Days 517 & 518: A Good Day, A Skipped Day, & The Pizza Craving From Hell

Tuesday was SOooooooooooooo long.

I woke up later than I wanted to, but I still got a 30 minute elliptical workout done.

Post workout sweaty selfie of a selfie

I had a knotted mishap with my hair before my shower.
Trying to break free from that was NOT fun.

I ate a quick bowl of cereal after my shower, and I headed out the door to work.

Please pardon the dark, crappy photo.
I was on the couch with a little GMA.

I was VERY sore on Tuesday. I mean could barely walk kind of sore. Let's just say I said a few bad words when I had to go up any stairs. I'm probably not drinking enough water. My knees are also bothering me a lot like they did when I first started working out last year. I know this is part of it, so I'm not too concerned.

I made myself a salad for Monday, but since I had an unplanned lunch at Jason's with my mom, I was able to eat the salad I made on Tuesday instead. Same yummy things... Avocado, apple, organic greens, cherry tomatoes, goat cheese, chia seeds... This time I used balsamic vinegar for dressing, though. I also added some skinless chicken that I baked the night before.

Such a cool salad, no?

I wasn't able to finish it, though. It was a lot of salad! I was also able to resist going NUTS on some peanut butter chip cookies that my co-worker Phyllis made. I did have ONE, but I wanted to eat 3!!! I wish I had been disciplined enough to stay away completely, and I'm trying not to dwell on it.

I really do love this whole workout in the morning thing!! It's great to have it DONE first thing, and it's also nice to know that I could always work out AGAIN after work if I am able. 

After work, I went to Fannett for choir practice. I had dinner at my parents' house. I don't know why I've been so forgetful about taking photos of my dinners the past few posts. I suppose I'm still trying to get back into the swing of blogging.

Dinner at my parents' house wasn't exactly healthy either, though. I had 7 fish sticks dipped in ketchup and about 1/4 cup of rice. That rice...it's so hard to escape it with all this Asianness.

I didn't get home from choir practice until 9:30, and I slept WAY later than I should've.

Wednesday, September 23 Day 518

I wasn't able to wake up in time to work out this morning. I was SO tired... I REALLY needed to use the extra hour to sleep. I kept telling myself, "I'll just workout after work. No big deal." Bleh, it never happened today.

I didn't even eat breakfast... I just had a cup of coffee, and I snacked on a piece of wheat toast with peanut butter at around 10 a.m.

I lunched with my dear friends Nicole & Alisa with their baby girls Sarah & Evie. I was relatively good with my lunch, too. I got a salad bar and I asked for some avocado and chicken for my salad.

Bell peppers, avocado, broccoli, organic greens,
apples, chicken, one boiled egg (I didn't finish the yolk),
a tiny spoon of potato salad, red onions with balsamic vinagrette

Again, I was weak and I had 2 ginger/chocolate muffins. Bah.

It was so lovely to have lunch with my friends. I wish it could happen more often, but money is super tight these days. I've really got to cut back on my spending.

I finished my workday pretty strong, and I was productive the rest of the afternoon. I stayed late till around 6, but at around 5:30, all I could think about was a big slice of greasy, buttery, bready, cheesy pizza.

THE THOUGHT OF GREASY, CHEESY PIZZA CONSUMED ME FOR NEARLY 2 HOURS. 

The drive home for me is one of the most difficult times of day craving wise. It'd be SO easy to just stop at a drive thru somewhere, get dinner, and not have to worry about cooking or cleaning up. I'd just eat, and throw the mess in the garbage. 

French fries and burgers are the biggest things I crave on my drive home, but thankfully, I rarely ever act upon these cravings because I remember that I'm getting kind of poor, and I don't want my arteries to harden, clog, and all that other morbid stuff. IT HELPS!

But today, it was pizza. I thought about what toppings I wanted, what kind of crust, and I was trying like mad to remember if I had any coupons for any pizza place.

Sure enough, this was in the mail when I stopped by the mailbox:

Yes. I'm flipping off the pizza coupons
because THIS DID NOT HELP.
Sorry if I offended anyone. haha

Seriously, y'all. I went to pizzahut.com and filled out an order form for my $10 pizza. It was a medium with hand tossed crust topped with onions, anchovies, pepperoni, mushrooms, and light on the sauce. I almost bought garlic parmesan wings with it too since it's $.50 wing Wednesday. EFF YOU, PIZZA HUT AND YOUR EVIL GREASY GARBAGE TEMPTRESS FOOD. 

I just stared at it for a while...ready to push "ORDER" at any time. 

