* to have some.  She put it on my desk and walked away.  There was some fruit on the cake so I ate that, intending to toss the rest.  The I made a decision to actually eat the cake.  As an experiment I told myself. :p   It wasn’t a really heavy cake; just white cake with a whipped frosting.  It tasted pretty good…  I think it was home-made by someone else in the office.  Needless to say, I enjoyed every bite.

That is until about 30 minutes later.  All of a sudden, I had this awful taste in my mouth and I began to feel nauseous.  By the time I headed home, I was feeling bloated, sick and just awful.  All from one small piece of cake.  I would say I am done with sweets!  This experimen teither went horribly wrong or horribly right. 

In the ensuing days, I have been offered cake, candy, chocolate and ice cream and have happily declined all.  When I think about eating any of that stuff my body shudders and a huge NO!!!  appears in my minds eye.  Interesting, I still have sugar in my coffee with no problem but all other incidences of sugar or sugar products are a huge no.

I have also learned that if I forget or don’t take something with me to eat, i get snack cravings.  I have not mastered the temptation of salty, cheesy, crunchy goodness.  I have upon occasion raided the vending machines when I haven’t brought some sort of food.  These days I am mostly bringing carrotts or apples or yougurt with fruit (that would be the plain yogurt) The other thing I am doing is still making salad in a bottle. It tastes fairly green but adding lemon juice or some fruit help make it more palatable. 

I have also found that my cravings are ruled by my emotions (yeah I know most people’s are) and how my day is going.  Now that i know this, what to do about it…  Apparently I am a victim of comfort food :p 

 I am trying to make better dinner decisions and when I give in to something that is really not good for me, my body tells me.  I am coming to understand that my body seems to be controlling my diet much more than my mouth and tasts buds.  I had Taco Bell the other night and felt bloated and ill most of the night.  Guess what food I am no longer eating. 

My husband bought me a Valentines treat; a bear that says I love you (very cute- what illusion is he suffering under) and a small box of chocolates.  I said thank you for the bear but offered him the candy.  He said 1 or 2 pieces aren’t going to hurt anything.  I responded “yeah, if I want to be ill”  (Has he NOT been listening to me?!)  I put the bear on my desk at home and gave the candy away at work. 

We went out for a Valentines day dinner and I had broiled icelandic cod (yummmmmy) and baked potatoe ok I had butter and sour cream :p However I didn’t finish the potatoe.  i have been eating ONLY until I am full.  I have found if I push the envelope there, that i feel yucky for hours.  As i said my body seems to be much more in control of what I eat. 

Onward Ho!!!!

Oh and I am back to walking.  Ted and I went walking on Wednesday night.  My end of the walk numbers are as follows:

Here are my end of the walk numbers:

Immediate:28X4= 112

2min: 24X4= 96

5 min: 24X4 = 96

Thursday nights end of the walk numbers were a little weird.  They are as follows:

Here are my end of the walk numbers:

Immediate:24X4= 96

2min: 25X4= 100

5 min: 21X4 = 84

All for now

 It has been way too long since i have blogged an entry.  I have allowed everything to become a distraction and not done a whole lot.  I will record what I remember from this week.

Monday- I went off to work and flat forgot to take some food.  i did have my coffee though :p LOL  Having money and no food isn’t the best way to start things off.  generally Mondays are not the day in which I eat the most healthy food anyway :)  I had a bag of Doritos from the vending machine (ok so yeah, it starts)  I then had some wheat crackers and cheese.  Way too processed and not necessarily good.  Yeah, I know friends who wouldn’t be all that happy that I went the entire day basically without food.

I was sitting at my desk and the pain in my chest was really annoying and beginning to hurt quite a lot.  I would describe it as more than moderate but less than severe.  i called my Dr and made an appointment as soon as the Doc could see me.  i want to resolve whatever this is so i can get back to exercising.If I know what manner of error it is I can go about figuring out what needs to be healed in order to make it go away.

Dr Hugh was able to see me tomorrow (Tuesday) at 1:30  Much sooner than I expected so major yay.  Things at home are quiet… REAL quiet. 

Dinner on the way to Bible study was my really great tasting Taco with Sour cream and a cup of coffee.  I went to bible study and had snacks while watching Miyah :)  100 calorie pack of Harvest Cheddar Sun Chips.  I also had some teryaki chicken jerky.  I got home and decided not exercise. best wait to hear what the Dr says.

Tuesday- I had coffee of course…  Today I brought some of the plain yogurt/fruit mix that I made.  I think I am beginning to develope a taste for it.  I headed to the Dr’s at 12:30 as I wanted to make sure I had enpough time to get there.  After asking me a few questions and probing and pressing… OW!  he said i have Costochondritis.  In english that means that one of the ligaments that attach my ribs to my breastbone is inflamed. The doctor could only say that a lifting or stretching motion most likely caused it.  He has written me a script for some anti-inflamatories.  I scooted back to work and only managed to lose an hour so thats not too bad.

