Back On Coffee

Its finals and im back on coffee. for an unknown reason I decided to cut out coffee from my normal diet when I started Living Well. It partly had to do with the fact that I usually get flavored lattes and I knew that sugar was a calorie i didnt feel like counting (a new system i started is if i dont feel like taking the time to track it, i just dont eat it, to which i asked is that laziness or just a great technique??) anyway so i switched to tea, which sometimes did the trick, and sometimes didnt help me from passing out in anthro at 830am. So its finals weekend and im back to coffee. I switched though to just plain lattes, which in honesty I like almost better than flavored ones. Espresso is just fucking awesome and delicious. (can you tell ive had three shots today already??)

Anyway, yesterday Ben picked me up and we went to the Denison Bio-Reserve to take Lincoln on a hike. We ran a little, walked, walked through mud, ruined my tennis shoes, and went up and down treacherous Granville hills. It was really fun and a great work out. I was really thankful Ben and Lincoln were patient with me when the hills got intense. Lincoln is such a great dog because he waits for you when you are behind. May Taylor does NOT understand that concept. Also if Lincoln finds a stick he likes but you continue walking he will drop it just to keep up with you.

Anyway Im pretty sore and not feeling that well. Hope I didnt get Zaas/Melissa's cold because that would def put a damper on SPRING BREAK!!! okay 20 page paper to write. this clearly couldnt wait thought.

Class Two: Food for Kindergarteners

This is about to be kinda bitchy. So I had my second class yesterday, it started out well. Even with formal and the weekend of craziness, I managed to shed three pounds! For the first time in my life im really finding motivation in my program. I love waking up in the morning and planning what im gonna eat and when im gonna work out. I feel healthy, active and good about myself. Also having awesome tennis shoes makes wearing my workout clothes all day a lot less painful. (Liora the compliments have risen to 11 since Saturday!)

Anyway on to the negative. So I got a new class filled with other people who are beginners in Living Well like me. So I was initially excited to be with other people just gaining momentum, but then I realized that I probably shouldnt be in a beginners class. I have been dieting on and off since I was 8, so the concepts involved with eating healthy are pretty second nature to me. When I eat a burger, I in no way think "Okay im eating healthy tonight! See there is a tomato and lettuce on this! And the fries are vegetable really!" And honestly, I didnt really think anyone overweight was really like that. I kinda just thought it was an annoying stereotype. Until yesterday, that is. I found out yesterday, some people dont know what granola is, or what yogurt looks like. I realized there are people who actually drink whole milk. Everyday. Who dont know what Skim is. We talked about portion sizes, and then I got a little more understanding. Considering a lot of weightloss has to do with portion sizes changing. Some of their recommendations were a little insane, but I realize they can be adjusted to my lifestyle.

All in all it ended up being a pretty boring conversation that consisted of my classmates asking about things I learned years ago and going off topic by discussing things like what the true consistency of yogurt is, and why eggs arent refrigerated in Europe. Kept hoping our instructor would bring us back to topic but it didnt happen. I hope the next classes wont be that bad/elementary.

I did talk in class about how ive added breakfast into my diet in the way of Luna bars! They are on their way to becoming my new weightloss secret! I eat one just about every morning for breakfast so that I have energy and can jump start my metabolism early! My favorite flavors are s'mores and caramel nut brownie! 9gs of protein and 180 cals to get me going. helps me not starve on days when I cant eat till 2ish.

Week Ten is Going to Kick My Ass

Anxiety is destroying me this week. So of course to counter the inevitable no sleep I knew I would probably get, I decided to take a nice little anti-anxiety sleeping pill last night. Unfortunately it worked TOO WELL, and i slept for a good 12 hours, sleeping through my alarm and my 8:30 class. I did wake up in time to work out.
Jen is doing a video for her multimedia journalism class and she is doing it on Living Well! I am clearly helping her out and we've had fun! So today she filmed me on the treadmill and last night I showed her how I make parfait (really hard to make) and then track all my food online using Sparkspeople.com.
Tracking my food has got to the hardest thing about this entire program. I just am not that organized (INCASE POTENTIAL EMPLOYERS READ THIS BLOG, IM KIDDING IM VERY ORGANIZED).
But I am trying to stay as organized as possible..
Update on the INJURY: My back hasnt really been hurting since Saturday! Saturday night Im sure it hurt but I couldnt feel much so luckily no pain! I was a little worried when I worked out today but my workout was kinda intense (Stayed in my 75% heart rate range for 35 minutes) and I barely had any pain.

