Me vs. the elliptical - guess who was the winner?

Today was productive, but yesterday just seemed über productive, so perhaps today was just bound to pale in comparison. Nevertheless, I woke up early without an alarm (8:30 is still early to me, folks), and then did some studying before deciding to hit up yoga and swim after cuz my low back was hurting me like whoa. So, after less than an hour of studying, I took a break. 

Yoga was a bust. This instructor is just okay. There are times when she takes you through flows that just don't flow. I feel like your body should just be able to go with it and the few times I've been to her classes, there are a couple times when you just don't flow. She also shows you how to do a flow once or twice and then instructs you to go at your own pace for the next three flows. Now, if I were brand new to yoga, I'd be completely intimidated by this. It doesn't bother me so much, but because I'm so busy remembering the damn flow, I forget to breathe. And breathing well is like the most important part of yoga. And I thought that going to yoga would help with my low back. Nope. There were poses I couldn't even get into because my low back just wouldn't have it. So, yoga was a major bust.

After yoga, I suited up to go for a swim, but I left my goggles and nose plug thingy in my bag. I did a few little baby laps (without sticking my head underwater) for 10 minutes or so and then hopped out and into the hot tub. I gave myself a water massage...ish. Basically, I planted my ass in front of a jet and just let it pulsate on my low back for 10 minutes. It was awesome. Then I showered at the gym, which was horrifying (WHY WOULD YOU HAVE SEE-THROUGH PARTS OF THE SHOWER CURTAIN AT CHEST LEVEL?) and then promptly dropped my clean underwear in the wet shower as I was getting dressed. But I hurried home and put on a new pair. I think the pool and hot tub will be reserved for weekends as a post-workout treat so that if I do drop my underwear again, I can just go home after ;-)

The rest of the day, my back felt pretty great and I studied a lot. I got really antsy around 4:30 having sat around for the last 5 hours studying, so I opted to go back to the gym. It was that or go stir crazy. I did about 50 minutes on the elliptical. It was awesome. I don't know how or why I had so much energy, but for the first time in forever, I beat the elliptical's calorie counter. Usually when I do the elliptical, the machine's calorie counter is anywhere from 10-50 calories ahead of my heart rate monitor's calorie counter. Now, I was told once that all machine calorie counters are calibrated to a muscley, fit man. So, I usually try to come close with my personal calorie counter on my heart rate monitor. But, today, I was able to keep my heart rate up for most my elliptical experience and I beat the calorie counter by a good 30 calories. Beat that, muscley fit man!

I got home, studied some more, slacked off and watched some Jimmy Fallon and James Corden clips and then got back to studying. I imagine tomorrow will be lots of studying as well. What fun. I am thinking about waking up at 6 to get a tiny bit of studying in before work tomorrow, but sleep is a very important part of my life, so we'll see what time I get to bed before I make such a rash decision.

In other news, I'm going to do a weigh-in tomorrow. Boo. It's going to be bad. But, I've gotta own it so I can make some progress. Here's today's food photos.

Lunch (same as yesterday because it's a damn good sandwich)

Grapes in the afternoon

I was craving pickles today

Made a smoothie to go with dinner

Yum!

Dinner: TJ's mini pepperoni pizza

Evening snack

Not pictured: Luna bar + apple for breakfast, the handful of chocolate chips I munched before the gym, the second snack pickle I ate because yummm, the cheese stick I had post-popcorn because cheese is legit.

I also think I'm going to do a photo a day everyday for a while because I think it'll help motivate me to lose more weight. And because everybody loves selfies. Or at least Kim Kardashian does.

Songs I'm currently obsessed with:

Every time I hear "Shut up and Dance," or "Better When I'm Dancin'" I stop studying and have a little dance party. Any good dance party songs you're listening to lately? Also, Adele! YOU'RE BACK AND YOU'RE STILL AMAZING. 

Don't Judge Me

Okay. There are a few things that I need to get off my chest. Don't judge me.

