I need to read labels more

I just got a bag of flavoured tostitos from the vending machine for a snack. It's leading up to finals so things were pretty picked over for choice, but I though "how bad can they be?" and got a small bag.
After 3 chips I looked at the back to discover that I was bout to eat 24g of fat and 400 calories. In a tiny 50g bag!
Awhah??
I'm proud of myself - they went straight into the bin and I'm drinking from my water bottle...didn't eat any more of them. The old me would say "you paid for them - don't let that go to waste". My calore intake is more important that wasting $1.25.
Besides, I did not need those empty calories anyways...I'd rather nibble on the good stuff...I need to start keeeping fruit at work for times like this.

Oh lordy, pick a bale of cotton...

I haven't worked out the past few days, as I've been spending all day (gah) moving labs and packing boxes of files and hauling and sorting and...well, it's exhausting enough without working out.
Also, my left shoulder is popping and a bit sore, so I'm sure I managed to damage it a bit. It's slightly sore, so I'm trying to be nice to my body so that I still have it round to use in April once all this moving business at work is done.
I so dearly wish that people would be more involved in their stuff sometimes - as most people involved are mad at the moving, they are doing nothing, partly due to being busy, but partly to make it as slow as possible. And little old me is picking up the slack to meet deadlines and make things happen. A student helped me yesterday which was wonderful...having an extra hand made it so much faster.
Well I must be off to the box mine...another day another shoulder injury.
Ta!

A stitch in side saves..um...no wait...

I did not a lot all weekend (except eat ham), so I got up this morning for a run. It was 0 out and snowing big fluffy flakes, so it was very pretty out, although randomly slippy in parts if I went off the paths, so I had to stick to them. I was doing 4 minutes run 2 minutes walk, when after after 3 times of that I got an insane stitch in my side. I ended up mostly walking the way back with little 1-2 minute run stretches, after which the stich would come back with a vengeance...it was still good for me, but rather annoying. I usually don't get side stitches, so it was a new thing. I have no idea how to dea lwith them
Do any of you get them...and do you run through them? Can you stretch them out? Is there a certain way to breathe to reduce them? I'm hoping this isn't a regular thing.

It was nice to be out this morning though. All the fluffy flakes falling were beautiful. SOmehow I don't mind snow when I know it won't be around for long...

just a regular day

I slept in, but still got up and did my ball workout along with some side curls this morning. I'm not stiff from my run yesterday which is good.
I do, however, have a crick in my neck from sleeping odd, so I'll have to make ever-so-dramatic turns of my head today, swinging my whole body about to turn left and look at things. With any luck it'll work itself out in a few hours...I feel silly. A bit like the Chipmunk of Suspense actually.
Have a nice day :)

ohboyohboyohboyohboyohboyohboyohboy

Guess what?
I ran this morning! :)
It was wonderful! It was only -7 so I geared up and tho I only went for about 35 minutes, it was great! I ran multiples of running for 4 minutes and walking for 2-3minutes, and did a loop down the river across the train bridge and back round and over again before heading home. I wanted to know if the paths on the other side were dried up...not really yet, so I'll have to stick to this side for a few more weeks. Which is OK as it turns out it's *really* dark on the side of the river with no streetlights (go figure), so I'll be sticking to the lit side of the river for now and just running on the lit path, unless I get one of those head flashlights or something. The part of the road I usually go on is all dug up with the construction, so I'm being creative as far as route.
I wore my thin running pants which was a mistake, as I was reasonably warm all over except my legs which were quite frosty by the end of it all - I need to find my thicker sweats. Microfibre balaclavas are excellent for keeping warm but not overheating so I thought my pants of the same fabric would rock - not so much. They just aren't quite warm enough for now. My iPod didn't like the chill either -it cut out about half way thru the run as the batteries were already low and they couldn't keep the charge in the cold...I'll have to remember to charge it up overnight or tuck it in an inside pocket.
I didn't know just how far I could go on the first day, so I thought I'd ease into it and just see how far I could go and what I could do...not too shabby really. I could've gone a bit farther if I'd not hit snooze a couple of times and run out of time, but I still managed to get in some good stretching when I was done.

