Back to square one

Now that the glow of the Big Climb has worn off, and I can't use the stress of the event as an excuse to eat, it's time to get back to basics.

Tomorrow is my first Weight Watchers at work meeting, which means I'll have my first official weigh-in in weeks. Even though I've been faithfully going to my Saturday meetings I haven't been weighing in. I weigh at home, but it's just not the same. I need the accountability of the Weight Watcher weigh-ins.

I also haven't been to the gym for five days! A new record for me of being absent from something I was doing almost every day without even thinking about it.

I didn't mention this but last Tuesday I hurt my bad knee going down the 37 flights at the Sheraton (I used the elevator the second time). Going up the stairs doesn't hurt my knees at all. In fact, I've read that stair climbing is one of the lowest impact exercises possible, even lower impact than walking. Going down stairs is really hard on the body, especially the knees and hips. For stair climbing they always recommend using the elevator for going down. Except when I hurt my knee going down the stairs, it really starting hurting going up the stairs too. Not good.

After my workout last Wednesday where my knee was hurting pretty bad, I took off Thursday, Friday, and Saturday and Sunday (Big Climb day) from the gym. I only had an hour long walk on Thursday, but it was down and up a very steep hill, one mile each way, walking super fast with a coworker. It killed my knee. Luckily it was healed by the Big Climb on Sunday. Yesterday I was just lazy and skipped the gym.

It's 5:04 a.m. right now, and I'll be out the door in about 15 minutes heading to the gym. Back to my regular workouts.

Tracking my food and following the plan
I also haven't been tracking my food the last few days, and I even went out to lunch yesterday. Thai food, Cashew Chicken with white rice! I ate the entire thing. There must have been a lot of sodium in it because I was dying of thirst all afternoon and could barely get my ring off last night.

I haven't done anything like that in years. I'm always really careful when I eat out, ordering the lowest calorie item and only eating half. It was like the old me was back, and I don't really like the old me. The one that ate whatever and whenever she felt like it.

I'm nipping that in the bud. Back to healthy food, and tracking every bite.

Killing the nighttime eating monster
Anyone that's read my blog for a while knows I have a terrible time with eating late at night. Last night I decided that has to stop. It's been out of control lately. I decided that once I go to bed, that's it, I am done for the day. The restaurant is closed! No more getting up in the middle of the night and eating. I didn't use to do this, and I'm not even sure how it got started, but for the last year or so it's been my demon.

Even if it's healthy food, it has to stop. Last night was night number one of my new "rule". I thought about getting up a few times when I woke up at midnight and again at 1 a.m., but I didn't. I stayed in bed and eventually fell back to sleep. A little self-discipline is good for the soul (and the waistline!). It wasn't really that hard last night, but of course, I'd eaten much more than normal during the day. I know it'll be a lot harder now that I'll be back on plan.

Back to square one, what's always worked in the past will work again in the future.

Now for the gym!

Minestrone Soup

(makes 4-6 servings)

Ingredients:

• 3 cups water
  
  


• ½ cup chopped carrot
  
  


• ½ cup chopped celery
  
  


• ½ cup chopped onion
  
  


• 2 cloves finely chopped garlic
  
  


• 1 tsp crushed basil
  
  


• 1 tsp crushed oregano
  
  


• ⅛ tsp pepper
  
  


• 1 (15 oz.) can red kidney beans
  
  


• 1 (15 oz.) can chopped tomatoes
  
  


• ½ cup coarsely chopped cabbage
  
  


• ½ cup sliced zucchini
  
  


• ½ cup uncooked pasta
  
  

Preparation:

• Combine water, carrots, celery, onion, garlic, basil, oregano, and pepper in a large-size sauce pan. Heat to a boil, reduce heat. Cover and simmer for about 15 minutes or until vegetables are tender.
  
  


• Drain can of red kidney beans and add red kidney beans, tomatoes, cabbage, zucchini and pasta. Return to boil, reduce heat. Cover and simmer for about 5-10 minutes or until pasta is tender. Serve immediately
  
  

Make 6 Servings:

Weight loss recipes Amount Per Serving(1/6 of recipe (203 g)): 128 Calories, 6 g Protein, 26 g carbohydrates, 4 g Dietary Fiber, 1 g fat, 0 g saturated fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 418 mg sodium

Day 80: Crazy, insane virus that's going around.

About a month ago I saw some posts on Facebook from friends that their families had been knocked out by a virus.  It certainly happens, especially when you have a handful of kids. What caught my attention though, was that the illness came in waves.  I knocked on wood and hoped my family would be spared.

Wishful thinking.

