Let's get real.

Okay. Let's get real for a bit. 

No, morning workouts did not happen. I know that I could do it if I really wanted to, but I'd really rather sleep. So, workouts will continue to be after work. It kind of sucks because it's hard to get room in the weights area when you go after work, but I can look intimidating enough to get a bench when I need to. That, and I can rearrange my workout if necessary as well. So, yeah. Not going to happen.

On Friday, I had two moles removed...from my groin. One of which was rather large, dark, and had irregular borders (which are, you know, all bad things...) and the other that was just bothersome. It was probably dumb to have them both done at once considering they were on opposite thighs so both thighs hurt, but I'm all about efficiency. I'm anxiously awaiting the pathology report because once upon a time, I went tanning, which has, you know, been linked to increased incidences of skin cancer like a bajillion times. YOLO...?

Also, let's keep being real since I'm all into this oversharing thing right now. Today I read this article on SparkPeople. It's all about how to placate your sweet tooth without overdoing it. Essentially, it suggests 12 sweet snacks. But since we're being real with each other right now, I've gotta say, this is just stupid. Is anyone going to stop at half a cup of ice cream? Do you even know how little half a cup of ice cream is? Like, children typically have portion sizes larger than that when it comes to ice cream. It's just not realistic. And, okay, let's say you have the willpower of a superhuman and you do eat just 1/2 cup of ice cream. Are you feeling full and satisfied? No. Why? Because all you ate was 1/2 cup of ice cream. Okay. Perhaps you chose the 1/2 cup of grapes and 1 oz of walnuts. Do you know how much food that is? Not very much. I mean at least the walnuts have some protein, but c'mon. None of these snacks would satisfy me or my sweet tooth. So, though I appreciate the sentiment, I think this article is silly.

And since we're on this topic, while waiting for my doctor's appointment on Friday, I sat and read some magazine article about losing like 10 pounds in 2 weeks or something like that. It gave both workouts as well as meal plans. You were supposed to work out twice a day for about two hours in total and your meals were typically something like this: breakfast - smoothie. Morning snack - half an apple and a tiny bit of fat-free yogurt. Lunch - salad. Afternoon snack - one ounce of nuts. Dinner - chicken or lean turkey with some kind of green. First of all: riiiiight. Like I'm going to work out twice in one day. Second of all: the most important meal of the day is breakfast and I'm just supposed to have a smoothie? That's supposed to last me 4 hours until I can have half an apple with like a spoonful of yogurt? Um, no. That's not going to work. And let's just say [again] that you have superhuman willpower and you follow this. Then when you go back and eat like a normal person, you've regained that 10 pounds in like 10 seconds. It's just dumb. You're supposed to do something that's sustainable. And maybe I'm the crazy one because I can't see how a meal plan and workout plan like that would work, but I doubt it.

Moving on to a different topic: in the family practice office I'm at, I've been working with a doctor who mentions weight and BMI with almost every single patient. I'm not saying that's a bad thing - I mean, it stops some patients from being blissfully ignorant when they're told flat out, "Your BMI puts you in the obese category," but it's a bit disheartening when the patients are like 30 pounds lighter than me (and okay, a few inches shorter too) and someone makes a comment about how their weight is out of control. Um, excuse me, but my BMI is higher than theirs. Is my weight out of control? I would have said no. And then we had a patient who gained 30 pounds and was taking a short-acting appetite suppressant to help lose weight. Granted, they were also watching what they ate and exercising, but that brought up all types of weird feelings. Like, I'm kind of against using a drug and putting something in your system when you could technically do without. But then I'm all, maybe I would get better results if I tried something like that. But then I'm all, WHAT ABOUT SIDE EFFECTS?! I'LL GET CANCER! Well, I'm not usually that bad, but I did meet someone years ago who lost like 250 pounds with diet pills and then got cancer because of them...which you know, also helped with the weight loss, but probably not in the way he was anticipating. He beat it, by the way...

Apparently, I've been very triggered by weight things recently. I just think that as a society, we put a lot of pressure on ourselves as well as others when their weight isn't what it should be. We make judgements right off the bat when we see someone who's overweight or obese. I don't think we should be defined by a number. That being said, I understand how weight can cause all types of health problems, so I'm glad that some of the doctors I'm working with are counseling people on how to be healthier, but until you've lived it, I have a hard time listening to what they're saying.

Moving on...here are some pics of some recent eats. Not pictured is the stupid pizza I ate last night. I had a groupon that cost me $10 and allowed me to have $20 of pizza, which is a lot of pizza for one person, but I figured I could freeze it or save it for later. So, I ordered two medium pizzas and went to pick it up and was told my groupon was for dine-in only. I was like "Oh. I didn't realize that. Can you tell me where it says that?" The cashier said, "Well, the groupon says at, not from." Oh. Now that's crystal clear. Ughs. So, basically I ended up paying full price for pizza that I wouldn't have ordered had I known I was going to be paying for in total. Duuuumb. But anywho, I didn't take a picture of it and as it's in the freezer right now, you won't be getting a picture of it until I take it out to eat again.