Awesome.

Amazon woman to the rescue

I did my ball tape this morning along with 10 lunges on each side and 10 squats.
My shoulders are quite sore...hopefully that will change. I've been sleeping funn yas of late so I don't know if it's from that or from the elliptical yesterday. My body fades out of shape so fast it's really quite silly. I have been helping relocate people at work lately and I'm amazed at how much I can lift and do compared to before when I didn't work out. I still have movers for all the big stuff, but it's nice to carry a box here and there and not have to go "um...excuse me? Wimpy girl here...can you lift this for me?"
Love it.
Amazon relocators unite! :)

It is supposed to get above 0 today, so that should melt off the snow and get things set for me for tomorrow...I've dug out my run gear and put it by the dresser, so I'm all set. I realised now that I need to get a good running jacket...perhaps that will be my treat to myself in April -a good one with reflecty bits that breathes better than my giant old bunny hug. It's warm, but once I get warmed up it's a bit too warm.

Winter's last hurrah

Well I woke up to snow and wind and -21 this morning (winter's last hrrah I think) so I just did 35 minutes downstairs on the elliptical at incline 15% and resistance 3. It wasn't very much snow, so it won't interfere with things. I'll keep checking morning temperatures and as soon as it's above -10 I'll be out there...the cold air makes my asthma freak out so I have to be cautious...I've got my balaclava so I'll be set once the magic temperature comes up.
I've got the itch to run now...I ran in to my friend Grant who has been running since high school when I was out for a walk in the sunshine on saturday and he has me quite encouraged to get back out there. He runs all year long every day and I'm sure it's one of the reasons why he is such a happy level guy...a real role model for me. Knowing I feel really good this morning after a workout (and that I burned 524 calories) is good, but I'm itching to be out on the run paths again.
Crossing my fingers that tomorrow is the day ! :)

I think I can

Well, all *that* is finally concluded and things are a little more back to normal, whatever that is.
I was out for a walk yesterday and the paths are clear...I think if it is above -5 tomorrow morning I'm going to try and go for a run.
It may b emore of a wheesing fending off exhaustion as I haven't really exercised much the last week or so but I"m looking forward to it. Gives me something to focus on.
Wish me luck

Tough weekend

No exercise this weekend or this morning.
J's Nana was declining in health over the past week and she finally passed away on sunday. We've family staying with us and and although things have calmed down a bit, there just wasn't the time or the energy really to work out over the weekend. I think I'll try and get one in tomorrow but I"ll just take the days as they come...we're feeling a bit better now that it is all over with. Nana has been frail and had Alzheimer's for many years, so it is good that she is finally at peace. Now it's time for us to be together as a family and find our own. My husband misses his Nana right now and so for me, he is my priority, and everything else will fall into place as it happens.
At the end of the day, ee are doing OK and in time, will be fine.
For now though, our souls need attention more than our bodies.

Have a good day everyone.

a little bit

I got in 15 minutes on the elliptical this morning, but that's all.
I slept in as I was up very late dealing with life which, at the mo, is not so great.
Ah well...at least I did a bit, and my headache and overall achiness of the past few days has fled, so that's something I suppose. I'm just mopey is all.

Sleep. That's where I'm a viking.

Weak.
No workout today as I, quite honestly, feel like crap. I came home from work and ended up going to bed early stiff, headachy and crampy. And now? Well, I ache a bit less and with the help of a bunch of Advil my head is down to a dull throb, but still feel rather lousy and my stomach is uneasy. If I didn't have work to do I would have stayed home.
Luckily J works tonight so I can come home, drink lots of tea and go to bed early if I must...I think I must.
If I feel better I"ll hop on the elliptical tomorrow, but I'm not holding my breath. This achy not quite totally sick but kind of sick thing has been going around work lately...so I think that despite my neurotic handwashing I've managed to pick it up.
Ah well.
Only a few more hours and it is back home to my wonderful bed.

Snacketorium diversion

I'm watchinga gel run in the lab...and I'm thinking about food. Whenever I have breakfast (mini wheats again-yum...I swear I could live on them) I'm always hungry before lunch. I guess what they say about getting your metabolism going is true.