Two weeks ago, the youngest and my husband started to show signs of illness. Nothing major, just mild fevers and a cough.  Nearly a week went by and no one else had symptoms. I was feeling quite hopeful the virus was contained to them.  Of course, they got worse just as my daughters and I started to feel under the weather.  Knowing it was likely the virus I had heard about earlier, I didn't push through my symptoms like I typically would. I took the opportunity to take it easy and get caught up on my reading and cuddle with the sickies since we all had the same thing. After a couple of days of not feeling so hot I started to feel better, figured my time had passed.

Then it hit.

I had a fever of 103.6 at bedtime that night.  I don't remember the last time I had a fever so high.  My ears were ringing so loudly, I had a hard time going to sleep that night. The next day and for the remainder of the week, I felt like I did when I had mono.  No joke.  Even now, a week later after the fever, I still feel pretty fatigued.

I am happy to say that despite my disease, I worked out every day and I didn't let the virus keep me from my efforts. Of course I lightened up the routine, I didn't want to kill myself! I also learned that one of the best way to get rid of the chills is to exercise for five minutes.  Of course I felt like I got hit my a truck, but I was warm and toasty.  It's been a slow road back to the workout I was doing before I got sick, but with a little effort, I'll be back there in no time.

The most important thing about taking care of yourself is listening to your body. I know the last few days I wouldn't have been able to do a full workout, so I haven't. But that's the beauty of this goal, by working out everyday, it gets easy to read your body. There are days I feel I can do more then my usual routine, and I will endulge.  But other days, I feel like I need to pull back, and I listen.

Take care of yourself, the virus that's going around...it's a doozy. ;)

The Big Climb was totally AWESOME!!!

The Big Climb Seattle 2011

After all my worrying and fretting about being a Big Climb team captain, after kicking myself in the butt a zillion times because I didn't lose twenty or even ten pounds for the event, I would say today was one of the best days of my life!

My husband took a ton of pictures today (and many of them not at all flattering to me), but the one below is my absolute favorite.

The guy on the left is Steve, and our team was Alaska Airlines Climbing for Steve. Steve was diagnosed with myelodysplastic syndromes (preleukemia) last August and had a stem cell transplant last fall. The guy on the right is one of our pilots, Paul. He was in the exact spot last year that Steve is now, recovering from a stem cell transplant after being diagnosed with MDS. This year Paul did the climb, and next year, both Paul and Steve will do the climb. I really love this picture. That's me in the back, on the right (with the bleached blond hair hiding behind people).

The anticipation and excitement was in the air when my husband and I entered the lobby of Columbia Center at 8:30am Sunday (my team's start time was 10:30am). It's a huge space, and it was packed with people, many wearing their team t-shirts. Most people were very fit and healthy looking. You could feel the adrenalin, as well as the fear that some of us first timers were feeling.

We arrived extra early because I wanted to make sure we had a space next to Starbucks on the main floor. It turned out not to be a problem because the Starbucks was located in an out of the way corner. I was a little worried no one would find us, but they all showed up.

Our company had two teams, my team, Climbing for Steve (since most of us knew him we wanted to honor him with a team just for him). The other team wasn't climbing for anyone specific. All together we had 60 people. Between the two teams we raised $8,500 dollars, which I thought was pretty good for a first time effort.

I was very surprised to see Steve show up to thank us in person. He had told me he would try to come, but if he wasn't feeling well, he might not make it. He's had a rough few weeks lately so I wasn't sure if he'd make it or not. Steve is one of the kindest, most gentle human beings I've ever met. He made a little speech of gratitude to our team before we took off on our climb. It was very touching and made me cry.

As we were going up the escalators for our 10:30am start time I heard someone shout my name, "Diana!". I turned around and there was Alan from Pounds Off Playoff, with his wife and two kids. I recognized him from his blog picture. I yelled back a "Hi Alan, and Alan's wife and two kids!". I wish I could have spoken to him and his family. It's so cool to meet people that write blogs. It's like you know the person before you even meet them. But we were on our march to the start of the climb and there was no going back at that point.

I'm not going to kid you and say the climb of 69 floors or 1,311 steps was easy for me. It was not easy. It was hard. I slowed down a few times to let younger, more fit people pass me, but I never stopped and rested. My heart rate got up to 161 and stayed there for the last ten minutes. When I work out on the StairMaster at the gym (which is NOTHING like the real thing) my heart rate is usually in the 135-140 range, occasionally going up to 151.

A heart rate of 161 for ten minutes is extremely high for me, especially because of my age (55) my target heart rate (85% of maximum) is 140. I really felt like I was pushing myself hard, and I kept repeating over and over in my head, mind over matter, mind over matter...I can and will do this.

