ReSpawning

[Mrs.Nomar]

So I've been out of the game for a few months now.  
I lost 20#s from July to October last year, and held pretty steady through all the food holidays, but in the new year, took a critical hit early on (was in a car accident the last week of December, had some stiffness, but a week later could not move my neck).  So I stopped working out.  Then February hit, I was still in recovery mode with my neck, but that's usually a pretty depressing month for me.  I expected this and tried to counteract myself by talking to friends early, trying to reestablish connections so I didn't isolate myself, but I did, and gained back half what I lost.
By end of March, I have full range in my neck again, but have had a really hard time getting my a$$ moving to pick back up.  I have been snacking from coworkers' candy jar(s). And haven't paid much attention to what I'm eating.  

So first thing, I'm trying to re-dedicate to eating real, unprocessed foods, which I feel like will be difficult because I don't cook. 

I am making my lunches instead of going out for fast food.  I'm trying to have a steady supply of home-cooked meats and veggies  (granted, a lot of microwavable veggie "steamers" and the meat is still coming out half burnt :/ )  And, what seems to be the easiest to forget:  I will eat "homemade" breakfast.  Which means either some form of "overnight oats," a PB-Banana (+honey and Almond Silk) shake, or, if I completely space or crunch my time to tight, to have a ready supply of Nature Valley Bars, to keep my from reaching for that candy jar on the next desk mid-morning.

 

As for exercise, I have no motivation for it at all. But I know, "screw motivation, focus on discipline"  For this, I have the support of my Magwai, who is either super sweet and snuggly, but if I don't take her out for a walk (or jog, with intermittent stop-and-sniffs) she will turn gremlin on me. 

 

So thus far, I'm at least getting 30 minutes of walk/jog/sprinting in the morning, whether I like it or not.
Ideally, I'll also be trying the Betty Rocker 30 day challenge as well (Just 15 minutes a day!), but again, energy and motivation are still very lacking.

Mostly, I'm hoping to use this here as a kind of tracker or diary to keep tabs on myself, and why not do it with thousands of strangers able to view and track with me

So, gearing up for Spring ReBoot!

[Mrs.Nomar]

Also gonna steal this spot for pertinent updates/ status I guess.

 

In case all are wondering, I'm 5'2" and currently 170 lbs.
I'm working my way down to a healthy BMI ≤ 25  (which equates to ≤ 131 #s)  
First checkpoint is to get out of "Obese" range of 30+ (which means, once I get down to a consistent weight of ≤ 163#, I'll officially be merely overweight  ) and I'm thinking I'll earn myself a new piece of fitness wear (or make a workout tank.  I've got this great Tshirt from TheroKing that has an awesome "Punish the Competition" icon on it.  I'm not typically competitive, but it looks kinda bad a$$ for a pink Tshirt)
 

*4/26 - 169.6 this morning

 

[Mrs.Nomar]

So starting today (already late for the challenge, I know)

• had a half hour jaunt with Pretzel (aforementioned Magwai) which took us 1.71 miles (plus a half a block sprinting as she tried to chase a neighbor also out for his morning run, but I just could not keep up, so we lost him)
• Food stuffs:
  • Breakfast was standard quad espresso with honey and Almond Silk and a banana-peanut butter-honey-silk shake
  • Lunch was maybe 8 or so Oz steak
  • Also had office coffee throughout the day
  • For dinner I had a bowl of chicken with bbq sauce and a Guinness
  • and had a small bowl of mini wheats for dessert

 

[Mrs.Nomar]

Friday -

• Skipped our run because I start work an hour earlier, and did not manage my time well this morning
• Food:
  • Started the day with a rockstar.
  • I made some overnight oats with an apple and a banana stuffed in. It was about 23 cups worth total. I ate half for breakfast and half for lunch
  • I finished the supply of chicken for dinner (maybe half a quart worth?) with barbecue sauce.

