As you all have probably figured out by now, I don't post when I haven't done anything. And really, I haven't.
The running didn't happen again. I was never presented with a timely opportunity. It bothers me, especially because I bought the game ZOMBIES. RUN! for my phone and I just plain old haven't had the chance to use it. I am trying to figure out ways to get myself to go out and run, or walk for exercise (rather than just to get someplace) or even do yoga. And I've been having a really hard time finding the time... or more like the motivation when it actually comes around that I have some free time.
I decided yesterday that I am going to do SOMETHING tonight. I discovered two things relatively close to me: a yoga studio in Hayward that has regular classes at 7:15 and a sweet introductory offer (as well as a yoga bootcamp, which I may want to try), and also that there are a couple parks within 5-10 minute drive of my apartment. I think that, generally speaking, I will be more inclined to exercise if I have someone there doing it with me,and I'm going to have a much easier time convincing Jon to come walk around the lake with me while playing ZOMBIES! than I will convincing him to come to a yoga class. So, I will try to convince him to come with me tonight to The park to go on a walk/ run / saunter. If he cannot be convinced (or his legs hurt from work) I will either go by myself or I will go to yoga at 715. Sort of nervous about doing that by myself.
In addition to all this...attempts at exercise, my diet has been changing around constantly. I discovered about a month and a half ago that I have become somewhat lactose intolerant. It's not violent, but it is uncomfortable, and so I have been attempting to rid my diet of lactose. Here is where you should be saying "whaaaat? but Kiersten you love cheese!" And it's true, I freaking love cheese. This is entirely why I can't go vegan, or even get rid of lactose completely. So, what I've been doing is drinking almond milk (which is delicious) and taking a pro-biotic lactase pill once a day when I eat dairy. It amounts to most days. It has helped. Even so, I have cut back on dairy generally speaking. When I think about my lunches, I find myself calculating 3 different ingredient possibilities: dairy, sugar and carbs. It's pretty much impossible to avoid all 3 unless you get a salad, and the last salad I had wasn't very tasty, and totally turned me off to the whole thing. Not good. So what I have been eating has been a series of burritos, japanese, chinese and lasagna, mixed in with low calorie but high carb frozen meals from Safeway. That's lunch. [On the very bright side, there's a Chipotle opening a block away from my work some time this summer, yay!]
Dinner and breakfast are different stories. Dinner is, for the most part, still pretty low carb. I make the chicken and zucchini bake at least once a week, and have at least one night where I don't eat much other than grapes and cheese. There are of course, also many nights where I just microwave frozen cheese ravioli from Costco (easy AND delicious) and cover it in marinara sauce of questionable sugar content. I mean, it's delicious and theoretically healthy (sometimes I add veggies too), but it's a complete failure if I'm trying to rid myself of sugar, carbs and dairy, since it has all three.
Breakfast! I have actually started eating it. Last week I purchased some oatmeal (a whole grain!) and Jon bought me some whole wheat bagels. I figure, on a scale of 1 to clif bar, they're about a 5. Plus I like them better. I eat the oatmeal soaked in cold almond milk. I cannot describe the creamy deliciousness, you should try it. I of course, put cream cheese on the bagels. duh.
This past weekend, before Pride, I made cream cheese crepes. There's a recipe in the YUM pins on my pinterest. They were good! Sort of hard to flip, but good! I recommend them.
Related to that, I got a blender! It blends things! Like smoothies and other smooth delicious things. I am excited!
IN CONCLUSION: I have been bad, but simultaneously good in weird ways. I'm trying to fix it and find some consistency. I have achieved breakfast! I will achieve exercise! Then I will battle lunch and achieve it too.
Thursday, June 28, 2012
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
Running
I am not a runner. My body is simply not built to run. My bones are too heavy to have a good relationship with the ground at high velocity.
However, running is a very good way to get aerobic exercise. And I can get the exercise at the level I need most efficiently if I run. It is therefore, perhaps, a necessary torture.
It has been pointed out to me that the best time to exercise is in the morning, before your body has a chance to figure out what's going on and initiate shut down. I have to get up at 5 all this week to take Jon to BART (we've had some...transportation related issues of late), so, I figured I would take the opportunity to trick my body into figuring out running again.
"Again"?
I had to run every day in middle school. It was part of our daily PE program to run for 8 to 12 minutes at the beginning of each PE class. Even on the hottest days of the year, we still did the 8 minutes. Now, I was never fast. I was always at the back. There were only a couple people slower than me. When I graduated 8th grade, my mother told me that she had a discussion with the PE teacher, and that he had said that I had done an amazing job keeping up with it, even though I was just not built to run. If we had a swimming pool, I would have been doing that instead, and pretty much everyone who ever taught me PE knew it. I knew it. I am an evolutionary swimmer (though, being of general northern European decent, I can only guess at where my ancestors needed that skill). So, I have a swimming pool, why am I choosing to run?