Then suddenly, it was gone. The craving passed, so I had to post about it.

I'm so thankful for the support. Y'all just don't even know.

Now I'm very happy that I didn't order the pizza, and that I got to keep my $15 for something else. Good grief. If I put ALL that passion and energy into something else BESIDES craving food, imagine the amazing things I could be doing with my life. I feel pretty pathetic when this kind of crap happens.

But on a happier note, here's the healthier/less expensive pizza I cooked for myself this evening:

Naan with spinach, tomato,
1 slice of lower sodium bacon, Italian seasoning,
marinara, and skim mozzarella.
I sprayed the "crust" with some olive oil
cooking spray.

It was WAY tastier than Pizza Hut, too!

If I find wheat naan, this might become a regular thing. 'Twas quite tasty.

I'm not happy that I skipped my workout today and decided to watch two episodes of Breaking Bad instead, BUT I fully intend to get back to it tomorrow morning now that I realize how icky I feel when I don't work out to start out my day. This is exactly where I want to be mentally for now, and I'm thankful.

It'll be a while before I shed major pounds, and I know I need to increase my dedication. I'm slower this time around, but I feel like I'm getting there.

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Please click on this meter below to donate to my efforts

 to help raise funds for the American Heart Association:

If you'd rather not donate online, please feel free to contact me at melanie.lanuza@gmail.com, and we can make other arrangements! I've got a LONG way to go to reach my goal in just a little over a month! Please help if you can.

Thanks to my friends at choir practice last night who bought $1 paper hearts from me for the AHA! I love you guys!

Goodnight, everyone. :)

Days 515 & 516: Mornings Aren't So Bad After All!

It was a BREEZE waking up today because my attitude is changing back to where it was a few months ago... Yay!

Yesterday (Sunday) wasn't my best eating day, though. I had 2 slices of reduced sodium bacon with an over easy egg on wheat toast with a small glass of orange juice for breakfast. I don't feel TOO bad about eating this since I kept the portions small. The nutritional information for the lower sodium bacon wasn't too bad either!

After church, my dad made a yummy lunch of baked chicken leg quarters with rice. Again, not the healthiest choices, but I can't turn down a free home cooked meal from my parents, right?

I didn't eat all the skin! =P

I worked out at my gym's apartment complex in the afternoon. I ran/walked for 30 minutes, and then I did 3 sets of 12 squats on the Smith Machine (yay, it's finally fixed!). I did my usual weight for the squats.

I recycled this photo from last September,
but I promise this is the same weight I did yesterday!

I need to take it easy on the rice and meat intake, though. I had yet another serving of rice and a piece of baked pork for supper. I'm honestly just trying to finish a pot of rice I cooked late last week. After this one, I'm going to cut back drastically on the rice again. I'll probably head back to the grocery store this weekend.

Today (Monday), I got up dark and early and headed back to the apartment complex gym to hit the treadmill once again for 30 minutes. I was able to run a mile without stopping and jog/walk another! The weather was absolutely GORGEOUS as well. For the first time in ages, I was actually COLD while I was outside! YAY, Fall weather!!

Hello, DAWN!

I was at 1.85 on distance at 30 minutes, and I just HAD
to make sure I went at least 2 miles, so I added more time.

I was able to get through the run/jog this morning easily by watching an episode of Futurama on the Netflix app on my phone! Yesterday, I watched an entire episode of Breaking Bad. (Yes, I'm SUPER late to the Breaking Bad party, but at least I don't have to wait between seasons to watch the whole show now!)

I kind of want to wake up earlier so I can watch a whole episode of Breaking Bad in the morning...hah! Just kind of...we'll see how sleepy I am tomorrow morning.

After my workout!
What a beautiful morning!

I was done with my shower early enough to eat breakfast AT home instead of in my office, which was nice for a change. I had a bowl of cereal with 1% milk.

I just love this milk splatter bowl
that my cousin Cici got me!

Lunch was a bit unexpected, but tasty! I had lunch with my mom today since I needed to bring her to an appointment. She treated me to some super quick Jason's Deli before I had to bring her back to Fannett. Thanks, Ma!

I got a cup of French onion soup and I went to town at the salad bar. I got mixed organic greens, bell peppers, apples, red onion, pine seeds (since they cost a billion dollars at the store!), one boiled egg (which I did not finish), and a tiny scoop of potato salad. I used the balsamic vinaigrette dressing that they have in their nom-alicious dressing buckets on the salad buffet.

The 2nd boiled egg was for my mom.
I didn't really like the white stuff on the bottom right.

