Week 6-9

Well friends, it's been awhile since I last posted. And I can give you all kinds of excuses, but that's not really the point of this blog. So here is a brief recap of my lack of progress for a variety of reasons.

Week 6: I was back on my feet after being down with the flu and a sinus infection for about 10 days. But the weather here was still really bad and I didn't want to chance doing outside exercising with the freezing temperatures so I decided to go back to my cheesy 90s strengthening videos. Ahh, they were like coming home again. It felt great to be doing something active after such a long time huddled under my blankets while ill.

Week 7: This week saw my feet doing a whole lot of walking for 5 days straight...in Istanbul!! The weather was unexpectedly snowy and cold but that didn't deter us from being the walking mad tourists that we are. We walked all over Istanbul from attraction to attraction through snow, wind and sunshine we were determined to see everything we wanted. I did however indulge in the yummy desserts that Turkey had to offer so on the food front not the healthiest, but the walking and stair climbing did help to offset those calories. (If you want to see some of the pictures from Istanbul, click here!)

Week 8: Back to school after vacation and while the first two days of weather were great, we did see some snow and rain which kept me indoors and huddled under blankets. But I spent that weekend in the south of Moldova at another volunteer's house so there was some walks to be had. And Moldovan food to be eaten that I don't normally get living on my own. On a side note, it was nice that his host mother, who had not seen me in about 7 months, commented on my weight loss. Moldovans love that I am losing weight in their country...it adds to their belief (and with some truth to it) that they have a healthier country than America.

Week 9: So that brings me to this week. Remember how just a moment ago I mentioned eating Moldovan food that I don't normally get to eat?? Well, it took its revenge on my and I was home for three days with intestinal issues. Good news, I'm sure I've lost some weight from lack of eating anything substantial (rice, tea/water and one hard boiled egg each day) but this is not the way I want to lose it.

Spring is making a valiant effort to take over for winter and with more sunlight during the day and warmer temperatures, I'm more motivated to be outside. I hope that my next post for week 10 will be about all the wonderful walks and jogs I took outside. I am also looking forward to fresh fruits and vegetables become cheaper and more readily available now that winter is waning.

Week 5

Still sick. I went into the capital city to visit the doctor. Had the flu and a minor sinus infection so she gave me super strong vitamins to take for 2 weeks and some antibiotics to take for 7 days. After about 3 days of taking those I was feeling human again and very anxious to be out and about. Gonna start back to the exercising a little slow, but ready to get back to it on Monday!

Week 4

Well friends, this will be a short recap of week 4. The temperatures here have been pretty chilly and the weather has not been nice (we even got several inches of snow yesterday), but I did manage to go for a walk/jog on Tuesday. I bundled up in many, many layers and kept my hood on to keep my head warm. However, it was all to no avail...I have been in bed with the flu since late Tuesday night. So unfortunately I have nothing else to report for this week except mmmm, tea and hot showers are good.

But I plan to get back into in again once I'm feeling better. Check in with you next week!

Week 3

This was a good week. I started the Couch to 5k program and managed to get two days of it in. The other days were filled with either strengthening videos (and still lots of laughs at my inability to properly execute the moves with grace and ease-but hey I'm having fun) or with long walks around the town. I have started taking the long way when I am out and about just to get some extra steps in each day. And I volunteer more often now while at school to run from classroom to classroom or up and down the stairs when my partner or I need something not in our own classroom. The calves are starting to look very nice from all the stairs I climb! I will say that working out has been rough this past week because 1) Winter has come back and she is REALLY cold and 2) She brought her cousin with her-Incredibly Cold and Powerful Wind.

This wind made my first Couch to 5K jog very interesting. Sarah and I were originally just going to do one of our long walks. But we figured no time like the present to get started. So as I listened to the podcast, she followed my lead when it was time for the 60 second jogs and when it was time for the brisk walking. Funny note about this, apparently whenever it was time to jog, I kept saying over and over "Shit, shit, shit". So she knew it was time. As if jogging were not difficult enough when you are first starting, we were given the added difficulty of running into very strong winds (which were great when we started heading back into town with the winds at our back).