The pool we have is small, not open (really) until 8 or 9, and is in the middle of the other half of my apartment complex. That doesn't make it far away, but it does make it public, and therefore deters me from using it. Also, when I come home from work everyday, it's filled with screaming children. No good for the kind of intense aerobic exercise I need. For running, all I have to do is work up the guts to run the whole way around the block and not die of hyperventilation.It doesn't take long, though it may seem like eternal suffering.
I went on my first run this morning. It was...interesting. Aside from the body over heating, ragged/ difficult breathing upon return to the apartment (both quelled by an immediate cold shower), it wasn't too bad. Though, I either need a hardier sports bra or I need to tape my chest down, because there's a lot of force involved and it makes it hard to breathe while running. Any ideas?
The only long term/ day of effects I have experienced are increased tiredness, hunger and a sort of confused "I exercised earlier..." feeling. I say confused because it's not entirely as pleasant as I would prefer, but it's not bad. I imagine the fatigue is mostly because I'm not used to it, and the hunger partly because I still skipped breakfast. I need to figure out a way not to do that... hmm to be contemplated.
Update: I've been sitting at my desk all day. My hip joints are displeased. Unsure if this is related
In terms of last week:
I did exercise 3 times. I did a whole lot of Jackknifes against the Wii Fit Yoga Trainer. I did 40 of them last time. I'm working on making that the main exercise on Wii Fit, along with general yoga stretches and the Advanced Step.
So. Success! Hurray! 10 dollars for me! Thats a grand total of... 10 so far. Wow I'm awesome at this (sarcasm).
Anyway. This week's goals are a little bit late in coming, but:
Run Wednesday and Friday. Wii Fit Thursday and sometime on the weekend. If I manage the run on Friday, I get the 10 bucks, if not, no 10 bucks. Wii Fit is worth an extra 5. So, if I manage all of that I get 15.
Preemptive goals for next week:
Jon goes back to working a little bit later, so it will make it a little tougher to get the run and a shower in, but I think I can still do it.
So run twice. However best fits my sleep, determination and confidence levels. It must happen twice to earn money though, otherwise no success.
Onwards!
.
However, running is a very good way to get aerobic exercise. And I can get the exercise at the level I need most efficiently if I run. It is therefore, perhaps, a necessary torture.
It has been pointed out to me that the best time to exercise is in the morning, before your body has a chance to figure out what's going on and initiate shut down. I have to get up at 5 all this week to take Jon to BART (we've had some...transportation related issues of late), so, I figured I would take the opportunity to trick my body into figuring out running again.
"Again"?
I had to run every day in middle school. It was part of our daily PE program to run for 8 to 12 minutes at the beginning of each PE class. Even on the hottest days of the year, we still did the 8 minutes. Now, I was never fast. I was always at the back. There were only a couple people slower than me. When I graduated 8th grade, my mother told me that she had a discussion with the PE teacher, and that he had said that I had done an amazing job keeping up with it, even though I was just not built to run. If we had a swimming pool, I would have been doing that instead, and pretty much everyone who ever taught me PE knew it. I knew it. I am an evolutionary swimmer (though, being of general northern European decent, I can only guess at where my ancestors needed that skill). So, I have a swimming pool, why am I choosing to run?
The pool we have is small, not open (really) until 8 or 9, and is in the middle of the other half of my apartment complex. That doesn't make it far away, but it does make it public, and therefore deters me from using it. Also, when I come home from work everyday, it's filled with screaming children. No good for the kind of intense aerobic exercise I need. For running, all I have to do is work up the guts to run the whole way around the block and not die of hyperventilation.It doesn't take long, though it may seem like eternal suffering.
I went on my first run this morning. It was...interesting. Aside from the body over heating, ragged/ difficult breathing upon return to the apartment (both quelled by an immediate cold shower), it wasn't too bad. Though, I either need a hardier sports bra or I need to tape my chest down, because there's a lot of force involved and it makes it hard to breathe while running. Any ideas?
The only long term/ day of effects I have experienced are increased tiredness, hunger and a sort of confused "I exercised earlier..." feeling. I say confused because it's not entirely as pleasant as I would prefer, but it's not bad. I imagine the fatigue is mostly because I'm not used to it, and the hunger partly because I still skipped breakfast. I need to figure out a way not to do that... hmm to be contemplated.
Update: I've been sitting at my desk all day. My hip joints are displeased. Unsure if this is related
In terms of last week:
I did exercise 3 times. I did a whole lot of Jackknifes against the Wii Fit Yoga Trainer. I did 40 of them last time. I'm working on making that the main exercise on Wii Fit, along with general yoga stretches and the Advanced Step.
So. Success! Hurray! 10 dollars for me! Thats a grand total of... 10 so far. Wow I'm awesome at this (sarcasm).