After work, i had Photography class.  I brought some carrots and Brocoli to eat on the way.  Both were raw and tasted good :)  I ended up parking some distance from class so a walking i did go. I got some really great feedback on the photos I took.  However, I didn’t have time to stop at the pharmacy on the way to school so I’ll have to get my pills after dinner tomorrow night.

I got home and as I was trying to shimmy out of my jacket, it was very painful :/ Ron happened to see me grimmace and asked what was wrong.  *rolls eyes*  After I told him everything he started acting like he needed to DO something.  He about freaked trying to figure out how to get me my meds tonight.  I know he is thinking of me but he just spent that last how many days not talking to me and talking about leabving.  I see this as his way of finding a reason to stay.  *rolls eyes… again*

Sadly I didn’t do an update yesterday.  I got home and did a few things and fell asleep. So here I am with an update.

Thursday started as usual, you know the cup of coffee :)  I had the yogurt I prepared late morning.  It was pretty decent… A little on the sour side but all up, not bad at all.  I will definitely be having more.  Another experiment that was successful.  I am thinking perhaps some pineapple and or bananas.  We’ll see.  Was busy as usual and somehow lately more sweets are finding there way into the office.  I bought 2 chocolate bars to help someone with their kids benefit.  I gave them back to her and told her to gift them to whoever she chose.  I was quite proud of myself. 

For dinner we had steak and teriaki (sp?) vegetables.  Finally a meal at home without a lot of extra calories.  It tasted good too.  After dinner, I found sitting on my desk, my Caltrac.  I opened it to find that it needed batteries I didnt have.  *shoot*  I read the quick start guide and talked to Rick online about some of the features.  I also asked what exercise might be substituted for walking on those particularly nasty rainy days.  He suggested perhaps lunges and then when I can do them, lunges down the hall.  Of course he sent me a video link that showed the proper form.  It’s always about form with Rick.

I had intended to do some wall pushups but flat out fell asleep in my chair after listening to Armand Moran’s teleseminar.   *pouts*

Friday!  At last, it’s friday!  My coffee was extra good today.  Perhaps it is because it is friday.  I didn’t bring any food or snacks with me to work today.  I knew we were having a get together to bid farewell to a collegue who is moving forward on the next rung of making her dream of being a teacher come true.  I also knew that food was involved.  There were donuts being offered all over the office.  Sheesh!

At 9:30ish we all gathered in the conference room to a repast of lots of pastries, cookies, muffins, and donuts .  Thank goodness there was plenty of juice, some fruit and bagels with cream cheese.  I had lots of fruit and a bagel with some cream cheese.  I had Orange juice instead of the more popular Crystal Light lemonaid and Apple juice. 

I have noted something interesting in the last few days.  It has gotten easier and easier to pass up donuts.  I hardly notice them if i am passing by unless someone actually mentions them.  Now THAT is cool!  Temptation isn’t a fun thing.  I moved a lot of paperwork off my desk today, so i felt really accomplished at the end of the day.

For dinner we went out again…  Ron was planning on Taco Bell but changed his mind to Cafe Bixby. Friday means clam chowder and him being from Mass, well that’s all it took I had Liver and onions.  I haven’t had that in forever and it was extra good!  I’m not sure what they did when cooking it but the meat as so tender.  Instead of potatoes and gravy, I ordered Coleslaw. I figured less carbs and calories. 

After I got home, I did some email and relaxing.  I got up and danced for about 30 minutes just because the music was good. Since it is actually Saturday morning when I am typing this, Apparently I relaxed a little too much.  As I was sitting here last night, I got a couple of cramps in my calf muscles.  Not sure if that was just last night or if it is something of concern- I will keep an eye on it.  All for now

I took the rest of the salad in the bowl today: The ingredients were the usual: Kale, cabbage, Romaine Lettuce, Bean Sprouts, and some gound flax seed thrown on top. Oil & lemon juice was my dressing of choice.  I took an apple as well.  At some point this morning someone brought donuts to share.  It seemed like there were boxes of Yum Yum donuts everywhere :/   God at a couple times they sounded sooooo good.  I was good and stuck with my apple and salad.  

Wasn’t too awful sore today but was horribly busy.  For somereason lately I have been feeling the desire for junk.  *sighs* I suppose it is a mind game I am playing with myself, though not a fun one.  At one point Miguel offered me candy.  I was this close *holds fingers together* to taking a piece.    Another co-worker asked if i was on a diet.  

This got me to thinking about the whole diet concept.  If you are “ON” a diet and you lose weight, doesn’t that then set you up for what happens when you go “OFF” the diet.  Equal and opposite reactions no?  I wonder if this might be why so many diets don’t work. 