The hardest part was the first ten floors, because I knew how far I had to go and it seemed like a really long way to the 69th floor, the last ten floors were killer because I was exhausted! They number the last ten floors, each floor with a big sign, only ten more floors, only nine more floors, etc. Plus as you get close to the top there was a person at each landing cheering us on, saying things like "good job!" or "you're almost there!" The floors left numbers and the cheering really helped.

One thing that was so emotional for me was the big 8 1/2" x 11" photos on each floor. Several said "In memory of" and a name and date. Some said "In honor of" and a name. This gave me momentum to keep going. I couldn't help but think what each of these people and many others have gone through with cancer. If I could honor them by making this small sacrifice, then it was worth it.

The team t-shirt that really touched my heart the most was a team called Project Trevor. On the back of a bright orange t-shirt it had a picture of a young boy. Below the picture, it said "Dad, I have a question. Is Leukemia life threatening?" ~Trevor 2002. I saw some people wearing the t-shirt in the elevator and said to a woman, your t-shirt made me cry, but what a wonderful way to honor Trevor. She pointed to a man standing beside her and said that Trevor was his best friend's son. Then we all started to tear up a bit and someone said, "No tears here today! Only happy thoughts!" and we all laughed.

I looked up Team Trevor's web page and this is what their greeting said:

Project Trevor is the Big Climb Team Honoring Trevor Price, a young man, lost to Leukemia at 12 years of age. We have been a a key team in the recent growth of this fantastic event. We are encouraged by a young man that will forever be 12 years of age; a young man that was always older than his years.

Here's a link to more about Trevor. What's even sadder is that he lost his life five months after he was diagnosed with leukemia, at 12 years of age. Team Trevor raised $15,808.59 for today's event. Wow.

Sorry, I digress. Back to the actual climb. First of all, I didn't run it, but I was in the "racer" group so I could be timed. When I got to the sign that said "Five floors left!" I could hear the Rocky theme music (Gonna Fly Now). That really helped. It got louder and louder as I neared the top. You know the music, where Rocky is running up the steps in the movie.

So, are you wondering about my results?

Time:  19 minutes and 38 seconds
Place overall:  2635 out of 3242  <---these were the timed climbers, there was another 3,000 untimed
Pace by sex:  1100 out of 1499
Place in my age group:  91/131

Now those numbers aren't super fantastic, but dang, I'm kind of proud of it for my first time. Especially considering that I'm 55 years old and at least 30 pounds overweight (but not next year!).

Are you wondering how the 80-year old woman placed? Actually, this year she's 81.

Shirley Lansing, 81, 36 minutes and 36 seconds.

I hope I do that well when I'm 81!

My goal for next year, 15 minutes! I saw several people in their fifties did it in 15 minutes or less this year. Imagine how easy it would be if I was thirty or even fifty pounds lighter?

Overall, I really enjoyed this event. I talked to the other team captain and we're already scheming how to have one big team next year of over 100 people. If we raised $8,500 with 60 people, we can raise at least $10,000 (or more) with 100 people.

Speaking of weight
I weighed this morning when I got up.

186.4

Holy Crap Batman!

I've been stressed out a little over the Big Climb. It had some sort of negative effect on my eating. I realize that doesn't make any sense but it's almost like I had this overwhelming pressure to lose weight. I mean seriously, the fat girl is going to climb 69 floors and not have a heart attack? The more I thought about it, the more I wanted to eat. It was really odd how it made me feel.

Looking through all the pictures my husband took of me today, I'm looking very fat. There's just no other way to say it, but I can really see the weight on my body and face and I don't like it one little bit. Not to mention hauling this body up 69 flights was a lot harder than it should have been for me.

We have a Weight Watchers at work group that just started, and I'm joining it. It's on Wednesdays at noon for 17 weeks. We have over 20 people signed up so we get an extra discount with Weight Watchers for having over 20 people, and our company is paying for 30% of the fee. Plus I'm staying in my Saturday meetings and paying my online fee. So I'll have two meetings and two weighins a week for the next 17 weeks. I feel really excited that I'm going to finally make some headway on losing weight again.

Battle: Los Angeles
This post is already too long, but I have to tell you about the movie we saw this afternoon. Battle: Los Angeles. I loved it! It kept me on the edge of my seat the entire movie. I laughed, I cried, and was thoroughly entertained for almost two hours (but it seemed like twenty minutes).

It's a sci-fi with aliens-war-suspense-scary movie. All the stuff I love rolled into one movie. I'm sort of a weird female because I love war movies. I'm sure it's from being married to a big history buff for the last 23 years. I've seen more than my share of war movies (but I kind of like them now).

Anyway, I loved it. I know the ratings aren't the greatest, but it's one of the best movies I've seen in a long time. Definitely worth seeing on the big screen.

I must still be high from my climb. I'm a real chatterbox tonight!

