health

just got out of 11 hrs in the ER because I've been nauseous / sick the past three days after three weeks of weird symptoms. several blood tests, an EKG, chest XRay, and nuclear 'xray' where I breathed in radioactive gas, and took in radioactive fluid intraveinously to see if there were any blood clots in my lungs. happy to say i'm fine, but exhausted. I've been out sick from school since Tuesday. Well, went home early Tuesday (12:30pm), didn't come in yesterday, and made it to 10:30am today before almost passing out in the nurses office where I slept for the next hour and a half before I left to go to my doctor - who had apparently left for the weekend and was not returning til monday - so I went to the ER at the town hospital. and i'm going to a funeral tomorrow on top of it all. will update later, but need sleep.

Org

YAYS
* although I lost only 5 lbs so far since I've started, my body feels like it's 15 lbs lighter because it's so toned. I'll take the less poundage lost for the physical benefits I've gotten.

* I've figured out an easy solution to my shin splint issue: I'm going to purchase a one (or perhaps two or three) month pass to a YMCA, and use their pool to do my swimming so that I can keep active. I'm looking forward to this, particularly since I was able to do so many laps (granted in a smaller pool) after not having swum in several years.

BOOS
* I think I'm coming down with something. I started getting a scratchy throat on Friday, but it went away, but now it's back with (I think) allergy headaches and nausea. Ugh. I am aiming to go to TG tomorrow anyway and do the bike (since I still have my shin splints).

Conference Lifestyle

Wed: I swam 20 laps! and enjoyed the hot tub. At 7pm.

Thurs: I danced for an hour or so - sweat right through my jeans!

Fri: Nothing so far....there's still time! (OK, not really planning on doing anything). I'm still at the conference, and will be in a meeting from 4:30 - 7, then driving 1.5 hrs back home.


So, at least I've been active the last few days.

Plus:
I had a grapefruit each day, and ate two salads yesterday, and a soup and salad today. It was nice to have real food after the junk I'd been eating since Tuesday.

Minus:
I also had a big bag of doritos between yesterday and the day before. And at least 5 or 6 reeses peanut butter cup cookies.


Hope your days are going well - I'm off to my meeting!

Day 2 of Inactivity

And I overate again. And didn't do any activity. Mmmmm, not feelin proud, but tomorrow thru Friday I'm off to a conference, and I'm bringing my swimsuit so I can do laps at the pool there. I hope and am optimistic that I'll keep up.

That and I saw Biggest Loser tonite, and it was kind of inspirational.

My shin splints are feeling moderately better. I've iced and elevated them 3 times since I got home (go R.I.C.E.!) so I guess the swelling's down, but I tell ya, it's scary to have them hurt when I walk. It just hurt in my shins on Sunday/Monday, but today they hurt all the way up to my knees, and that made me nervous. Tack on top of that some weird eye issues that's preventing me from being able to wear contacts, and ripping my nail so that my finger tip bled, it's not been a great overall week...

Onward and upward... :) I need hugs and kicks in the butt!

Well, it's Official...

...I have shin splints. DURG! OK, as official as asking my boss, who is a runner. My shins have hurt since I came back from my run last nite. The pain hasn't dissipated today. It's uncomfortable walking - I get twinges of pain. SO, no more running for the next 3-5 days. Biking, elliptical, and swimming only. And it's aggravating because I feel like when I fractured the top of my foot last year - like I'm going to lose momentum. I didn't do anything today (I had an eye appt after work, and then came home in time to cook dinner and relax).

The good thing about today, is that I felt full eating all my calories, and I was happy. Full as in satisfied. I did overeat tonite - I made two small burritos although I could have just had one (or really, half of one) and been fine (because I started off with a salad). So, I feel like I did two wrongs tonite and that makes me not happy. I'll focus on tomorrow and try to reign myself in.

Good news: I don't have to suck in my belly to fit into and wear my jeans from LB! They've typically been too tight - barely close-able, and my belly would mushroom over it like an overgrown mushroom. Now, I can zip it up without issue, and I don't have to suck in my belly because it doesn't spill over anymore. AWESOME! I just want to keep up with it this week since I'll be out of commission.

