Meal Prep and Planning - Locally

From charting my food intake it's easy to see a few patterns.  I've already discussed the emotional eating a little - and surely will again - so I will skip over that for now and move on to the next issue - planning ahead (or rather lack thereof). Like the other day when my stomach started growling because it' was 1:30, I hadn't eaten a thing since breakfast and I had another meeting 20 minutes. I could've brought a long a healthy snack and maybe even scheduled in time for a quick lunch - but I didn't.  So instead I ended up grabbing a Diet Coke,  shoving whatever was easiestt/fastest in my mouth and following up with a piece of gum (I always have gum).

If you know anything about me you are aware I'm more of a "fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants" kind of girl than a "planner". However, I am in "change mode right now and I recognize this change is necessary to moving forward in my journey. So it was fortuitous that Hyam is hosting a really fabulous seminar at the studio this week (seriously, this was a coincidence) about meal planning!  This is awesome not just because of the great information - but because while I'm not great at creating a plan - I am good at following one! (Ya always gotta have a plan, right Sissa?).

Laura Glassow will be discussing "Local and Seasonal Meal Planning and Preparation" tomorrow, May 26 from 6:00pm - 8:00pm at the studio.  After eating the entire bag of snap peas we bought at the City Market this weekend in one sitting (they were SO good!) I can't wait to learn more about working local foods into my daily diet.  Plus with the Spicy Chicken scheduled to travel nearly every week this summer, someone else is probably going to have to start cooking around here...

If you're in C'ville and would like to attend this seminar give Hyam a call at 434-245-2288.  Cost of the class is only $25 - and you get to take yummy recipes home with you!  

In The Numbers

Regardless of how far I go in this journey I will never divulge my actual weight to you.  Sorry, but after nearly 30 years of battling with the scale I find those numbers to have such a negative influence on my self-esteem that I barely even acknowledge them myself.  I realize, however, that they are a way of determining success, so I can't discount them completely.

So, I've decided that I'm going to kind of embrace them for the sake of the blog.  Kind of.  Though I don't take much stock in things like height/weight charts or even BMI, I do acknowledge that there has to be some easy way to track success.  So I'm starting with the number 40, which is the number of pounds I think I need to lose.  It's a somewhat arbitrary number - based solely on what I think I should weigh in order to look the way I'd like to look and feel the way I'd like to feel - but it's a number - and I know people like numbers.

Once a week I will weigh in and report to you where I am at.  The goal, of course, is that every time I post the number will have decreased. Since I didn't post last week's weigh-in I will do that now - it was...39.     

This will be fun, right?

The Biggest Loser in C'ville?

I spent Saturday morning with my friends Heather and Josephine signing up for Biggest Loser Charlottesville. This 10-week long event isn't actually affiliated with the NBC phenonmenon Biggest Loser, but rather a fundraiser-turned-community-shape-up for the Hope Community Center - a local non-profit organization dedicated to challenging poverty, fighting homelessness and building community.  I've communicated with Joshua Bare, the Director of the Hope Center, a lot on Twitter so I was thrilled to be able to help him promote it to my SuzySaid readers.  He probably didn't know, however, that I'd be a participant, too!

We showed up at the event around 7:30am to see a line of at least 50 people standing in front of us.  I was completely astounded by how many showed up for this event (preliminary numbers show more than 270 registered!).  After being weighed, measured and outfitted with t-shirts, water bottles and a little promotional material (of course!) we were officially part of the program.

So what does someone receive for the $35 entry fee?  The chance to win over $5000 in cash and prizes, along with a Saturday morning workout from the various sponsors (i.e. ACAC, Gold's, etc.) surrounded by 250+ people with the same goal as you and the awesome feeling of knowing you are doing something to change not only your life, but that of others too (by supporting The Hope Center).

If you weren't one of those waiting in line with me Saturday morning but you're interested in joining the program don't fret.  You can sign up and weigh in for Biggest Loser Cville at the Weight Watchers location in Albemarle Square on Tuesday and Thursday of this week.

Inspiration

Below you will find an e-mail that I received from a friend yesterday.  I've posted it here, with her permission, for several reasons.  I thought it would be inspirational to other people - as so many of us battle with motivation from time to time - or even every day.  I also found it so encouraging to know that through my writing we are inspiring one another along this journey.  Some people think it's crazy that I'm being so open about all of this, but the rewards I've received have surpassed anything I imagined.  In just a few weeks I've been able to touch people from all over the country - and in turn I've got a support system that stretches from California to Virginia and everywhere in between.

I wanted to let you know how inspirational you've been...

I really didn't want to go to the gym today. In fact I was considering working through lunch. Pathetic, no?! However, I thought of you and went to the gym.

I had planned to run today. I got to the gym and didn't have a lot of juice in my IPod. Tried to convince myself to do something a little less intense. Thought of you and got my butt on the treadmill.

10 minutes into my 20 minute interval run I thought, 'I'm just going to stop, I can't run another step.' Instead I slowed the pace, just slightly and kept on running. I then got off the treadmill and did some rockin' abs.

All this because of your journey and all the feelings in me you've tapped into. I want you to know that you're not in this alone and many of us our on our own personal fitness quests because you have been so kind and so brave to share your struggles and triumphs. We are soul sisters through this and I want to let you know that I'm here for you - I'll provide as much long-distance support as I can.

Emotional Eating

Yesterday was a struggle.  After feeling so proud for running two days in a row on my own I woke up to feel my shin splints rearing their ugly head. I was extremely disappointed because I had felt so good during my run that I thought that my increased fitness level might possibly be scaring them away.  No such luck.  Time to pull the bike down!

Later that afternoon the Spicy Chicken called with some news about his job.  Given the current state of the economy you can probably guess that this wasn't a reduction in worklload.  And while I fully realize I should be grateful that he even has a job, he already works 10+ hour days and travels 3 days a week, so I was a little distressed about the news.  Take a little tired, add a dash of frustration, sprinkle on a little resentment and you get a strong urge to do some major emotional eating.  

Though I certainly didn't set any healthy eating records I did much better than I would've three weeks ago when things went awry. I felt Hyam on my shoulder when I ordered the third beer, and I promised her it would be the last one of the night (it was, btw). I knew it wasn't going to make any of the frustration go away - and certainly wasn't going to help my self-esteem.  Thank goodness she seems to follow me everywhere I go (or could that actually be me starting to make small changes?).

The best part of the evening came, however, when we got home and I settled down behind my computer.  I opened up my Facebook account to see a message entitled "You Are My Hero".  It couldn't have come at a better time - and really, who wouldn't love to read that?  

Well, you can, in the next post!