For me it’s about changing my life and the way I live it by the choices I make.  That’s what is so great about Rick’s program.  It’s about incorporating small baby steps of changes into your life until you integrate them and make them part of you.  Then he moves on to the next step.  It’s like he is coaxing you out of a closet. he allows you to run back and hide for a time before he begins to coax again.  Once you become familiar and comfortable, he coaxes you a bit more.  before you know   it the closet has disappeared.

Foe dinner we went to cafe Bixby and I had a hap and asperigus omelet with a light holedaise sauce.  Instead of the potatoes I had ascoop of cottage cheese.  Was yummy

Went for a walk again tonight.  My heart rate immdeaitely after i stopped was 33 X4= 132 (slghtly low)
2 minutes after was 28X4=112
5 minutes after was 23X4= 92

Stopped at the store and bought a bunch of beats, some more Kale (was .50 a bunch!!) milk, oj and Ron wanted some Hostess cupcakes *rolls eyes*

I mixed beets with half a turnip and some carrots.  I think i added just a tad too much turnip.  I sliced the rest of it and added some salt. Now that is how to eat a raw turnip!  The taste reminds me of a raw potato.  I have beet soup or juice or whatever for tomorrow.  I did 3 sets of 20 WallPushes and npow I am off to bed. Am thinking Saturdays and Wednesdays for squats and planks.  Oh and I bought my Caltrac today!  Just waiting for it to arrive…                                                                                      

I took a salad to work today. The ingredients were the usual: Kale, cabbage, Romaine Lettuce, Bean Sprouts, and some gound flax seed thrown on top. Oil & lemon juice was my dressing of choice.

I was very busy today. It was probably good that I was :p I had a package of peanuts, which was quite the nice little treat. I received an email from Ron (my hubby) that Ted (my son) passed his high school equivalence test. This has what he has been waiting for. Now all he needs to do is complete his course work and then he is gone. I am glad for him but I am feeling quite exanimate over the whole ting. It’s a good thing there was no “comfort food” around. It would have been gone.

Got home and went out to dinner. I had Pot Roast which consisted of this super delicious beef covered in gravy (what did i say about comfort food? LOL) a baked potato with a teaspoon {appx} of sour cream and a teaspoon {appx} of butter (or other butter like substance :p) and mixed vegetables. The meal started with coffee with sugar (no cream) and a salad. I am guessing you can all guess what I topped it with LOL I couldn’t finishe the whole meal. I ate maybe 1/3 or perhaps 1/2 not sure. I only ate until I was ful. Go me!

When I got home from dinner i found an email from Rick answering the one question I had about his previous email. It is posted below. (My question is in red)

On 18/01/2008, at 10:52 AM, Becky Rhone-Nowlan wrote:

I only have 1 question which I have posted below.

If you can double the distance then test yourself at this level. Doubling my walk would put it at nearly 2 hours… Do you want me walking for that long at 80%?

Thanks.

If you have been walking briskly for an hour most nights for 3 years then you are already reasonably fit lol.

So lets test the HR for a week at 80% or so during your walk

and do the two minute 5 minute thing over say 2 weeks

if I see a falling heart rate over that time, then we can ramp it up…

Also if you feel you want to do a 2 hour walk every now and again to test yourself, be my guest but vary the pace 65% up to 80% back to 70% up to 90% etc.

Thanks for the feedback.

Don’t forget to write these HR numbers into the diary

On the comments line is ok.

Cheers

Rick

Yes, he has me filling out a goals form :p I am going to see if I can figure out a way that I can post it. maybe as a seperate page so anyone reading can see my progress.

I spent some time online, visiting with friends on Second life and checking email.
At 11:00pm I decided to go walking. I checked my HR 4 times along the route, trying to get it to the correct rate. Here are my results:
1st stop: 38 beats in a 15 sec period X 4 = 152

2nd stop: 38 beats in a 15 sec period X 4 = 152

So a little too fast on the first leg.

3rd stop: 35 beats in a 15 sec period X 4 = 140

4th stop: 35 beats in a 15 sec period X 4 = 140
80% of my max (177) is 141 so the second leg was right on target. I paid attention to how I felt as I walked so that i culd mimic it next time. It was kind of a rolling gait that seemed to work well.

At the end of the walk I immediately measured my heart rate, at 2 minutes after stopping and at 5 minutes after stopping. The reults are below:

Immediate: 36 (beats in a 15 sec time period) X 4= 144 {A little fast there at the end but not bad}
At the 2 minute mark: 34 (beats in a 15 sec time period) X 4= 136 {Not sure where I should be on this yet}

At the 5 minute mark: 28 (beats in a 15 sec time period) X 4= 112 {Not sure where I should be on this yet}

Oh and I am walking appx 2.30 miles each evening in about a 1 hour time period.