Some Scientific Stuff

So today, yes, I did go for my 30 minute run. I have to say, I was exhausted almost all the way through. I was thinking that perhaps I was not eating enough. I've felt that way these past few days - like I was craving much more than I was eating. Case in point: yesterday I had 2700, yes, 2700 calories. I feel like forcing myself to stay under 1500 calories a day was making me 'splurge' when I can't take it anymore. That hunger coupled with feeling more tired as opposed to more fit made me go online to do more research into healthy caloric intake / healthy weight loss. Here's a couple things I've discovered.

1) Healthy weight loss talks about figuring out how much body fat you have and focusing on the pounds of FAT to lose, rather than overall pounds to lose (so that you don't lose muscle mass, which is important for continued weight loss). I calculated my body fat % and I am at 31.82% fat. Yorg. That comes out to 77 lbs. Good god. 77 lbs of fat is like...like...a little over 15 of my macbook laptops (which are 5 lbs a pop). I have 15 laptops around my body. Nice. SO, in figuring out that I have 77 lbs of fat at 31% body fat percentage, I aim to get to a 22%ish body fat percentage (athletic range), which is more like 53 lbs of fat. Meaning I've got 24 lbs to lose...or about 5 laptops...for now.

Body Fat Calculator: http://www.bmi-calculator.net/body-fat-calculator/
Body Fat Chart: http://www.bmi-calculator.net/body-fat-calculator/body-fat-chart.php

2) I haven't gotten my period in 2 months. I already ruled out the pregnancy thing, don't worry. However, I've been reading that excessive exercise disrupts the menstrual cycle. I want to try to get things back into normalcy so I don't risk decreased estrogen levels which can lead to calcium deficiency, etc. (which can happen if I have amennorhea for over 6 months, or if I'm at a body fat % of less than 20&ish)

3) Perhaps the biggest thing I've learned is that I'm eating WAY TOO FEW calories to sustain muscle, burn fat, and keep healthy. I've been eating, on average, 1647 calories a day (from 950 to 2700!), minus the 350ish calories/day of activity, bringing me to 1337 calories I'm consuming a day. Using multiple calculators, I have found that my basal caloric intake (e.g. how many calories I should be eating to sustain my current body weight) is around 2769 (currently my 1647). I should be eating roughly 500 - 1000 less calories a day to lose 1-2 lbs a week (so 1769 - 2269 instead of my 1337). Any less than that could be detrimental to my health. So I've been short by 400 - 900 calories a day - that's like a meal!!

Calculate your caloric intake here:
http://healthfitness.com.au/calculators/calculate_fitness.html


So, if I have this all right (which I thought I had last time!) I should be eating roughly 2000 calories a day in order to lose a little more than a pound a week. I'm feeling motivated, so I want to aim for 1700 calories a day to lose 2 pounds a week. Still, it makes me feel better knowing that I've got more calories a day I can eat, as I was feeling guilty for going over 1200 - 1500. However, I'm also realizing that I really could use a nutritionist....

ooog

Although many of my previous posts have had depressing titles, I'm actually feeling ooooogy all-around today. I'm just not happy that I ate way more than I should have, and than I have been eating these past two weeks. I think I had at least 2000 calories (which is not monstrous - it's what I'd been eating before two weeks ago) and I also didn't go running - I just walked around malls for 2 hours.


SO, here's what I need from you. Tomorrow, I'm getting back on track. If I write that I am not getting back on track, I need you to challenge me to do so.

The one good thing is that although I had 2k calories, it was all healthy food:

BREAKFAST - 8:30am
1 cup beanthread noodles with 1/4 cup stir fry lettuce/onion, 2 dumplings
1.5 cup grapefruit juice

SNACK - 11:30am
1/4 cup sesame honey almonds
1/2 cup grapes

LUNCH - 2:30pm
6" subway veggie delite sub
1.5 oz bag sun chips

SNACK - 7pm
small starbucks caramel frap

DINNER - 8pm
2/3 cup basmati rice
2/3 cup chicken vindaloo
1/2 cup carrots

Looking at this, it's apparent I need more fruits/veggies for today. So, instead of choco chip cookies like I want, I'll have me a grapefruit and call it a nite.

