Marleah's Check-In

marleah · Post by **marleah** » Thu Jul 09, 2009 12:07 pm

Wed 7/9/09 - SUCCESS

B: Cereal with walnuts
L: Pasta with sauce, ciabatta roll
D: Layered taco, spinach salad with walnuts

Exercise: 30 min yoga, 15 min walking

Pretty good day - still not losing, but holding steady. And I know that I can't just go by what a few days say ... oh well!

marleah · Post by **marleah** » Mon Jul 20, 2009 12:18 pm

So a quick summary of last week:

It all went pretty well - I did have an "S-event" on Wednesday evening, since a friend took me out for my birthday which actually fell on Saturday. The weekend went fine as well - although I had way too much sugar (banana chocolate chip muffins / chocolate cake) and got an upset stomach Saturday night! I just can't do that much sugar anymore, I am finding - and that's ok with me. Sunday I didn't go all out, just had some popcorn when we went to see the new Harry Potter movie and some extra fruit during the day.

I'm going to try to get back into posting every day. That helps me stay on track a lot more and keep my motivation up.

marleah · Post by **marleah** » Tue Jul 21, 2009 11:56 am

So much for getting back on track - I started getting a sore throat Sunday evening, and then on Monday it was full blown sore throat and sinus issues! It was actually so bad that I went home sick from work for the first time in 14 months! I went to the doc and got an antibiotic - apparently it may turn into mono or strep, although it is not there yet.

So I am having sick days - yesterday I actually had (vegan) ice cream for lunch because it felt so good on my throat.

The thing that frustrates me the most is that I couldn't go for a run this morning! I am to the point where I am running for about 30 minutes at a time, and I know it is just going to be so hard to get back into it after a few days or a week off from it. But I've done it before, so it's better to rest and get to feeling better than push myself so that I crash.

Yuck!

marleah · Post by **marleah** » Tue Jul 28, 2009 12:15 pm

Mon 7/27/09 - SUCCESS

B: Cereal with walnuts, vegan yogurt
L: Potato soup with green beans, small salad, apple
D: Udon noodles and green beans with peanut sauce, spinach salad with walnuts, red grapes

I was worried about today being hard since last week was all sick days (and necessarily!), but it really wasn't bad at all. It was actually kind of a relief to be able to follow a schedule again. I don't usually do the vegan yogurt, but I'm on an antibiotic so yogurt is a must right now. I'm not sure if all the S days have affected my weight, but I'm planning on weighing in tomorrow morning. I'm starting to feel better finally, and that's the important thing.

Nichole · Post by **Nichole** » Tue Jul 28, 2009 12:25 pm

Sounds like you're doing pretty well. You can run for 30 minutes!? That is awesome, congrats

marleah · Post by **marleah** » Tue Jul 28, 2009 5:51 pm

Well, I was up to 30 minutes - but now that I've been not running for two weeks since I was sick, I'm not sure how far back I've gone! I've been using the Couch to 5K plan - there are podcasts you can download on iTunes that guide you through and help you work up to 5K week by week! I swear by them, and that's the only thing that has gotten me running - and actually enjoying it!

Nichole · Post by **Nichole** » Tue Jul 28, 2009 5:56 pm

Ah, I've read the article about that before. I can never get into running myself... But good luck getting back into it!

marleah · Post by **marleah** » Wed Jul 29, 2009 12:16 pm

Tue 7/28 - SUCCESS

B: Cereal with walnuts, vegan yogurt
L: Udon with peanut sauce and green beans, spinach salad, apple, vegan yogurt
D: Grilled tofu, spinach salad with walnuts, red grapes

Not much to say about yesterday - put in quite a few hours prepping and studying for comps (yuck!) and helped my mom with her daycare. My mom made the comment that my face looked skinnier, and I said it was probably because I was sick all last week and was on the "soup and popsicle" diet without any solid food. She replied, "That's the kind of S diet I need - No Solids!" I thought that was pretty funny.

marleah · Post by **marleah** » Thu Jul 30, 2009 12:16 pm

7/29/09 - SUCCESS

B: Cereal with walnuts, vegan yogurt
L: Udon with peanut sauce and green beans, spinach/tomato/carrot salad, apple
D: Hobo meal (with asparagus in it! yum!), red grapes, vegan yogurt, spinach/walnut salad

Well, today I got back into running. I figured if I didn't do it now, I never would. I planned on just doing a couple intervals of 10 minutes of running each with a walking break in between, but then I decided I could do a whole 20 minute run. Well, I didn't find out until halfway through that it was actually a 25 minute run, which isn't too far behind where I was before I was sick. Oops! I walked for a minute or so in the middle because my knees were hurting, but I finished the run! So ... I kind of overdid it. I think I am going to do some yoga today here at home to stretch out.

marleah · Post by **marleah** » Fri Jul 31, 2009 12:08 pm

Thu 7/30/09 - SUCCESS

B: Cereal with walnuts, vegan yogurt
L: Hobo meal, spinach/carrot/tomato salad, apple
D: 2 No-Queso Quesadillas (from The Vegan Table cookbook), salad with walnuts, banana

The No-Queso Quesadillas were delicious! Basically they are filled with hummus (and green onions and a bit of salsa) instead of cheese. I used corn tortillas (smaller, so 2 fit on the plate), and they were so tasty. Really quick too!

