The Coupons Made Me Do It!


I’m five days into my new exercise routine. So far, so good–at least as far as exercise goes. Who knew that sticking to the exercise plan would be easier than eating right?

I blame our active social life. We went out to dinner with friends Friday night.  Had I stayed with the entree and salad I ordered, things would have been fine. But I had a couple of margaritas (probably the worse thing someone trying to lose weight could drink) and enjoyed most of the fried zucchini appetizer we all shared. As is always the case when eating out, I burned up quite a few of  the weekly points I’m allowed to have on Weight Watchers.

Yesterday I vowed to do better. I had a very healthy breakfast (scrambled egg whites, yogurt, and fruit) and then went to the gym. After I got out, I picked up a sandwich from Subway. I got a footlong thinking I’d eat half of it right away and the other half before my 5:30 writer’s group meeting. I ended up eating it all in one sitting. Because Subway is a relatively health option, I still had plenty of WW points left.

But when I got home from writer’s group, my partner and I were starving. Thinking we’d just share a small pizza, I went to Domino’s web page. Conniving bastards have things set up so it’s cheaper to get three times as much food as you real want. Being an economist and hence, a tightwad, I ordered a feast from Dominos which we polished off right before going to bed.

Bam! There went the rest of my weekly WW points. Sigh.

It’s a new day and I swear I’ll do better. Yeah I know. Doing worse would require a concerted effort. Don’t judge me.

Fortunately, I’ve had a much easier time sticking to my exercise schedule. I went to Centergy (Yoga and Pilates), as planned, on Wednesday night. Thursday I ran for 75 minutes (I’ve finally adjusted to my new shoes) and went to Zumba for an hour. Yay me!

Friday I went to the gym to do my new, developed-just-for-me strength training routine. I didn’t understand the plan my trainer wrote down for me–I’m going to get him to go over it with me on Tuesday during our weekly session. Instead, I did part one of the two-part routine I abandoned two months ago.

Ouch!

Even though I used the same amount of weight I’d been using before I stopped doing the workouts, I struggled to finish the routine. But I pushed through, and went back to the gym Saturday morning and did part two of the routine. I also assaulted my arch nemesis (belly fat) by doing 100 sit-ups both days.

After strength training Saturday morning, I did an hour of Zumba followed immediately by another hour of Centergy. That’s three solid hours at the gym including an hour each of strength training, aerobics, and stretching. No wonder I scarfed down the whole sandwich!

I wanted to get a good run in before my writer’s group meeting. But having eaten so much, running was ill advised. Turns out, it’s a lot easier to sleep after a big meal than to run. So I took a nap.

Overwhelming pizza guilt essentially guarantees that we’ll eat better today. Our calendars are clear of social obligations for a few days, too. I polished off the last of my frozen yogurt two nights ago. I’m not buying more. Honest.

Today I’m planning to go for a long run. I’d already have gone, but I need to wait until my bladder settles down from the pot of coffee I enjoyed this morning while reading the Sunday paper. Yes, this is another one of those lessons I learned the hard way.

Between my run and the Zumba class I plan to attend later today, I need to do some work in the yard. The weather is so nice, I might throw in a bike ride, too. It’s nice to have options.  Or maybe I’ll just take a Sunday afternoon nap here in…

My Glass House