Ok, ok...I also had 2 corn bread mini muffins and 3 ginger mini muffins...

But HEY, I'm still full, and it's already 7:15! I don't think I'll be eating again today unless I drink some water since I'm still pretty full from lunch.

I ended my workday with two lovely lady co-workers giving me some dough for the American Heart Association also! My door is quickly getting filled up with more paper hearts!! Thanks to Melissa A. and Dr. Betty Reynard for their wonderful contributions today!

Let me know if you want to get one of these
for just a buck!

Please click on this meter to donate online:

If you'd rather not donate online, please feel free to contact me at melanie.lanuza@gmail.com, and we can make other arrangements! I've got a LONG way to go to reach my goal in just a little over a month! Please help if you can.

And a great big THANK YOU to Nick's nephew Robert for his contribution to my LIT Walkers Team last week! He and his lovely wife Christina just finished their annual Anthony's Run, a big fund raiser that they throw in order to raise funds for the Anthony DeMartino Foundation in memory of Christina's brother Anthony. Everyone should stop by their website and check out Anthony's story and what this foundation is doing for raising awareness and funds to treat and find a cure for Muscular Dystrophy!!

I hope I can keep this morning workout thing going because I've been able to get so much more done this evening AND I actually felt better throughout the day. I was sad to see that I've gained a couple of pounds in the past few days (I'm at 141 right now), and I bet it has a lot to do with my freaking intake. 

MUST MAKE BETTER CHOICES. 

Days 513 & 514: Severe Fatigue & Weekend Eating

Sorry I didn't post yesterday, guys. This whole waking up super early thing to work out thing did a number on me (I know, I'm such a weakling), and I feel like I've slept all day since Friday evening just to feel like myself again! I've GOT to start going to bed earlier if I'm going to continue this morning workout thing.

I did another sworkit.com workout, but this time, I did a 20 minute all lower body workout since my core and my arms were VERY sore. I wanted to do more, but I just COULD NOT get out of bed, so I was short on time. After my workout, I made myself a yummy green smoothie that consisted of organic greens, a banana, some frozen fruit (about three peach slices, 5 grapes, and a couple of strawberries), coconut milk, and ice.

It was SO rainy on Friday! All I wanted to do was go back to bed and sleep the entire day. Alas, there was much work to be done at the jobby job, so I sucked it up and went to the office to bounce on my yoga ball and make page layouts.

For lunch, I had a chicken sandwich with organic greens, goat cheese, and balsamic vinegar on wheat. 

I also had a few prunes to follow up my sandwich with something sweet.

At least I'm getting good use out of
ONE of my ceramics projects from college.

I ended up having dinner after work at Nick's house since he got the new Zelda edition Wii U, and he wanted me to check it out. Umm...SO MUCH FUN!! Dinner wasn't exactly the healthiest, though... 

I had one of these with some leftover chicken breast from
my lunch for supper at Nick's. The boy lives off of pasta...

I watched him play Pikmin 3 for a good long while, but much to my surprise, I was thoroughly entertained by the absolute cuteness of the characters, the quality improvement of the graphics compared to the original Wii, and just trying to figure out what Nick needed to do next. And of course, it was only fitting that we fit in some Super Mario time.

Fast forward to today, I slept in VERY late since I was so tired on Friday. I didn't wake up until 10, and it was GLORIOUS. 

This meant I needed to get some work done before Megan's chicken and waffles engagement party at the Junior League House in Beaumont.

Since I woke up so late and I knew I was going to be eating freaking chicken and waffles today, I ate a very small brunch. I just ate one chicken leg with no skin and one of those tiny cans of root beer. Again, not the best choices...

I made this little card for Megan and her fiancé, Fito, after my tiny brunch. I've decided that I'm going to try to make all of my greeting cards from now on unless I'm in a severe time crunch!

FM Radio is their nickname as a couple, so I thought this would be a good idea to do for them. Megan also asked for everyone to give her a brooch for her bouquet, so that's what the little brooch is doing on my card. Thanks to my mom for finding that one for me! 

I regret with every fiber of my being not taking photos of the food from the engagement party because it was adorable. Dangit! There was chicken and waffles, of course, PLUS these great waffle cones filled with fresh fruit. There were also mimosas, tea, water, and beer there. I had one mimosa, and a glass of water.

Shanelle, Sherry, Julie, me, Nick C., Megan, and Roneka

I don't know if it's the weather or if I'm really having a hard time recuperating from this week, but I had ZERO energy today, and I ended up taking a 2 hour nap after Megan's party!