Anyway. This week's goals are a little bit late in coming, but:
Run Wednesday and Friday. Wii Fit Thursday and sometime on the weekend. If I manage the run on Friday, I get the 10 bucks, if not, no 10 bucks. Wii Fit is worth an extra 5. So, if I manage all of that I get 15.
Preemptive goals for next week:
Jon goes back to working a little bit later, so it will make it a little tougher to get the run and a shower in, but I think I can still do it.
So run twice. However best fits my sleep, determination and confidence levels. It must happen twice to earn money though, otherwise no success.
Onwards!
.
Monday, June 4, 2012
Zucchini and Chicken Bake
So, I made a delicious last night that I absolutely must record for posterity (and also so I can make it again, since I drastically altered the recipe).
I got the idea from this recipe, which I originally found on Pinterest.
Zucchini, Chicken and Cheese Bake
Prep time: 10 minutes
Bake time: 25 minutes
Total time: 35 minutes
Ingredients:
4 chicken breasts or equivalent
EVOO
3 medium zucchini cut into chunks (I did rounds)
1 large clove of garlic, minced
Fresh basil, chopped. (I used about 8 small leaves)
1 tablespoon (ish) dried oregano
Freshly grated pepper
Salt
The zest of one lemon
a handful of shredded parmesan cheese
4 tablespoons (ish) of goat cheese
Preheat oven to 425
1) Put the chicken, zucchini, basil and garlic into a baking dish
2) Drizzle EVOO over the top of everything (use about 2 tablespoons) and sprinkle the oregano, salt, pepper and lemon zest over the top.
3) Move everything around with your hands a bit to be sure the herbs and oil are spread evenly.
4) Sprinkle the parmesan over the top
5) Stick it in the oven!
6) After about 15 minutes, check on it, it should look mostly done. Add a smear of goat cheese to the top of each piece of chicken. Return to the oven and lower the temperature to 350 for another ten minutes or until the chicken is done.
7) EAT.
I got the idea from this recipe, which I originally found on Pinterest.
Zucchini, Chicken and Cheese Bake
Prep time: 10 minutes
Bake time: 25 minutes
Total time: 35 minutes
Ingredients:
4 chicken breasts or equivalent
EVOO
3 medium zucchini cut into chunks (I did rounds)
1 large clove of garlic, minced
Fresh basil, chopped. (I used about 8 small leaves)
1 tablespoon (ish) dried oregano
Freshly grated pepper
Salt
The zest of one lemon
a handful of shredded parmesan cheese
4 tablespoons (ish) of goat cheese
Preheat oven to 425
1) Put the chicken, zucchini, basil and garlic into a baking dish
2) Drizzle EVOO over the top of everything (use about 2 tablespoons) and sprinkle the oregano, salt, pepper and lemon zest over the top.
3) Move everything around with your hands a bit to be sure the herbs and oil are spread evenly.
4) Sprinkle the parmesan over the top
5) Stick it in the oven!
6) After about 15 minutes, check on it, it should look mostly done. Add a smear of goat cheese to the top of each piece of chicken. Return to the oven and lower the temperature to 350 for another ten minutes or until the chicken is done.
7) EAT.
Saturday, June 2, 2012
No Prize for you!
I totally failed this week. All goals failed.
I made a batch of flax bread tuesday morning, but didn't eat very much of it. I bought lunch 2 out of the 3 days I worked (I took friday off due to exhausted body rebellion), and I definitely did not exercise. So, complete failure, no prize for me.
I have yet to earn a prize, but I think it's more because I'm disobeying my own rules and giving myself too many tasks. I lack focus, and so it's bringing down my success rate. I'm simultaneously trying to not eat too many carbs (I'm not doing awful, but I'm certainly not succeeding either) and trying to get myself to exercise as well as dealing with just regular life things. So, it's too much and I need to back off somewhere.
So, for this coming week, exercise takes priority. I should pay attention to what I eat and be a bit careful, but it's not the priority of the week.
My goal is to exercise 3 days this week, hopefully MWF. If I can get some in tomorrow (sunday) I get an extra 2 dollars, making the prize for success this week 12 dollars.
-----------------
Now, on different, life related topics!
Work has... gotten worse. I've been reduced to data entry. DATA ENTRY. That's....intern level work. Now, if I were interning, that would be one thing, but I am distinctly NOT. Now, if they want to pay me $20 an hour to do data entry, then ok, but dear god am I unhappy. This is NOT what I signed up for. If I had known, or seen down the road that this is what I would have been doing, I would have taken the other job, because seriously? Not what I want to do, I am above fricking data entry. Admin for an internet start-up is much much closer than this nonsense. Sure, the data entry is vaguely VAGUELY marketing related (It's actually mostly accounting and admin related), but that doesn't make it better. I don't need experience with data entry, I need experience with marketing things and design things. I get those in tiny shreds, and the projects that matter to me get sidelined hardcore. I am upset and unhappy and I can't do anything about it. I have to wait until November to start looking for other work.