While out looking for healthy food at the grocery store last night, I stumbled across mango gelato. I love gelato. I've never been a huge iced cream fan, but anything fruity I love...I've been making fruit smoothies a lot lately as there isn't much for gelato out here on the prairies, but this gelato is actually really good. It is pretty much fat free and the mango flavour I ended up getting in a PMS snack attack ended up being a good thing -only 90 calories for 1/2 a cup. I tried some last night and it is *good*. So very good. It's hard to find healthy snacks, but I can add another treat to my list of things. I also rediscovered how much I love jello. And I do...it rocks...I can make it in little containers and have it for myself all week in my lunches. Oh yeah.

We noticed that since we've tried to eat a lot of fruits and veggies and unprocessed foods our grocery bill has gone up, by about almost 1/3. It's significant, but we talked about it, and after many years as a broke student eating potatoes and apple juice, I love being able to eat "real" food - food that is healthy. We've decided that this year is the year of eating healthy. We have a fridge and pantry full of healthy ingredients...I think that the gelato and some popcorn flavouring were the only truly snacky stuff we bought...and that is good. Both of us cannot always resist snacking when there's snacks in the house, but when you have to go and *get* them (especially now when it's cold out) it makes you think about how much you actually want it. Usually the laziness wins out over the snackery :)

I found a new way to ration our cookie snackery. I remembered a trick from when I was a baker in university...I'm going to make a batch of cookie dough and portion it out into balls. Then I'll bake 8 of them and freeze the rest of the dough. Not only will I have fresh cookies, but only a few for the 2 of us AND we can bake a few fresh ones next week by just pulling them out in the morning and baking them once they thaw...so less # of freshly baked cookies for everyone.
We'll keep ourselves from eating the whole 3 dozen in 3-4 days too, which is definitely good. I'm also going to get a mini muffin pan this weekend, so we can still have muffins...only smaller. :)

Why am I on about food? Well, it's not lunch yet and I'm hungry. I'm trying to do something on my break to maybe placate my body by just thinking about food...but it hasn't worked. I'm off to drink a bunch of water and see if that will help.
Have a tasty day all

creaking

Man...today I am all crampy and quite stiff on top of it all...and not feeling to well to boot. Yesterday was a LONG day and today is the same. So I wimped out and slept in and didn't work out this morning. I have a long day with work and meetings, and PMS to boot, so I hope the extra sleep helps. As usual, the lunges and squats made me uber stiff and add that to cramps and I don't know how much I could have done this morning. I suppose I could have tried but the bed was so comfy...we put a new duvet on last night and it is like sleeping under a marshmallow. I love it. So warm...
I will be good and workout tomorrow...but for now, I'm off, creaking and groaning into a long day.
Have a nice day all :)

Better

This morning I did my ball workout and then 20 lunges on each side and 30 squats...I'm not stiff, but I can feel the fatigue in my legs and but when I go up the stairs this morning...a good workout. It feels good to push yourself a bit.
I'm feeling a bit better today...I pulled out some "skinny" jeans from the summer that are rather low waisted and put them on today...and they look OK. So I wore them...that always makes you feel good. Plus I died my hair yesterday...$12 for a box of rich mahogany hair. It seems superficial for those to cheer me up, but I *do* feel better today...hope it goes better, as I've lots to do.
Gotta go!

But baby it's cold outside...

Well, this morning I did 38 minutes at resistance 3, mostly at inclune 15%, but I started to alternate between 10-20% in the last 10 minutes as I was getting bored. 38 minutes is a long time to do something with only a wall to look at. The music helped, and knowing I burned 562 calories is nice, but *man*, I need to get outside again. It's been windy and cold lately, with all the snow melting into ice so it's not nice enough out yet to run without falling and hurting myself.
I'll log today's food tomorrow...for now, I'm off. Lots to do.
I've had a dissapointment at work (something we discovered isn't what we thought) so I'm a bit bummed out...and have lots to do so I have to get back at it. I know we learn from things that *aren't* but for once I'd love to spend lots of time and discover something cool...

Mujsic to workout to: Shout Out Out Out - Not Saying, Just Saying