Thursday, July 29, 2010

My first summer without a thesis hanging over my shoulder:

Last summer I was sitting 12 hours a day, 8 hours at work and 4-6 hours at home writing my paper. I was miserable, sore and stressed out. My skin was also breaking out. I was tired and all my motivation to live a balanced life was thrown out the window. I was at my all-time heaviest and the most depressed I have been in my life.

The summer since my defense in March of ’10, I have more energy and more motivation to not spend my days in front of a computer. I do not have much of a choice at work. After work I try to stay away from the computer until later on in the evening so I can catch up on the blogs I follow. I have Twitter and Facebook on my Blackberry so I browse now and again in my spare time.

The gym and the pool have been my choice of destinations the past month or so. Often Michael accompanies me and we always feel awesome when we have a good workout. I am proud to say I have maintained a 28 lb weight loss. I was hoping to lose 15 lbs this summer I am not to sure if I will make that goal but I am trying.

I must admit I been snacking a lot more, plus I have not been any good at planning my meals. Cravings for pizza, greasy Chinese chow mein, and rich creamy curries have been quite frequent and in most cases my lack of self-control has taken over. Although I have been giving in to my cravings, I am very aware of portion sizes, for example when I crave a green curry Thai stir-fry I request that it be prepared with half the rice and with more veggies. The people at Thai Express are very accommodating. I make sure the next meal is light like a basic salad. There is also this awesome pizza place in Winnipeg called Santa Lucia which provides the customer with the option to order a multigrain crust and I always asked for ‘easy cheese’. I usually order pepperoni, Canadian bacon and mushroom. Not the healthiest toppings, but it is delicious. I am not a fan of gooey, cheesy pizza as I may be developing intolerance to dairy do not want to risk getting sick. My indulgences along with being physically active have probably contributed to the scale to stay the same. I am happy to say that I didn’t gain any weight and I am able to be mindful of my weaknesses.

Michael, my partners sister, a few friends and my mom have noticed an over all change in both my face and body. I have noticed some change in my clothes and receiving complements is motivating. Re-establishing healthy habits is hard. I think I am finally getting it, which is rewarding.

Yesterday, lunch consisted of a hummus, light cream cheese, parsley, cucumber, tomato and hot pepper on a multigrain bagel from Tim Horton’s (forgot to pack my new favorite sprouted grain bread). It was delish.

No comments:

Post a Comment