Great training session

I got out of work late again today, but not nearly as significantly late as I did yesterday. I was also a sweaty mess at the end of the day and was trying to decide if I wanted to go home to change into my gym clothes and sacrifice some elliptical time or if I wanted to just hit up the gym and who gives a shit if I looked disgusting. I opted for the latter. I got in a good 45 minutes on the elliptical before my personal training session. I was having a hard time keeping my heart rate up on the elliptical. Usually, I can get my heart rate up to the 150s-160s, but today I was consistently in the 125-150 range. I thought that by including pumping my arms on the elliptical that I would get my heart rate up, but by getting my legs going faster and holding on the the arm grip things, I found I got my heart rate up a bit higher. But, nonetheless, I still had burned less than 400 calories by the time my session was supposed to start. Fortunately, Jack put together a great full-body workout and I was able to burn another 300ish calories by the end of my session with him. It was challenging, but I felt great by the end. So, kudos to me.

In other news, tomorrow is my last day on gynecology and I'm going out with a bang with five surgeries tomorrow. I think I'll let tomorrow be a fasting day given how busy I'll be. I mean, if I'm not going to have time to eat, it'll be a great day to fast.

Other than that, nothing too exciting today. I had some surgeries in the morning and then had clinic in the afternoon. Tomorrow my only plans are to go to work, work out by doing some cardio, and then study.

Food for today (that I actually took a picture of):

Breakfast 

Dinner

Not pictured is the strawberry protein smoothie I had this morning, the apple I ate between surgery 1 and surgery 2, the salad and chicken I had at lunch, and the two hershey kisses I grabbed in the afternoon.

A few bad days doesn't mean failure

I have to admit, I had plenty of time to blog over the weekend, but I didn't want to blog over the weekend because I was eating poorly and I didn't want to admit it. I binged a bit on Saturday and felt bad about myself. And I didn't start to spiral, per se, but I did get into the whole, "Well, you may as well call today a wash," type of feeling. Today, however, I had personal training with my new personal trainer, Jack. And I was a bit nervous because I hadn't been to the gym since last Wednesday given my crazy work schedule - Thursday was late stay (until 6:30), Friday was later stay (until 11pm), and I worked Sunday and Monday (the holiday that most everyone else gets off). Sooo, yes, I could have gone to the gym Saturday, but I was all: I want the afternoon and evening to be with my friends and my morning to catch up with life at home (i.e., cleaning, balancing my budgets, etc).

Anywho, I digress. I met with my personal trainer today and I was nervous because of the lack of working out. I know it hadn't been a full week, but I was all, "Oh, shit. I'm going to be super out of shape and he's going to notice and judge me." And then you know what? I rocked my workout. I got in a good 28 minutes of elliptical before my session and then I rocked my session. Jack had to remind me to take breaks because he told me I was being too much of a machine. But, I wanted to keep the energy up and keep my heart rate up, so I kept on going. We focused on back, triceps, and something else (probably biceps given the way my arms are feeling). I'm probably going to be all jiggly armed tomorrow, which might be a bad thing given the fact that I have 6 surgeries...

Anywho, the eats today were decent. The trough (which is where the residents get free lunch) was legitimately all carbs. I grabbed some veggie lasagna (one scoop) and then one scoop of mac and cheese (which was SO GREASY) and filled the rest of my plate with salad. I ate a pear as well and then was treated to a yogurt by a co-resident when I complained that I was still hungry.

Tomorrow is going to be a fasting day, which should be relatively easy with my back-to-back surgeries. I'm thinking I may also fast on Thursday and Friday because my sweet tooth has been majorly flaring and a nice food reset may be in order. We'll see.

Today's breakfast

Today's dinner

The Memorial Day weekend team

Sunday night reading by the lake

I love being so close to the water!

That's all for now. No weigh-in this week - I'm on my period and I didn't want to face the scale after my overeating this weekend. I'll do a weigh-in next Monday!

What do you do when you've had a bad eating day or meal? How do you convince yourself to hop back on the wagon?

Getting into the swing of things again

Today started out rough. I had such a hard time getting out of bed. Physically. Like my back hurt so much. I've never had pain like that before. I had to use the wall to walk myself to the bathroom and getting into the shower was a struggle. I just stood under the hot water, willing my muscles to calm the eff down. Eventually, they quieted themselves, but today was still a struggle.

The rest of the day was okay. It was Columbus day, so the clinic was pretty slow. I had one surgery at the end of the day and then I walked my butt over to the medical education building and worked out. It was just a cardio day - 40 minutes of the elliptical. I had the place to myself until about halfway through my workout. Two men were in the teeny room with my sweating butt for the second half of my workout. But, I'm glad I went. Does my back feel better? Not really, buuuut it's hopefully a step in the right direction!

Here is today's [phone] documentation of breakfast:

I had other photos from the day, but my phone hasn't yet uploaded them to the cloud or wherever they go, so I guess you'll have to wait until tomorrow.

Update: Here are the rest of the day's photos:

Tomorrow's goal is to do some strength training post-work. I'm pretty sure I'll be pretty dead by the end of the day because it's a surgery day, but I'm going to do it for you! Anyone want to join me on my slightly less than two week challenge? Lisa's setting some goals for herself and is going to join! We'd love the company.

