Today was probably the best food day I've had this week. 130 calories left over, hitting 1200 calories exactly, after exercising. AND I got to eat a bag of Doritos and a Toaster Strudel.  I'd say that's a win.

Many-an-errand had to get done today, what with getting a check to buy a car and picking up my official number for the race on Sunday. I was carrying around a Subway sandwich for a good 2 hours before eating it because I was running around so much. Sweet, sweet, Subway sandwich.

My sister in law, Jennie, signed me up for another 5K that is happening May 6th, just a week after my first 5K. She got me a discount, so I'm pretty excited! I'm making Julien wake up early 2 Sunday's in a row... but it's okay, I have to stay up late for him every Thursday, he owes me.

OH! I did day 2 of the 30 Day Shred today. It hurts to stand up, sit down, climb stairs, walk, raise my arms up or down, and move in general. For some reason my calves really kill, and I'm starting to wonder if I shouldn't have started before my race... hopefully my muscles will calm down a bit before Sunday...

"Shake harder, boy!"

I'm starting to trail off. Not the diet, not about being healthy, about blogging.

I think I'm going to link to my My Fitness Pal diary directly, since it's public, and talk more about other things on this blog.

So here is what happened on Sunday. A pretty good day, only 80 grams over my sugar (lol). When I got back from the gym, Julien and his friend were just leaving to go to Tim Hortons... so I may have asked for a sandwich and an Iced Capp. Julien, though, likes to get me the largest size possible, so my coffee was 470 calories and 62 grams of sugar. Oops. But you know what, I still had 169 remaining calories at the end of the day, so not all is lost, amiright?

Here are some gym stats:

• Treadmill; 5.14 km; 41 minutes; 528 calories.
• Abs; 0 lbs; 25 reps, 4 times.
• Planks; 30 seconds, 2 times.
• Overall strength training; 16 minutes; 108 calories.
• Walking Chubbs; 22 minutes; 148 calories.

I'd like to point out, I tried to run the whole 5K without stopping to walk. I think I maybe walked a total of 2 or 2.5 songs (7-10 minutes). I noted my time when I hit 5K on the dot too. 39 minutes and 31 seconds. That's my best time yet! Last Friday I hat 5K at 42 1/2 minutes, so I shaved off 3 minutes in 2 days.

5 kilometers is about 3.11 miles. If you told High School Aimee that she would nearly be running 3.11 miles straight, without walking much, she would have laughed in your face and called you crazy. I'm really proud at my accomplishments, even if they're minor. 

I think because I ran for longer than I'm used to (I usually run and song, walk a song, until I hit 5K), my legs KILL. When I go to the gym today, my cardio will be on the bike, I need to take a day off of running before I sprain something.

In other news, my career path is taking a turn into crazy-land. Can't say much now, but wish me luck. 

Thursday Fail

Seeing as last night I was alone in the apartment without internet, I couldn't update for Thursday. Fear not, Julien got the Internet to work this morning, so let's just pretend it's Thursday and get on with it!

Vs. Thursday~

Expectations vs. Reality

This one is hard. I'm going to say expectations. Because if that thing you expect comes true, then it's usually awesome! If not, you still have reality. For example, for Easter, my mom and grandma were expecting me to just show up in Illinois. The reality was, though, that I showed up through Skype for nearly the whole day. Win some, lose some. 

If you chose expectations: You're idealistic and entitled. 

If you chose reality: You're fatalistic and sexually charged.

(What did you choose?)

And here was my daily food intake. Not too shabby, then again, I only ate at home. Whenever I do that, I'm never over calories. I guess eating out is my downfall. 

I tried making this microwaveable, sugar free, chocolate cake thing I found on the MFP forums, but it was disgusting, so I threw it out and deleted the recipe. It was very spongy and moist... Not really my thing. 

The grocery store close to me was selling corn on the cob, so I bought one (.33 cents!) and had it last night. I didn't know it was corn on the cob season already. Isn't that more of a summer thing? You know, knee high by the fourth of July? Anyway...