Still sore from running yesterday. I was thinking about going to the gym today and lifting weights, but I think instead I will just do some extra walking around town.

Nichole · Post by **Nichole** » Fri Jul 31, 2009 12:43 pm

Sounds like you're doing great! Good job starting up the running again. Your meal sounds so yummy! I haven't had hummus in quite some time, mmm.

marleah · Post by **marleah** » Sat Aug 01, 2009 12:11 pm

Fri 7/31/09 - SUCCESS

B: Cereal with walnuts
L: Hobo meal, carrots, tomatoes, apple
D: dinner at Chinese restaurant - tofu and veggies on rice

Technically dinner was on two plates, but since we only eat here once a month or so, I let that go. It's not a license to go crazy, and the food is relatively healthy anyway, so I've chosen to not worry about that. Especially since I am really sticking to the habits these days anyway - even sometimes on the weekends (gasp!)

marleah · Post by **marleah** » Tue Aug 04, 2009 1:45 pm

Mon 8/3 - Success

B: Cereal with walnuts
L: Leftover layered taco, carrots, tomatoes
D: Refried bean no-queso quesadilla, pluot (plum + apricot combo!), red grapes, spinach salad with walnuts

I got back into the gym for the first time since before I was sick. It actually felt good to be lifting weights again!

marleah · Post by **marleah** » Wed Aug 05, 2009 12:31 pm

Tue 8/4 - Success

B: Cereal with walnuts
L: Leftover tacos, tomatoes, carrots, apple, banana
D: Curried potatoes and cauliflower on pita, red grapes, cucumber/tomato salad

marleah · Post by **marleah** » Thu Aug 06, 2009 12:36 pm

Wed 8/5 - Success

B: Cereal with walnuts
L: Leftover curried cauliflower/potatoes, tomatoes, carrots, apple
D: "Aztec Quinoa" (quinoa with black beans, zucchini, chiles, corn, red onion, tomatoes) - this was delicious! Plus spinach salad with walnuts and papaya! Totally going for the tropical flair tonight.

marleah · Post by **marleah** » Fri Aug 07, 2009 12:00 pm

Thu 8/8/09 - Success

B: Cereal with walnuts
L: Leftover curried cauliflower/potatoes on pita, spinach salad with walnuts, apple
D: PB&J, spinach salad with tomatoes, red grapes

Ryan had some things going on last night, so we had to have an early and quick dinner. I so was not going to cook something with leftovers either, because we're going out of town this weekend.

I have today marked as an S day, but it's really going to be more of an S-event. One of my friends is leaving my work to go to grad school, so we are having a little party for her. I made banana bread, and someone else is making a cake. Now this weekend, since we'll be out of town, who knows what it holds!

marleah · Post by **marleah** » Tue Aug 11, 2009 12:42 pm

Mon 8/10/09 - Success

B: Cereal
L: Apple-sage vegan sausage, tomatoes, carrots, apple
D: Mexican pasta casserole, spinach salad, red grapes

I had a great weekend - we went to visit my sister for her birthday, and we ate out at a Greek restaurant and a Middle Eastern restaurant. AND we got appetizers in addition to our meals. YUM.

It wasn't too hard to get back on track though come Monday. I have kind of come to a plateau right now with my weight, and I may try to cut my dinner portions a bit more. I was thinking this last night because my husband plated the food last night and put quite a bit of the main dish on my plate. No that I complained, of course; it still fit on the plate! But I probably didn't need to eat that much. So I'm looking at cutting it down a bit. We'll see!

marleah · Post by **marleah** » Wed Aug 12, 2009 12:15 pm

Tue 8/11/09 - Success (with a tiny S-event in the evening)

B: Cereal
L: Leftover Mexican pasta casserole, spinach salad with tomatoes, banana
D: Veggie sub from Subway

My tiny S-event was a couple of Oreos after dinner. My dad's birthday was on Monday and we did a small celebration for him last night. There was ice cream for everyone else, which we don't eat, so Ryan and I had some Oreos. And to be honest, they really weren't that great. I have found that even when it is planned S events during the week, they are just not as good as something I waited until the weekend to have.

So REALLY I could have gone without those Oreos, of course. But since it was an S-event, and that was the only thing off-habit, I'm counting it as ok. Maybe I shouldn't, but I'm not too worried about it.

On a side note, I am going to cut down my running distance a bit (I'm up to running 30 min at a time, about 2.5 to 3 miles). I've been having some knee pain, I think from increasing mileage a bit too much too fast, maybe. But I've done some research and know what I need to do for it (stretching, ice it, etc.) and should be able to get back up to those distances again after a time. I think I just didn't give enough time to really strengthen those muscles, and I know that I'm horrible about stretching every time.

marleah · Post by **marleah** » Thu Aug 13, 2009 12:43 pm

Wed 8/12/09 - Success

B: Cereal
L: Veggie sub from Jimmy John's
D: Mexican pasta casserole, spinach salad, red grapes

Not much to say on this one - lunch was a bit smaller than usual (no apple, etc.), but I was very busy during the day so I didn't even notice. I also drank my whole bottle of water (something I've been trying to get back into doing) and ate fairly slow, so that helped.

