Week 9 recap

I lost 2.2 pounds this last week, so I'm now down a total of 23 pounds. It was kind of a funky week because I got a bacterial infection and had to start antibiotics, so that sucked. I took Tuesday and Wednesday off of working out so that I could recover a little bit and then eased back into things on Thursday with 35 minutes on the elliptical. I met up with J. again on Friday and he kicked everything up a notch, so I'm completely sore in both my arms and my legs. Today I did 30 minutes on the elliptical and 15 on the stair climber. I have to say that the new headphones and my good playlists really make it easier for me to keep running longer. The last few times I've done cardio, I haven't even cracked open my book, but rather just closed my eyes and let the music take over the pace.

This week I get back bread. Yes bread. Out of all of the phases in which I've gotten back food groups, none has seemed quite as fabulous as bread. There are rules, however. It's got to be whole wheat or whole grains, which is fine because that's all I ate in the past anyway. And I've got to be careful that it has plenty of fiber and not a ton of sugar. Surprisingly, several of the whole wheat breads we looked at today fit the bill, as did some whole wheat tortillas and pita pockets. So, I grabbed a bag of each. I can have 100 calories a day of breads/tortillas/pita pockets, so that's enough to have an occasional sandwich or have toast for breakfast. To break myself in, L. and I went to Subway today and I had a 6" turkey breast on wheat stacked with veggies, mustard, and a tiny bit of mayo. It was heaven. I was pleased to see that instead of the old chips or cookies sides, they had some healthier options like yogurt and sliced apples. Both L. and I chose the apples, and they were quite good.

My nutritionist also introduced me to some new waters that I can have, called Osmosis and Metromint. After 9 full weeks of nothing but water, mineral water, and water with lemon, the repertoire was feeling a tad limited. I love water and these variations, but sometimes you just want a little something more. And anything with sugar or artificial sweeteners is out, so you get the picture. Recently, I made myself a pot of tea and put in a teaspoon of brown sugar. It was a total treat, and I treated it as such. I talked to my nutritionist about it, and she said that it's OK every so often, but she'd rather I'd done a teaspoon of honey. So, we picked up some honey today, too. I imagine I'll probably do the tea and honey thing once every few weeks or a month. It was just nice for a change. Anyway, the mint waters are supposed to be very good, and a nice change as well. So, I look forward to giving those a try. The women in my group therapy said they really liked it. And it turns out that Metromint uses mint from the Yakima Valley (although the company is in San Francisco), and Osmosis is in Washington state, so that's pretty cool.