Manhattan Clam Chowder

(makes 4 servings)

Ingredients:

• 2 (6½ oz.) cans of minced clams
  
  


• Low-fat cooking spray
  
  


• 2 chopped stalks celery
  
  


• 1 chopped carrot
  
  


• 1 chopped onion
  
  


• 1 (8 oz.) can of clamato juice (combination of clam and tomato juice)
  
  


• 2 cups chopped red potatoes
  
  


• 1 tsp crushed dried thyme
  
  


• ¼ tsp cayenne pepper
  
  


• Fresh ground pepper (to taste)
  
  


• 1 (14½ oz.) can diced tomatoes, undrained
  
  

Preparation:

• Drain the clams but reserve juice from the cans into a measuring cup and if necessary, add enough water to equal 1½ cups liquid, then set aside.
  
  


• Spray a large-size saucepan with low-fat cooking spray. Raise heat to medium-high heat then sauté celery, carrot, and onion for about 3-4 minutes or until crisp-tender.
  
  


• Stir in reserved clam juice, canned clamato juice, potatoes, thyme, cayenne and black pepper. Heat to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer for about 15 minutes or until potatoes are just tender.
  
  


• Stir in the tomatoes and minced clams, heat again to a boil then reduce heat and simmer for about 2-3 minutes before serving.
  
  

Make 4 Servings:

Weight loss recipes Amount Per Serving(¼ of recipe (379 g)): 128 Calories, 4 g Protein, 29 g carbohydrates, 4 g Dietary Fiber, 0 g fat, 0 g saturated fat, 3 mg cholesterol, 658 mg sodium

Zero days until the Big Climb

In about eight hours I'll be getting up and getting dressed for the big climb. In about twelve hours I'll be lined up to start the climb of 1,311 steps.

I've picked out what I'm wearing, black cropped workout pants, a black sleeveless, v-neck workout top, the kind that stays dry (you can't see or feel the sweat, it wicks away, whatever that means), my favorite workout socks, and my favorite workout shoes. I have my heart rate monitor ready next to my socks so I don't forget it. Plus my gloves to wear so I won't be touching the bannister with my bare hands (I have a slight germ phobia about public stair bannisters--they're gross!).

I picked up the racing packets for my team in Seattle this morning and they're in the trunk of my car.

I had my hair cut and highlighted today so I'm ready for pictures. I had about an inch cut off, and it's really blond again (almost need sunglasses to look at it). No reverse highlights this time, just two tones of blond. I'm thinking it's a little bit too blond.

And I'm nervous as heck. I don't really know why but I feel anxious about this event. I know I can do the 69 floors, but I know it's going to be hard. My bad left knee has been bothering me a little since I did the Sheraton stairs on Tuesday (37 flights twice).

Maybe it's because I'm team captain, and I know I'm going to have to be all smiles and friendly. Basically, I'll have to be "on" as I meet and greet people tomorrow morning. I keep telling myself not to worry, it's no big deal, and it'll be over before I know it.

It's for a good cause, raising money for a good reason, to help the people that have leukemiaia, lymphoma or one of the other blood diseases. I keep telling myself that this is nothing in comparison to going through cancer. If you've ever known anyone that's gone through chemo, you know a little about the agony of having cancer.

This is basically about 35 minutes of my life where I'll have some discomfort climbing stairs. Imagine months of chemo, daily doctor visits, hospital stays, losing my hair, feeling sick and weak all the time. Nauseousness from the drugs, throwing up. Those are the people that are the heroes in this story.

Funny, I suddenly feel better about this whole thing. I'll report back tomorrow how it went. Hopefully I can beat that 80-year old woman's time from last year, 35 minutes.

Lentil Soup

(makes 4-6 servings)

Ingredients:

• 2 cups dry lentils, picked over and rinsed
  
  


• 4 cups water
  
  


• 2 finely chopped carrots
  
  


• 1 (15 oz.) can chopped tomatoes
  
  


• 3 finely chopped garlic cloves
  
  


• 1 finely chopped onion
  
  


• 1 tbsp fresh parsley, or ½ tbsp dried flakes
  
  


• ¼ tsp cumin
  
  


• ¼ tsp cayenne pepper
  
  


• ½ tsp salt
  
  

Preparation:

• Pour water in a large-size saucepan. Add the lentils, bring to a boil then reduce heat, cover and simmer. Cook for about 15 minutes.
  
  


• Stir in carrots, tomatoes, garlic, onion and seasonings.
  
  


• Cover and cook another until lentils are tender (about 15 minutes).
  
  

Make 4 Servings:

Weight loss recipes Amount Per Serving(¼ of recipe (284 g)): 387 Calories, 29 g Protein, 70 g carbohydrates, 32 g Dietary Fiber, 1 g fat, 0 g saturated fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 594 mg sodium