Monday Musings
- I ran the Race for the Cure on Saturday! 32’23″ was my official time! SUPER DUPER! Just getting faster!
- I’m loving the TDEE – 15% plan so far. I don’t feel restricted and I am finding that I am making healthier choices without thinking. I want to eat more veggies and lean protein because I know it makes me feel better. The stuff that weighs me down makes me feel heavy and weak, and I can’t go for that, Hal and Oats style.
- This past weekend basically kicked off the month of hell for me. It’s all good things, but it’s all busy. This past weekend was a race and then girls night, plus Sunday was lunch and movie with the BFF. Next weekend is, Friday – dinner out possibly, but an early one because Saturday Morning is Praxis I – Writing, then that evening is a work party. Sunday is Heading to GMU to buy a hoodie with my fellow Patriot Lisa (BFF), and then Brother in Laws Graduation Party. Monday Night is his Graduation at Jiffy Lube Live (You happy Prince William County? You could have had DISNEY here, but instead we have Jiffy Lube Live. Stay Classy.). The following weekend is Praxis I – Reading and then Father’s Day/Sister in Law’s Birthday day our house. Cookout, Drinks, Cakes, etc. A good time will be had by all, as long as I don’t turn off the damn golf channel when my Grandmother is watching. Then the following weekend is our 5 year anniversary. Wow, really? We made it? Damn. The weekend after that is currently free, but will most likely be filled with Studying as that is the beginning of the end of my summer session.
- Did I mention Grammar is kicking my butt? Seriously. When one majors in Creative Writing, they do not learn Grammar. I also barely paid attention to that in school, and wasn’t really taught how to diagram sentences in the first place. GO ARLINGTON COUNTY! I should say Glebe School, but eh. I’m sure they all have their faults.
- I wish I had had Lisa as my preschool teacher. Or tutor.
- 58 Days till the Dominican Republic. If only I could lose like 0.5 pounds a day…
- Sugar Free Redbull is pretty much my savior now in the mornings. Sure 5 hour energy also works, but it’s more of a chugging drink, not a leisure drink.
- I have to take my first real college exam tomorrow since graduating.
For the Cure
WI: +1.4
Total Lost: -6.8
Total Lost Since Start: -45.4
Emotion: Not Shocked – Still Sad
I was coasting along here since March, losing pretty much every week, even if it was a small loss. It was still a loss. This week I obviously gained. I’m not shocked in any way by it, but it doesn’t make me any less sad about it. I didn’t track basically from last Friday until Wednesday. Yesterday was the only day last week that I tracked 100%. My problem wasn’t emotional eating. My problem was the fact that I was in fact still hungry. Sure some of it can be blamed on bored eating, but a lot of it was the fact that I would finish my work out of a run or weights, eat a light snack, prepare dinner, and then scarf it down because my body had burned everything else from my workout.
Some people can ignore that pang in their stomach, but I know myself. I can’t ignore this, or just drink water and “will” it away. I tried that. I tried drinking a glass of water before meals. I tried doing other things to keep myself busy. It doesn’t always work for me. Luckily I’m not alone.
Meagan was having a similar problem that she documented on her blog, except she wasn’t half assing the plan like me. She was following the plan to the letter. Every week. But she wasn’t losing at all. She stalled out though her efforts deserved major losses each week. She found this ‘plan’ of sorts on MyFitnessPal.com called TDEE.
What the fork is TDEE? It stands for “Total Daily Energy Expenditure”.
