L. and I headed over to the Gorge on Sunday to see several bands at the Sasquatch music festival. We chose Sunday because it had the most bands that we wanted to see, even though it would have been cool to see a few from the other days of the festival. Originally, we planned to see Tegan and Sara, Rogue Wave, The Presidents of the United States of America, The Kooks, Death Cab for Cutie (DCFC), and The Cure.
We ended up missing Tegan and Sara because we took a little too long in Ellensburg getting checked in at our hotel and having lunch. It wasn't a big deal, though, since neither of us are die-hard Tegan and Sara fans. They would have been a nice-to-see.
We made it there to catch the last part of Rogue Wave, and heard/saw them while standing in line to buy our tee-shirts and concert gear. They sounded really good, and we wandered down to the Easy Street booth to get a CD signed, but were too late. They'd already cut off the line by the time we made it down there, so that was kind of a let down.
The Presidents put on an awesome show, and we did make it to the Easy Street booth in time for them to sign our CD. They seem like really nice guys, and even sung a chorus from one song that a fan said he was bummed that they didn't perfom. Talk about cool.
We then wandered back over to the Wookie stage to find a good spot to see The Kooks. We heard the last part of Mates of State, which was pretty good. I'd never heard them before, but they were entertaining. Unfortunately, they seemed to be having some difficulty with the equipment, which spilled over into the time slot for The Kooks. We waited for some time for The Kooks to come on, but we wanted to get a good spot for DCFC so we left before The Kooks started. That, personally, was the biggest bummer. I was really looking forward to seeing The Kooks, because I've been enjoying their last two albums recently. But, it wasn't meant to be. DCFC was higher on the list for me, and I wasn't about to miss that part of the festival.
DCFC were incredible, as always. I'm always impressed with their music and presence. They always talk about how excited they are to see and hear the other bands at the festival, and I believe them. They just exude the feeling that they really love what they do. They performed their new hit, I Will Possess Your Heart, and it sounded perfect. When L. and I first heard the song, neither one of us were really too sure whether we liked it or not. But it's definitely grown on me and I really love it now. Those are the best kind of songs...the ones that take awhile to develop.
The Cure came on and closed the show. We stayed for some time, despite the fact that it was definitely getting colder while we sat on that grassy hill. I have to admit that I'm not a die-hard Cure fan. I'm one of their "greatest hits" fans, so I wasn't as excited about some of the tunes they played. I was waiting for them to play Just Like Heaven, but it seemed like things were just dragging on and on, so we finally headed toward the car before my fingers froze off. Of course, as we got to the car, we heard those familiar notes and hung out to listen to it from the parking lot. Overall, it was a great day. Even though I got a little bit bored with The Cure and more than a little frozen there toward the end, they did sound really good, even if they look weird (although, they always have). There's something strange about them looking exactly the same for all of these years, but I guess that's their thing. No evolution like bands like R.E.M., but oh well. It was still cool to know that I've seen them live now, after having listented to them all these years. Now, we'll just have to look out for The Kooks and try to actually see them another time...
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Week 17 and 18 recaps
Well, after gaining a couple of pounds in my last post about week 16, I'm now down about six pounds again for a total of 44 pounds. However, after a week of professional training (and the extensive buffets that go along with it) and this holiday weekend, I'm not holding out hopes that I'll have lost anything when I weigh in again on Thursday. I tried to be careful throughout the week, even though the buffets we had at the training center were full of lots of carbs and little protein. I did end up losing about a pound and a half in week 18 even though I couldn't be as strict with my diet as I'd have liked.
This weekend, L. and I went to the Sasquatch music festival at the Gorge, and we indulged yesterday during the concert since there was pretty much nothing available that would have fit the bill for my diet. During Death Cab for Cutie, I was uncomfortably full after eating a few chicken strips and about half of my order of fries. I ended up tossing the rest out. Before, I'd probably have scarfed down the whole thing and then some. During the day, I also had some candy, a sandwich, and some fries. And on the way home, I had small McFlurry. So, that was all off plan, but at least it was only one day. We got back to our plan today, so that's good. I realize that this is all progress, and not perfection, so that helps. And there are going to be times where the food options are limited and I have to make due with what's available. There will also be times where we'll indulge, and that's not a bad thing as long as it doesn't become a daily or even weekly habit as it was in the past.
