Diary of a Mad Scientist

[Sacculina]

Hi guys! I couldn't find my old battle log. It's been buried under so many new people and months of other battle logs that I figured I would make a new one. This one will be better! I am working on figuring out my goals, but let me tell you something. I used to be a 240 lbs nerd who lounged around, complained about being lonely, and truly couldn't hand life. Now, I'm 197 lbs and I go on adventures. I spontaneously go hiking throughout the states of Virginia and Maryland. However, I am still wanting to level up.

 

Tonight, food-wise, was pretty horrible. I indulged in a cherry blossom milkshake from BGR, ate diner food for brunch, and had pizza for dinner. I feel bloated and gross, but I think I had to have something like this happen before I realize that I am slowly going down into the spiral that I was in previously. I am trying to respawn.

 

I decided to go on a 6 mile hike along the Mt. Vernon Trail in Alexandria. I started at Fort Hunt Park and walked down to Mt. Vernon Estates then returned. It's an easy paved trail, but I had to walk at a nice brisk pace because my fiance's long strides would have put me in the dust.

 

 

I will be back to figure out my goals!

 

[Sacculina]

No goals yet, but activity wise:

 

Water: 20 oz of water

Food: I have fallen off the bandwagon. Ugh.

• Lunch: Leftover flank steak w/ basalmic vinegarette sauce and sauteed carrots and asparagus. Apple on the side. A handful of leftover skittles.
• Dinner: Meatball sub with skinny fries and a cider.

Exercise:

Had a complimentary personal training session. I really wish I could afford to have personal training for the next three months, just to get myself into gear. Had a good tiring workout though.

• Foam roll
  • 30 sec calf roll
  • 30 seconds calf roll with feet twisted to side then the other
  • 30 seconds calf roll with one foot on top of the other, vice versa
  • 30 seconds hamstring roll
  • 30 seconds of hip roll with foot on knee
  • 30 seconds lower back roll with hands outstretched in front
  • 30 seconds back roll with hands behind head
  • 30 seconds upper back with arms crossed over chest and roll to shoulders
  • 5 shoulder alignments (lay lengthwise on foam roller. Use 5lb dumbell and raise and lower just the shoulder)
• Workout
  • 15 goblet squats with 15 lb dumbells
  • 50 yard sled pull with 135lbs
  • 50 yard sled push/sprint 135
  • rinse and repeat twice

[Sacculina]

Goals for January 2016:

 

- Drink 5 cups of water (I can do it!)

- Log all my meals

- Eat a side salad with lunch

 

 

 

January 11, 2016

 

Breakfast:

- 3 slices of bacon

- ham and sweet potato stir fry

- coffee w/ creamer

 

Lunch

- BK chicken nuggets

- BK fries

- Side Salad w/ cheddar cheese and ranch dressing

 

Dinner

- Italian chicken with tomato sauce

-Tortellinis

-Salad with cucumbers, tomatoes, red pepper, and sweet vidalia onion vinegerette

 

Snack

- handful of chips and onion dip

- last of the wedding cake samples

 

 

- 25 lateral leg lifts

- 25 clams

- 25 hip thrusts

- 2 minutes stretching hamstrings

[Sacculina]

Goals for January 2016:

 

- Drink 5 cups of water (I can do it!)

- Log all my meals

- Eat a side salad with lunch

 

January 12, 2016

 

Breakfast:

Wildberry & Kale smoothie with greek yogurt

Coffee w/ creamer

 

Lunch

Italian chicken with tortellini

Side salad with sweet vidalia dressing

 

Dinner

Turkey & Avocado BLT

Side Salad

Potato Chips

 

Water consumption: unknown (forgot to even write the stuff down)

 

 

Exercise:

Bench press 25lbs 3X10

knee push-ups 3X10

Leg ups 15,18,20

bench dips (knees bent) 3X10

Abductor & Adductor 95lb 3X10

Glute bridge 25lb 3x10

prowler push 25lbs x2

bosu ball punches 5lbs 30secs X 2

 

Also had physical therapy as well

[Sacculina]

Respawn time yet again! 