In the meantime though, I have purchased a set of classes from e-careers via a super awesome Groupon. The classes will teach me the basics of Web design and e-commerce. So, if I wanted to I can launch my own website and such when I'm done. If I can come up with any really cool possibly viable business constructs that I can hire my friends for, then maybe that is what I will do. At least for a bit.
Another thing that has come up recently in "argh life sucks lets change it" sorts of discussions with Jon, is something that a friend of ours is doing. Moving to Australia or New Zealand for the tourist season, finding gainful employment on a work and holiday visa, taking advantage of the benefits of higher minimum wage and less tax in those countries and earning a lot of money while exploring a new place. Our friend is going to Australia, Jon and I were thinking of going to New Zealand. This wouldn't happen for at least a year or so, because we can't both pay for it right now, and in order to enter NZ on a Work and Holiday visa, we need to show that we have both the minimum required funds to stay (to pay for the trip) and enough money for a ticket out of the country. That comes to about 5,000 NZ dollars each, not counting the original flight down there. I think that it would be a good experience for both of us, and there is a possibility that Jon could just internally transfer down there, so I would be the only one who needs to find a job. We couldn't really go until our lease is up here (next may) so that gives us a year to figure it all out. It might not happen, but it is something we both want to do, and that I think would be really good for both of us, both financially and life-wise.
So, by this time next year, I will have lots of Web design training, and we will hopefully be preparing to move to New Zealand. Now wouldn't THAT be cool.
I made a batch of flax bread tuesday morning, but didn't eat very much of it. I bought lunch 2 out of the 3 days I worked (I took friday off due to exhausted body rebellion), and I definitely did not exercise. So, complete failure, no prize for me.
I have yet to earn a prize, but I think it's more because I'm disobeying my own rules and giving myself too many tasks. I lack focus, and so it's bringing down my success rate. I'm simultaneously trying to not eat too many carbs (I'm not doing awful, but I'm certainly not succeeding either) and trying to get myself to exercise as well as dealing with just regular life things. So, it's too much and I need to back off somewhere.
So, for this coming week, exercise takes priority. I should pay attention to what I eat and be a bit careful, but it's not the priority of the week.
My goal is to exercise 3 days this week, hopefully MWF. If I can get some in tomorrow (sunday) I get an extra 2 dollars, making the prize for success this week 12 dollars.
-----------------
Now, on different, life related topics!
Work has... gotten worse. I've been reduced to data entry. DATA ENTRY. That's....intern level work. Now, if I were interning, that would be one thing, but I am distinctly NOT. Now, if they want to pay me $20 an hour to do data entry, then ok, but dear god am I unhappy. This is NOT what I signed up for. If I had known, or seen down the road that this is what I would have been doing, I would have taken the other job, because seriously? Not what I want to do, I am above fricking data entry. Admin for an internet start-up is much much closer than this nonsense. Sure, the data entry is vaguely VAGUELY marketing related (It's actually mostly accounting and admin related), but that doesn't make it better. I don't need experience with data entry, I need experience with marketing things and design things. I get those in tiny shreds, and the projects that matter to me get sidelined hardcore. I am upset and unhappy and I can't do anything about it. I have to wait until November to start looking for other work.
In the meantime though, I have purchased a set of classes from e-careers via a super awesome Groupon. The classes will teach me the basics of Web design and e-commerce. So, if I wanted to I can launch my own website and such when I'm done. If I can come up with any really cool possibly viable business constructs that I can hire my friends for, then maybe that is what I will do. At least for a bit.
Another thing that has come up recently in "argh life sucks lets change it" sorts of discussions with Jon, is something that a friend of ours is doing. Moving to Australia or New Zealand for the tourist season, finding gainful employment on a work and holiday visa, taking advantage of the benefits of higher minimum wage and less tax in those countries and earning a lot of money while exploring a new place. Our friend is going to Australia, Jon and I were thinking of going to New Zealand. This wouldn't happen for at least a year or so, because we can't both pay for it right now, and in order to enter NZ on a Work and Holiday visa, we need to show that we have both the minimum required funds to stay (to pay for the trip) and enough money for a ticket out of the country. That comes to about 5,000 NZ dollars each, not counting the original flight down there. I think that it would be a good experience for both of us, and there is a possibility that Jon could just internally transfer down there, so I would be the only one who needs to find a job. We couldn't really go until our lease is up here (next may) so that gives us a year to figure it all out. It might not happen, but it is something we both want to do, and that I think would be really good for both of us, both financially and life-wise.
So, by this time next year, I will have lots of Web design training, and we will hopefully be preparing to move to New Zealand. Now wouldn't THAT be cool.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)