The Day After Christmas

The kids enjoyed Christmas day. First is the before picture. Below is the after – like a HUGE explosion of wrapping paper and toys strewn everywhere, of course!

Exercise yesterday was some light cardio and running around trying to keep up with the kids. Today – running (5 min warm-up, 2/1 x 6, 5 min cool-down) then 35 more minutes of cardio kickboxing. During the run, my hr kept going up way too fast (well, faster than it normally would) and then it didn’t normalize as quickly during the walking phases. Ugh! I don’t know what’s going on, but it’s almost time for a wellness exam anyway. I might as well get my fitness level checked and let the doc confirm that I need to go even slower than I do now. Is it even possible?

I still have this messed up love-hate relationship with food. I love to cook. LOVE it! I loathe being fat. So I’m trying to cook healthier foods, and I suppose that’s going okay. So far, everything tastes pretty decent, except for that berry tart thing I made with Splenda. Here’s the problem, and it’s one I’ve complained about before. I have a difficult time eating as many calories as I should when I eat healthy foods. It’s not like I need to eat an enormous amount, but I end up averaging 900 – 1200 calories a day and that’s forcing it with a couple of protein shakes. Coach Dave’s LL program says I should fall between 1100 and 1500 calories per day, doing the zig-zag thing. Why am I struggling? When I eat crap, I easily eat way too many kcals; hence, the reason I gained 30 lbs in no time at all. I guess it’s time to add more veggies, but that’ll throw my ratios off and I’ll need to add protein also. damn, damn, damn! more shakes – blah!