- had a skype interview that I completely forgot about, but went alright (Except the repeated “Well you haven’t held a 40 hour week on-site job in 1.5 years, what have you been doing during this time” question.  Umm, has anyone checked the economy recently???)

- went to the oh so glorious gym a full 2 hours early….not recommended as it was packed —  Running 1 miles in 12:30, walked at 5 incline for another 0.30 miles ; Stationary bike 7.75 miles in 30 minutes ; Ran 0.50 miles with puppy untimed

- fought with a bank deposit machine (it won, I’m not happy, will deal with it tomorrow since today is Columbus Day and banks are closed — but schools aren’t?!)

- spent 6 hours doing contract work and realizing that I need to be more organized by Wednesday =-O

- spent 3 hours in the kitchen baking awesome goodness foods for the week

- am now going to watch Netflix and pack

Not done today that needs to get done ASAP — print up thesis stuff, I’ll do that tomorrow as my desk is nowhere near as clean as I need it to be to access my printer…oops?

Also, this happened on mfp today:

How in the world did I manage to eat under my goal carbs without even trying?  And the protein.  Kind of impressed.  Not really late evening hungry either as I found the magic trick to keeping metaformin from killing my stomach at night — whole wheat saltine crackers with my Better ‘N Butter low sodium peanut butter spread on it.  

So I ran 11.7 miles on a semi-newish trail.  Ever since I started running longer distances I’ve taken this trail that’s a mile from my house and headed north.  Why north? Because that’s where the trailhead with bathroom and water is.  I know that for a fact.  And today I can confirm it’s the only trailhead with bathroom for at least 10 miles of the trail.  The 4 I run from my house, and the 6 I ran today from my house southward.  The south part is nicer than the northern part, mainly because the hills aren’t nearly as steep.  There are hills, rolling at times, but they are shaded and I can actually see the other side of the hill unlike the northern ones…so hooray for that!  

Either way, I cranked out my long run miles for the day and immediately hoped into the shower and back out because we were having a dinner guest.  My body regrets it sooooo much.  I’m sore in places I usually don’t get sore in.  My ankle is wrapped tightly with an ankle brace because it hurts (more than usual post run), I’ve been in my compression sleeves since 5 and really don’t want to take them off even though I know I need to, and everytime I move or get up from my bed a whole other shooting pain comes from my thighs and back.  I’m hoping that an ice bath tomorrow *might* help it some—it’s not too late even though I’ve already run for an ice bath tomorrow, is it?

All in all, I wasn’t in the best of shape for today’s run because I didn’t have lunch, stayed an hour and a half after religious school, and had another not so awesome night (note: I can sleep through howling winds but when the cat decides to cry out in the middle of the night I’m up in an instant).  Plus headwind for half the run.  Still managed decent pace.

Here’s some evening photo tidbits that I wanted to share:

Taking over my bed, one nude picture at a time. (There are plenty more on Facebook!).  He’s allowed to sleep with me tonight because no alarm clock in the A.M.  I went to grab an ice pop and came back to him on my comforter sleeping just like that. — His day?  Sleeping, walking 5 miles, chewing on a rawhide bone.  

Yeah, everyday will NOT be like today.  1400 calories burned from 11.7 miles running, 30 minutes stretching, and 1.25 miles walking the puppy this evening. 

And now…I finish off a Netflix movie and hope that my run actually helps me sleep better.  And that the dog gives me back my covers and part of my bed.

I haven’t been honest with myself recently.  Nor with ya’ll.

I’ve been eating a lot more than I usually do.  Unhealthy things. Double servings. Sugar. Salt. You name it and I’ve eaten it.

But, I’ve logged it ALL in myfitnesspal and haven’t gone over calories.

But my body feels bad. Terrible. Processed food really does not bode well with my body and I need to realize this.

I thought I was doing well with things, but something snapped last week and I just fluttered down further and further. Animal crackers. Spaghetti. Chinese food. Potato Chips. Pretzels. Chex Mix. More animal crackers.

I think I know the tipping point—my 8th rejection in a week from jobs I applied for. It gets old the “Dear Ms. ——, We regret to inform you….”  Couple that with finals, thesis writing, and some serious stress for not having friends around to get out and hang out with and it just gets messy.

Food has always been my turning to point. I didn’t over indulge massively, but to go from eating so healthy to eating processed crap really shows in my body and makes me feel sluggish.

The bright side? I kept to running.  Only my eating habits got thrown out the window.