I didn't work out today, guys. All I did was sleep and eat... 

I didn't think I'd be hungry again, but I ended up having French onion soup and a California club sandwich from Jason's Deli for supper.

I'm hoping to repent a bit both at church AND during workout and eating times tomorrow. I guess I should sleep even more now! Goodnight, all. 

Day 512: Feels More Like Day 2...

Yay for me! I was able to wake up early and work out again this morning! I didn't rise as early as I would've liked since I slept later than I should have Wednesday night, but I made sure that I got at least 20 minutes of intense exercise in to start my day. I wish I could bike in the mornings, but the sun isn't up yet, so I've been doing OK with working out in my apartment.

I brought my good old pal sworkit.com back this morning after drinking my lukewarm cup of water.

There was LOTS of planking that popped up in today's workout, and I struggled the 3rd time I had to do a 30 second plank. I think I'll try to do some lower body work tomorrow since my arms and my core have been worked more lately.

I'm definitely feeling some soreness in my arms and my core, but I've MISSED it, weirdly enough. Like I mentioned yesterday, I balance/bounce on a yoga ball all day at work, and I can actually feel the soreness in my body while I'm at my desk trying not to fall off the ball. I didn't do a very good job of staying hydrate today, though... I've always had issues with keeping up with that.

I had another peanut butter and banana on wheat toast for breakfast this morning. I had a piece of turkey jerky before I went to meet with my boss lady too since I was STARVING after my workout. I know I should probably eat before I get to work, but I'm just never hungry so close to when I wake up, AND I have to wait 30 minutes before I can eat anything after I take my thyroid medicine. The commute to work and the time I spend discussing what needs to get done in the morning with Beth is usually ample time for my medicine to get into my system before I eat.

I had another fantastic salad for lunch today also. I'm a complete goober and forgot to take a photo of it, so please accept this healthy smile instead:

My friend Craig ate lunch with me too (I made us both salads!), so he is my witness that we ate right for lunch. I made another mixed green, avocado, chia seeds, low sodium bacon, goat cheese, gala apple, cherry tomato salad with baked chicken breast. Craig seemed to enjoy the salad as much as I did!

I was also able to sell a few $1 paper hearts for the AHA at work today!! Many thanks to Jason, Nick C., and Phyllis for their $1 contributions! Well, Jason was awesome and gave me $5 and told me to put Nick's name on all of them, but I split them up (3 for Jason and 2 for Nick). haha!

MY Nick made the first online donation, so THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH, BOYFRIEND! 

Please click on this meter to donate online:

If you don't want to donate online, feel free to e-mail me at melanie.lanuza@gmail.com, and we can make other arrangements!

I had chicken and rice for supper (I know, I know, bad carby things, but I exercised portion control!). I have to get used to photographing all my meals again like I did when I started my blog. I really believe that documenting my meals like that helped me be accountable for my intake and activity.

My mom posted a photo of me from around 2005 or 2006 onto Facebook today. This was definitely before I was dating Nick. This was when I was at my heaviest at almost 160 pounds, and I didn't have a CARE in the world about my health, what I ate, or about exercising. Of course I was miserable because of how I looked and how clothes I wanted to wear never fit me, but I didn't actually THINK about the damage I was doing to my heart and the rest of my body... If I could go back in time, I'd shake some sense into that girl.

I was so clueless about so many things.

I don't want to ever let myself get back to that...

Well, now I am SUPER sleepy, so I shall shower and hit the hay. Goodnight, everybody. I'm hoping to keep this up!

Day 511: Emotional Issues, The Dreaded Weigh In, & Help Wanted

It's been almost a month since my last post, and I have been terrible. Sleeping late, eating crap, and not moving very much are catching up with me physically and mentally. I've gained back about 6 pounds since my lowest point of 134, and the scale teeters up and down between 138 and 141 lately.

138.8. :(
I know the numbers shouldn't
matter, but guhh I can't help it.

I've had to deal with some personal stuff that has dragged me up and down a lot over the past several years, and I have been able to work through it as best as I can, but there are spurts when I just get completely drained by it, and I don't want to do anything. It's paralyzing sometimes, and I waste precious time dwelling on it. The past couple of weeks were one of those stupid little spurts.

Thankfully, I've snapped out of it, and I feel like I'm on my way back to feeling like I can fight through my anxiety and depression (for now). If I've learned anything about these two horrendous things, they actually DO kind of go away and seem a lot more insignificant with a healthier, more active lifestyle. The hardest part is to get started again and to keep going once you've misbehaved for a month or two.....or six.