 

I am currently struggling with complete burn-out. It was so bad that I had to ask for help from my PA. I didn't have the motivation, energy, or spirit that I had prior. I couldn't get back into eating paleo (did a Whole30 in 2014 that changed my life forever) so I ended up with all my symptoms of IBS. My eczema and weight returned. My allergies worsened and had to be put on multiple different anti-histamines. 

 

Life-wise: I got married to an amazing bibliophilic man. Our home became a book haven once we merged our collections together. I got a beautiful nephew who made me realize that I may want children of my own some day. My sister and I have become much closer than before. I used to hate her because of situations surrounding her conception and birth, but it has taken me nearly 18 years to realize that she has had nothing to do with it. 

 

I am still a hiker, just not as often as I used to be. I started a Facebook group for other adventurous nerds in the DMV area called the Nerd Scouts, hoping that I'll find friends the way kids find friends. We have our first geocaching event this weekend that I'm completely excited about. I'm also planning on camping fairly frequently as a way to unplug and unwind from the stressors in my life and to help ease some of my burn-out symptoms.

 

I want to become more active again in the community. I never did much, but I was still hoping for instant gratification of my IRC days. Forums make me feel so lonely, but I feel like I'll make it stick this time.

 

Goals for the April:

1. log food daily

2. walk 6,000 steps a day

3. take medications as prescribed daily

 

That is it. I'm starting stupidly simple. I will cross out the days that I did this on a calendar. Check in later. 

[Sacculina]

Today, I'm trying to figure out how I should log my food. I have a MFP login, cron-o-meter login, paper/pen, and fitbit since this goal has been around for YEARS. I thought about just paper and pen, but I plan on having a caloric goal to help with portion control around May. My timeline may shift and change, but I want to take it incredibly slow.

 

I've been building up the courage to post my current picture as a way for additional accountability. I am also going to figure out my "big why" again because as life changes, my "big why" changes -- maybe that's why I have such a hard time sticking with any program. 

 

I am also going to work on a meal plan. It might end up being a four week rotation for a while (I don't like to have the same food over-and-over again). I think it'll help with the logging and keeping things simple. 

 

Be back shortly!

 

[Sacculina]

 

Big Why:

I want to be a positive influence on my family, especially my mom and sister, by showing them that everyone can become happy and healthy. I also want to be the most awesome Auntie to my 2-year old nephew who is strong enough to climb trees and roll down hills and has the stamina to play and goof-off all day long. 

 

Respawn for the nth time:

 

Started my respawn on Wednesday. Declared it with the whole world in another area in the forums, on Facebook, from the mountain tops (or my condo balcony - that counts, right?), and to my loved ones. I finished my third Whole30, realized how great I felt, but knew that I was going to revert back to my old habits quickly. I am back at my original weight when I first joined NF in 2011. I started to use LoseIt as my food tracking as I like the interface better than MFP. I can also export my information here for accountability since I have no friends on loseit at the moment. 

 

Since I restarted NFA, my new goal for this week is to track my foods for a week. I also plan on keeping my food logs public for at least 14 days so I can check off that quest. As my relatively newly adopted dog-in-crime is only supposed to go on 5-10 minute walks three times a day (recovering from TPLO surgery), I will count that towards my Walk to Modor quest for this week. I want to get back to my adventurous self. 

 

As stated above, here are my last two days of food tracking in Loseit. 

 

