Successful one-week challenge and strength training

I didn't weigh in today - mostly because I forgot, but also cuz I didn't want to. I ate poorly over the weekend, so I worried that I'd be up on the scale despite working out so much last week. 

In other news, my one-week challenge was a success! I got a bit of break over the weekend and hit the gym today. I was super proud of myself because I did a strength training workout today during the after-work rush. Usually, I don't like to do strength workouts during the week because it's always so busy and I don't like to have to wait for machines. But today I was all, "I fasted today and doing cardio would make me wanna die." So, obviously, it was either strength training or nothing at all. And I definitely needed to do something. It wasn't that bad - I did have to watch the benches like a hawk so that I didn't have to wait for one of those. And I did all my bench work at once so I wouldn't have to worry about finding one again later.

Now that I'm home, I'm going to video chat with some of my best friends from undergrad and I can't wait! I also need to do some laundry and clean up a bit. Cheers!

The scale is dead...pwhew!

So, my scale batteries have died. Thank God. Last week my eating was erratic, at best, and downright excessive at worst. This week, it's not going to be like that because I really want to feel good about myself and the choices I make and last week, I felt pretty crummy about myself.

So, today I fasted as a kind of reset for myself. That was good. And when I got home (after going to the gym), I didn't even overdo it. I think that's one of the hardest things about fasting - it's hard to not overdo it when you do eat. And I guess I should explain that it's not true fasting - it's ~600 calories for the day split between breakfast and dinner with as long as possible between the two meals. So, today it was about 13 hours between each meal, during which you stay as hydrated as best you can and your body gets over itself and starts breaking down stored fats. You do this twice a week. I read a whole book about intermittent fasting and how to do it. So, I'm not an expert, but there's some science behind it. It's thought that fasting helps your body crave healthier foods and make better use of the food it does get. So, who knows. I've been doing this on and off since July and I like it.

In other news, I have dinner plans tomorrow at the Cheesecake Factory, which is going to be amazing. I've already been looking at the Skinnylicious menu so that I don't do too much damage when I go there.

Other than that, Nasur had his medical exam last week and doesn't have syphilis or TB, which are apparently the only two communicable diseases the United States cares about. He passed and now we're waiting for his embassy interview in the beginning of December. We're hoping he'll be here by Christmas. 

Anywho, that's about it for me for now. Food pictures are below, but don't judge me for eating almost the same thing every single day. It's easy and I like it.

Dinner

Breakfast

Coming soon: legitimate-ness!

I didn't want to let down my millions of readers by not posting anything, so I'll post some excuses as to why your real post is coming tomorrow:

1. I forgot to weigh in this morning because I didn't put my camera in the bathroom last night
2. I'm really tired
3. I still have like 6 pages of reading to go until I'm done with what I wanted to accomplish today (8x10 pages with teeny font and no pictures - don't judge)
4. My knees really, really hurt (not sure how that's related, but it is)
5. I still have to wrestle Bailey into submission and give him his thyroid pill

So, a legit post will be in this very space tomorrow

Santa Claus!

Today was soooo much better. Today I worked with the doctor I was supposed to be with last week, but he was on vacation. And he was great. He taught as we went along, he chatted about his undergrad at U of M (where I also did undergrad), and he explained things in patient rooms. Also, he looks like Santa Claus (Christmas in July, anyone?) and he bought me lunch. So, basically today was a perfect day. 

The only non-perfect part was that my right foot is really acting up. It was painful all day. It almost kept me from going to Zumba, but since I was out at 5:00 p.m., I really couldn't give myself an excuse. Yes, my foot hurt, but I also needed to get up and move. It wasn't too bad during the class, but I'm thinking I should really have it checked out sometime. The only thing is that I don't exactly have a doctor in the area. So I may have to head to an urgent care after work this week. Ughssss.

Anywho, today's meals were pretty decent. My food scale ran out of batteries, so I'm not tracking right now, but I'm trying to keep things about the same as last week. Breakfast was quick because I woke up late (and also the reason as to why there's no weigh-in today). Here are photos of today's meals (minus lunch, which was a turkey sandwich and sweet potato chips):

I had the whole bagel, but almost forgot about the photo

Leftover fish tacos

Today's positive: feeling awesome for going to work out and for having a great mentor.