1. I really effing love this song, but the video is creeeeeepy: Rixton - Make Out
2. I use my blender bottles more for mixing up my crystal light than for protein shakes
3. I wear men's gym shoes to work out in because they're wider
4. I mute my iPod when I'm around personal trainers so that I can hear what they're telling their clients...for free
5. If I don't feel like taking a picture of packaged food, I'll just do it later or put up one that I've already taken (it's going to look the same...)
6. I talk to my cat way more than necessary and often refer to him as "Bailers Butt," "Booger Butt," or "Booger." Living with me is rough.
7. I forgot to call one of my close friends on his birthday 2.5 weeks ago and still feel bad about it, but still haven't called him to wish him a super belated birthday (and now I'm on the phone because public declarations of asshole-ness shames you into doing things)
8. I wear a strapless bra under my sports bra because, trust me, it's better for everyone this way
9. I have an unhealthy obsession with this song right now too (the video is not nearly as creepy as the first one): G.R.L. - Ugly Heart
10. I should be studying right now, but I'm not

Phew - now that I've got that off my chest, we can move on.

Today was the same as usual. I was up around 8, hit the gym, came home and studied forever. Then I had a Skype meeting with a doctor who's helping me with my personal statement. It was a good session and I'm wrapping things up with it. If you have the time or inclination, you can read it and critique it too - just leave a comment below and I'll send it your way. It's about how my sister falling out of a window is going to make me the best obstetrician/gynecologist ever. Interest piqued? I thought so.

Since my Skype meeting was during Zumba, I didn't get to go. And it was also during dinner time, which was good because my stomach was doing that awesome thing where it hated me and didn't want to let me eat much anyway. So, dinner was pretzels and yogurt. Awesome. But, hey, at least I didn't have to cook.

Photos from today:

Pre-gym fuel

Post-gym protein

Breakfast: watermelon and egg+cheese sandwich

This photos is from today

Snack

Snack

The fries were mediocre - I ate half and tossed the other half

Dessert

Dinner

Dessert

And now I've gotta go to bed. I'm going to try this new thing called "hitting snooze once instead of 6 times."

Oh, yeah! Today's positive: Being almost done with my personal statement a month before I need to be.

Shopping in my own closet

Today, like yesterday, I had an internal debate over whether getting out of bed was really worth my while. Was I anxious to get to work? Um, no. Anxious is definitely not the word I would choose. After all, I still had to try to figure out what the hell to do with the stupid sample I had shoved off on me by inherited from Carrie. I tried my very best, changed solvent systems, and ran the sample a few more times with worse results than before and decided to just give up and wait until Mike returned.


Then I decided to do my own work, which meant playing with dry ice. Yes, you heard me right. Work was actually fun today. I got to make my own dry ice by applying a bunch of pressure to some carbon dioxide. The end result? A brick o' fun. Since I didn't need the whole block of carbon dioxide (we use it to drop the temperature of acetone baths really low - like -60°C low), I got to throw it in the sink and turn on the water. This is what happened:

Yes, this was the most fun I had all week. I knew I got out of bed for a reason.


During lunch, I had pretty much the same thing as yesterday, but chose ham instead of turkey. It's pretty much got the same caloric and fat content. It's also super expensive, probably because it's pretty healthy. It's Healthy Ones and I typically get it at meijer.

I also had some fudge

After lunch, I played with some dry ice again and did some monotonous work exciting tasks that were required of me before cleaning the lab and heading out for the day.


After work, I went over to my Mom's house. While there, I decided to go up to my room and see if there were any clothes that fit again since I've lost weight. It's pretty much like going shopping and not having to pay for anything. Today's "purchase?" Some Old Navy khakis and my favorite old pair of American Eagle jeans. This is awesome because I need khakis to wear with my volunteer uniform, and I don't have any light wash jeans.


Anyway, my sister's home for the weekend and we were all going to go to dinner, but Malena wasn't feeling well so it was just my mom and me. We decided to go to Entre Amigos. We had some chips with guacamole to start.

And for the main part of my meal, I had a beef chimichanga and beef taco a la carte since I don't like the beans and rice that comes with a dinner meal.