Date	Name	Type	Quantity	Units	Calories	Fat (g)	Protein (g)	Carbs (g)	Sat Fat (g)	Sugars (g)	Fiber (g)	Chol (mg)	Na (mg)
2/14/2018	Coffee, Brewed	Breakfast	8	Fluid ounces	2	0.5	0.28	0	0	0	0	0	4.74
2/14/2018	Cake, Coffeecake, Cheese, 6	Breakfast	1	Slice	193	8.66	3.99	25.25	3.7	0	0.57	48.45	193.23
2/14/2018	Jelly Filled Donut	Breakfast	1	Each	270	14	4	41	6	15	1	25	340
2/14/2018	Chicken	Lunch	1	Serving	180	7	32	0	3	0	0.5	125	310
2/14/2018	Rice, White	Lunch	1	Serving	210	4	3.5	40	0.5	0	1	0	345
2/14/2018	Cheese	Lunch	1	Serving	100	7.5	6	1	5	0	0	30	190
2/14/2018	Guacamole	Lunch	0.5	Serving	115	11	1	4	1.75	0.5	3	0	187.5
2/14/2018	Salsa, Tomatillo Red-Chili	Lunch	1	Serving	25	0	0	4	0	0	1.5	0	500
2/14/2018	Sesame Beef Velvet Stirfy	Dinner	1	Serving	288	14.11	27.58	11.2	4.64	4.28	1.97	53.3	583.59
2/14/2018	Zucchini Noodles	Dinner	8	Ounces	40	16	2	8	2	6	2	0	10
2/14/2018	Bar, Ice Cream, Mint Chocolate Chip	Snacks	1	Serving	230	13	2	28	n/a	n/a	1	n/a	50
2/14/2018	Conversation Hearts	Snacks	20	Pieces	187	0	0	49.33	0	48	0	0	0
2/14/2018	Apple, Granny Smith, Small	Snacks	1	Each	76	0	0.5	16.6	0	16.3	3.6	0	3

 

Date	Name	Type	Quantity	Units	Calories	Fat (g)	Protein (g)	Carbs (g)	Sat Fat (g)	Sugars(g)	Fiber (g)	Chol (mg)	Na (mg)
2/15/2018	Coffee, Brewed	Breakfast	8	fl oz	2	0.5	0.28	0	0	0	0	0	4.74
2/15/2018	Ceaser Salad, with Dressing	Lunch	1	Serving	300	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
2/15/2018	Fish, Tilapia, Cooked	Lunch	1	Serving	109	2.25	22.23	0	0.8	0	0	48.45	47.6
2/15/2018	Butternut Squash, Roasted w/ Oil	Lunch	1	Serving	56	2.45	0.9	10.75	0.35	2	0	0	4.1
2/15/2018	Orange, Navel, Peeled	Lunch	1	Each	69	0.25	1.27	17.56	0.2	11.9	3.1	0	1
2/15/2018	Sausage, Chicken, Sweet Italian, Fully Ckd	Dinner	1	Piece	130	7	14	2	2	1	0	65	480
2/15/2018	Pineapple, Chunks	Dinner	1	Cup	83	0.2	0.89	21.65	0.1	16.25	2.31	0	1.65
2/15/2018	Sauteed onions	Dinner	0.5	Cup	30	0	1	7	n/a	3	n/a	n/a	n/a
2/15/2018	Spinach, Baby, Fresh	Dinner	1	Cup	7	0.12	0.86	1.9	0.2	0.13	0.66	0	23.7
2/15/2018	Carrots, Grated	Dinner	0.5	Cup	23	0.13	0.51	5.27	0.2	2.61	1.54	0	37.95
2/15/2018	Orange Rosemary Dressing	Dinner	1	tbsp	37	1.48	0.3	3.4	0.3	3.18	0.44	4.44	40.66
2/15/2018	Cookie, Chocolate Chip, Nestle Toll House	Snacks	1	Each	370	19	3	50	10	29	1	20	340
2/15/2018	Lemonade, Mix	Snacks	12	fl oz	38	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
2/15/2018	Crackers, Cheez It, Baked	Snacks	27	Pieces	150	8	3	17	2	0	1	0	230
2/15/2018	Cheese, Cheddar, 1 oz Slice	Snacks	3	Slices	339	27.84	20.92	1.8	17.72	0.44	0	88.2	521.64
2/15/2018	Crackers, Ritz	Snacks	5	Pieces	80	4.5	1	10	1	1	0	0	135

 

 

 

 

[Sacculina]

I almost forgot to log my food. I need to start logging my walking, regardless how long the walk is. I have been going for at least 10-15 minutes with my dog. He's probably ready for longer walks, but I'm trying to not let him go too far while still recovering from his surgery. 