Gym Stats

• Treadmill; 1.91 km; 17 minutes; 180 calories.
• Abs; 0 lbs; 25 reps, 5 times.
• Abs; 8 lbs; 25 reps, 3 times.
• Overall strength training; 12 minutes; 75 calories.
• Stationary Bike; 9.77 km; 33 minuts; 320 calories.
• Walking Chubbs; 22 minutes; 126 calories.

I decided to not run my usual 5K on the treadmill (for some reason) and instead do a different kind of cardio for the bulk of it. I tried the Weight Loss course on the bike while watching, "Nightmare Before Christmas" on my iPod. 

See? See what happens when I eat at home for all of my meals and snacks? I realize having a net calorie amount of under 1200 isn't the healthiest, but this doesn't happen very often. Thinking about it now, I probably should have added some nuts or other high calorie foods into my diet. Oh well, nothing I can do about it now!

Gym Stats

• Treadmill; 5.03 km; 44 minutes; 535 calories.
• Abs; 0 lbs; 25 reps, 5 times.
• Abs; 8 lbs; 25 reps, 3 times.
• Triceps; 40 lbs; 10 reps, 2 times.
• Biceps; 65 lbs; 10 reps, 3 times.
• Quads; 50 lbs; 10 reps, 4 times.
• Hamstrings; 40 lbs; 10 reps, 3 times.
• Overall strength training; 26 minutes; 181 calories.
• Walking Chubbs; 23 minutes; 153 calories.

I've gotten advise from lots of people and websites saying that lifting heavy, but with less reps is best. So I decided to up the weight on most of my strength training exercises by 5 lbs. I didn't up the hamstrings because I already can't do many reps to begin with. 

I've also decided, since it's getting nice outside, to walk Chubbs nightly. He's starting to get, well, chubby, and since he has such a flat face, he breathing can be even more hindered if he's not at a healthy weight. I don't mind walking him, it'll be a good bonding experience and maybe he'll stop being such a chicken out in public. Seriously, he avoids covered manholes. 

I changed something. From previous entries, you'll notice my calorie goal was at 1470. I stopped kidding myself though, and set my "Activity Level" from Lightly Active to Sedentary. Now that I'm not walking to campus daily, or up and down stairs to get to class, I decided to change it. Since last Thursday, I went through nearly the whole first season of "Prison Break," I'm definitely sedentary.

I was doing great with my calories until Julien ate a bag of Doritos. A Doritos bag is just a bag full of happiness, so he ate what he wanted, set it down, and noticed I got real grumpy. I told him he was killing me slowly, I tried to resist, but failed. Sweet, sweet, cool ranch failure.

Oh well, it didn't kill my day.

Gym Stats

(I forgot my HRM at home...)

• Treadmill; 5.07 km; 50 minutes; 600 calories.
• Abs; 0 lbs; 25 reps, 4 times.
• Triceps; 35 lbs; 10 reps, 4 times.
• Biceps; 60 lbs; 10 reps, 4 times.
• Overall strength training; 16 minutes; 108 calories.

Cheeburger Cheeburger

It's funny how such a good, healthy food day can go to crap so quickly.

By the time dinner came around, I had over 1,000 calories to spare. But then Jennie, my sister in law, and Jonathan, my brother in law, invited me out to go see Titanic. Can't say no to that. So, I was hungry, thinking I'd go home later for dinner-dinner, I bought some chicken tenders and an Iced Capp from Tim Hortons. Okay fine, 600+ calories left for dinner, not a problem.

Nope. J and J invited me out for dinner afterwards. We went to Cheeburger Cheeburger, which is this cool, '50s diner type place. In hindsight, I should have gotten a salad, loaded with veggies, chicken, and a water. But, come on, it's called Cheeburger Cheeburger, not Salad Salad. Come on. So, I got the smallest burger they offer (5.5 ounces), no fries, no onion rings, no poutine.

When the time came for dessert, though, I really screwed myself over. Small chocolate shake with cookie dough chunks and M&M's. Oops.

Gym Stats

(Gym time was shortened because my HRM was wigging out and I left a candle burning at my apartment. I'm paranoid, what can I say?)