Each time we walk, we choose a new direction through town so as to see more of Floresti. This time I chose to take her out of town towards the big hospital. In order to get there, we have to walk along one of the main roads. This was great fun. We counted 6-7 horn honks from Moldovans driving by, some to let us know they were coming, some to gawk at the weird American girls running while others were simply trying to figure out if we needed a ride because we had to be in a hurry since we were jogging. We also noticed a taxi driver passing us 3 or 4 times - our theory is that he wasn't sure if we needed a ride, so he kept passing us with the possibility that we may flag him down. Now for me being incredibly inexperienced with jogging and running, I was sorely tempted especially after we reached the outer limits of town and I knew we still had to turn around and head back to my apartment. But Sarah was a great cheerleader and kept me going. The podcast itself is about 30 minutes, but we walked a little before and after the podcast so in total we were gone about 1.5 hours. I felt great afterward and thankfully because we stretched before and after plus the extra time walking, I never got so sore that I was not able to move the next day. At one point, when I knew I was not able to jog anymore, we tried skipping our way home and we even stopped on the side of the road so I could show Sarah how to hula. Although I realized right away that was not the best idea as cars were coming toward us and we looked weird enough. The best part of the whole walk/jog was that she and I laughed (as usual) most of the way to and fro.

I am sadly reporting that keeping a food journal has ended. I am just not good at paying attention. However, I am still keeping track of what activity I do each day in my planner so at least I am half keeping track. I think I gave up on the food tracking because I was basically eating the same thing the whole week (oatmeal for breakfast and 1 cup of my homemade chili for lunch and again for dinner). I have taken to cooking one big pot of something at the beginning of the week then eating that for lunch and/or dinner throughout the week. Week 3 was chili, week 4 (this week) is a bean and veggie soup. It was an experiment since I have never made a soup with beans (especially dry beans), but overall a success. Still needs a little something to add a bit more flavor, but not bad for my first attempt at playing with ingredients.

I have not done my measurements yet, mostly because I forgot about it. But I will ask Sarah to help me next time we get together to workout.

That's all for now. Happy week to everyone!

Week 2

So this will be a light one. This past week's weather was really great for outdoor activity so Sarah and I took advantage of it. We walked for an hour and half twice last week and got to see new parts of the village. It was great, the walking was easy! Not because we were meandering, but because we were just chatting the whole time and enjoying the new scenery. But we were still a little out of breath because of the pace and the small hills we encountered along the way.

The first walk took us close to a nearby village and along part of the river that runs on the outskirts of my village. It was beautiful and now I know I should bring along my camera next time we go out. Our second walk had a duel purpose-one to exercise, but also to run some errands around the village (i.e. ATM and grocery shopping for that night's dinner). We took the long way down to the valley where our ATM is located then wound our way through one of the neighborhoods that neither she nor I had been in before. It was a whole new set of Moldovan's staring at the weird Americans and their heavy backpacks/bags.

I also did some of my cheesy and wonderful strengthening videos throughout the week, but not as often as I should have. They are easy to do so I really should be doing them everyday. But laziness gets the better of me especially when the weather is gloomy.

I knew the weekend would be a little bit of a set back to losing weight because a group of volunteers were in the capital city to celebrate my friend's birthday. But I made sure to do as much walking all over the city as possible and watch the portions when I was able to. Overall it was fairly successful for me, but I'm not gonna lie-I loved,enjoyed and ate every morsel of the yummy Pad Thai I had at her birthday dinner. And of course, there was a lot of beer consumed over the weekend. But it was a celebration and not my norm.

I still haven't started on the Couch to 5K. I endeavor to begin this week (as I have said each week since downloading the podcast haha).

While talking with my site mates we decided that the best way to measure our weight loss (and yes, I said "our" because they are joining me in exercising and losing weight) is to take our measurements. So in the next post I will let you all know where I am right now and will start using that as a measure of my weight loss once a month. I'll still weigh myself, but that's a little trickier for me since I don't always have access to a scale. Plus, with exercise comes muscle building and since muscles weigh more than fat, I don't want to rely solely on pounds as my measurement of loss.

That's it for week 2.

Special Edition Posting: The "D" Words

Some random thoughts: Dieting and Dating

Disclaimer: This is not meant to be preachy or to give the impression that I at all know anything about dieting or dating. I am a fan of alliteration - I don’t know why, I just love when there is a play on words that all start with the same letter and yes I realize that I’m a geek. But I digress.
The other day while I was writing in my food and activity journal I was thinking about the word dieting (and lately I've been thinking a lot about how long its been since I dated anyone seriously) and it occurred to me that dieting and dating are similar in a few ways. Then I laughed because dieting…dating there goes that alliteration I love. And I kept thinking about how the two are related and ever so similar.
So there you have it, that is where this “Special Edition Post” comes from. I’m sure this is no great revelation and that there are many people who have come to the following conclusions, but I thought I would share some of what I came up with. Mostly though, I am writing this because simply put, it just made me laugh.