I did 3 sets of 20 Wall Pushups tonight and now I am heading for the hills… erm, the bed :p

The mixture I had from last night thickened up but tasted pretty darn good. My son said last night it tasted of freshly mowed grass. LOL I woke up to some sore muscles. Legs: thighs. back of the legs and buttocks. (I know that is a result of the squats) The Wall Pushup have the chest sore and of course the Plank has the abdominals sore. In addition to that the lower bacl muscles are sore. I think that is because my basic core strength is so weak.

For dinner tonight we went to Jack’s (Cafe Bixby and Pizza) I consideredwhat I should eat for a very long time. I bounced back and forth between baked chicken, a charbroiled chicken breast (boneless and skinless) and fried chicken. In the end the fried chicken won out.
My son said “Mom, take of the skin and that chicken will be ok”
I answered, “I’ll take it off all right”
My husband returned, “It’s like having dinner with Jenny Craig”
My son said, “That’s right if she want’s to lose weight”

He has his heart in the right place.

With the fried chicken, instead of the baked potato with butter and sour cream, I opted for Cole Slaw and veggies, so not great, but not as bad as I would usually do. A little back slide this evening. I haven’t had fried chicken in months and the temptation was too much. *sighs*

We came home and I hopped on the computer for a bit. We went walking around 11:00pm and it was chilly! Yeah, I am a weather wimp so I bundled up and off we went. My heart rate at the end of the walk was 39 beats in 15 secs) x4= 156. Quite a nice raise from my last walk which was 132. Since I got home, I have had some sunflower seeds and some water.

I got a new form to keep track of my walking and such… today, so I will be keeping track of heart rate. I will need to maintain at about 80% of my Max Heart Rate so tonights walk was a little faxt. I should be maintaining at about 141 and Rick advises to walk farther- perhaps doubling my walk.

Interesting day today.  Not all of it good. :(  I woke up with very sore legs.  I kow it’s from the squats and that it’s growing pains (so to speak)  I knew I was going to have a very long day as I had class after work so i took 3 carrots and an apple to eat at work and for dinner i grabbed a salad of Kale, Romaine, Cabbage & Bean Sprouts.  A little oil and lemon juice to top it off and I was ready to roll. 

I started my day as Ialways do, with a cup of coffee.  I had the carrots and apple spaced throughout the day.  As I was sitting at my desk, I could feel my belly resting on my lap. :( Everytime i got up I felt fat and like I was waddling.  Today was not a good day in terms of feeling good about myself. 

I know it’s a trick of the mind, a way to convince myself that in the end it won’t bbe worth the work i have put in.  I know this will sound  harsh but it’s a mind fuck designed to keep ones self fat, dumb and happy.  I had a hand full of almonds in the afternoon.  I think it’s probably good that no one brought in any goodies because today would have been a back slider if it had been available.  These are the same emotions I associate with eating and usually it is not positive things i eat when I feel like this. 

I am goiing to have to be careful now that i am home and have access to other sorts of food.  Perhaps I will fix something good and positive to snack on tonight.  Hopefully that will be enough to sooth the emotions left raw by feeling like a waddling fatso all day. 

I chomped down a few bites of salad before class since time was running short and then finished the rest when I was finished with class.  It was very interesting to say the least- and it’s photography :)  Eating all these crunchy things is making my jaw tired :p  Okay, enough for tonight

I took the green shake to work today instead of my usual yogurt. I had a whole 20oz and i drank every bit.  However, my boss brought these awesome looking chocolate chip cookies.  God they looked good and they were put by the printer.  *drools*  I did really well and resisted temptation.  I was proud of myself :)  It is however Monday which means BSF and dinner out.  On Mondays I give myself the treat of having 1 taco.  The best (bar none) junk food tacos anywhere.  hamburger, lettuce, tomoto and sourcream…  Yummm. Last yera I was eating 2 and a cup of coffee.  This year, I limited myself to only 1 and coffee.  

Of course after BSF, we have tape timewhere Michele and i watch Miyah.  We always get goodies.  Tonight I had Doritos (100 calorie bag) and Sun Chips Harvest cheddar (also a 100 calorie bag)  ok so i slippeda little.  For snacks at work we have almonds and peanuts and cheddar crackers.  i may forgo the cheddar crackers… we’ll see

Last nights exercise:
Squats: 3 sets of 20 
Planks First rep  I held for 15 secs, the second rep I held for 10 secs & the 3rd rep I held for  15 secs. 
Wall Pushups 3 sets of 15

Results: My legs and stomache are quite sore, but my arms are not so much.  I am thinking for my next workout, I need to either up the reps or stand further back from the wall.