Awkward times at the gym

At the gym today, I saw my first guy ever flexing. I'm not talking like while you're busy lifting weight and watching yourself. I'm talking standing in front of the mirror, flexing. And not just checking out his biceps, but like six or seven different poses. Then he walks up right between my bench and the adjacent bench and starts lifting up his shirt and looking at his abs. Um, sir, I'm sorry, but do you not have a mirror at home? Cuz I'm pretty sure you'd look the same there and this is just awkward. I know some of you are all like, "What the eff, Danika. This is a good-looking man showing you his muscles." But I'm really not into that and second, it just felt weird. Like really weird. And later while I was strength training, there was this old bald man doing bicep curls with a bar that was maybe 60 pounds, and despite having my head phones in, I heard him counting and between every count he kept saying "Oh yeah!" over and over. Half of me was amused because it was weird and the other half of me was just kinda glad he motivated himself to get to 10. In summary: weird day at the gym.

I didn't hit the gym until about 6 today because I wanted to be as productive as possible during my peak hours. When I got home, I made a kick ass dinner. I studied some more and decorated my friend's cake for her bachelorette party that I'm only attending half of thanks to an 8 hour exam on Monday. So, I head to Ann Arbor tomorrow for some canoeing and obviously, cake. I made it a two-layer cake with one maize layer and one blue layer because those are her wedding colors, but I'm not sure if it looks legit.

The yellow one looks like normal cake and the blue layer looks more green. Maybe the white frosting will help? Also, for those of you who didn't know, bachelorette parties are all about alcohol and penises. My mom didn't know this, so I thought I'd inform the rest of you before showing you the end/inappropriate decorating I did. Also, don't judge me. The frosting bag exploded when I was drawing the right testicle.

So, yeah. Penis. Cake. We'll see how it goes given that I'm attending the chill, non-alcohol portion.

I've gotta get back to studying. I'm going to do a weigh in on Monday, but I'm super not optimistic about the results. I've been eating okay, but I've been dehydrated a lot and spending long stretches without eating at all - which is not good for weight loss. Probably won't blog tomorrow, so keep your eyes out for a blog on Monday.

Today's positive: making time for the gym later in the day, which is so, so hard for me. Also, penis cakes because they're amusing.

The rest of today's pictures:

Snack as I was making lunch (that I forgot to take a picture of)

Noms. 

Baby bananas! I was introduced to these in Uganda and found them in meijer this week. THEY'RE THE BEST.

See how cute they are? SO CUTE.

My awesome dinner: steak, biscuits, and the delicious asparagus!

Oh! Something I forgot to mention! Today when I went to the gym, I was ready to hit the elliptical for a warm up, per usual and then I was like, "Nah. I'll just do a mile run and cool down for 15 minutes instead." So, I pounded out a mile at 5mph (which is pretty legit for me) and then cooled down and holy hell, my right foot hurt like whoa. I had an inkling that I may have had a hairline fracture a bit ago cuz of some pain I was having, but I never saw a doctor because I know what they do for that and it's pretty much pain pills or pain pills plus some sort of immobilization and no thanks to either of those. But the main point is that though my right foot hurts like a bitch, I RAN A MILE AND I DID IT RELATIVELY FAST WITHOUT TRAINING. So, yeah. Maybe that should have been my positive. 

Better ending to an anxious day

Would you look at all this blogging I'm doing? Before I know it, internet besties, I'm going to win some blogging award in addition to an award for being the best medical student. Ha. Right. I kid, I kid.


Today started out so, so stressful. How stressful? Stressful to the max. Think of the most stressed you've ever been. Multiply that by 10. Add a sense of impending doom and that's what I woke up to this morning. It's also what I fell asleep to last night...err, this morning...? Whatever. It was a rough start to the day. But, it's ending much better despite the fact that I'm still at school.


What made it end better, asks you/my internet bestie. Well, first of all, I got in a pretty legit work out. I did a little over a mile (as per the June Challenge rules) and I did it a tad faster than last week. Why? Because when I started running today it didn't seem fast enough. I know, I know: who am I!? Right after my run, I headed to yoga where we did a shit ton (a scientific unit that you may be familiar with) of lunges. We also did some forward bends, which are exactly like they sound. You bend forward and try to touch your toes. Well, internet bestie, I can finally touch the ground rather than struggling to reach my toes. What up, flexibility!? I mean, there were definitely still some poses I struggled with, but my planks are getting better and my hamstrings are getting ridiculously stretched. However, the pyramids today killed me - my hamstrings can't stretch that much after sitting on my ass all day.

Forward bend: Source

Pyramid pose: Source

Anywho, I'm off to memorize more drugs. I'm trying to decide when I'm going to hit the gym tomorrow. I think I may just do it first thing in the morning so I can spend all day at school: what fun!

Our friendship could drive a car

As promised, here is a post about the weekend. Because it was exhausting, the recap's going to be a bit on the skimpy side, but there will be lots of pictures to make up for it!


