And We're Baaaaaackkk!!!

By now we all know that I am a terrible blogger, and not only that, I tend to fall off the fitness bandwagon fairly quickly. I do want to point out that I was good for four and a half months, over a third of the year! Only to be followed by almost four months of slacking off, ha ha. A lot did happen during those four months, however: I returned from India, got ridiculously busy with work (as usual), resigned from said work, took a two week road trip and visited family (and was stuffed full of sweets by both grandmothers), and started my new job working for my dad. So between all of that, there wasn't a whole lot of exercising going on, at least on a regular basis. And as I mentioned, there was lots of bad eating involved, so it shames me to admit that all of my hard work back in the spring was reversed - I put all but two pounds back on. :(

I did get back into standup paddleboarding in June, and have been going every couple of weeks (when I can afford the rental fees). See the pic above of me in action!

The good news, though, is that I am back on the wagon: I've been working out for the past week and two days, getting back into my old routine of alternating 3-mile jogs with Total Gym workouts, and tonight I even mixed it up with a yoga session (I sure do miss the yoga classes in Hyderabad!). I only took Sunday off in that timespan! And since I started my new job, I have been packing my lunch every day, trying to pack healthy options, and not overeat in the evenings when I get home. I am hoping to make some good progress in September - I'm heading up to Ohio the first weekend in October, and will definitely run into some old college friends, so that is definitely a good motivation to lose some weight - and inches!

So that's it for now - I suppose I should do a measurement update, I'll try to do that by the weekend. Time for bed!

Namaskar!

That's not included in the bumpbuster diet!!


So I arrived at my last week in Hyderabad. And I've managed to post only once so far! I'm a terrible blogger. Maybe it's because I can't find the time...or maybe it's because my life really isn't all that exciting. Who knows.

Anyways, I've had quite a nice routine going here while in Hyd; I've managed to make it to yoga classes at 8:00 four mornings a week. I walk to and from class each morning, which is about a 20-minute walk each way, so I feel that I'm definitely getting a good workout in with that and the yoga. My arms have definitely gotten more toned - all of the sun salutations I've done over the past two weeks include many many push-ups (ok, half push-ups, but still). If you're curious as to what a sun salutation is, you can find descriptions and images here: http://yogasite.com/sunsalute.htm

The part I knew would be difficult was the eating. And it has been, but it's almost impossible not to eat at least some terrible food - everything here is cooked in oils and butters galore. I usually eat a big breakfast, which includes a mushroom omelet, a bowl of muesli cereal with skim milk, a large cup of coffee, and one of three items: a banana, a muffin, or two small pieces of French toast. Not the healthiest of breakfasts, but it is my largest meal of the day.

Lunch is usually a Fiber One bar, a large bottle of water, and some Asian rice cracker snack mix (again, healthy I know). I might eat a handful of almonds in the afternoon, along with some dried apricots (I brought all of this with me). Then dinner we usually order in, or sometimes I grab dinner with my team in the cafeteria. It's almost always a starchfest, though! Definitely looking forward to some nice green salads when I get home!

So there's my update on the past few weeks; I have also had ample opportunity to work on my tan, so I am looking quite dark these days. Woohoo! I plan to take some measurements when I get home this weekend, so be on the lookout!

Metric to English conversions

Why can't my frangipani trees at home look this good?


So now I've REALLY fallen behind in my blogging...but here goes, my first post in India! I've got the better part of a week under my belt, and so far, so good. It is definitely more of a challenge to eat healthy here, because 1.) all Indian food is cooked with some amount of oil in it, and 2.) fresh vegetables don't really come into the mix at all. But I am trying. I trust the raw veggies here at the hotel, so I had a salad at lunch yesterday. And the spa at Ista had a plate of apples out, they were sooo good! It's funny how you crave certain things when you know you can't have them - I definitely snagged an apple for the road!

While waiting for my treatments at the spa, I noticed they had a scale in the waiting area; since it's been a week or so since I weighed myself, I had to jump on. Then I realized it was a metric scale, ha ha. So I noted my weight on the scale - 61.8 kilograms - and googled "kilograms to pounds converter" once I got back to the room later last night. FYI, 1 kilogram is 2.2 pounds, pretty easy to remember, right? So that puts me at just under 136 lbs., woohoo! The pounds definitely have not been coming off as easily as at first, but at the very least I am not gaining any back.