“TDEE is the common abbreviation for Total Daily Energy Expenditure which is a metric to calculate the amount of calories your body needs to function in a day. This is quite similar to BMR; in fact, you need your BMR to calculate your TDEE; but your TDEE accounts for your average daily activity as well to give a figure truer to your specific situation.” – via www.quickbmr.com
Basically everyone falls into one of these categories below:
- Sedentary – desk job and little to no exercise
- Lightly Active – light exercise/sports 1-3 days/wk
- Moderately Active – moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/wk
- Very Active – hard exercise/sports 6-7 days/wk
- Extremely Active – hard daily exercise/sports & physical job or training
Once you have determined where you fit in on the TDEE activity rate scale, this activity rate is used to weight your BMR giving you a more accurate assessment of how many calories you really need throughout the course of the day. Since BMR only accounts for your bodies basic functioning needs and not your daily activity, TDEE provides standard multipliers for accurately determining a TDEE. Those multipliers are as follows:
- Sedentary – 1.2
- Lightly Active – 1.375
- Moderately Active – 1.55
- Very Active – 1.725
- Extremely Active – 1.9
- I exercise 3-5 hours a week of moderate exercise
- I want to lose fat with a 15% reduction in calories
- My BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate) is 1600
- Daily Calories to Maintain Weight (TDEE) 2480
- Daily Calories to lose weight (TDEE – 15%) = 2108 (I did the math on a calculator too – 2480*0.15 = 372. 2480 – 372 = 2108)
I got my bangs cut last night, and my colored darker. I like this look. It’s cute but also kind of hot with a high pony tail. TPWSNBN didn’t respond exactly as I had hope (“It’s interesting.”) but he seems to be warming to it now.
Plan Of the Day
- Breakfast: English Muffin w/ Cream Cheese, Coffee w/cream, Smoothie
- Snack: Tea?
- Lunch: Chipotle Salad
- Snack: Banana and most likely a needed Redbull
- Dinner: No clue but it will be out
The Crane Wife
First, if you like fashion, beauty how-to’s and shopping go to Refinery29. I am in love with this site.
Second – the migration of the blog has begun. I’m tired of restrictions. I asked TPWSNBN last night at around midnight if we could get this going and he said “Sure.”
That’s all I need.
Then I also asked if we could buy a new camera. I might be asking too much of him in the late hours of the night.
Tonight I am getting my hair done finally, so there will be no workout. I am strangely OK with this. Normally I freak out about throwing off my entire equilibrium, but not today. My body is tired. I will run tomorrow and Saturday and cross train via strength training style on Sunday. Looking forward to it.
Plan of the Day
- Breakfast: Smoothie, Coffee, English muffin with Cream cheese and Green Pepper Jelly
- Snack: Water
- Lunch: Amy’s Light and Lean Black Bean Soft Taco Fiesta, Avocado corn salad, yogurt
- Snack: Banana (If needed)
- Dinner: Strawberry and Spinach Salad with Dried Dates
I also have a doctor’s appointment today, hopefully she can address my lack of sleep in the form of a way to sleep. So between work, doctor, and hair appointment, when I finally do get home tonight, I will be le tired. I foresee How I Met Your Mother reruns and tea in my evening forecast. Along with going to bed at a reasonable hour.
Tomorrow is Friday, and even though this was a short week, it feels like it is taking forever to get here. Saturday is the race – which for me is kind of sad
It’s my last race till the fall. Which I know is going to be for the better, seeing as though DC summers tend to be gross, humid and sweltering, so running outside competitively doesn’t seem like a party. Alas, I love it.
I’m planning on working on my endurance this summer with a combination of outside and inside runs with the Galloway Method. I also decreed last night before going to sleep that I was going to finish the Marathon in March in under 5 hours. 4 hours 59 minutes and 59 seconds counts as under 5 mind you. STOP ROUNDING UP.
I need to stop online shopping.. but that is another post all together.
I am currently looking for flat brown sandals that are minimal in style, but not flip flops. I am also looking for some yellow additions to my closet, as well as some jeweled tone outfits. I am desperately seeking a black maxi dress that is either strapless or very tiny straps.
I can’t for some reason get hydrated today. I am drinking water after water, but nothing is working.
*Whine whine whine* And yes, I would like some cheese and violins please.
My Weekend Plans!
- Friday – Rest. I need it. I need a chill out night.
- Saturday – RACE! – Secret that you will find out on Monday!- Girls night at my sisters
- Sunday – Lunch and a movie with Lisa and TPWSNBN – We are seeing Snow White and the Huntsman
What do you have planned for this weekend?
something in the way
There are numerous thoughts that go through my mind on a daily basis. Some superficial, some deep, some about work, some about school. Some are filled with worry. Some are filled with contentment. Some are envious.
Okay a lot are envious.
I swear the whole point of Facebook, twitter, google+, etc. is to purposely show off how fabulous your life is. I am guilty of the same. But I also even it out by posting my crazy on there too. (Don’t worry I save the best for here). It’s not like crazy anger envy. It’s more of “Man I wish I had those pants.” Or “Gosh, she looks amazing, I wish my workouts had made me look that good.” or “I wish we could live there.” The majority of the time, it’s no biggie. I go in search of an article of clothing that makes me feel pretty or unique, and I feel better.