This weekend, L. and I went to the Sasquatch music festival at the Gorge, and we indulged yesterday during the concert since there was pretty much nothing available that would have fit the bill for my diet. During Death Cab for Cutie, I was uncomfortably full after eating a few chicken strips and about half of my order of fries. I ended up tossing the rest out. Before, I'd probably have scarfed down the whole thing and then some. During the day, I also had some candy, a sandwich, and some fries. And on the way home, I had small McFlurry. So, that was all off plan, but at least it was only one day. We got back to our plan today, so that's good. I realize that this is all progress, and not perfection, so that helps. And there are going to be times where the food options are limited and I have to make due with what's available. There will also be times where we'll indulge, and that's not a bad thing as long as it doesn't become a daily or even weekly habit as it was in the past.
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Week 16 recap
I'm late (again) on posting my recap, but it's due in part to some big things going on with some of my family members starting late last week into this week. Everything appears to be going OK with everyone again, and we even had some good news in the family in the form of an addition to our family, which was very exciting. My cousins, R. and A., welcomed their new little girl into the world on Monday afternoon. I haven't seen her yet due to being sick the last few days, but L. and I are going to visit them on Saturday and see the new baby.
Anyway, I weighed in last Thursday and I gained 2 pounds. It was such a frustrating moment. Granted, so far things have been going along pretty well and I've only gained one other week during the whole program. But, still... It's always disappointing to see the numbers on the scale go up instead of down when you've been working so hard at something like this. My nutritionist, C., and I talked things over and she thinks that it is probably water weight due to the point I'm at in my cycle (love being a woman sometimes), the addition of whole grains (which cause you to retain more water than other food groups), and some high sodium foods I've been eating recently. So, I backed off of the grains a little bit this week to one serving instead of two. We'll see if that helps when I weigh in again tomorrow.
Unfortunately, I got sick starting on Sunday evening, so I spent the last couple of days bundled up in blankets trying to keep warm and the other part of my time in the bathroom wondering how there can be anything left in my stomach. Despite that, I've been trying to keep eating healthy and keep my protein levels up. I've also been drinking even more water than I normally do, which is a lot. It seems to be working, because I am doing better. I cancelled my training session on Monday night, but I did make it to training tonight. J. didn't overwork me because he knew that I was still recovering. But I got in a good workout nonetheless.
My guess is that tomorrow's weigh in will probably be a bit of a wash since I've been eating well but not working out or getting in my steps. I guess right now I need to be more worried about recovering than losing weight, but I hate to lose a week to illness.
I have to say that I think I'm at that point where the honeymoon is over and reality is setting in. This is always a difficult point in a process because it's typically where I'd want to give in and grab a doughnut. But I'm trying my hardest to keep my motivation up. I think the hardest thing right now is just that it all starts sinking in that I still have about 25-30 pounds to go (depending on my weigh in tomorrow) and that's still a lot of weight to lose. So, I start kind of beating myself up about gaining the weight in the first place, which is pretty useless. It's not like I can go back in time and change what I did before. I just have to keep putting one foot in front of the other and move forward with my life. But it is getting hard for that reason, and the frustration level is up in part because of that, which makes me want to cry. At least I still have a lot of support with my 20/20 team, so that's one thing that keeps me going. That and the fact that I've now spent a lot of money, time, and effort to get to this point of 37 pounds down. And if I did that, I can do the rest. It just sucks sometimes, and I'm just having a pity party this week about it all. Hopefully things will start going down again once my body heals from this cold/flu and I get back on track with working out.
Anyway, I weighed in last Thursday and I gained 2 pounds. It was such a frustrating moment. Granted, so far things have been going along pretty well and I've only gained one other week during the whole program. But, still... It's always disappointing to see the numbers on the scale go up instead of down when you've been working so hard at something like this. My nutritionist, C., and I talked things over and she thinks that it is probably water weight due to the point I'm at in my cycle (love being a woman sometimes), the addition of whole grains (which cause you to retain more water than other food groups), and some high sodium foods I've been eating recently. So, I backed off of the grains a little bit this week to one serving instead of two. We'll see if that helps when I weigh in again tomorrow.