The good thing about being in India is that I can be very consistent with my workouts; they have a great gym here at the hotel, with free weights and good cardio machines. I also did my first authentic yoga lesson this morning! Definitely a sweat fest (not only because it was in an unairconditioned room, either), and I signed up for a month, so I'm hoping to be consistent and go at least 3-4 days during the last three weeks I am here.

Unfortunately I did not bring a measuring tape with me, so the May measurements may have to wait until I get back to the states! Now that I'm over my jet lag and have gotten adjusted to Hyderabad time, though, I'll try to be more consistent in my blogging. Here's to a good week!

New Measurements

I know, I know, I've sucked at blogging lately. But it's the new month, and that means measurement progress update!!

Thighs: 22 7/8" (1 2/8" lost)
Hips: 37 1/4" (2 3/4" lost)
Waist: 32 3/4" (1 1/4" lost)

The measurements are pretty much what I expected - I continued to lose through the thighs because I kept up with the running (and it's the easiest place for me to lose), but my diet took a bit of a nosedive mid-month due to work, so the pooch suffered. Well, it's another month! Gotta be good for the next two weeks, and try to be somewhat sensible once I head to India. Easier said than done!

Two steps forward, one step back

I think I am in the diet doldrums. Unfortunately, I've put a few pounds back on, due to poor eating choices during my hectic last two weeks (including red thai curry at dinner with friends Friday night, and a delicious but not very healthy indian meal Saturday night at my neighbors' party). I can't help it, I love food! I shouldn't have to completely cut those types of meals out, but what I do need to do is limit them to special occasions (and no, the weekend is not a special occasion...although it should be).

The good news is that my workouts have stayed consistent, so at least I am combatting the food that way. I managed to get two TG workouts in last week (Tuesday/Thursday), 40 minutes of cardio via Exercise TV on Demand Wednesday night, and a 3.5 mile run Friday morning (it is killing me to wait until almost 7 to run in the mornings - the only downside to daylight savings time!!). Then, Saturday was the big day for my yard - my dad arrived at 8 Saturday morning with two pallets of sod to lay. We actually ran out of sod before the front yard was done (as evidenced by the pics below), so we'll have to continue when he can get some additional sod this week. But that was definitely a workout (although not quite as intense as the rototiller a few weeks back). I also washed my car yesterday (hey, it's 93 calories burned!) as well as another 3 mile run. And a TG workout this morning - my arms are definitely getting ripped with the TG workouts and lawn work, woohoo! Now, if only the pooch would follow suit...

I wanted to share a new recipe that I tried out yesterday; back in the fall, I stocked up on canned tuna when Publix had it BOGO (I had like 12 cans in the cupboard). Since beginning my mission, though, I've been trying to cut as much fat and calories as I can, and the thought of mayonnaise-y tuna salad just didn't fit the diet bill - and I just can't do tuna right out of the can. So I started looking at Allrecipes.com to see if anyone had posted a mayo-free tuna salad, and sure enough, there was one that sounded pretty good! Roasted red pepper hummus was substituted for the mayo, which sounded yummy to me. And it was! I modified the recipe to my liking - I don't care for raw onion, and I didn't have any fresh herbs on hand, but threw in pickle relish and hard-boiled egg whites - and it sure was good.

So there you have an update on the past week for bumpbuster, and as promised, a few pics on the yard project, as well as the recipe...








Mayo-Free Tuna Sandwich Filling

Ingredients

* 1 (6 ounce) can albacore tuna in water, drained and flaked
* 1 tablespoon red onion, diced
* 1 teaspoon fresh oregano, minced
* 1 teaspoon fresh rosemary, minced
* 1 tablespoon diced green chile pepper
* black pepper to taste
* 2 tablespoons red pepper hummus

Directions

1. Mix tuna, hummus, onion, oregano, rosemary, green chile pepper, and pepper in a bowl.

Enjoy!