Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Come Back Summer...

It has unfortunately slipped into that time of year when school starts again and the weather starts to get cooler. YUCK. I don't hate the fall, that would be the wrong thing to say, but the fall leads into the winter and that is something I'm not a fan of. I like football season and I LOVE October baseball, but the thought of the summer being behind me is never a good thought. Not to mention, Chris and John headed back to the caribbean and don't come back until December :( I'm sure the time will go by quickly, but right now it feels like an eternity. It was so great having them home. Last week we headed to the city twice--once for lunch at Circo which was really nice and then we went in Thursday night and visited Bobby Flay's Mesa Grill, which was also really good. The weekend was full of BBQs which went perfectly with the nice weather. Nothing better than sitting outside on a deck with good food, good company and comfortable temperatures.

It's definitely been challenging watching my diet the past week due to all the going out to dinner and BBQs and my mom's birthday. I made sure to go to the gym on Saturday morning and got a full work out in. I took my mom to breakfast afterward and I refrained from eating French toast and settled for an omelette and some oatmeal. Saturday night, I didn't eat any bread at dinner and just had a bite of cake for good luck. Sunday was my biggest challenge. I was at a BBQ and I'd done well all day...but then during the "after hours" part, out came the potato chips and cheetos...not just any cheetos but crunchy cheetos. For anyone who is a fan of cheetos you know just how easily you can go from "I'm just gonna have a few" to the entire bowl is gone. I am proud to say that after much debate I decided not to put my hands anywhere near those bowls. I know how awful they are for me and God knows how many chemicals are in those things but let's be honest, they taste really good. Some people may not understand the harm in having "a few" but if you're a weight battler you know exactly why a "few" can become a very BIG problem.

Monday night as I was winding down from the weekend, watched the "Real Housewives of NJ" reunion part 2 (gotta love the TV drama!) and then caught Bravo's new series "Thintervention" with celebrity trainer Jackie Warner. I tend to be slightly obsessed with Bravo reality shows and back a few years ago Jackie Warner had her own show called "Work Out" which showed how she and her staff trained their clients blah blah. To be honest, Jackie is a bit of a drill sergeant, but she deals with a lot of obese people and I suppose she knows that being tough is the only way to get things done. Her methods do seem to work, but only when the clients actually listen to what she tells them to do.

On this show, she has a bunch of clients that are setting out to lose at least 30lbs and some people more. Her first assignment to them is to get rid of all the sugar in their house. Anything with more than 4 grams of sugar has to get tossed. One of the guys is a sugar addict so he really struggles with it and I have to say I can completely identify with that. I LOVE sugar. Sugar is in just about everything and it is really hard to cut out completely. I have to say though, it definitely got me thinking... if I can cut out at least half of the sugar I'm currently consuming that just may help my cause. I will try to follow Jackie's rule and keep it to 4 grams and under. That is a big step for me, but I'm willing to do it.

I had a really good work out today. I did 18 minutes on the treadmill and then I decided to hit the stair master, a machine I haven't gone near in years. 5 minutes on that thing is like 20 minutes on a treadmill! I challenged myself and would skip steps or let it go down farther before stepping up again. Definitely worked up a sweat. After that, I decided to do a full body work out. I was tired after, and my knees were definitely feeling the effects of the cardio, but overall I felt good. No pain, no gain, right? I'll deal with the knee pain for the time being.

I haven't boxed in over a month and I've gotta be honest, I miss it terribly. My boxing buddy has been otherwise engaged with other things so I've had nothing to hit. I think it's about time I get myself a heavy bag. I like hitting the pads better because you have more motion not only with the punches but with your entire body, but hitting something is better than nothing. I'm definitely gonna have to look into that.

Tomorrow I've got a long day ahead of me...work all day and then class for 2 hours. Fun times. I probably won't get to the gym until Friday, but that's my goal. Until then I'll be watching my sugar and increasing the cardio. A necessary evil. Until next time...

Marisa

1 comment:

  1. yeah I kinda missed the memo on " just having a few" to the whole bowl......

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