Unfortunately, I got sick starting on Sunday evening, so I spent the last couple of days bundled up in blankets trying to keep warm and the other part of my time in the bathroom wondering how there can be anything left in my stomach. Despite that, I've been trying to keep eating healthy and keep my protein levels up. I've also been drinking even more water than I normally do, which is a lot. It seems to be working, because I am doing better. I cancelled my training session on Monday night, but I did make it to training tonight. J. didn't overwork me because he knew that I was still recovering. But I got in a good workout nonetheless.
My guess is that tomorrow's weigh in will probably be a bit of a wash since I've been eating well but not working out or getting in my steps. I guess right now I need to be more worried about recovering than losing weight, but I hate to lose a week to illness.
I have to say that I think I'm at that point where the honeymoon is over and reality is setting in. This is always a difficult point in a process because it's typically where I'd want to give in and grab a doughnut. But I'm trying my hardest to keep my motivation up. I think the hardest thing right now is just that it all starts sinking in that I still have about 25-30 pounds to go (depending on my weigh in tomorrow) and that's still a lot of weight to lose. So, I start kind of beating myself up about gaining the weight in the first place, which is pretty useless. It's not like I can go back in time and change what I did before. I just have to keep putting one foot in front of the other and move forward with my life. But it is getting hard for that reason, and the frustration level is up in part because of that, which makes me want to cry. At least I still have a lot of support with my 20/20 team, so that's one thing that keeps me going. That and the fact that I've now spent a lot of money, time, and effort to get to this point of 37 pounds down. And if I did that, I can do the rest. It just sucks sometimes, and I'm just having a pity party this week about it all. Hopefully things will start going down again once my body heals from this cold/flu and I get back on track with working out.
Thursday, May 08, 2008
Light at the end of the tunnel
Funny statement seen posted on a co-worker's door:
"Due to financial considerations, the light at the end of the tunnel has been temporarily turned off."
It does feel that way sometimes, doesn't it?
"Due to financial considerations, the light at the end of the tunnel has been temporarily turned off."
It does feel that way sometimes, doesn't it?
Wednesday, May 07, 2008
Aaah, Seattle, my home
This week, The Stranger published an article called What I Can Tell You About Seattle Based on the People I've Met Who Are From There (I Live in Brooklyn) by Tao Lin. It's an interesting collection of thoughts Lin has had about Seattle. It's definitely worth a read.
I think one of the funniest thoughts was about sports:
I think one of the funniest thoughts was about sports:
SEATTLE IS SARCASTIC ABOUT SPORTS
When I watched baseball as a child, I always felt strange when I saw the Seattle Mariners on TV. I wasn't sure then why I felt strange, but now I think I know. I think it's just that the blue uniforms they used to have made it seem like they were "merely screwing around." The blue uniforms, in combination with being called the Mariners, made me feel strongly that they actually wanted to be playing Marco Polo in a swimming pool but were forced into professional baseball and so wore blue uniforms to "continue the dream" of "screwing around" in a swimming pool for five hours every day with no responsibilities. Ken Griffey Jr. was a Mariner then and he seemed to be the perfect example of what I just typed about. He seemed to always be trying really hard at being good at baseball which to me only conveyed that he was distracting himself really hard from thoughts about wishing he lived in a special world where each day you woke up, played games in a swimming pool with other adults, ate dinner, played more games in a swimming pool, and went to sleep.
This observation cracks me, and kind of rings true. The old Mariner uniforms (even before Griffey Jr.'s time) looked pretty hysterical. Also, why else would so many people be blase about the Sonics leaving? I don't really know anyone who actually cares about this, despite the fact that the news occasionally shows some basketball fanatic who bemoans the loss. I used to love basketball and followed it pretty closely, but in later years it's just not a priority. And although I used to enjoy college football (and went to games when I was at the UW), I think most professional football is kind of laughable. I can't imagine any reason I'd go sitting out at Qwest field in the rain and cold every year to watch grown men run around in tight pants after a ball. About the only football I actually watch anymore is the Superbowl, and that's more because my family and friends get into it, and it was a good excuse to overeat and drink. This past year with my 20/20 program, it was more a good excuse to hang out with my friends and laugh as they became more and more silly with each beer. Good times.
