Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Phys-i-cali fit

Today I ate 5 jelly beans and then E told me to try turkey burgers...

So O and I have started an insane fitness challenge-we get daily points for doing things like eating fruits and veggies, not eating treats, not eating after 9 pm, drinking water, exercising, and all sorts of other horridly difficult things. We add up our points and our weight loss weekly and submit them to the grand master. The challenge goes on for 8 weeks after which an ultimate winner will be named. Lets just say, I am not sure O or I will be taking home the prize.

E told me about this all last Sunday and I thought I had better join in bc I have been on a bit of a downward spiral as far as health consciousness goes. I came home and told O he would have to do it to support me :)  O reads all the rules and says "OK, sounds good", then gets to the part about points for weight loss and says "no way! If anything I need to gain weight!" He then proceeds to step onto our scale (which I had just stepped off, after discovering myself to be even larger than my extreme large days when I had to fly home from Italy with my pants not only unbuttoned but also burst-not bursting but past tense-at several seams) and started screaming hysterically about how he has never been so huge, he used to be such a thin mint in high school,  why had I not mentioned it, etc. Suffice it to say, he signed up with alacrity. (and O has been making comments all week like, "my face is so round now" and "I worked my butt off today!-wait, I guess that is not really true")

Day 1 started off with O pondering where to buy squeezable veggies (he pretty much exclusively eats things in tubes-gogurts, those apple sauce squeeze packs, and fruit cups) and me realizing I had not had actual "fruit" in about 6 months (after E clarified that fruit snacks for some reason don't count). We ended up racing through Costco, then racing home to eat all of these fruit and veggies (and Arby's that we had to pick up bc our time was sooo limited) before 9:00. Days 2-5 were  pretty good, with O racing home every night at 8:40, followed by us shoveling in food as fast as physically possible (I'm not sure the stop eating at 9:00 is working out so well). Our exercise (which along with scissors is a word I cannot spell) consisted primarily of walking in place while watching TV (who needs a walking machine) but hey-when you are starting at the bottom, you don't have to go very far to make slight improvements! (ps: I do have my recent leg surg as an excuse, I did have a golf ball removed from my thigh after all)

Day 6 started off marvelously with a snickers candy bar, laffy taffys, mentos, and anything else nice I could get my mitts on. We get one free candy day and I was taking it to the extreme. Plus, I was skiing so I thought it was justified. Day 7 I decided to forgo the 5 points I would get from not eating sweets. Determined to live it up, I drank nothing but diet coke and sprite all day long and sadly, at 9:00 pm, realized I had to drink 64 oz of H2O. That is quite a lot of H2O and I'm not sure I will make that mistake again. I downed 3 water bottles, laid on the bed quite ill, and finally hobbled over to the scale to weigh in. Imagine my horror to see that I had actually gained 3 lbs! I slung myself back on the bed for another hour in dismay. I was relieved to find that, once relieved of all that water (and most of my clothing) I had lost 1 lb.

O hopped on the scale and started screaming hysterically (once again, I think Sunday nights might be a bit emotional for some time) that he had gained weight. He had to remove every stitch of clothing to just maintain his weight. (he was somewhat comforted when L told him perhaps he had gained muscle, which weighs quite a lot).

So we ended week 1 thinking that perhaps we will take things a little slow-week 1, just try to do the basic challenges, week 2, probably the same. Around week 3 we may try to go the next step and cut the 4-5 daily muffin ration down to just 1. No need to be too extreme.

This has all been building up to tonight-the RS bday party dinner.

There I was, sitting at my table, trying to make polite conversation with a few ladies I had never spoken with, and when they all started nibbling at the jelly beans sprinkled all over the table, I thoughtlessly joined in. I had a lovely dinner, talked for about 30 more min and suddenly, looking at those colorful jellybeans, which, by the way, I don't even like, it hits me, I ATE SUGAR!!!!!!!!!! I WASTED MY FREE TREAT DAY ON 5 JELLY BEANS!!!!!!!!!!  I was so upset I could barely focus and had to leave. I called E on my way home, hoping she would say, "oh, it is fine, that does not count" and instead she says "well this can just be your free point day" (so, since I had already had those dumb beans I ate a fruit snack and a snickers ice cream bar, a fun size one I might add). Then, when I confessed that (bc I ate them really fast while on the phone) she said, "you should sign up for this food program, they send you healthy foods like turkey burgers". At first I am like "oh doesn't that sound nice, I'll be sure to consider it" while inside I'm thinking "E is insane, did she just hear me when I said I just ate a snickers candy bar? I am not ready for turkey burgers", eventually I ask "are turkey burgers even good?" and she says, no lie "they are an acquired taste, but I like them now, I eat them plain, I don't even have a bun". Yes I am dead serious. Well gee, starting a few months ago when I go to Mcdonalds I get my cheeseburgers without cheese in an attempt to be healthy but I have never thought about getting it without the bun. (on a side note every time we go, which is not exactly infrequent, O says "what do you want" and I say "a hamburger" and O says "no cheese huh? you don't like cheese?" and I say "I like cheese, I am just trying to cut down on the fat/calories". We have this conversation like once a week, word for word, it is so bizarre. Next time I think I'll just order the cheeseburger.)

well, after tonight's breakdown I am getting back in the saddle. O and I are going to get serious about seriously getting in shape :)

I am, however, not ready for the turkey burger-ask me again on week 4.