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So here we go in no particular order:

1) We diet so that we can feel and or look more attractive thus making it easier to date. But dating can be stressful and at times heartbreaking which usually ruins a diet. And (we've all done this) once we get into a relationship, we get comfortable and slowly stop doing the things we did for our “dating diet”. Then the “diet” goes out the window…It’s a vicious circle.

Mostly I included this picture because it is the vicious cycle of dieting and dating (Diet/Date, Famine Response, Fall Off, Feast Response, Repeat).

2) When dieting, we usually “go without” the bad stuff. But then we get that craving because its been so long and we end up gorging ourselves on the bad stuff. It’s the same with dating…go too long without and you jump feet first, eyes closed(even though you know you’re doing it) into something with the bad stuff. And by the way, this is goes for women AND men.

3) Dating the right person is like eating the right foods. You want it to be mostly good and healthy, but you can’t live on a sugar free, sodium free, fat free, low carbs, high protein diet for the rest of your life-its just not healthy. Your body needs a little sugar, a little sodium, some fat (and yes there are good fats in food), carbs and protein to function properly. Sometimes bad is good for you. Same with the “right” person - they can’t be totally perfect (you’re not so why should they be??). They have to have some bad qualities. It’s all about moderation and finding the right balance for your health (in both dieting and dating). I guess the keyword is…moderation in both dieting (which is really a horrible word because we say that we are “going on a diet” which implies temporary change in habits until we get to the desired outcome) and dating. A nice mixture of good and bad keeps us healthy and happy. And bad is not always well…bad for us.

4) In the beginning of a diet we are totally excited and committed to making it work…this time. The time before was just a trial run, a practice to figure out what doesn't work for you. Then after the first couple of weeks go by you realize that you actually have to work at dieting and weight loss, you have to make some long term lifestyle changes not just superficial ones, reality sets in and the glow of this “new you” that you’re going to become fades a bit (usually life gets in the way). Its kinda the same with relationships (and new cars)…its great and fun and shiny in the beginning. You’re getting to know each other, the sex is great ‘cause its with someone new, there’s new stories to hear, new restaurants to try and new friends to meet. Then after some time, the new wears off and you realize that you actually have to work at being in a relationship, you have to make some long term lifestyle changes not just superficial ones, reality sets in and the glow of the honeymoon period fades a bit.

Hope this made you laugh a little.

Week 1

Here is the update for this week...

I have started a food and activity journal to keep track of what I'm eating and what exercising/activity I do each day. So far its been easier than I thought it would be to keep track of everything. The "journal" is just a small notebook so its easy to take with me wherever I go. I haven't done a lot to change the food that I eat. Mostly right now I'm trying to have smaller meals more often (difficult when you teach and there's only small breaks in between classes). I need to get better about packing something and bringing it to school because there aren't a lot of healthy alternatives to purchase at school. Choices tend to be sweets and pastries-neither of which is good for someone changing their eating habits.

As for activity, this week has been a bit rough. By the time I get home from school I don't want to go back out in the very cold temperatures we've been having so I've just been doing strengthening workouts in my apartment. These workouts are great! They are 8 minute stretch, abs, arms, legs and buns videos from the 90s. The leader is decked out in his best spandex jumpsuit and he's completely over the top and my workout buddy Sarah and I spend most of the workout laughing at his wondrous cheesiness and our own inability to do the exercises well (especially the abs workout-we are pathetic!) But each time I do the videos they get a little easier. I usually feel it two days later, but its just a reminder that its working muscles that need to be worked.

My goal for this week is to actually get outside for some cardio. I know I need to start building that because its not great at all. I found a really great (free) podcast that a guy put together as part of the Couch to 5K that Cool Running has. The program is about conditioning yourself to be able to run (or most likely my case jog) a 5K after 9 weeks. The guy who created the podcast set it up in 9 separate podcasts one for each week. In each he prompts you when to shift from a walk to a jog/run. Each week the amount of time jogging/running is increased to help slowly condition the body. The first week has more walking with small 60 second sprints...the last week is logically a full jog/run for the whole 5K. I'm excited to get started. Sarah is going to do this with me, but since she is the more experienced runner I'm going to get started on it without her to get me closer to her level before she joins me.

So we'll see how this coming week goes!