• Treadmill; 20 minutes, 270 calories.

I kicked ass today. For it being Friday the 13th, today was pretty good to me.

And look at all of those black numbers! Only one red, but I've decided to largely ignore my sugars. Funny thing is, the coke I had today had 42 g of sugar. So if I hadn't drunk that, I'd have all black numbers.

Tonight was also another Passover celebration-thing. I added 650 calories for dinner, because I never really know what I eat when I'm over with the Jews.

Gym Stats

• Treadmill; 2.99 km; 25 minutes; 322 calories.
• Abs; 0 lbs; 25 reps, 5 times.
• Quads; 45 lbs; 10 reps, 5 times.
• Hamstrings; 40 lbs; 10 reps, 3 times
• Overall strength training; 23 minutes; 156 calories.

Today was really, really exciting. A number of eventful things happened, so let's just start a bulleted list:

• I handed in my final 2 papers of the year. Summer vacation time!
• I had lunch with some Library School buddies, and celebrated summer with panini's, chinese food, and breakfast.
• I finally picked up my Easter basked at the post office that my mom and dad sent me. Including: two Lindt gold bunnies, Eiffel tower novelty tissues, toe separators, a 1 foot tall yellow chicken, fun Easter ornament-things, a tape measure, and a chocolate scented bunny, which I gave to Chubbs.
• I watched 3 or 4 episodes of Prison Break.
• Holy crap, I went to the gym! First time in nearly 2 weeks! 
• I went on a happy-end-of-semester shopping trip to Old Navy. I bought an Ironman shirt (on which I performed surgery), a hippie shirt, jogging pants, jogging shorts, 6 pairs of socks, and gladiator-type flip flops. 
• Julien and I might landed an apartment near his parents house. Since tomorrow is (still) Passover, and we'll be heading out that way, we'll be signing the lease. And depending on when someone can move into our current apartment, we might be moving out May 1st... Our landlord wants to take a month to do some renovations, so if he finds new tenants for June 1st, we need to be out by May 1st, and so on. Depending on what actually happens, the rest of the month might be stressful.

Anyway, because I went to the gym left the house today, I managed to rack up exercise calories, so I finally wasn't over my intake, or 10 calories from my limit. I feel so good after leaving the gym, I can't understand how people can just sit around all day without doing any physical movement besides clicking a computer mouse. I get a certain high from feeling my muscles ache, it might be an obsession. Oops. 

Only 16 more days until my 5K race. I can't believe it... I'm raising money for the MS society of Canada. If you'd like to donate, please do here. 

Gym Stats

• Treadmill; 2.64 km; 23 minutes; 276 calories.
• Abs; 0 lbs; 25 reps, 5 times.
• Biceps; 60 lbs; 10 reps, 4 times.
• Triceps; 35 lbs; 10 reps, 3 times.
• Overall strength training; 17 minutes; 112 calories. 

All was well today... until Julien and I went to his parents house for dinner. I swear, I never know how to log dinner there. But his mom served up whole artichokes, so that was amazing. It was the first time I dissected an artichoke, ripping off the leaves, slowly undressing it, until you RIP ITS HAIR OUT and nom on its heart. (Sexual zombie much?)

We were out by his parents in the first place because we're looking for a new apartment. I think we found one too! It's close to his parents, so we'll get free food, which will be nice. The living room in the new place is basically the size of our current place, and there are so many cupboards in the kitchen and there are two bathrooms, two bedrooms, a garage, AC, and a weird concrete patio/yard thing. Maybe then we can finally outside train the puppies. Anyway, I really like it. The one thing that sucks is we'll be paying a bit more for it monthly and I'll have to take the metro downtown daily (it's about a 45 minute commute). But it'll be worth it, I think.

Another ride on the fail-boat! toot toot!


As you can see, I didn't exercise, I didn't even go outside today! I had people over, I ate brownies, Julien and I ordered out, I finished half of his coke, it was just bad news bears.