Remember: call me on falling off the wagon tomorrow if my blog makes it clear I'm not on the wagon - I need the kick in the keister so I don't suck myself back into my old ways.

Shin Pain

OY. I hope it's just cuz of the rain or due to yesterday's wacky run, but my shins hurt during / after today's run (weird, I'm calling it a 'run' - I guess it's still a jog). I made sure to stretch both before and after, but whew. It was a struggle to run today too. I was thinking as I was home, that I really didn't want to go out, and that it would be OK since it would be the first time in a long time I hadn't jogged. But I made myself go. And it wasn't particularly enjoyable, though it wasn't crappy. I seriously feel like a crack addict in reverse. Like I have to keep convincing myself to go out and exercise because my mind wants me to retreat back into unfit fat-dom and all the comforts it brings.

I'm trying to be more flexible with my eating - allowing more than 1300-1400 calories of intake because I am expending a good number of calories. Again, trying not to get hung up on the numbers (just hung up enough to keep myself on track).

Yay....go team go....I hope my Livin' out Loud Ladies are doing well - I think of you girls every day!

Um...so about that 'jogging = joy' thing...

OK, so it still feels great, but today I think I discovered how 'weak' I am. Today, instead of the traditional TG thing of doing the elliptical for 30 min, I went jogging with a co-worker on one of the paths at work. We did 18 minutes of jogging and 5 of walking, and it EXHAUSTED me. Totally tired me out. I had to walk twice during the 18 minutes because I just couldn't keep jogging. Granted both times I walked for a minute or less, but it was frustrating to me. I think I had problems getting through this jog for a couple reasons:

1) It was slightly hilly - just hilly enough that my muscles had to work harder and I think I got tired much more quickly. Amazing what two small inclines can do to stamina!

2) When I jog at home, I walk for 5, jog for 8-10, walk for 1-2, jog for 5-8, walk for 1-2, jog for 5-8, etc. I have not jogged 15 minutes straight before, and I think my body / stamina was not used to that.

Either way, when I got home, I actually WANTED to go for a jog - I felt like I didn't give myself a good enough work out - it wasn't satisfying, so I wanted to end the day on a good note and have a good jog. So I did. I did my shorter 0.8 mile loop (vs. the longer 1.5 mile one) in 13ish minutes, and it felt great.

I think I should keep the perspective that hey, I wasn't even jogging 6 weeks ago (hell, I was sedentary since freshman year of college 12 years ago), so the fact that I'm up to 2.3 miles each time I go out, is pretty amazing.

I'm Baaaaaaaack!

The jog was GREAT! It took about 2-5 minutes to feel good, then 5-10 minutes of ramping up, and then the last 10-15 were great. I even sped up for the last block, and it didn't hurt as badly as last week when I tried it.

The coolest part? I kept track of my 'times' for the 2.3 mile loop, and it's gotten better. When I started last week, it took me 36.5 minutes. Today I finished at 31.5 minutes. I've gotten 5 minutes faster - neat, huh?! It was so nice out that I sat out on my front steps for 15 minutes or so afterwards, soaking up the sun and blue skies.

Exercise really does make you feel better. It's amazing how much my mind was getting in my way. It took me almost 40 minutes to get psyched up to go do it once I got home. The things running through my mind were that there was too much traffic and I didn't want people seeing me, then I saw my neighbors out on their porch, and I didn't want them seeing me as I went out, then I had a goorgly tummy, then I was tired.....blah blah blah. I almost psyched myself out until I made a firm decision that I was going, then it was all about preparation. I hope that mental struggle gets easier each time!

But, YAY!!!

Need. Motivation.

Ugh. I am 85% not motivated to get out and jog today. I think it has something to do with eating the rest of my eggplant dish from the chinese restaurant - got the same tired feeling, and my stomach's goorgling. Maybe it's the oil. I had a spate of motivation when I drove to Target because it was so sunny and beautiful out, but I felt exhausted again when I got home. I am trying to gear myself to go out even though all I want to do right now is take a nap. However, literally as I'm typing this, I'm getting more motivated.