I am also going to be doing more urban rangering, because I am going to have two part-time jobs that are about 8 or so blocks away from each other. It was very handy to park my car at one place, then walk to the other place and back. That will be nice to do more of that.

marleah · Post by **marleah** » Fri Aug 14, 2009 11:50 am

8/13/09 - Success

B: Cereal
L: Mexican pasta casserole, banana, carrots, tomatoes
D: Gnocchi (potato balls? doesn't sound as nice) in pasta sauce on a slice of bread, red grapes, and cucumber/tomato/basil salad

marleah · Post by **marleah** » Sat Aug 15, 2009 1:01 pm

8/14/09 - Success

B: Cereal
L: Leftover gnocchi in pasta sauce, carrots, tomatoes, banana
D: Veggie sub at Quizno's, bbq chips

Today was an orientation day for my new job in the local school district (I'm starting as a special ed para on Monday), and we had to do all the payroll/insurance/etc. paperwork that is required. It was nice that they had us do it all together at a big meeting so we could all ask questions, but it was a LOT of paperwork. PLUS they had donuts for everyone, of course. I was able to decline, even though it was a little tempting. But I said no thank you and everything was fine! I had already had breakfast that morning anyway!

My schedule has been a bit weirder lately - we've had someone leave at my other job at the library, and we don't have anyone hired yet, plus my new job is starting Monday so I have to fit both jobs in somehow. This doesn't leave much time for me to go to the gym and lift weights, but I'm going to be able to get more urban rangering in at least. My runs will also have to be on different days this next week, but I am planning on sticking with it.

Another thing - I am considering going to a smaller plate for dinner. My lunch is usually packed in a little bento-ish box, so it's always the same portion sizes. However, dinner is another story and sometimes my plate is a little fuller than it probably needs to be. I'm not ready to use just one of our salad plates yet, but I might try to find a 9 or 10 inch plate at the store (the ones we have at home are 12" I think!). I'm still on the way down weight-wise, but I've hit a bit of a plateau and think reducing the portion sizes a bit would help.

Nichole · Post by **Nichole** » Sat Aug 15, 2009 1:18 pm

Sounds like a great plan! Good job resisting donuts. Why not buy some weights for at home? I have 3s and 5s (yes I'm weak, lol).

marleah · Post by **marleah** » Sat Aug 15, 2009 5:03 pm

I've tried the at-home thing, and I have Wii Fit which is nice on the weekends. I just don't feel as much of an impact with it. Which probably means I'm just not doing it right, LOL, but I really love our local gym.

I probably will end up doing the Wii a bit more here the next couple of weeks until my schedule gets straightened back out. When I carpool with Ryan, it's nice because I have a couple of hours before he gets off work to get some exercise in.

And 3's and 5's don't make you weak!

Heck, even a water bottle gets heavy enough if you lift it enough times!

marleah · Post by **marleah** » Sun Aug 23, 2009 4:26 pm

The past week ... went pretty well. I did have an S-event Wednesday evening with my new book club group, and I will work better to plan those ahead of time so I can expect them. The weekend has been pretty tame though, so I think overall it will all even out.

Everything else was green though! I haven't weighed myself this week - I've wanted to, but I haven't had a good time to do it (I always try to weigh at the same time of day each time, same situation, that kind of thing) because of my schedule changes.

I have kept up with my running though, and my knee pain is pretty much gone. I think the stretches I've been doing after running have helped a lot with that.

marleah · Post by **marleah** » Sat Sep 19, 2009 12:55 pm

So I HAVE actually been following No-S, I just haven't been posting about it! Two jobs and two master's degrees all at the same time is just a little too much craziness for me, so my "fun" online activities have ground to a halt for the most part.

I did have a red day last week, but I think that's just because I baked cookies for a Saturday event the night before, and every time I bake cookies I have to sample, of course. I would have baked them Saturday morning but wasn't going to have time. Of course, the moral of the story is save the baking until the weekend whenever possible! I was pretty much able to just "mark it and move on" though and not worry too much about it.

But anyway, on that note - I am down to 129 lbs! When I started No-S (false start in Feb, but seriously in March), I was hovering between 140-145, and two years ago I weighed 152, my all-time high. I had come down that 5-10 lbs just by eating well (although still too much) and exercising, but I couldn't get past that, and that's where No-S came in. I never thought I would see "12-" on my scale ever again. I've totally noticed a difference in how my clothes are fitting, and I can't wait to get my next big paycheck so I can buy a few new things! Someone noticed the other day and asked if I'd been losing weight - first time I think that's ever happened to me.

Anyway ... my sister's birthday is today and we are going to IHOP for brunch, and there's a birthday party tomorrow for my husband and his little brother, so I will enjoy those events knowing that this is totally do-able.