Hydration Situation

Day 2:

Pre-Breakfast:
1 cup warm water
Lemon juice
Honey
Breakfast:
Apple
Activia
Lunch:
Turkey pattie
Mashed Cauliflower
2 Fried Eggs
Grapes
Snack:
1/2 cup Kefir
1/2 cup Coconut Milk
Dinner:
Chicken and stir fry veggies with Lite Soy Sauce

So, that's my day.  I didn't run today, I had two long runs pretty close together and I could feel some uncomfortable tightening in my neck and right hamstring the last time I ran.  So today was a recovery day.

I promised to talk about my hydration situation.  I used to worry that I wasn't hydrated enough, but looking into research as to how to tell if you are hydrated or not is as simple as looking in the toilet.  Yes, I'm going there....depending on the color of your urine will easily tell you if you are skimping in the liquids department.  The darker yellow hue it is, the more dehydrated you are.  The lighter in color, you guessed it!  The more hydrated you are.  A pale lemonade color is just right, but mine is more on the crystal springs color.  I could sell mine to Evian it's so clear!  Which brings up another point, did you know you could be over-hydrated?  I just read about it in Runner's World, and it's pretty dangerous stuff.  So I don't feel like I need to up my liquids. 

Plus, I don't think I could handle going to the bathroom more than I do now.  It's border line ridiculous, I have actually contemplated adult diapers.  Just ask my sister, we would go out somewhere and I would pee before we left, pee at least 2 times at the store and then have to pee by the time we got home.  It's very inconvenient.

That is where I stand, I know it was more than you were expecting or even wanted, but I told you I wasn't going to hide anything.  I bet now you are going to start inspecting the toilet every time you go.  Well at least you will be aware of your hydration level, and knowing is half the battle.

Snow and a Report

 Wednesday to much of our surprise it began to snow!  Theo didn't think it would stick, but by the end of the day it was starting to look like a Winter Wonderland.  That night I had to take Tobie and Miriam to their piano lesson, a little over 10 minutes away.  The lesson was under 2 hours, but when we left that night the place was completely covered!  I had to scrap snow off my windshield so I could see, and the tires were having a hard time gripping the road.  I got really nervous and saw cars in the ditch, or some that had just slid over to the other side of the road.  I took it super slow, and thankfully made it home...it may have taken 30 minutes, but at least we were all safe!  That was probably the scariest drive I have ever been a part in.

 By morning, the ground had already warmed most of the snow so there wasn't any difficulty in Theo getting out in the morning to work.  Although I was hoping for a bit more just so we could snuggle a little longer, sorry for the TMI. ;)

 The girls were out the door, dressed by 8:30.  They were so stoked to build their snowmen they didn't bother sleeping in on a day that they didn't have to go to school!

 This is Charlotte's first experience with snow, and she loved it!  She was all over the place, but when she discovered the snow melted water puddles and started digging in them with her bare hands, I decided it was time for her to come inside.

 Miriam's snowman creation.

 Emma's snowman creation.

Hannah was the warmest of them all.  She was all decked out in the left over winter clothes we have accumulated from our winters at Lake Tahoe.

 Charlotte looking idly on from the front window, while her sisters use her for snowball practice.

 Isn't she just too cute!  We keep being told this was a complete fluke that it was snowing and that this NEVER happens, but other than the car ride of death I was so happy we got to experience this!

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Ok, so here is my first report of what I ate today and my exercise routine:

Pre-breakfast:

1 cup warm water, with lemon juice and 1 tbsp. honey

1 cup water with White Flood energy powder

Breakfast:

Apple

Activia

Post-Workout:

1 cup coconut milk with 1 scoop Whey protein

Lunch:

Weight Watchers Vegetable Soup

Grapes

Diet Soda

Snack:

1/2 cup Kefir mixed with 1 cup Coconut Milk

Dinner:

Baked asparagus with a little olive oil, salt and pepper

Turkey pattie

Mashed cauliflower with light sour cream

Sauteed mushrooms and onions in coconut oil

Workout:

6 mile run, then upper body workout

So that's it.  I didn't include my water intake, but I did drink at least 7 cups worth of water today.  I know I'm hydrated, so drinking enough water is not an issue for me.  Maybe I'll have to write a post about my hydration situation (did you like that? heehee...) tomorrow.  In fact, that is going to be the post title!  Hydration Situation....okay, back to this post.  Tell me what you think, what can I tweak, but be gentle with me. :)  I think I did really good, but I'm always on my game on Monday, it's just when I get further on in the week you may see my menu tend to wane.

Also, I think I need a name for this experiment.  I got nothing, any ideas? 

Accountability

I don't usually post on Sundays, but I'm going to try something new, a project or experiment, whatever you want to call it.  If you are a follower of my blog you know of my struggle with weight.  I have tried all kinds of diets, Weight Watchers, South Beach, Body for Life, 40-30-30, Low Carb, Clean Eating, Counting Calories, and have yet to find that winning diet that helps me loose the fat.  I don't consider myself a yo-yo dieter, maybe a pinball dieter, I bounce from one to the other if I don't see results fast enough.  But not only am I dieting I am training for my 3rd Half Marathon that will be in January.  I injured my foot at the last one and I'm afraid it was because of my weight.  I have been determined to loose the weight before the one in January but it just isn't happening.  I'm on day 11 of the 17 Day Diet and I haven't lost any significant weight.  I'm running on average 20 miles per week, so I'm not just depending on the food for weight loss.

So I'm trying a different approach, one I learned in Weight Watchers.  This isn't their quote, but they had this idea:  "Where there is no accountability, there is no progress.".  That's what the meetings were for, being held accountable.

But I don't want to pay for meetings, or a gym membership.  Instead I'm taking my journey to a more public arena...my blog.

I've heard that you should keep a food journal, I have two notebooks, one that is full, of food journaling and now I am going to journal it here.  I'm going to post on line what I eat every day along with my workout.  I'm hoping that by posting it here for everyone to see, nothing to hide I will be held more accountable and I will be able to better commit to better eating habits.  I also welcome any criticism as to what I am doing wrong so I can change it.

I have contemplated doing this before, but always chickened out.  Now I'm really ready to commit to this.  It's like a light bulb went off in my head, before I couldn't get over the thought that it isn't fair that there is so much good food out there and I can't eat it.  I felt like I was missing out on the good stuff.  Now I feel like life is too short to live it always unhappy with my appearance.  I'm ready for my appearance to reflect my hard work.  My friend Lainie would say, "nothing tastes as good as skinny feels.".  I'm ready to feel that way.  Starting tomorrow I will start posting.  I will still take Sundays off, which is also my weigh in day.  On Monday I will report as to whether there has been a loss or gain, but I'm not confident enough to let you know my actual weight.  And I'm not going to post any pictures of me in my underwear....you're welcome. 

I'm excited and apprehensive at the same time, wish me luck!