My standard breakfast from last week

Tacos - such an easy meal. And I'm lazy. So I ate them like 3 times last week...

My go to breakfast when I want to sleep in for 15-20 minutes

Today's lunch after I botched making clam chowder...

Today's dinner: crab and dill shrimp (made by meijer, cooked by me) with some beans and potatoes

Fruit protein smoothie for dessert because dinner didn't fill me up

And for good measure, here's a picture of Bailers. He's 9 now. I'm not sure exactly when his birthday is since I adopted/inherited him when he was 6, but he got some wet cat food to celebrate. He has no idea why. It's mostly because it was on sale. And because occasionally I have a soft spot for the little guy.

So pensive

I'm doing a weigh-in tomorrow. My goal was 3 pounds this week. Not too sure I made it. But, we'll see!

Exposed and abused crotch

I woke up around 10 this morning, which was awesome because the gym opens at 10 a.m. So I hurried up and got my stuff together and drove my butt over there. I was planning on doing some heart rate cycling, but the mere thought of it exhausted me. So, I just did a half hour split between the treadmill and elliptical. I made sure to really push myself to make up for my laziness.


Then, I came home and tried making sweet potato fries again while munching on some watermelon.

So, here's what I did with the potatoes:

First I sliced up the potatoes, threw them in a bag with the following: 

• 1.5 tsp of extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 tsp garlic salt
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 3/4 tsp sugar

Then I cooked them at 425°F for 17 minutes total (I flipped them after 10 minutes and then cooked them for another 7). I still managed to burn them because I'm just that talented. But, they were awesome!

So, I will definitely be making these again, but I will be tweaking the cook time a bit so they stop burning. I'm also considering using parchment paper rather than aluminum foil to make these fries a bit more crispy. I also had some strawberries that were awesome since I got them at the farmer's market.

After my strawberries, I finally showered and got ready to head out for a bike ride. But, since I figured I'd be biking for a while, I didn't think my little lunch would hold me. So, I made a protein shake and a bagel sandwich.

The protein shake was just okay so I had to really work to drink it all down, but my bagel sandwich was delicious!

So then I finally headed out. I hooked up my bike rack and drove to the tridge. I took a break around mile 6 to snap some pretty pictures for you.

Then I biked another 4 miles and ended up at Sanford Lake Park. I brought my swimsuit so I changed quickly and then headed to the grassy part of the beach to lay out. It was a pretty crowded day at the park, which was good for people watching, but bad because there were many shrieking midgets children.

Once I settled into my spot, I got a call from Eric and we talked for a bit about life and such. I told him about the book I was reading (Chi Running) and then he headed off to play disc golf while I snacked on some teddy grahams and read my book.

After about two hours at the park, I decided it was time to head back. So I went to change in the bathroom again where I discovered I had a huge gaping whole in the crotch of my bathing suit bottoms. Awesome. I wish I'd realized this when I put them on... I wonder how many people suffered through the terror of seeing my nether parts. 

Anywho, I got back on my bike to ride my ten miles home when my seat started acting up. First, it wouldn't stay up no matter how many times I adjusted it. This meant that instead of having the proper length between me and the pedals, I was way too close to the pedals and irritated my knee pretty badly. Then, the seat itself started tipping up so I had the crotch part jabbing me the entire way home. And because it was on such a severe angle, I had to hold on to the handle bars as best I could so I didn't fall backwards off the bike. The end result? Not only was I super frustrated (I even walked for a bit, but then just decided to deal with it and bike as fast as possible to get back and be super uncomfortable for as little time as possible), but my wrists hurt, my back hurt, and my right knee (which was already giving me trouble today) was really acting up. Awesome. I'll be taking my bike in tomorrow to be fixed, that's for sure.

Just think of how much fun my crotch had riding that thing. Right after it'd been exposed for most the afternoon...Gah.

Once I got home, I put it all behind me and made a lovely dinner while being stared at by some creepy old man. Someone was moving out today and I'm guessing he was her father. He brought a fold out chair and rather than help his daughter move, he sat in the grass in a prime location for looking into my kitchen window. There were several moments when I caught him looking at me. Weirdo.

Dinner, however, was delicious.

I made garlic shrimp, rice-a-roni, and some steamed veggies. And then I followed up dinner with a bowl of blueberries that I got yesterday.

Now I'm oversharing my crotch issues and thinking about cleaning my kitchen, which I should really do because it looks like this:

Alright, alright. I'm going. Jeez. Talk to you soon! Also, please feel free to leave any comments about when you unknowingly exposed yourself so I don't feel so alone.