BUT. School is done-done in about 2.5 days, meaning in 2.5 days I'll actually have time to go to the gym and put in a gut-wrenching workout. No more relying on these dinky Wii-Fit workouts.

Mission Easter: Success

I don't know why I'm blogging now. It's not like I have to do school work before tomorrow morning.....

Today was pretty successful. I guess that's a good thing about being away from home for Easter, I don't stuff my face with sweets and pasta.

Desserts included:

• 3 layers lasagna cake.
• Cheesecake layers with bananas, pineapple, strawberries, cool whip.
• Cake Easter eggs.
• Lamb cake.
• Chocolate Cinnamon Bars.
• Lemon Bars.
• Kazadad's.
• And of course candy, jelly beans, puppy chow, various cookies, etc etc. 

Anyway, I spent a lot of the day on Skype, and I even helped my cousin Mary find the winning $100 Easter egg :)

FAIL

What a terrible, terrible day. It started out okay, bagel and cream cheese, maybe an apple and a juice box. But it slowly drifted into an endless spiral of sugar, carbs, and calories.

First up, Sushi Palace for lunch. Not only was the food pretty gross, but since it was an 'all you can eat' type deal, if you ordered something and didn't finish, you got charged extra. The teriyaki chicken was slimy, the general tso was rough and chewy, Julien's sashimi was dry, and his red salmon was a lighter shade of pink. Not to mention the wasabi was crusting over. The fried rice was good though!

Since lunch was le shit, Julien wanted ice cream. Okay, what the hell, at this point I only had 121 calories left in my day, so why not just have a (super) cheat day? So, I got a mini sized Smarties blizzard from Dairy Queen. (The Canadian smarties, not the American Smarties, which are actually called Rockets here in Canada).

Alright, so now I'm feeling like crap, on top of being really sleepy and kinda depressed because I'm not home for Easter. Cool. While I head to the drug store, Julien heads home. Fifteen minutes later, I enter the apartment and he goes, "I have a surprise for you... Well, 3 surprises!" Turns out he went to Tim Hortons and bought me an Iced Capp and a mixed berry muffin. But while waiting for the drinks, he remembered I liked smoothies (a lot), so he also got me a smoothie. Now, I love him, he is my world, my rock, my little snoring Canadian grizzly bear, and even though all I wanted to do was eat and sleep, I knew I didn't need to eat and sleep. Regardless, I drank the smoothie (it was delightful) and took a nap. After the nap, I cried I ate the muffin (that too was delightful) and then decided to play some Wii Fit. At this point of the evening, I was 600+ calories over, I figured I better work some of them off, right? So, about 300 calories worked off later, I'm back on the couch, watching Prison Break, drinking my Iced Capp.

I know, I failed so hard today.

I'm surprised today. I didn't really have any snacks today, because for a solid four hours I was working on a group paper over Skype. And those were four hours I could have been eating.

Tonight was the first night of Passover, so Julien and I were planning on going to his Aunt's house (you know, the one who has a problem with me), but around 5:30 Julien started to feel really sick to his stomach, so we opted to stay home instead. I made homemade pancakes. Apparently that makes us bad Jews, but I know next to nothing of the traditions of Passover, except that we aren't supposed to eat carbs... Oops, now I see why we're bad Jews.

I bought grape juice boxes today too. The official flavour though is called, "Deliciously Purple." I don't know why, but I chuckled.

I got screwed over today by lunch. My pad thai was over 1,100 calories. I realize I could have just, you know, had Subway or something, but the pad thai was calling my name! I intended on having half for lunch, half for dinner, but after rocking a research proposal for class for 2.5 hours, I got hungry... and I ate my leftovers.

I guess it also didn't help that I ate 200 calories worth of Cadbury Mini Eggs... I couldn't help it, the bag was almost empty, and I just love them so much!

I was also feeling kinda lonely at night, so I made a comfort food. Cream of Wheat with cocoa and sugar. Whenever I was at my Omi's house in the morning, she would make it for me, only my version never comes out quite as good.

Sodium, carbs, fiber, sugar, vitamin A and C. Oh well.

