dianaschnuth

Running Weight Loss Totals:

Official Tuesday weight: 204.5 pounds. This was a one-and-a-half pound loss from yesterday, and I attribute it to yesterday’s hefty two-hour session of aikido, after which I was too queasy to eat more than a small bowl of cereal for dinner. I fully expect to bounce back by a pound by tomorrow morning. And I’m OK with that.

The big accomplishment of the week was a steady weight loss over the weekend. We still ate out once, at Zoup, where I had a bowl of seafood chowder with multigrain bread. (I love eating at places where I can narrow down my meal choices ahead of time by checking the nutrition facts.) We made all our other meals at home: leftover salmon and green beans for Saturday dinner, omelettes for Sunday lunch, and Three Amigos Chili (thanks, Sheryl!) for Sunday dinner.

Exercise for the week was basically aikido on Wednesday — and yesterday — and a few days of lunch walks. I didn’t do aikido on Saturday morning because I was too exhausted to bother (thanks, womanhood). I’ve had aikido on the brain, thanks to my upcoming test, and I’m hesitant to do any strenuous exercise during the week (read: strength training) other than aikido, for fear of hurting myself so that I can’t test. This is also a great lame excuse for me to avoid cardio, as well, even though it’s what I need.

This Saturday is my aikido test, after which will be a potluck with all kinds of food. Hopefully, some of it will actually be good for me, being that there are plenty of vegetarians and proponents of macrobiotics and general health nuts in the dojo. If the Zen Brownies make an appearance, though, I’m definitely going to partake. 🙂 (There’s nothing overly untoward / weird / illegal in the Zen Brownies; they’re just REALLY good.) If I gain weight from that one meal, so be it. I give myself permission to indulge after (hopefully) earning my rank in aikido.

My focus for this week is going to involve getting enough sleep, and getting up at a reasonable time in the morning. I’d rather have my breakfast at home than just bring a banana to work and call that a meal, and I’d also like to start showing up to work ON TIME (even though, yes, I am salaried, and no one’s said anything yet). I’m going to spend a goodly amount of time on ME before bed, including all the normal hygiene (that I sometimes skip — I’m so bad), plus some quiet time sitting zazen, and generally helping myself calm down and relax and make myself feel just a little pampered. So often, I’ll just let myself get ridiculously tired, and finally throw together a lunch, tromp upstairs, braid my hair, strip (er, I mean, put on my jammies), get in bed, read a few pages of a book out of habit, then turn off the light once I can’t keep my eyes open. This is, I fear, not the healthiest of nighttime rituals. I resolve to change that this week, and see if it changes my attitude and mood (and possibly my eating and/or exercise habits).

Thanks to Lauren (a.k.a. “Bouffa“) and Sheryl and Aaron for their support this week. It’s helpful to know I have friends who want me to succeed and be happy, as simple and cheesy as that sounds.