 

Saturday -

• I woke up at 5 am, had a rockstart to get started, managed half an hour walk/jog with Pretzel
• Food:
  • I had a smoothie with protein powder, banana, peanut butter, almond silk and honey
  • Lunch was half a can of progresso chicken soup with rice, plus corn and more chicken to bulk it up 
  • Has some pork loin steak with A1 for dinner with a Guinness
  • Mini wheats cereal for dessert 

 

Sunday - 

• Was actually out for an hour with Pretzel.  Since I didn't have anywhere to be I let her lead, and she felt adventurous.
• Food:
  • Had coffee, again, nowhere to be, I took it easy.
  • cooked 2 eggs and spring mix and cheese to make an omelet.  Set off the smoke alarm, but it came out delightfully crispy.
• Frankly, it being such a lazy day, I didn't keep track very well
  • Gonna say I had half a rack of ribs at some point, and I remember rice, with barbecue sauce.
  • I think I also had another pork loin steak 
  • I know I had some juice and 2 small bowls of mini wheat cereal

 

Monday - 

• Pretzel and I were out for an hour and 45 minutes and she made a new friend named ChiChi, riled up some some big dog neighbors and had a good ole' time.
• Food:
  • Coffee and banana, PB, Protein, Silk and honey smoothie
  • Ate off the other half of the ribs and rice through the afternoon and drank maybe 3 cups of juice

[Xena]

You're off to a great start, and rewarding yourself with a new fitness shirt is a great idea.

 

No worries about the cooking. Lots of delicious things are just very simple ingredients put together.

[Mrs.Nomar]

Thank you. I'm just trying to get back on the saddle and stay steady for now.

Fortunately, food-wise, my husband left me with many cooked meats, 2/3rds of which I did have to freeze because it was enough to probably last me a month, which is why many of my meals are so meat focused.  I've gone through about a third so far, I guess I could be more creative with their servings, but I've been really lazy as of late and have tastes simple enough to suffice  

[Mrs.Nomar]

Tuesday: (my Monday  )

• Action
  • Pretzel woke me at 5 am again, which was only 30 minutes before my alarm, but I feel like I missed something vital in that half hour.
    • She and I were our for half an hour. We didn't go that far because I just can't get my a$$ going today. And she riled up those same neighbor dogs that could swallow her whole.  I think she has a complex.
  • I had time to do 1 round of the Betty Rocker 30 day challenge before I had to get ready for work
• Food:
  • I just had coffee (which I should clarify: consists of a quad espresso, tbsp honey and about 8 to 10 oz Almond silk)
  • I'll finish the chicken soup, corn, more chicken I had on Saturday (and conveniently left at work).
  • Dinner was the last of the pork loin steak with A1 and juice

[Mrs.Nomar]

Wednesday

I'm still feeling pretty generally fatigued, but it's supposed to rain today, and it's pretty overcast out.

• Action
  • But Pretzel and I went out.  And she saw a donkey and gave chase for half a mile.  Typically she would just dash at it, it would stop and look at her to scoff at her brass, but this one was terrified and kept running away from her.  She only stopped because she's leashed and I couldn't keep up.  She then continued to drag me after all the little rabbits coming out of the woodwork until it was time to turn around and go home. 
    • Just over 30 minutes.
  • Also did day 2 of the Betty Rocker 30 Day Challenge 15 minute workout
• Food
  • I had my standard morning coffee, and had a protein-PB-banana-honey smoothie post workout
  • I forgot lunch, but happened to have a packet of Maple & Brown Sugar cream of wheat, with which I ate a Nature valley bar. Then had another bar about an hour later
  • Then had some Blue Diamond's habanero BBQ almonds as a snack
  • Dipping into the beef, ate some kalbi style ribs.