Let's switch gears to...

Vs Thursdayyyy~

Mayonnaise vs. Mustard

Unpopular opinion, but I choose mustard. Growing up, I always had the impression that mayo was terrible for my healthy. Plus it's gloopy and white. My dad would pile it on burgers, and it would squish everywhere... I was never a huge fan. I'm still not, but I won't run away from it. 

If you chose Mayonnaise: You're xenophobic. 

If you chose Mustard: You're well-traveled. 

(I'm not sure if the creators of this book pulled those factoids out of their butt, or if there is truth behind them. I've been to California, New York, Florida, Italy, Toronto, Montreal, and Wyoming. Does that make me "well-traveled?")

My stomach rumbled as I was walking home from Atwater Library. I checked my phone. 8:30 PM.

"Hmm," I thought. "I wonder how many calories I have left today."

I opened My Fitness Pal and jumped backwards.

"822 calories?! HOT DAMN!"
------
Did you like my story? Yeah. I then purged on a cheddar sausage, BUN AND ALL. And look, I still had 258 calories left.

It was a delightful day.

I'm not even going to pretend like I'm posting this on Tuesday. Because it's clearly Wednesday, and I'm running on 5 hours of sleep, which really isn't super terrible, but still. Anyway, Tuesday night I stayed up finishing a paper. I needed an energy drink in order to stay up until 2 am, and I am ashamed to call myself 22, because I shouldn't be drinking one at 11 pm because I'm so tired. So, because of that, I'm WAY over sugar and carbs. Otherwise, all other nutrients are pretty okay.

For some reason this song has been stuck in my head for the past 12 hours.

Movement Stats

• Wii Fit; 46 minutes; 275 calories

Today was a day that I wish I could blame my eating habits on other people or circumstances. My professor brought in Timbits, trying to win our love. So I ate three. There goes 200 calories. Julien and I ate cheddar sausages for dinner. I only had one (250 calories), but I didn't really need  to eat the bun (200 calories). Then, for some odd reason, I made chocolate chip cookies after dinner. I only ate one (80 calories), because who wouldn't? I mean, really? Not to mention I was sampling the dough before they went into the oven.

SO, kinda a bad day. I didn't go terribly over my limit, but I definitely felt worse than I usually do. Over my sodium, fat, carbs, sugar (no surprise), and a few vitamins. No biggie though. I didn't go WAY over anything (except maybe sodium).

Elevensies

 You know the day won't treat you right when you have to quote Peregrin Took.

But what about second breakfast?


Needless to say, Julien and I ended up at one of his friends house for a potluck-thing. I had no idea how to track everything I ate, so I left it alone. I know for a fact, though, that I'm over calories and did hardly any exercising.

Pretty large paper due Wednesday, haven't really started. The next two days will be hell, but what's graduate school without a little misery?

Today was probably the best eating day I've had in a long time. Look, only one red column, and it's only REALLY red because I was craving a coke. And a coke has 42 g of sugar in it... basically the whole days worth!

Movement Stats

• Treadmill; 44 minutes; 5.23 km; 519 calories.
• Abs; 0 lbs; 25 reps, 5 times.
• Quads; 45 lbs; 10 reps, 4 times.
• Overall Strength Training; 15 minutes; 80 calories.
• Walking the dogs; 15 minutes; 56 calories.

I have no idea how to count for when Julien and I go to his parents house for Shabbat. So I just quick added 550 calories and was done with it. 

Julien's mom pulled out General Tao flavoured potato chips at dinner. Sounds strange, but they actually just tasted like BBQ chips. I enjoyed them very much. 

Movement Stats

(not included: total KM on treadmill. The dogs are sleeping/quiet, I don't wanna wake them up)

• Treadmill; 29 minutes; 353 calories
• Abs; 0 lbs; 25 reps, 4 sets
• Triceps; 35 lbs; 10 reps, 4 sets
• Biceps; 60 lbs; 10 reps, 4 sets
• Overall Strength Training; 19 minutes; 129 calories
• Walking; 60 minutes; 204 calories