Day 82 - Lazy Day Fantasies

I have been fantasizing about taking a series of days off from my workouts.  Like maybe three or four days in a row of nothing.  No swimming, no interval training, no free weights, no boxing, no tennis.  Walking is pretty much unavoidable with a dog, but I fantasize about not doing that too. 

Why all the fantasizing?  My body is tired.  When I get up in the middle of the night to pee, my feet and legs are stiff.  Not terribly, but enough to remind me of all the hours of exercise that I've been logging.  And in the morning, everything is stiff - shoulders, back, neck, arms, butt, legs, feet.  It's not a rigid stiffness or an uncomfortable soreness, but it is constant.  There is really only one day out of the week when I do not feel sore, and that's the day after my rest day if (and only if) my rest day came after a light exercise day with the kids (basketball, easy soccer drills, etc.).  Those are few and far between. 

My lower back is still giving me fits, as is my sciatica.  I informed the boxing coach at the gym yesterday that I am not doing deadlifts anymore.  They hurt my lower back.  I need to find another way to work my hamstrings without stressing my lower back. 

Despite feeling tired and sore, I feel much stronger and significantly smaller.  So it's all worth it.  I am a bit concerned about injuring myself even though I am careful to do only what I am comfortable doing and keeping proper form.  Still, with all this exercising, I need to be extra cautious.  I have been extremely lax about stretching and am trying to train myself to stretch before and after a workout.  On my swim days, I consider swimming a post workout stretch. 

Yesterday I scheduled 30min elliptical intervals, 10min stationary bike, a 30min walk, and a 30min swim, for a total of 1 hr and 40min.  I took a break from work mid-afternoon and headed out for my walk.  For the first half mile, my legs screamed "NO!" but failure was not an option, so I kept going.  My legs did finally warm up, but my lower back stayed tight the whole walk. 

Later I went to the gym for elliptical intervals followed by a stationary bike cool down.  I followed my routine, but I didn't put out my usual amount of energy.  Just too tired. 

After that, I went to another gym for my swim.  I really had to talk myself in to that swim.  I reasoned that I could skip the swim and do a 30min strength training session with the bands at home or get on the ski machine, but I knew that I would not.  I wanted nothing more than to serve up a bowl of paleo chili that had been simmering on the stove and eat it while watching TV.  The temptation to abandon my workout "because I had already exercised for an hour and 10 minutes" would be too great.  So I went to the pool.  It was cold and windy.  I swam 5 minutes then tried to convince myself that a 25 minute or even 20 minute swim would be sufficient.  But in the end, I swam the entire 30 minutes. 

While I swam, I calculated the time it would take me to walk to the gym showers, wait for the water to heat up, shower, dress, get my stuff back together, and walk to the car.  I don't know if I thought of anything else during my swim yesterday except getting it over with and arriving back home clean and done for the day. 

Working out is hard.  Dieting is hard.  Sometimes just putting one foot in front of another is hard.

Day 81 - Paleo Week

I'm working from home all week, so I decided to start my paleo diet.  It's much easier to stick to a diet sans grains/simple carbs when I'm at home than when I'm on the road.  And there's something to be said for momentum, so I'm getting the most out of my travel-free week. 

Here's what I ate yesterday. 

Breakfast - 1/2 container full fat greek yogurt sweetend with honey, a bit of paleo style apple custard (coconut milk, coconut oil, apples), few pomegrante seeds, and a sprinkling of slivered almonds (approx 250 cals)
Lunch - lettuce wraps with nitrate free chicken and ham, avocado, artichoke soup (approx 450 cals)
Snack 1 - slice of string cheese (100 cals)
Snack 2 - chicken, tomato, grape seed mayo (100 cals)
Snack 3 - trail mix (100 cals?)
Dinner - pork chop, cauliflower and broccoli cheese casserole (approx 650 cals)
Dessert - leftover apple custard (approx 100 cals)

I don't intend to count calories on a regular basis, but I was curious, so this is an approximation.  1750 total calories is good.  I'm happy with that, especially considering I put in just under 2 hours of exercise. 

And I have to say everything I ate yesterday was delicious.  I did not miss bread, potatoes, or sugar at all.  Not one bit! 

But I was hungry throughout the day, which is unusual.  I can typically get by without snacks, or with just one between breakfast and lunch.  I ate 3 snacks yesterday.  Mid-morning, mid-afternoon, and after dinner.  I couldn't help it.  Hungry.

Day 73 - Sugar Addiction

Any diet goals I have set on this blog since the first year have been broken.  I'm not berating myself, but still.  It's disappointing.

I can't stop eating sugar.  White foods.  Bread, sugar, potatoes.  Some days are better than others.  I usually do pretty well at home and then fall off the wagon when I'm traveling for work.  Once I've tripped up, I seem to keep falling forward.  I buy a loaf of bread or a pint of ice cream or make a small batch of brownies.  And so on.  I tell myself that I'll eat a few slices of bread and then freeze the rest.  But I don't freeze it.  I eat 2/3 of the loaf over the course of a week and then throw the rest away. 

I know that my diet is hindering my success.  I'm guessing I have lost 20 lbs, which puts me on track for 2 lbs a week, but I could have lost more. 

My lower back pain and sciatica are persisting, and I know that is partially due to inflammation from the carbs I'm eating. 

I leave for 3 days tomorrow morning.  My goal to stay on track is to eat Trader Joe's Greek style yogurt sweetened with honey for breakfast at the office.  Lunch will be a salad (no bread).  I will not snack on bad things.  I will not eat sugar.  I'll bring string cheese and fruit for snacks.  Dinner could be difficult.  I will try my best but will not feel guilty if I eat a few simple carbs. 

I realized yesterday that I am almost through the first quarter of the year.  Yikes.  Time really does fly.  I feel completely confident that I can keep up this exercise pace.  If I can get my diet under control for the remaining quarters, then I'll be doing great. 

The past couple of weekends have been remarkably unproductive.  I am tired.  Seriously tired.  Sunday's are the worse.  If I lay down to read, I fall asleep.  Mid-day I am hit with a wave of exhaustion so deep that I can do nothing but sleep it off.  And after all this, I sleep at night for 8 or 9 hours.  I don't know if this is due to workouts catching up to me near the end of the week or because I have been traveling so much.  I don't think anything else is going on, but who knows.  It could also be dietary. 

So many reasons not to eat sugar

Day 66 - Week Ten

Woo hoo!  Nine weeks done!  Have I lost 18 lbs?  I don't know.  Maybe.  I suspect I was bigger than I thought because I have lost weight but my clothes aren't as loose as I was hoping they'd be by week ten.  Oh well. 

I am stronger.  I am happier.  I am sleeping better. 

Food is still a challenge.  I did well today.  I did have a small peice of dark chocolate covered caramel but no other sweets.  I ate mostly veggies, fruit, and protein except for the caramel and three small pieces of whole wheat sourdough toast spread throughout the day.

Since January 1st, I have taken 10 rest days and have logged 76.7 hours of exercise.

I'm thinking about doing a triathalon sprint in October.  It's a 1/4 mile swim, 12 mile bike, and 3 mile run.  I already swim 1/4 mile or more 3 or 4 days a week in addition to walking and high intensity cardio.  But I don't do all three without resting.  And I don't run.  I walk.  But if I could lose another 40 lbs and train for 4 months before the event, I might be able to jog 3 miles.  I'm confident I could do all three just not certain I could manage a 3 mile jog/run after the swim and bike.  More on this later.