So tumblr peeps, this week I am making a promise to myself that I want you to help me keep—especially for those that are my friends on myfitnesspal—I WILL NOT touch animal crackers (which will be alright since there are none left in the house), potato chips, or spaghetti.

I am going back to eating my squashes, ground turkey meat, and yams. Going to load up on spinach, salads, and fruits this week.  If I have a sugar overload it’ll be because of natural sugar and not processed foods’ sugar.

I was looking back at myfitnesspal for food over the past week.  And I noticed a pretty awesome trend for my dinner meals — protein (aka turkey meat in some form) and vegetables loaded with carbs (aka squash).

How is this different from usual?  Usually I eat some sort of processed carb for dinner — spaghetti, rice, bread

But in the past week I’ve consumed more squash than I have in the past year.  And I’m super impressed.  Yes, I’ve made spinach lasagna, but the sole purpose of the meal wasn’t to have noodles for carbs, it was to have everything as a whole.

And to this I am proud.  That despite being limited with the way I can cook in my parents’ house I have been able to consume a healthier variety of foods.  And that includes snacks as well.  Although I’m sort of tired of eating the same stuff over and over again, I’m quickly noticing that it isn’t tired because I don’t like the taste but tired because of the lack of variety.

I count this all as a win.  To be able to look at myfitnesspal and realize that my diet is changing and right on the goals I set for myself for November—to eat more vegetables and fruits.

So this happened 2 days ago.

And now is probably not a good time to mention how when I get nervous I tend to snack heavily.

Today’s calorie input is gonna be HIGH.  And I can’t really workout until tomorrow because I need to do laundry.  But at least I’ll be able to walk the dog tonight.

Day 1 of busy and nerves down, 4 more to go.

Ummm, really?  I remember when I first signed up for mfp, it was the same day that I started this weight loss journey.  December 26, 2010.  So then why has it taken me over half a year to finally significantly realize just how important mfp is?  A good friend of mine, who has never had a major weight problem, was logging everything onto mfp to see why she couldn’t lose 5 pounds (she’s as thin as a pencil, but still wanted to lose a little gut).  She’s the one who got me into running and I did my first 2 5Ks with her before heading off on my own running journey.  She’s faster than me, her running resume is more accomplished than mine, and she’s someone that I look to for running advice.

I remember the date well, it was a Tuesday evening, and we were having our usual Chinese dinner with Biggest Loser, Glee, and Dancing with the Stars evening.  We’d had it for 2.5 years (and I really miss it being that I moved back home so seeing her is a 2 hour drive away).  She mentioned about logging into mfp and inputting in everything she ate.  I knew I should do it, too, especially since I had transitioned from paper logging on my calories to just eating the same things over and over so I knew my daily calories.  But I hadn’t lost a single pound in nearly 3 months at that point.  And when I was losing the most weight was when I was paper logging my calories.  So perhaps I should try it again.

While on mfp logging for 85 days I think I’ve only lost 5-7 pounds.  I always wonder is that 5-7 pounds I would have lost without logging?  Or is it something that I needed to physically see before I could lose additional weight.  Also, the initial weight loss I had, I now realize was just that, the initial weight loss.  You always lose more in the beginning.

Either way, I am shocked that for the past 85 days I have religious inputted in every morsel (and I mean every morsel) that has been put into my body, every sip of water that has been consumed, and every physical activity that I have participated in.  For EIGHTY FIVE DAYS!  That’s just remarkable to me.

July Goals:

1. Log weekly miles & workouts on DailyMile <—when I did workouts they were logged

2. Keep up with 1/2 Marathon Training Schedule <—runs weren’t kept up with as much as cross training during 2.5 weeks of July, so half win

3. Do 30 Day Shred for 30 non-consecutive days (running days no 30 Day Shred) <—did not happen.  And I honestly don’t know if I can stomach to do it for 30 Days or not

4. Do not overindulge in this last month at school. <—YES!  I joined myfitnesspal and this helped a whole lot without overindulging.

5. Lose 8 pounds this month.  Really would love for this to happen because then I’d be < 1 pound away from 21X for my birthday month. <—did not happen, I lost a couple of pounds to finally get out of the 230s, but not enough to make a large dent in 21X for my birthday.  Still, a loss or maintain is still really good, so I’ll take it as a win.

August Goals:

1. Finish as much as I can of 24 for 24 Challenge

2. Swim 3 miles a week

3. Lose 6 pounds to get to 219 and say goodbye to the 220s

4. Continue with daily updates of myfitnesspal

5. Continue weekly updates of dailymile

6. Try 2 new recipes for dinner