[Mrs.Nomar]

Ok, so missed about a week of updates, but I did manage to keep up my morning walk/jog with Pretzel.  A couple mornings were more walk-y than jog-y, but I've been getting outside at least half an hour every morning.
Monday we had a bit of a coyote scare when a coyote started following me and my pup.  Not stalking or chasing, but just following us.  I picked up Pretzel and yelled at the coyote and threw some rocks, and it froze, but after a minute, kept sauntering behind us.  So I walked backwards holding her for half a block (about a quarter mile) until I started passing fenced properties (so if the coyote wanted to keep following us he'd have to come out into the road again), and when I couldn't see him anymore, I figured maybe he got bored, but I still carried her around the corner and up another half block before I was in the area of the neighborhood with fully fenced properties and put her down and headed straight back home.  
On the way, she stopped and sniffed at something in the road that I didn't see (I was still looking up and around for mr. coyote) and when she didn't keep walking with me I finally notice she was sniffing a baby rattlesnake! 
Fortunately, it had already been dead for some time, but had it been alive, well, I wold have felt absolutely awful.

 

Food wise, I kinda lost track. 

Friday and Saturday we had Nacho Day at work, and I know I had donuts Friday because it was a staff meeting. I'm sure I had leftover donuts Saturday as well.  
Sunday I ate better. Breakfast was peanut butter-banana sandwich, which kind of carried over to lunch.  I think I had tri tip for dinner and cereal for dessert.

Yesterday I had cereal for breakfast, meat and veggies for lunch, and dinner was a home made "moons over my turkey" sandwich. Dessert was cottage cheese and berries with honey. And at some point I had a couple cups of juice.

[Mrs.Nomar]

Tuesday:

I actually woke up feeling pretty good this morning.  I even did dishes and some light vacuuming before coffee.  *this is coming from someone who, although waking at 5, doesn't actually become cognizant until roughly 10, and even then, I'll probably still be fatigued and caffeinating throughout the day. 

Actually I'm pretty much always tired or fatigued, no matter how much sleep I've had.  I wouldn't say I'm bursting with energy, but the more I'm thinking about it, I may have had a serious problem.  I did finally give in about a month ago and started taking an ACE inhibitor for crazy high BP (in conjunction with a diuretic which the dr tried first, but still wants me to stay on ) . . .

Anyway,

• I did take Pretzel out for a walk/jog, and we spent a good portion of it actually jogging! I took her straight to the "developed" part of the neighborhood (the part of the with a majority of the properties fenced off), so if there were coyotes, they'd have to come into the road, in full view, if they were curious enough.  But it's getting hotter sooner out in the desert, so we kept it short either way.
• I have not at all been keeping up with Betty Rocker.  That seems to be too much exertion to dedicate myself to first thing in the morning.  And after work I can't get myself geared up for anything, let alone anything HIIT related.  So I'm switching gears halfway through and going back to a very simple OPM-ish routine (which I have woefully gotten worse in these past months).  I was able to do 20 push ups, crunches and squats (in sets of 4). This is half of what I was able t do last year  But it's easier for me to get done, so I think I can be more consistent with these for now, and once I'm back up to "full strength" I can tackle bigger challenges . . .

Food:

• So far I've just had my coffee and a nature valley bar. 
• I've brought sandwich makins for lunch. 
• And tonight my hubby is comin home!  Which usually means salmon and fresh meats and delicious whatnots for him to prepare (as I'm a terrible housewife and don't cook).
  • We ended up not eating dinner (or at least just kinda snacking), because he and I had separately eaten a big lunch.

[Mrs.Nomar]

Wednesday

• Workout
  • Skipped the run because hubby is home and will want to nap with Pretzel, but she won't be allowed in bed if she's all dusty and dirted.  We did, however, do a Pup-pilates routine from one of my favorite youtube "digital trainters," but Pretzel, bein a lil 'Daddy's Puppy' got a little too distracted with hubby about halfway through and made me finish it by myself (I've gotten so spoiled for her attentions!)
  • Also did my work-up-to-OPM circuit, which I will find a better name for.
• Food:
  • Coffee. Breakfast I ate a Nature Valley bar . . . I probably had a lot of co-worker's desk candy as well. Rockstar was definitely involved.
  • Had an apple and a Del Taco Shrimp burrito for lunch because hubby spoils me when he's home. 
  • Dinner was salmon and salad (which is our go-to decadent "celebrate because he's back" meal.