After dinner, I dropped my mom off back at home so she could pack for her trip to sunshine and warmth (Texas). I headed home to finish transferring all my music files to Arthur. Woot! The only bad thing is I don't have any music from the last eight months. Awesome.


I also watched Daniel Tosh on [the] Netflix and have Star Trek playing whilst I write this. But, I have to head to bed early tonight so that I can be up early to take my mom to the airport. Afterwards, I think I'm going to head to Dick's Sporting Goods to get a power balance wristband. I'm not entirely sure if I believe that they work, but the few people I've talked to that have them really like them. Apparently they improve balance and increase range of motion. So I guess we shall see! It's my present to myself for losing 30 pounds!


Now, what are you up to this weekend? Anything fun? I think my sister and I are going to go see Paul tomorrow in addition to getting our eyebrows done. Sounds like a good day to me!

No donut? No problem.

Today was definitely a better day than yesterday, that's for sure. There were no Cadbury eggs or mini cupcakes. Thus, no obscene overeating for me today! But I sure wish I hadn't overeaten the day before my weigh-in. Yeah, poor timing.

So, last week I lost 4 pounds. This week, I lost 2.2!

Woot, that means I'm down 30.6 pounds. That's like more than three Baileys (at least when I got him - I've probably fattened him up...).

Anyway, I didn't go to the gym this morning for two reasons:

1. Because I couldn't sleep last night my knees hurt so bad
2. Because the heavens opened up and shat upon Midland (photographic proof below)

But, I did have personal training today, so it wasn't as though I didn't exercise at all today (like yesterday...).


Anyway, after a busy morning at work, I decided to go to Tim Horton's for lunch since I didn't want to go all the way home. I could have stayed and ordered something in, but I really like leaving during lunch. It's nice to get a break from work. So, anyway, for lunch, I kept it pretty healthy.

Please note the absence of a donut. Even though they all looked delicious, I decided that I didn't need one - especially after yesterday.


After lunch, work was a fustercluck and I was happy to get out of there to go work out with Mark. We did some new ab move, which was totally weird, and Mark told me I looked awkward. Well, thanks Mark. It's not like I'm not already self-conscious at the gym... But I got him back with a few well-timed insults, mostly about how he's more than twice my age.


After the gym, I came home and made a protein shake. Apparently if you're going to have a protein shake, you're supposed to have it within 45 minutes of your workout to help enhance muscle tone. So, I decided to mix things up a bit and blend my protein powder with some chocolate almond milk, hoping that would improve the taste. It turned out to be a waste of a perfectly good serving of almond milk. The protein powder totally overwhelmed the deliciousness of the almond milk. The good news is that I'm almost done with that massive jug and can get a better flavor soon!

While I was choking down enjoying my protein shake, I made dinner in about 15 minutes. It was pretty sweet. I freaking love how Schwann's stuff is ready to be cooked straight from the freezer. I'm going to need to find someone who actually gets Schwann's and have them be my dealer.

I had teriyaki chicken nuggets, green beans, and some reheated rice from Monday.


After dinner, I fiddled with my computer for a while. After Best Buy lost all of my data from the last 8 months, I've been trying to figure out a good way to transfer my music from Ronald (my old, janky computer - an Apple PowerBook) to Arthur (my beautiful new MacBook Pro). So I finally bought a crossover ethernet cable that allows me to network the two without actually setting up a network. 

I took a picture of it because I found it funny that it said it was male/male (click on the pic to make it bigger). I didn't learn until earlier this year that cords were different sexes at each end or that you referred to them that way. I think it's hilarious. You should, too.


So I've been transferring music files over slowly. Ronald's pretty old so he's putting up a fight to keep the files to himself. So far, I've transferred about 2,000 songs. I have about 4,000 more. The timing of this hard drive wipe really stinks because I had literally just cleaned out my iTunes library. Boo on you, Apple. Boo on you.


Anyway, it is time for me to head to bed. Thank you to everyone for your encouragement yesterday!