Since I'm feeling emotionally better lately, I made myself get up EARLY for once to tackle my workout before work today. I've always admired people who can do this regularly and stick to it because I have never been a morning person (apparently even when I was in the womb), and I've always been more of a nocturnal creature.

I wasn't quite sure about what workout I'd do since I wanted to see if I'd even be semi-conscious at the new seemingly ungodly hour I set my alarm to his morning, but to my surprise, I was alert enough to get out of bed and get to it. I found this light challenge after doing a Google search of morning workouts, and I got to it after I drank a luke warm mug of lemon water. My mom recommended it, so I figured I'd give it a try.

It felt great to be able to do these exercises relatively easily, but I definitely noticed that I've lost a lot of progress since I used to be able to do little workouts like these with no problem several months ago. I was doing Insanity for crying out loud! The morning experiment was a great success, and it felt like a wonderful way to start my day. Here's hoping I can try something more challenging tomorrow!

I had a piece of wheat toast topped with peanut butter and banana for breakfast with a big glass of water. My co-worker Kim and I have started a water tally on the chalkboard in my office so that we can make sure that we stay hydrated during the day! I'll take a picture of it for my next post (which I'm hoping will be tomorrow).

Hi there, tasty sammich thing.

I also recently started exchanging bouncing/balancing on a yoga ball and standing at my desk all day at work instead of sitting in a chair for 8 hours with hopes that I can strengthen my core and not be completely idle for the majority of my day. I'm really enjoying the HUGE yoga ball, which was a lovely departure present from my former co-worker, and occasional yoga pal, Megan. Thanks again, Megan!! Bouncing to my music has helped the workday go by much faster!

I made myself a salad of mixed greens, mango, split cherry tomatoes, 1/2 a Gala apple, one slice of low sodium bacon, goat cheese, chia seeds, and avocado with a light helping of Olive Garden Italian dressing for lunch. I've been making my own salad dressings lately, but I need to try a new one since I'm getting a bit tired of the lemon vinaigrette I've been eating.

These two meals kept me full all day, thankfully! Even through supper! I've only had a glass of water tonight because I'm genuinely NOT hungry, and I plan to eat the same thing tomorrow for lunch since I'm slightly addicted to these salads now. I intend to add baked chicken breast to tomorrow's salad.

It was great because when I got off of work, I was able to do OTHER things instead of worry about working out. I might actually be able to finally fit learning some piano and doing some lettering into my evenings if I stick to this whole morning workout thing!

In other news, another thing that popped up today was that it's now officially Heart Walk fundraising time again!!! Last year, you guys (my friends and family) helped me raise $960 for the American Heart Association! I can't thank y'all enough for your support over the past few years. Thanks to YOU, I've been one of the top fundraisers in the city, and my workplace has been one of the top teams every year that I've participated. THANK YOU!

I know that most of you who've known me for a while understand why this is such an important cause to me, but to those who don't, and who may also happen to be dear friends of Nick's, we lost his wonderful mom to what we believe may have been a heart attack 5 years ago this October 13th. Losing her so suddenly was quite a big wake up call for me in realizing that my family too has had many losses to heart disease and stroke, and that I could have a very high risk of being affected by these things. But the GOOD thing is that these illnesses CAN BE PREVENTED with a healthier lifestyle, which is a huge reason why I started this journey to tinier pants in the first place. Her absence has opened my eyes more to acknowledge my own family's health issues, and she inspired me to try live a better life and to try to help others to do so as well...

Top Right: Nick, his mom Ruth, and me at my college graduation party in 2008
Bottom photo:  The LIT Walkers at the 2012 Heart Walk

My work's Heart Walk Team will also be walking in memory of our late co-worker, Mr. Jim Ferrell, who also died of a heart attack this past March.

I know that financial times are tough lately (OHHHH BELIEVE ME, I KNOW), but if any of you can help me out this year, I'd be ever so grateful that you're willing and able to help me contribute to such an important organization!

Please click on this meter to donate online:

If you don't want to donate online, feel free to e-mail me at melanie.lanuza@gmail.com, and we can make other arrangements! I'll also be selling paper hearts that you can write your name on and hang at LIT for just $1!

Well, the night is passing quickly, and I'm quite tired, but I feel wonderful. I'm so grateful to have the opportunity to try again.

OH, and on a groovy side-note, I'd like to say a GREAT BIG HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO NICK'S AUNT CHRISSY!! She has been one of THE biggest helps to Nick (and me) over the past few years, and I'm so happy to know her! Goodnight, all!!

Happy birthday, Aunt Chrissy!