Thursday 

• Workout
  • Tried to go out for our w/og (walk/jog).  But Pretzel was very curious this morning and stopped and sniffed a lot.  But I ran into this the other day, and started just doing squats every time she stopped for a sniff, until my hamstrings started crying then I started doing butt kicks. We didn't go very far today, but I still feel like I at least did something.
  • I intend to practice OPM-ing this evening
• Food:
  • Coffee. Ate a banana and a nature valley bar for breakfast, also poured another cup of standard-brewed coffee from work with some delightful italian creamer someone brought.
  • Brought makins for a tuna melt for lunch (bread, tuna, cheddar, mustard), plus some fruit for a snack.
  • Dinner will be tri tip (which was roasting in a crockpot with a chunk of rosemary overnight, I am so excited!)
  • I did have half a pint of Open Nature cashew milk caramel cluster ice cream

[Mrs.Nomar]

Friday:

• Skipped running because Pretzel was way to preoccupied with her new puppy! 
  Also didn't sleep as well as usual because the new puppy is way more vocal than Pretzel was at that age and cried and whimpered all night! and yet, still had energy to run around with Pretzel first thing in the morning!  
  So, I was too tired to tempt Pretzel with a w/og this morning anyhow.
  • But I will say, I do miss it.  So that's a major checkpoint on my journey, when I get comfortable enough with an exercise I miss it when I skip it, even if I can't muster the energy for it.  Maybe I'll do something on my lunch today, or tonight, . . . I'll post about it later.
• Food:
  • I ate a banana and Nature Valley bar for breakfast.
  • Brought an apple and Lentil Progresso soup for lunch
  • Had some leftover tri tip for dinner, but with veggies this time, and some wine, but I only drank 2 gulps before the sleepies hit.
    • Oh, and a bowl of cereal for dessert
       

[Mrs.Nomar]

Saturday:

• Still tired, puppy kept me up, and Pretzel was whining because she kept wanting to check on the puppy.
  • No cardio.  I'm planning to work on push ups, sit ups, squats and under-table-pull-ups, because I can't pull up yet.  
• Food
  • Had morning coffee, a banana and nature valley bar for breakfast.
    • Also got some work coffee with creamer 
  • Brought chicken soup for lunch, which I'll fluff up with leftover veggies
    • And an apple snack
  • Dinner will be tri tip, and maybe a zucchini.  I could eat a zucchini.

[Xena]

On 5/8/2018 at 1:45 PM, Mrs.Nomar said:

Actually I'm pretty much always tired or fatigued, no matter how much sleep I've had.  I wouldn't say I'm bursting with energy, but the more I'm thinking about it, I may have had a serious problem.  I did finally give in about a month ago and started taking an ACE inhibitor for crazy high BP (in conjunction with a diuretic which the dr tried first, but still wants me to stay on ) . .

 

Any ideas what might help with this? Could be lots of different things. One that's common in women is low iron.

[Mrs.Nomar]

On 5/12/2018 at 7:10 PM, Xena said:

 

Any ideas what might help with this? Could be lots of different things. One that's common in women is low iron.

My doc did confirm that it is a common side effect of my medication and that I'll feel "off" until my body gets used to having a normal bp (it was crazy high for at least a decade).  All my other blood work seems normal.  He did recommend to just keep exercising and the dopamine release should normalize my energy.  I have been feeling better the last couple days, until we got the puppy, who we're still trying to get to stay asleep for a full night.

Thank you though.  Didn't think anyone was actually following this, so please excuse any previous internal dialogue portions. 

