Or: 1/4 of the way to Wellness!

Week 2 in Review:

• 4 cardio workouts: Wed, Thu, Sat, Sun
• Additional 2.9 mi non-cardio walks
• 2 strength training sessions with trainer: Mon, Fri
• 2 chiropractic sessions; 2 water-bed therapy sessions; 1 60-min massage
• 20 protein/low-moderate GI veggie/fat balanced meals consumed
• 13 Ultrameal shakes consumed
• 736 oz water consumed
• 2 fish oil pills taken daily
• 102 minutes of meditation
• 55 hrs sleep
• Other: 4 beers, 40 mg melatonin, 400 mg ibuprofen, 1 allergy injection
• ?? lbs from starting weight (week 2 weigh-in delayed until Wed due to holiday)

Exercise:  Wow - was getting my first cardio session in waaaaaayyyy harder this week than last week!  I was barely able to push myself through Wednesday, but it was much easier the rest of the week.  Also, I was just talking to someone (maybe my trainer, Samantha?) about how, in 5 seasons of playing kickball, I’ve only felt like 1 game was an actual workout.  Well, the joke was on me!  Yesterday was our kickball team’s last Sunday with one of the founding members, so we got together to grill out and “maybe play around a bit”.  While we were out on the field “practicing”, some other folks came over to see if we wanted to play a pick-up-game.  And then we played hard, heart-pounding kickball for 90 minutes straight – the likes of which I haven’t played since I was in elementary school.  Added bonus:  I discovered that I have the potential to get away from playing 3rd base sometimes to fill in as an alternate pitcher!

Food & Drink:  YAY for being done with week 1 and therefore being allowed delicious things such as strawberries, blue berries, sweet potatoes and the occasional beer!  I actually thought that I had done really poorly with my nutrition this week until I re-read the following line from the 8WW manual last night:

Starting in week 2, you may add one fist full of moderate GI carbohydrates to your dinner meal.

I knew that I am allowed (a limited amount of) the more obvious carbs (breakfast & lunch only), but had forgotten about the moderate GI carb allowance at dinner.  And, apparently, I am rocking unemployment by taking it as an opportunity to go-meet-do, so it was another week of being more places that I originally anticipated where I was not cooking.  So, once I realized that I would be out so much during dinner, I made the executive decision that instead of eating one “free” meal during the week, I would just spread out a little “free” every time I was out.  However, what I originally thought was me eating the wrong carbs in my dinner meals, ended up being allowed!  So, I believe, the only “splurge” I had this week was a hamburger bun (most likely not whole wheat and probably buttered very thoroughly) and a tiny slice of angel food cake with a dollop of Cool Whip (very processed & bad, I know).  The other executive decision I made was to spread out my beer.  The manual caps alcoholic beverages to 4/week with a max of drinking 2 nights/week.  Well, I ♥ beer & wine, so I am consciously disregarding the second half of the alcohol restrictions.  Besides, isn’t the whole point of this to learn not to gorge oneself?

Breakfasts:

• Egg & Turkey Sausage Muffins
• Grape-nuts with Banana & Almond Milk (slightly high in carbs; was due to failure to realize what was not in my pantry; thought I had Muesli)
• Maple Honey Turkey on multi-grain sandwich rounds with sprouts, radish, spinach, olive oil mayo & mozzarella
• Left-over Salmon, egg, spinach, tomato, cucumber, mozzarella omelette
• Egg, spinach, tomato, bell pepper & mozzarella omelette
• Greek Yogurt with Honey, Strawberries, Pear, & Chai Seeds
• Luna Protein Bar

Lunches:

• Honey-Caramelized-Figs with Greek Yogurt
• Tuna Salad wrapped in Boston Lettuce leaves
• Turkey sandwich as above, add cucumber; Carrot & Sweet Potato Chips
• Left-over chicken breast, spinach, cucumber, radish, sprouts & olive oil may on multi-grain sandwich round;  Sweet Potato Chips
• Left-overs: pork loin,cauliflower, & rainbow salad
• Kickball-team-Grilled Jerk Chicken Breast; Sweet Potato Chips; 2 beers

Dinners:

• Flank Steak, Caramelized Brussels Sprouts, Steamed Broccoli, Spinach Salad
• “The ZAZA Salad” add Chicken Breast, light dressing
• Pan-seared Wild-caught Salmon, Spinach Salad, Baked sweet potato, Beer
• Bosco’s Cheese (cheddar) burger with lettuce, pickles, tomato, mayo & mustard; Sweet potato fries; Beer
• Seared Pork Loin; Roasted Cauliflower; Roasted Sweet Potato; Rainbow Spinach Salad; tiny slice Angel Food Cake with Strawberries & Cool Whip
• Jana’s Turkey Chili (NEED recipe from her!!); 1/4 oz dark chocolate with chili pepper
• Left-over Turkey Chili; Spinach Salad with Sprouts & Walnuts

Chiropractic, Therapy & Massage:  I went ahead and scheduled weeks 3 through 8 of my sessions at the wellness center.  Due to a misunderstanding on my side, I was only scheduling 1 week at a time – which ended up limiting my choice of massage therapist and making it a tight squeeze to get in my water therapy sessions.  The woman who did my massage this week truly tried her best, but it was obvious that deep tissue was not her forté.

Meditation:  It is still ridiculously annoying how quickly I forget to make time to meditate each day.  But I did discover that the folks who do my favorite meditation podcast also have several smartphone apps.  I downloaded the Meditation Oasis Podcast App (it was $2.99 when I downloaded it), which streams their podcasts to my phone, allowing me to keep my phone chock-full of music & photos, but still have access to whatever podcast I want whenever I want it.  Thus far, I have found it incredibly convenient.  And I love Mary Maddux’s voice.  Next to Scarlett Johanssen’s yoga voice, Mary Maddux has the most amazing voice for relaxing and meditating.  It’s amazing the difference that a voice can make in guided meditation.

Now, I know that I promised recipes, and I am working on that!  But to help me get started, is there a meal from this week or last week that jumps out at you that you would like me to post first?

- ampc