I also liked the following observation from Lin:
SEATTLE IS ACTUALLY "BETTER" THAN ANYWHERE ELSE IN AMERICA
For some reason I never heard Shya—or anyone else I know from Seattle—say anything like "In Seattle I would never be attacked on public transportation" or "If we were in Seattle right now we would not be playing two-person poker on a Saturday night drunk." People from Alabama or Florida or anywhere else seem to always be talking about how Alabama and Florida are a lot better than wherever they currently are, I think because they are trying to convince themselves that they were not "cheated" out of something by growing up in Biflow, Florida. It isn't sarcastic at all when someone from Alabama says they wish they were back in Alabama. But people from Seattle when elsewhere somehow do not ever try to convince themselves of anything, I think because they feel like if they say something like "In Seattle my chicken fingers would never be served raw by accident" it would be like saying "A poodle is a kind of dog" in that it's "an accepted fact" to people from Seattle that Seattle is "better" in the same way that it is "an accepted fact" that poodles are dogs. Someone would never try to say that a poodle is a kind of cat.
This perfectly describes how I feel about Seattle. It's not that I don't enjoy traveling and seeing other parts of the country and the world, but Seattle is just my home. I can't imagine seriously living anywhere else. Oh sure, when I retire, I'd love to have a vacation home in Hawaii or something to go spend a few months out of the year, but I'd never leave this area altogether. Seattle is just where I feel comfortable. It's home.
Tuesday, May 06, 2008
Week 15 measurements
At the of week 15 (last week), J. took updated measurements for me. So, I had my appointment with my doctor today to go over the results and everything is looking really good. Here's the difference since first starting the program:
Weight (lbs): -39
Blood pressure (mm/HG): -10/-14
Chest girth: -4.75"
Waist girth: -4.75"
Hips girth: -5.5"
Bicep girth: -1.5"
Thigh girth: -4"
Body mass index: -5.95
Woot, woot! I'm disappearing :) I can't wait to see what this will be like after 20 weeks, and even then after phase II of the program.
Weight (lbs): -39
Blood pressure (mm/HG): -10/-14
Chest girth: -4.75"
Waist girth: -4.75"
Hips girth: -5.5"
Bicep girth: -1.5"
Thigh girth: -4"
Body mass index: -5.95
Woot, woot! I'm disappearing :) I can't wait to see what this will be like after 20 weeks, and even then after phase II of the program.
Monday, May 05, 2008
Week 14 and 15 recap
I missed my week 14 recap due to being quite busy with work and other aspects of my life, so I'm just going to fill in everything for both weeks 14 and 15 now. Since week 13, I've lost another 5 pounds which puts me at a total of 39 pounds lost. I lost two pounds in week 14 and three pounds in week 15. I'm really happy because as I mentioned in a previous post, I was at my sticking point from before, so I was worried that it was going to be a bit difficult to move myself past that previous threshold. But, the weight just came off the same way it has throughout the program so far.
I got potatoes and starchy vegetables back this week, but I haven't even had anything other than some corn in my black bean and corn salsa yesterday. Basically, if I want to have starchy vegetables, I need to make a trade off with whole grains and I'd much rather have the whole wheat bread for a sandwich than a baked potato. That might change eventually, but for now, I'm not too worried about incorporating potatoes. My nutritionist, C., gave me the name of some oven-baked french fries that I can have, but I didn't make it to PCC or Whole Foods this weekend to find them. So, I'll have to try and make it over there sometime this week to see what I find. I know that I need to stay away from french fries in restaurants, since they're all deep fried and definitely not anything resembling a whole potato with skin and hence totally devoid of nutrients. I have noticed that my fat intake inches up slightly on weekends, so I need to watch that. I'm never outrageously over my range, but sometimes I'll go over by a few grams. C. hasn't been too worried about it, but it's something that I want to make sure I keep better track of. At least it's healthy fats like nuts, avocado, olive oil, etc. But you can get too much of a good thing, so I'm putting myself on notice.
