Perspective and a plan

To begin, a short list of the things I am proud of right now:

  1.  Last week I ran 4 miles Monday, 8.5 Wednesday, 3 (plus 2 walking) Saturday, 5 yesterday, and 4 (plus 2 walking) today.  In addition, I have been doing a lot of walking - I park my car about a mile from campus and sometimes have to walk an additional quarter to half mile across campus.
  2. I painted my lamp and standing mirror.  The lamp is now a leaf-green to match the lampshade I purchased at IKEA and the mirror is blue.  I am not totally happy with the mirror, so I may rub a darker paint (either darker blue or black) over it to tone it down.  (I may eventually get around to taking a few photos)
  3. My first week of classes went smoothly.  Global health, health promotions, intro to epidemiology, intro to biostatistics - I arrived on time and the syllabi lead me to believe I'll be able to handle this semester without too much stress.
  4. My apartment looks quite cute and my housemates are really sweet.  Basically, my living situation couldn't be better.  What a relief, especially since my situation in San Diego was so awful.
And the bad news:
  1. My weight is horrific.  Each day I range somewhere between 136 and 138.  After eating a salty, wheat-filled pretzel last night, I was 139 before my run today.
  2. I have a terrible stomach ache, and if that isn't a sign to not eat, I don't know what is.  I had a bit of unsweetened soy yogurt for breakfast, and I may have some toast later. 
  3. Juan is not coming this weekend for my birthday (the 9th).  I sort of knew this would happen, and the only upside is that he may come next weekend, and in that case I have a little more time to try and get my body to be less gross.
  4. I have been eating practically non-stop, since my loans came through and I was able to afford some groceries.  That led to an exploratory trip to whole foods.  This has led to polenta and vegan cheese and other fattening foods.  I need to stick to salad and stop being so gluttonous.
  5. Cellulite, stretch marks, and no thigh gap.  Still.
Now that I have that out of the way, let me work on my schedule.  The basic facts are that I have class on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday from 4:30 to 7:10 and Friday from 7:20-10:00.  Commuting to school takes approximately thirty-five minutes if I take the bus or drive a bit and walk.  I have a lot of reading to do, which could add up to at least three hours per day, and I also have written assignments and research.  Last week was only the beginning, so I do not know how much time to really allot for this yet.  My roommates like to go out on Fridays and/or Saturdays.  Next week is also my birthday.  Therefore, I have to plan in my schedule/meal plans for the consumption of alcohol from time-to-time.  They are really nice and it is good to be making friends.  

And then there is eating.  

As some of you know, I love to cook and bake.  I am always checking out cookbooks from the library and am fairly obsessed with the vegan blogging world.  Additionally, I love trying new foods and in general, eating.  Yet, I hate what food does to my body.  I simply have the constitution that if I look at a cookie, I gain three pounds.  I see food as not so much nourishing, but combative to my system (I don't tolerate wheat or dairy well, hence the generally gluten-free, vegan diet).  I hope that someday my attitude toward food and my body will be much more normal, but right now I am just not there.  

I think I need to start cutting out more foods - specifically nuts.  Cutting down my fat intake from nut butters and nuts will certainly decrease my protein intake, but I am not strength training right now, so I think it will be okay.  I also need to have more rigidly set menus for the day.  I want to restrict my calories to under 1000, and the only wait to do that is to have a daily recipe - basically a combination of meals that I can eat that I know will get me under my goal.  For example, breakfast can be either soy yogurt with frozen fruit, oatmeal, or a smoothie (200 calories max).  Lunch should be my heartiest meal, so I will have to look into my choices for that one - basically veggies, a whole grain, maybe a protein and a serving of fruit (400 calories max).  Dinner should be strictly salads - all vegetables with a splash of vinegar or lemon juice and herbs (300 calories max).  Then I have 100 calories to be able to have another piece of fruit, a soy cappuccino, etc.  Caffeine is essential for getting me through afternoon/evening classes, but green tea is preferred to coffee. 

Alright, I think I am finally running out of words and I need to just ruminate on all of this.

Final thoughts - under 1000, running minimum of five days per week (I am still training for my half-marathon on the 25th) with a preference of six days, organizing my schoolwork and time in order to maximize my efficiency and minimize snacking... 

Any thoughts and comments will be greatly appreciated.  I am quite grateful for your comments on the last one.  I will write some replies tonight.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

I love the plan darling, you'll be so gorgeous for when Juan next visits. You need to email me your new postal address so I can send you something for your birthday (even though it will be late!) and congratulations for doing so well with your running :)

Love you millions,
Adeline xx

Sam said...

Congrats on the running! I am trying to run two times a week, you are def an inspiration.

Good Luck with everything.

Sam

Peridot (G+P) said...

Hmmm. . . Cut the nut butters but leave yourself SOME nutty nibbles. Far better than potato chips! *Sigh* I wish we had Whole Foods here!

3 hours of textbook reading per day? Ouch! When I got pwned with the readings for the literature paper I used to walk laps of the hallway or march on the spot while reading them. . . before I realised Deedee downstairs could hear me and would ALWAYS come up and bug me * cries*

Lol, I've been avidly stalking Cinnamon's craft blog for a few months now. I wish I had her level of talent! Sooooo many pretty things! :D

Good luck on your run today <3

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the follow :) It sounds like we have that whole cooking-DIY thing in common . Last weekend I bought and assembled a bookshelf for the dorm kitchen and filled it with the forty-odd cookbooks that I'd somehow managed to pack. Needless to say, my roommates are a little freaked out ;)

A meal plan sounds like an excellent idea. I'm trying to figure one out right now.

a friend of ana said...

hey girlie!! welcome to my blog. I love France too. I lived there for two years and would love to live there again. thats awesome you are vegan :-) I was for a while but I am married now and it doesn't quite work out haha. how tall are you?
i got this unsweetened almond milk and it is yummy and only 40 calories per 8 ounces!
<3

Dani said...

well happy early bday hun
im glad that school is going well for u so far hunt hats great

Eloise18 said...

From pictures I've seen of you you are very muscular, so I reckon those 7lbs are easily muscle. But anyway my point was that maybe you should do more intense cardio or something different like dance? Then you'd be using different muscles? I don't know though.
I can't wait to move in to my uni halls, I hope I have nice neighbours!
Glad your first week of classes went well :) x

Anonymous said...

happy happy birthdayyy! yea, it is a little meteochre feeling, but it's still your birthday so it is awesome!!! 24 sounds like a damn good year for you :)

Cierra said...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!! Snuggles :)

 

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