Well Geez...why am I not losing?

Weight: 193lbs

Haven't written in a while, but that's mainly because there's no good news to report. But at least there's no bad news to report either! Today I went to the doctor and had my blood taken. The strange thing is that the nurse asked for "Ms Rau" at the door... I had checked in and I would have assumed that the receptionist who gave the nurse my chart would have noticed that I'm not female. So I joked with the nurse (actually I think she was a technician) that I did not want her to do anything like a pregnancy test on me! 

So we'll see what the results for the test are. As you all know I'm heavier really than I've ever been and I've been struggling to lose weight now for years. I'm hoping to qualify for the 20/20 program at my fitness club (proclub.com) but I also don't want to qualify. That would mean that I've really fallen off the deep end when it comes to working out and controlling my intake. 

I can't help but think that the lousy winter weather that continues here in Seattle into the second month of spring may have something to do with it..I did ride my bike outside this past weekend, but this coming weekend its supposed to snow again. Ugh...I'm completely sick of this weather. But I guess going to Austin next week will help with that...here's to hot humid sticky weather! 

Ugh…Setback

Weight: 195.4lbs

So I had a great day yesterday through the morning and afternoon, and had a solid workout of interval running for 35 minutes followed by 60 minutes of strength training. That's the good news. The bad news is what happened once I got home. It's not really horrible news, but it was the kind of night I cannot afford to repeat often. We were waiting around for our neighbor to come home and make the venison sloppy joes she had promised (and we were looking forward to). I should have bought a snack leaving the Pro Club to curb my appetite…but then again, at that point I didn't know we were not eating at home. I had thoughts of just finishing the Quinoa Tabouleh I had made the previous night and possibly finding some meat to grill for a healthy conclusion to the day. Instead as I was waiting I grabbed the bag of kettle chips and downs about a serving full. (At least I didn't finish the whole bag!) Then when we made it over to the neighbor's house she had three different kinds of cheeses to nibble on. And nibble I did. Apart from that I had a good portion of venison sloppy joe mix (I didn't have it on a bun in a late attempt to control my calories) and some steamed asparagus along with some Merlot.

So I'm up in weight today. I know that a portion of it is due to water retention from having eaten foods higher in salt than I normally eat…Lunch may have also contributed to that with Pho soup… I'm sure there's quite a bit of sodium in the beef broth that is used as the foundation…though my blood pressure reading yesterday of 124/80 did not seem to indicate that I had taken in more sodium. Today I am back to plan with two hardboiled eggs, a slice of multigrain toast with peanut butter and an apple for breakfast. I will have a salad at lunch and I will go easy on the olive oil to curb my calories from fat since that is high from the peanut butter and eggs this AM. I don't know what I will do for dinner, but I'll have to think of a tasty low-cal option to cook.

Aggressive Driver!

Weight: 193.8lbs

The good diet of the last few days is definitely having some positive effects, along with the daily exercise regime. The weekend is coming up, so I am starting to concentrate on doing well over the weekend. Last night I made a good Tabouleh using Quinoa instead of Wheat Bulger. The recipe is very simple- Quinoa, lemon juice, onion, tomato, olive oil, mint and parsley. Of course, there was no fresh mint, so I used a tiny bit of mint extract. And I added in cucumber and that was a good addition. I thought it was delicious, though Lane did not quite agree…just not the type of taste she's interested in. Its definitely a unique taste- I remember my mom making Tabouleh when I was a kid and it was a taste that grew on me…very minty. Since I know now that Lane won't be eating it, I may try adding in some sliced black olives next time…I think that would make a good addition to the recipe.

For the rest of the day I ate quite well- salad for lunch, apple for a snack and no bad snacking. I did have two glasses of red wine, which added some calories, but I was still right around my target of 1800 calories. I was 73 calories over.

Today on the way to work there was a real jerk on the road..it started on the long on-ramp to SR520 from the Seattle Arboretum. The driver ahead of me zoomed onto the on-ramp very quickly and then slammed on his brakes as he hit traffic. Then he put his vehicle in park and waited at the top of the ramp for the entire ramp to clear (around 2 minutes). Meanwhile traffic behind was piling up all the way into the arboretum. I tried to pass him on the right, but of course as soon as I did he started up again, racing to the meter at the bottom of the ramp. So then after he merges onto 520 (at top speed making sure to cut someone off) he moves into the left lane and starts driving very slowly allowing the car in front of him to pull far away. I pulled in front of him, and that seemed to piss him off royally. From the 520 bridge all the way to Redmond this guy was swerving in and out of traffic, cutting numerous people off. He would drive slow in the left lane and when people tried to pass him on the right, he would speed up to keep them from passing. I'm sure that behind him traffic must have become quite erratic- fast then slow, then fast… He never got past me after I passed him on the bridge, but he was always a couple car lengths behind. He kept going into Redmond when I exited the highway.

Luckily since I was sitting immediately behind him on the ramp and noticed what a jerk he was, I noted his license plate number and vehicle type and reported him as an aggressive driver online with the Washington State patrol. Hopefully by giving them all the details I gave them, he will get a call about his driving.

Meal Tracking

Morning weight: 194.4lbs

I'm down in weight from Monday's scare at 197lbs. I originally didn't post my weight on Monday, mostly because I am ashamed of it and was not ready to admit just how bad it got. But hey, if I cannot be honest here, then what's the point of this thing? So as usual, the first weigh in usually is after a period of bad eating and that leads to water retention, so its not really a true picture of where I am. I do think the 194 reading this morning is more accurate.

So I am now using training peaks.com to monitor not only my exercise, but also my nutrition. I just inputted my breakfast and lunch. I am amazed…I've eaten what I would consider two pretty healthy meals, but I can see that I am going to have to better balance fats, carbs and proteins. Right now I'm a bit heavy on the fats, and that's based on cottage cheese at breakfast, and the olive oil, tuna and sunflower seeds that I put on my lunchtime salad. So far today it looks like 42% of my calories have come from fat, where my target is really much closer to 30%. That being said, the fats that I have consumed have largely been good heart healthy fats. The training peaks tool is a bit tough to get started with for the nutrition tracking, but I think once I have identified the foods I normally consume as "Favorites" that will make the process easier.

Heading to the gym tonight to do at minimum 30 minutes on the bike…It's a really nice day outside but still a bit too chilly to consider cycling outside, but that should come in another few weeks.