OK, that's it. I'm changing, I'm putting on my contacts, and I'm going out to jog. I have you all (um...all 3 or 4 of you) to answer to if I don't.

Update to come soon...

Chinese Food...Ugh

Don't get me wrong, I love Chinese food -but something's going funky. We went out for a quick bite at a restaurant whose food I like because it's not too greasy or sauce-y. I finished the meal feeling slightly light headed, nauseous, and brain dead. I told my b/f that I couldn't listen to him talk anymore because my brain could not compute anything more than "it is cold out". I think it's one of several things (or some mixture thereof):

(a) the simple carbs - rice. I haven't had simple carbs in a long long time save for the occasions these past couple of weeks that I've gone out (maybe two or three times - each time less than 1/2 a cup was consumed). Perhaps I'm hypoglycemic, or just cannot process sugar that well.

(b) caffeine - I had an iced coffee (my first in over a month) this afternoon and tea tonite. Perhaps I was coming down from a 'high'?

(c) sodium - I have not had a lot of sodium in my diet since I started TG - perhaps this has a whammy of a dose which is making me light headed and thirsty


I felt nauseous and jittery last nite after the potatoes, so I'm wondering if it's a combination of the carbs and sodium that has my body all funked up. Oog.

Boob Rash

SO, one thing they don't tell you (or maybe they do - I've just never looked) is that you can get heat rash on your boobs - even after you've cooled down and taken a shower. I have gotten one nearly every day after I've jogged - so like 8 - 10 times in the past two weeks. Ridonculous! It itches like what, and then when I itch, my entire chest breaks out in hives. NOT comfortable at all. I talked to some TG peeps about it and they suggested putting baby powder or corn starch on my chest (before? during? after?) to absorb the moisture and keep things cooler and dryer. Be forewarned!

That said, I did my 30 minutes on the elliptical today and burned 400 calories. Noiiiice! Aaaaand, I weighed myself (which I haven't done in a couple weeks) and I am down 6.5 lbs since we started 6 weeks ago. It's about 1 lb a week, which is a healthy rate, so I won't complain. I should be down 16ish lbs by the time school gets out, and 20ish lbs by my 30th birthday. I wish things could go faster, but I'm willing to wait if it means I've lost the lb for "good".

I've noticed a real difference in hunger based on what I eat. When I have lots of fresh veggies and fruit earlier in the day, I'm less hungry. When I start out with other stuff...nuts, soup, etc., I'm hungry most of the day. I have to be more diligent about getting fruit when I run out: I'm out of oranges, grapefruit and grapes now, and those are my staples!

So, for Sunday:
Calories eaten: 1445
calories burned: 350
total calories consumed: 1090

Monday:
Calories eaten: 1867 (damn potatos were 600 for 5 small/medium ones sliced and baked with olive oil!)
calories burned: 350
total calories consumed: 1517 (I felt a little nauseus after this - probably from (a) the potatos and (b) having more food than usual)

Tueday:
Calories eaten: 627
calories burned: 450
total calories consumed: 177 (I basically have 1023 calories left to eat)


I'm finding as I'm doing this that I crave less food when I focus. My proudest moment today was not eating any candy when someone brought 5 bags to fill up my candy jug! It was during a meeting, and everyone else was dipping in, but I chose not to, partially because I didn't have the craving. It's amazing though, how much more I choose to eat and am compelled to eat when (a) food is in front of me, (b) others are enjoying food, (c) I'm bored / stressed / whatever. If I don't pay attention like I haven't been in the past 25 years, I could easily eat way over 2000 calories.

I'm worried that I'll flounder and fizzle...that happened with Weight Watchers and previous attempts at getting my life in control. I remember thinking yesterday and today how much I didn't want to be active, and how much I wanted to not think about food. It's a constant battle to focus, and I hope I can sustain it because I haven't had a great track record. This really is an addiction - an extremely bad habit that is taking a while to shake. It's been 2.5 years since I first started by walking 15 minutes a day. I am proud that I've worked my way up to going to weight watchers, and now jogging 2.3 miles 3-4 times a week. I have to look at it that way: I've been making slow but steady improvement overall, and even though I may trip up and fail along the way, I'm still headed in the right direction....