[Mrs.Nomar]

Sunday:

• Forgot the actual numbers, but I think I got up to 20 each of sit and push ups and squats.  I wanna say I did like 12 under-table pull ups.
• Food:
  • Coffee for breakfast,
    • made an egg and cheese sandwich for Brunchy meal
  • Dinner was badly fried (came out more smooshy) zucchini "fries" and microwave-steamed broccoli (also not as crisp as I hoped) and a slice of tri-tip with cran-cherry juice.
    • And a scoop of ice cream for dessert.

 

Monday:

• Hubby was able to come home late Sunday night because he had a load passing through town  So he arranged to take his 10 hour break home last night and he didn't have to go again until the afternoon! So I skimped exercise today in favor of relaxing with him.
• Food:
  • Regular coffee and a nature valley bar.
  • Lunch was a splerge, asp expected, because hubby is home.  We split a "Belly Buster Burger" from the gas station down the road (it's one of those semi-travel stores with a restaurant attached), with fried potato curls.
  • Was still pretty full for dinner so just had a microwaved sweet potato

[Mrs.Nomar]

Tuesday:

• Got up at 4 am because that's when the new puppy decided it was play time, which Pretzel was fully on board for, whether I liked it or not.
  • So had time to adjust and re-did that Betty Rocker Day 1 video.
  • Sill plan to work on OPM workout tonight.

--feeling good today, kinda tired, but not so groggy, despite to 4am wake up call

• Food:
  • Had coffee, apple and most of a banana for breakfast (Pretzel also likes banana and was too quick for me to fend off first thing AM, got a chunk for her breakfast as well).
  • Brought some taco makins for lunch (chicken, salsa, lettuce, corn tortillas and sweet bell peppers)
    • plus, brought almonds to snack on.  *I feel so prepared *
      • Then I had boss's birthday cake . . . it was tres leches P:
  • Was still kinda full for dinner, just had a salad.

 

[Xena]

7 hours ago, Mrs.Nomar said:

so please excuse any previous internal dialogue portions

Internal dialogue is completely allowed :-)

 

6 hours ago, Mrs.Nomar said:

Got up at 4 am because that's when the new puppy decided it was play time, which Pretzel was fully on board for, whether I liked it or not.

You got out-voted!

 

Great that you got to spend some good time with your husband!

[Mrs.Nomar]

22 hours ago, Xena said:

You got out-voted!

 

Great that you got to spend some good time with your husband!

lol, I have been getting outvoted by them a lot lately.  But they're so cute, I can't be mad about it.

 

And thanks, my husband has been getting a lot of home time lately and he's even been granted his request to not have to take truck loads into a state with very tough trucking regulations. I don't know what he's doing, but they must really like him  

[Mrs.Nomar]

Wednesday

• I did the pup-pilates video again this morning, and another abs video from the same youtube channel.  It was low impact, but still difficult and left me sore.
• Food
  • I had coffee and banana for breakfast, and some almonds for a snack
  • Lunch was a chickarina progresso soup
  • I'm still not sure what I'll have for dinner.  
    • Hubby was able to come home again last night (yay!) (I think they might be putting him on a dedicated route in the area so he can be home more.  Again, they must really like him  )  But I had only cooked enough for chicken me for the week, and I'm 5'2," . . . and he's 6'something . . . so no more chicken.
      • not really all that hungry, and was too tired to cook anything anyhow.  I had a sweet potato with butter and honey.
      • Only consumed 995 calories today though (oops  )

I have been invited to the gym after work by a coworker.  This will be my first time ever stepping foot in an actual, established gym. Except for when I had gym class in school I guess.

She has agreed to let  me creepily shadow her until I get a feel for it  

Oh, and hubby says he'll be back for sure in a couple of days because he has a "reset" coming up because his hours are running out. So, more yay! 

[Xena]

57 minutes ago, Mrs.Nomar said:

I have been invited to the gym after work by a coworker.  This will be my first time ever stepping foot in an actual, established gym. Except for when I had gym class in school I guess.

She has agreed to let  me creepily shadow her until I get a feel for it

 

That's great!