 

On Saturday, I helped a friend move out of her house. There was a lot of heavy lifting and moving around from 9am to 5pm. I was too exhausted to cook anything for dinner. 

 

Date	Name	Type	Quantity	Units	Calories
2/16/2018	Coffee, Brewed	Breakfast	16	Fluid ounces	5
2/16/2018	Sesame Beef Velvet Stirfy	Lunch	1	Serving	288
2/16/2018	Zucchini Noodles	Lunch	8	Ounces	40
2/16/2018	Apple, Granny Smith, Medium	Lunch	1	Each	97
2/16/2018	Flavor Twists, Honey BBQ	Lunch	28	Grams	160
2/16/2018	Water, Tap	Lunch	1	Cup	0
2/16/2018	Fried chicken sandwich	Dinner	1	Serving	323
2/16/2018	Salad, Coleslaw	Dinner	0.5	Cup	27
2/16/2018	Sriracha	Dinner	1	Teaspoon	5
2/16/2018	Honey, Amber	Dinner	1	Teaspoon	21
2/16/2018	French Fries, Steak Cut, Frozen, Cooked w/ Salt	Dinner	10	Each	202
2/16/2018	Raspberry Lager	Dinner	1	Serving	90
2/16/2018	Fitbit Adjustment	Exercise	0	minutes	0
2/16/2018	MapMyRun Workout	Exercise	15	minutes	252
2/16/2018	MapMyRun Workout	Exercise	17	minutes	288
Date	Name	Type	Quantity	Units	Calories
2/17/2018	Coffee, Brewed	Breakfast	16	Fluid ounces	5
2/17/2018	Pizza, Pepperoni, Original Crust, Large	Lunch	4	Slices	1,320
2/17/2018	Garlic knots	Lunch	4	Pieces	800
2/17/2018	Conversation Hearts	Dinner	20	Pieces	187
2/17/2018	Carrying Heavy Loads	Exercise	210	minutes	0
2/17/2018	House Cleaning	Exercise	210	minutes	851.146
Date	Name	Type	Quantity	Units	Calories
2/18/2018	Coffee, Brewed	Breakfast	16	Fluid ounces	5
2/18/2018	Iced Mocha	Lunch	1	Serving	221
2/18/2018	BLT w/ Sourdough	Lunch	1	Serving	350
2/18/2018	Chili Cheese chips	Lunch	1	Serving	160
2/18/2018	Sliders, Cheeseburger	Dinner	3	Each	570
2/18/2018	Parmesan Fries	Dinner	1	Serving	140
2/18/2018	Small  popcorn with butter	Snacks	1	Serving	370
2/18/2018	Water, Tap	Snacks	2	Cups	0
2/18/2018	Cider, Blackberry Pear	Snacks	12	Fluid ounces	180
2/18/2018	Fitbit Adjustment	Exercise	0	minutes	0
2/18/2018	MapMyRun Workout	Exercise	52	minutes	712
Date	Name	Type	Quantity	Units	Calories
2/19/2018	Coffee, Brewed	Breakfast	8	Fluid ounces	2
2/19/2018	Cold Stone Sweet Cream individuals	Breakfast	2	Each	60
2/19/2018	Sesame Beef Velvet Stirfy	Lunch	0.666	Serving	192
2/19/2018	Pineapple, Chunks	Lunch	1	Cup	83
2/19/2018	Pizza, Pepperoni, Original Crust, Large	Lunch	1	Slice	330
2/19/2018	Salad Dressing, Ranch	Dinner	2	Tablespoons	148
2/19/2018	Fresh Raw Vegetables	Dinner	2	Servings	1
2/19/2018	Pork Chops, Bone In	Dinner	8	Ounces	320
2/19/2018	Applesaice	Dinner	0.5	Serving	45
2/19/2018	Beef, Jerky, Original	Snacks	2	Ounces	162
2/19/2018	Tortilla Chips, Cool Ranch	Snacks	2	Servings	300
2/19/2018	Double Chocolate Chip Brownie	Snacks	1	Serving	240