At Home - Day 8

FAT STATS

Heaviest weight (Feb 2011): 259 lbs

 

Starting weight at Biggest Loser Resort (Nov 2011): 217 lbs

 

Current weight: 189.9 (I'm hanging on to the 180's for dear life and blaming sodium for the overall near 1lb gain since Friday)

 

FUEL:

Approx 1230 calories

  

• Breakfast: whole wheat sandwich thins, almond butter
• Snack: light string cheese, banana
• Lunch: whole wheat sandwich thins, lettuce, ground chicken patty, slice of mozzarella, ketchup and mustard.
• Snack: Apple
• Dinner: Trader Joe's Chicken Tikka Masala
   

THE BURN:
Approximately 426 Calories burned

40 minutes - Elliptical
20 minutes - Circuit with Dumbbell bicep curls, plank, seated cable rows, and treadmill sprints

 

SELF ASSESSMENT:

• Personal score: B (I was tired from very little sleep, then heading to the office early this morning. I'm proud of myself for waking up from a nap this evening to head to the gym.)
   

MY DAY:

I thought today was supposed to be my first day back to work, but apparently it was a holiday for the company. Imagine my surprise when I arrive at my office to see the gates closed and the parking lot empty. I still went inside to work, though. I had more than 3500 emails to tend to after being away for four weeks. It took me almost three hours to just get rid of the spam and vendor mail. However, it was a good three hours because I was able to test my new fitness ball that I plan to use as my office chair! It's not too bad! I could feel my core engaging and I was very conscious of when I would start to slouch. My back felt better than normal this evening, too... not sure if the ball had anything to do with it, but I'll be using the ball again tomorrow. Added bonus: When I get angry or frustrated, I have something to kick across the room! Joy!

I walked into my office this morning and was immediately confronted with a gift.... a food gift. Not just any food gift, but Teresa's famous pumpkin, chocolate chip loaf. I'm not sure I can convey the actual level of deliciousness of this cake/bread/loaf thing. It's moist and scrumptious and has chocolaty goodness in every bite. Teresa wraps this amazing treat in the prettiest cellophane, which makes it call out, "Unwrap me! Don't ignore me! You know you want me!" <yes, yes I do...no!... yes...no!>

I was afraid to touch it, so I left it at the edge of my desk. I could devour that entire loaf in four bites. I think it's meant to last about a week, but in the past it's never seen a second day in my presence. I may have a morsel of it tomorrow... I just have to make sure I bring plenty of healthy snacks and not to unwrap it when I'm ravenous.


Being back in the office and *truly* back in touch with my computers was interesting. As I was reading my plethora of email, I realized that so much can happen in just four short weeks!

• I found out that more than half of my staff is on vacation (I guess I didn't really look at the overlaps on the calendars when the requests came in. Apparently, I just said, "yes" to anything they asked me just before I left. Come to think of it, I am pretty sure I was in an "eff it" kind of mood since about late October.)
• My fairly young and very fit boss, apparently, almost died last week! He had complications after a surgery and ended up almost bleeding out in ICU! I've been working for him for more than five years...I can't believe nobody called to tell me! I'm wishing him a super speedy recovery!
• I forgot that I have a boot camp style class next week for an additional certification related to my job. Ugh. I don't think I'll ever be done with "school." Maybe I chose the wrong profession. CPEs  and certifications suck.
• I also have to be interviewed by some "authority" for some other requirement/certification for my job. Really, people? One at a time, please! I'm already miffed about having to study for the first one. Workouts will take priority! Sorry! (that's the NEW Heather talking... old Heather would have let the gym fall to last priority immediately for her job. No more!)

I sat at my desk, droning through email, and wondering how I was going to fit in a little gym time during my work day. I think this will be one of my greatest challenges. It's not healthy for me to sit at a desk all day and I know I need to break up the lack of physical activity with something! The gym is across campus in another building. Will I have the motivation to get there? How can I get the most out of a lunch time workout?


After a few hours looking through email, I packed up my stuff and left the office. I wanted to be sure I was prepared for the rest of my week and the resumption of my "real life," so I headed to Trader Joe's and bought healthy snacks and meals. I individually wrapped all the meats in the proper serving sizes, so that I could just grab the right portion, defrost, and cook. Trader Joe's is an awesome store for healthy, quick options. Most of the ingredient labels have just the natural food on them - none of the preservatives, man-made substances, fillers, or oils/sugars.


After my grocery store adventure, I headed to the gym. I set up my own little circuit training and it was kind of fun! I was lucky that nobody else was in the gym, or it may have been a little too inconvenient to enjoy. I'm heading back to the gym at 5am, then off to a personal training appointment at 6am, across town. After that, I head to work where I'll attempt to squeeze in a lunch workout session. Then, I'm meeting my friend, Jaclyn, for yoga at 7:30pm back in midtown. Full day tomorrow! I hope that means I'll get a good burn so that I can get safely into the 180's and stop flirting with that 190 mark!


One last note: I just saw Jennifer Rumple (Season 12 at home winner of The Biggest Loser) post that she wants to run a half marathon in April in my neck of the woods! Looks like I have something to focus on for training! Me? A half marathon? Four weeks ago, had someone asked me to run for ANYTHING, I would have said, "No flippin' way... only when chased, and even then I'd first opt for pepper spray." I'm seriously considering entering this half marathon, just to see if I can finish it. I wanted to post this here in my blog so that you can all hold me accountable to proper training and nutrition from now through April.

I feel like I'm ready to take on reality! Wish me luck!

Crap! It's after 11:30pm and I have to be up at 4:30am! Not a good start to the whole "back to reality" quest! Ut oh!

See you on the fit side!
-Heather