[Mrs.Nomar]

I actually really liked the gym.  I just pictured a bunch of machines I don't know how to use unless I paid some crazy premium to have someone show me.  But it was really pretty inherently standardized and structured.  And I got to watch the Vegas Knights game on the treadmill's little personal TV! (yay for temptation bundling!)

But it did make me feel a tad inadequate, only because I'm usually a kind of person that can do some kind of steady pace for days.  But with my meds, I'm still getting dizzy spells with exertion.  Something the dr said will go away as my body acclimates to the lower bp, but I wish I knew how long that would be.  So we didn't do all that much. Walked for a bit, then did some leg machines.

 

As for Thursday:

• Did 2 10 minute butt videos from go-to youtube pilates channel so far.
  • But just some low impact because puppy and pretzel kept me up late (again) and woke me up early (again) 
  • Also got up to 15 under-table-pull-ups in sets of 5, 
  • did 
• Food
  • Had coffee and apple with Peanut Butter for breakfast, and a rockstar, because above.
  • Lunch was a pre-made quinoa salad with artichoke and palm something from Walmart that was awesome!
  • And a tuna taco for dinner because I'm avoiding grocery shopping

[Mrs.Nomar]

Friday

• Workout
  • 20 minutes of youtube vids
• Food:
  • Breakfast:
  • Lunch: Tuna taco
  • Dinner: Salad qwith strawberries
    • Plus 2 red velvet cookies and almonds for snacks

Saturday: Hubby came home, and it was his birthday, so I didn't track so much.  Don't think I did any exercise

• Food: 
  • Breakfast: I know I had coffee and banana
  • Lunch: Brought a Cesar salad kit that I added an apple to.  I think I had some popcorn too.
  • Dinner: We went to Denny's because it was late and not much else was open.  I had a crazy spicy skillet with eggs, which carried over to breakfast the next morning
    • Pretty sure we had ice cream that evening too.  I would've had lactaid chocolate mocha almond

Sunday

• Food
  • Know I had crazy spicy skillet leftovers for breakfast, and steak for dinner.  Anything in between, I forget.
• No exercise

Monday

• Workout
  • Did 20 minutes of youtube vids
• Food:
  • Breakfast was toast with butter and South Carolinan peach jam P:
  • Lunch was a sandwich with black forest ham
  • • Had one of hubby's Atkins protein shakes post exercise
  • Dinner: we got a sam's club rotisserie chicken, put that in naan with some avocado and goat cheese P;
    • and had ice cream for dessert

[Mrs.Nomar]

Well, that's the end of the challenge I suppose.  

I've started using the lose it app to help keep track of my eats and visually see where my calories and macros are coming from, which itself has made me think more about what I eat and how far my food will take me through the day.

I've noticed that I don't really get junk food cravings like I expected.  In fact, if I do have that cookie or donut, I don't enjoy it.  They just don't taste as good as my brain thinks it will, and I end up craving some kind of fruit after anyway. (Or dark chocolates. I'll never not like dark chocolates! I digress,) My issue is being too lazy to plan my meals, which I already know and expected.  I've tried to keep some quick snacks and meals to go, but I guess I'm still working on watching portions, because what I've been bringing still leaves me hungry.  So I'll have to work on quick and filling healthy foods.

 

I have missed a few days of workouts, but they seem to mostly be due to either lack of sleep the previous night because puppy is still learning our schedule, or hubby is home.  

He's so warm and snuggly, I don't wanna get out of bed.  Plus, even after 8 years, I'm still self conscious working out in front of him. 

Either way, it's a pattern I should figure out a contingency plan for.

 

All in all, my challenge this round was to basically show up.  I didn't get 100% but kept more consistent than I expected

[Xena]

Great job!

...and I agree with you. It's ok to work out with another person, but hard to exercise in a shared space when the other person is just watching tv or something. It feels really weird.

Congratulations on finishing, and good luck with whatever you do next.