But then the feelings of inadequacy jump back into my mind.
It makes no sense, I know this. I’m trying.
Then I find myself sitting in my family room of my house with a big yard, with Moody laying lightly next to my feet, my husband in the chair next to me reading about Condo’s in town that we could move to. Blarney snoring lightly on the floor beside us. This is my life.
This is our life.
Though it may be crazy, choatic, old at times, not chic in any way, there is no trend, there is no note worthy moments that mean anything to anyone outside of this room, and thats okay.
I’ve always been a dork, and frankly, he has loved.every.moment.of.it.
Am I lucky? Yes.
Do I envy other peoples lives? Not so much.
xoxo
Ingredients for the fish
- ½ lb wild-caught mahi mahi
- ½ Tbsp paprika
- ½ tsp chipotle chile powder
- ½ tsp garlic powder
- ½ tsp onion powder
- ¼ tsp oregano
- ½ tsp Kosher salt
- 1 Tbsp canola oil
Ingredients for the Side Salad
- 1 Avocado
- 10 cherry tomatoes split
- 1 red onion diced
- 1/2 cup of corn
- 1/2 cup of black beans
- 2 tablespoons of lime juice
- 1/2 cup of cilantro
- salt and pepper to taste
Other Ingredients
- 4 small flour tortillas (I used Chi-Chis Gluten free, sodium free)
Directions
- Heat canola oil in the skillet
- Apply all of the spices to the fish fillets rubbing gently
- Place fish in skillet on medium for 8-10 minutes flipping mid way through
- While fish is cooking, add all of the ingredients for the salad into a bowl and mix well – place in refrigerator while the rest of the meal is prepared.
- After fish is done cooking, use a fork to cut up the fillets into smaller torn pieces, add the fish to the tortillas.
- Garnish with anything you would like (I used salsa, sour cream and feta cheese)
- Spoon salad mixture on to plate and Enjoy!
Recipe makes 4 tacos – 2 per serving
Recipe makes 3 Servings – 3/4 cup per serving
Nutritional Information:
Fish Tacos (2 tacos): 349 Calories, 32 Grams of Carbs, 17 Grams of Fat, 27 Grams of Protein
Black Bean Avocado Salad (per 3/4 cup): 227 Calories, 30 Grams of Carbs, 10 Grams of Fat, 6 Grams of Protein
Don’t Care For Sunlight
Plan of the Day (In which I will actually stick to.)
- Breakfast: English Muffin + Strawberry Jelly; Coffee with fat free half and half; Smoothie w/ 1 scoop of Trutein, 1 cup of blueberries, 1/2 frozen banana, 1 cup of water
- Snack: 5 hour energy
- Lunch: Turkey pita, yogurt, grapes, cracker chips
- Snack: Apple
- Dinner: Baked Chicken packets with Broccoli and bacon
Activity
- Run 3.1 miles – inside or out (At this point I don’t care either or)
I’ve been a tracking fail this week. I barely tracked after lunch time each day, and if I did I wasn’t honest with myself or the tracker in what I ate. I have pre-tracked today, and hope to stick to the plan or at least with in my calories. I am going to stay away from the kitchen after dinner as much as I can, in hopes to ward off grazing.
Last night I made an amazing dish that I didn’t know I had enough intelligence to make.
Mahi Mahi Tacos with a black bean avocado salad on the side. (Recipe will be posted this afternoon). It was delicious. I was ticked off when it was over. It was so yummy.
I also started reading this last night! I almost feel like an idiot reading this, like a book is really going to help me train for a marathon, but something about the “You Can Do It” caught my eye and made me happy to be here. I also am no longer scared of the long ass runs I will be subjected to.
Why?
Because if it takes me 5 hours to complete, then it takes me five hours to complete. I’m taking walk breaks. I’m doing this the right way. I’m excited. Not Jessie Spano excited, just the right amount of non-drug induced excitement.
I’m also excited for the feeling of accomplishment. I’m also excited for being able to eat whatever I want that day.