Friday
I got up early(ish) and worked out before heading to pick up my bestie Lisa at the Detroit airport. We have been friends since we were 8-years-old. That's 16 years of friendship. That's right, our friendship could drive a car if it were a person. Crazy!

We immediately went to lunch because we were starving and decided on Applebee's.

My meal: shrimp and spinach salad with french onion soup

Lisa's meal: Shrimp pasta of some sort

After lunch, we headed to Auburn Hills to check into our hotel. It was awesome, but a tad confusing because of the toilet:

Not only could you adjust the seat warmth, but there was a bidet for both the "front" and "rear." Neither of us were brave (or drunk) enough to try it. We'll leave it for the Europeans.

Our sweet suite

After checking in, I showed Lisa the two dresses I'd brought with me so she could help me decide. I had bought one offline way back in December for the company party, but bought it too small so I couldn't even zip it way back then. Now, I was thinking I'd try again, but I needed Lisa's help because the straps are a bit prohibitive when it comes to zipping yourself up. The other I wore in a wedding last year. Neither fit quite right. The blue one that I bought offline was a bit tight in the bust and the one I wore last year was much too big. So, we tried shopping a bit but didn't find anything before we had to go pick up Anna for dinner and Harry Potter!


For dinner, we headed to the Rainforest Café because Lisa had never been to one.

Anna

Lisa 

My clam chowda

My massive sandwich (I only ate half)

Then we headed to see Harry Potter in IMAX 3D. Woot, woot! Sexy glasses time!

We took Anna home and then attempted to go work out, but the equipment in the gym was a tad worn out. We did our best but then decided to go hang out in the hot tub because that's definitely a workout ;-)

Saturday
I woke up around 7:00 a.m. and started calling local gyms to see how much a drop-in session would cost. The answer: $20. So, around 8:00, Lisa got up and we went down to the crappy fitness area and worked out as best we could. I did some heart rate cycling on the treadmill and Lisa was on the elliptical.

Pumped to work out!

After our workout, we headed to the continental breakfast and then went upstairs to shower and get ready for the day. Around 10:00 a.m., we headed to Dress Barn so I could try to find a new dress for the wedding the day of the wedding. The dress from last year was a size 18, so I thought I'd try things in a 16. Turns out I needed a 14. Woooooot! What a confidence boost!


On our way back to the hotel, we stopped at Border's to check out their sales since they're closing. Lisa got a few books and I got my very first cookbook:

There were quite a few other cookbooks that caught my eye, but when each recipe required 20 ingredients (of which I'd have about 4), I decided to keep it simple. Plus, with med school, I figured this would be a good fit.


When we were back at the hotel, we did the girly things: painted our toes and nails while watching Superstar, a movie neither of us had seen in forever.

Once we were beautified and ready to go, we took the hotel shuttle to the ceremony and witnessed Ed and Liz get married. The ceremony was awesome and Liz looked amazing.

Waiting for the ceremony 

Liz in her amazing dress 

The newlyweds

After the ceremony, we headed to the pub nearby (where everyone from the wedding went) and had some empty calories drinks and some spinach and artichoke dip while we waited for the reception.

Then, it was on to the reception where we took some pictures and ate more!

Awesome door handles 

So you know, Lisa requested this photo 

Lisa and I looking good

Table 6 Awesome

My appetizer plate

By the time dinner rolled around, I wasn't very hungry. So, I had a tomato, some chicken with sauce and a bite of the beef (it wasn't very good).

Lisa enjoying her food

Me pumped to eat mine, too!

After dinner, the dancing began and a good time was had by all. Here's some proof:

Ryan putting the garter on "Kinley" 

Ryan got it pretty high up there :-)

Wedding party doing the alligator 

Dancing on my own...

We headed back to the hotel and my knees were aching pretty badly. Eight hours in heels + dancing + osteoarthritis = pain. So, I sat in the shower for a bit and let the water loosen up my knees. Then I took plenty of ibuprofen and called it a night.


Sunday
Lisa woke up before me and when I finally got up at 9:20 a.m., we headed downstairs for breakfast and congratulated the newlyweds again. Then, I coaxed Lisa into going down to the hot tub with me so I could soak my poor, battered knees.


We packed up our things and were checked out by noon and headed to go see Captain America. Awesome movie. I highly recommend it.


After Captain Hottie America, we headed to Whole Foods in Troy for lunch and a bit of shopping. I got some quinoa oats, some regular oatmeal, some chia seeds, some salad dressing, some Luna protein bars and a salad for lunch.


Then it was time to say goodbye and take Lisa to the airport. The good news is that she'll be back soon! Pwhew!


After I dropped off Lisa, I went to Plymouth to meet up with Anthony for some dinner.

Anthony with his crab cake sandwich

My appetizer feast: clam chowder and crab-stuffed mushrooms

After dinner, we walked around downtown Plymouth and took "senior pictures."

Fountain of youth!

Awesome-looking toy store 

My senior picture

Anthony's senior picture is better

Then I drove my exhausted butt home and now I'm off to bed so I can get up for a nice workout tomorrow as my knees prevented me from doing anything today.