Also another obstacle in this program is the conflict of alcohol. Im in college so clearly i drink, but alcohol has a lot of calories. Formal on Saturday was a challenge but I feel I did pretty well by drinking sugar free redbull to erase unnecessary calories that come with mixers and chasers normally. I did have a pretty fancy martini too though, it has pineapple juice in it though so ill count that as a serving of fruit!

Challenge #1: Making Workouts 'Fun'

I am very aware that telling myself that working out for an hour (even with music) is fun, is just something i cannot believe. So I've been attempting to make my workouts fun.
Attempt 1: Crosswords and Sudoku: One of my favorite parts of the day is when I can just sit down and work on the crossword and sudoku in the Lantern. It makes going to class that much better, knowing ill pick up a copy and drift off into my brain if class gets unbearable. So over the past two weeks I've tried a slick transition. Instead of saving my mind puzzles for class, is save them for my workouts. This idea seems kinda strange I know. Crosswords and sudoku are usually done sitting down, so I've had to become creative. Its still a work in progress but twice its kinda worked?

Attempt 2: NEW MUSIC. I found inspiration and fun this morning in Adele's new album 21. I actually couldnt stop my workout because the idea of turning my iPod off was slightly depressing. Its one of the best albums I've listened to in years I'd say. Oh my I could work out all day with Adele.
Favorites: Set Fire to the Rain, I'll Be Waiting, Turning Tables.

Back Update: I made the mistake of trying to stretch the way Ben showed me today. Im currently trying to relax it, but considering the rest of the day is going to be spent dancing, drunk and in heels im thinking its just gonna get worse for today.

First Time..Since the Injury

These are my new kicks. They are awesome. Today I got FOUR COMPLIMENTS ON THEM!!! (can you tell how often my style gets complimented??)

So today was my first time attempting to work out since my injury which will henceforth be known AS THE DISASTER OF 11. (Lil dramatic huh?)

Anyway I found out yesterday that the results of my MRI had come back and that I have what they called a PROTRUDING DISC. i honestly dont know the difference between a bulging disc and a protruding disc. Also does the word PROTRUDING make anyone else thing of a HUGE NOSE? Now I keep imagining a HUGE NOSE sticking out of my spine, hitting on my sciatic nerve.

Cripple Manages

After several days of back pain and much needed sleep, I found myself at my first Living Well meeting. For those of you who don't know, Living Well is the program through the Ohio State Medical Center which I started a few weeks ago. It takes a holistic, educational approach to lifestyle changes and weight loss. I had my orientations the last three weeks and finally today officially started!

I started off with a bang because I lost 4lbs over the last week. I was pretty surprised due to the fact that my back prevented me from working out the last few days of the week. I guess the first half of the week when I was working really hard at tracking my intake and exercise paid off, because I smiled on the scale today for the first time in recent memory!

Todays class was about burning out and how to stay focused and motivated when working out gets awful. This was kinda a silly first class for me because clearly I am not burned out yet. But we discussed a lot of things like changing the mindset of all or nothing (not O-Town, Jane!). I find that I often get into an all or nothing mindset. If I cant work out like crazy today, I'm going to nap, or if I have to eat something quick, and probably unhealthy, ill look for the worst thing to get. This all or nothing mindset is one of my downfalls, because essentially, it is these moments when I can stay on track! If I dont have time for a full on workout, I should try to take a long way home from class, or walk to noodles instead of drive! Also if i have to eat something I probably shouldnt, I should make sure its as close to healthy as my options allow. If Wendys is the only thing open and Im starving, I should get a salad there, not a Spicy Chicken sandwich!

I think changing this all or nothing mindset will also help me stay on track because I will be happy I made these positive choices and didnt fall into temptation! I look back on what I have done in the past, and after failing at all or nothing, I tend to get down on myself and become very discouraged. NOT THIS TIME. (corny)