Exercise has been going well. My trainer, J., and I have been playing squash once a week and it's really fun. I'm getting a little bit better each time. My IT band issue is getting a lot better. My left leg tends to have more problems than the right, but it's getting slowly better. J. did the foam rolling on me last week and really dug in on an area that was sore. After a few rounds of that, I begged for mercy. It's progress, though. J. has me do a lot of exercises to strengthen my glutes to help with that whole issue, too.
Yesterday, my pedometer tracked just over 20,000 steps, which is the highest count so far. L. and I went for a run/walk along the Burke Gilman yesterday and it was so beautiful out. We wandered over to Marymoor park and then headed back the other direction once we'd walked through the park. Having our headphones and music with us made us able to run a bit farther than we typically do. Usually we set a goal in the distance to run to and then walk, and repeat, but with the music we try to run for a whole song and it typically works. I'm really impressed that my endurance has improved so much. Then we went to the Bellevue Mall to pick up some things for my mom and get Mother's Day stuff. And last night we went to a swing dance. So, that all worked out to over 9 miles of walking, running, and dancing for yesterday. Not bad. Previously my best step count has been just over 15,000. I generally get at least 5,000 a day if not more.
As I was getting ready for the dance last night, I put on a pair of black pants that I had kept after my try ons a few weeks ago, and they just hung off of me. So, I'm starting a new pile of clothes to give away. I still have a pile of things to try and take to a consignment shop, but I'll probably just take everything at one time to sell. It will be a bit more organized that way.
I got potatoes and starchy vegetables back this week, but I haven't even had anything other than some corn in my black bean and corn salsa yesterday. Basically, if I want to have starchy vegetables, I need to make a trade off with whole grains and I'd much rather have the whole wheat bread for a sandwich than a baked potato. That might change eventually, but for now, I'm not too worried about incorporating potatoes. My nutritionist, C., gave me the name of some oven-baked french fries that I can have, but I didn't make it to PCC or Whole Foods this weekend to find them. So, I'll have to try and make it over there sometime this week to see what I find. I know that I need to stay away from french fries in restaurants, since they're all deep fried and definitely not anything resembling a whole potato with skin and hence totally devoid of nutrients. I have noticed that my fat intake inches up slightly on weekends, so I need to watch that. I'm never outrageously over my range, but sometimes I'll go over by a few grams. C. hasn't been too worried about it, but it's something that I want to make sure I keep better track of. At least it's healthy fats like nuts, avocado, olive oil, etc. But you can get too much of a good thing, so I'm putting myself on notice.
Exercise has been going well. My trainer, J., and I have been playing squash once a week and it's really fun. I'm getting a little bit better each time. My IT band issue is getting a lot better. My left leg tends to have more problems than the right, but it's getting slowly better. J. did the foam rolling on me last week and really dug in on an area that was sore. After a few rounds of that, I begged for mercy. It's progress, though. J. has me do a lot of exercises to strengthen my glutes to help with that whole issue, too.
Yesterday, my pedometer tracked just over 20,000 steps, which is the highest count so far. L. and I went for a run/walk along the Burke Gilman yesterday and it was so beautiful out. We wandered over to Marymoor park and then headed back the other direction once we'd walked through the park. Having our headphones and music with us made us able to run a bit farther than we typically do. Usually we set a goal in the distance to run to and then walk, and repeat, but with the music we try to run for a whole song and it typically works. I'm really impressed that my endurance has improved so much. Then we went to the Bellevue Mall to pick up some things for my mom and get Mother's Day stuff. And last night we went to a swing dance. So, that all worked out to over 9 miles of walking, running, and dancing for yesterday. Not bad. Previously my best step count has been just over 15,000. I generally get at least 5,000 a day if not more.
As I was getting ready for the dance last night, I put on a pair of black pants that I had kept after my try ons a few weeks ago, and they just hung off of me. So, I'm starting a new pile of clothes to give away. I still have a pile of things to try and take to a consignment shop, but I'll probably just take everything at one time to sell. It will be a bit more organized that way.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
