It's time. I had a nice break. Two whole years, in fact! And believe it or not, I weigh even less than I did when I tried to buddy up with Chalean and my lean sister machine. However, my diet and exercise levels have been taken over by the demands of the grad school program where I'm currently serving time. (Truly, though, I spent all week in a windowless basement).
I've been looking for motivation a lot lately - it seems that school has taken it and hidden it and thrown out the key. Lucky for me, I have a janitor-sized ring of keys and I may have just located one with a comparable fit. We shall see. With a couple of friends for support - er, to topple/crumble/collapse on/with - we have decided to enroll in a six-week program entitled "Bootcamp." Heh. This particular program comes with a pre-planned diet, which, until shopping for it, I was pretty excited about! I am not the biggest fan of planning my meals and figuring out what I need to get and have and prepare...so a calendar of meals and groceries I didn't have to think about seemed like a HUGE win. But before you judge me for poo-pooing such an incredible gift, let me just mention that there were more than a handful of things on that shopping list I have NEVER heard of. And I worked at grocery stores for almost three years! I bought more vegetables in two - yes, two - hours of shopping than I have probably ever eaten. I definitely had more damn tomatoes and cucumbers (two of my least favorite vegetables - formerly avoided at all costs) in my cart than I have consumed in a lifetime. But the part that really punched me in the face was: no meat. No chicken, no shrimp, no salmon, no nothin'! Definitely no beef. I got news for this program: I am not signing up to become a vegan. I'm not. I don't care how fit it makes me, I LIKE food. I like food more than I hate exercise, so at some point, I will be in the market for a major compromise.
This first week is "detox." I have never done one of these before, and I'm not gonna lie - it's making me more than a little nervous. I have my last week of clinic this week, and I feel like maybe I might need more energy than a liquid diet is going to provide. I had to do some rearranging on this silly food calendar already, anyway, since I can't bring a blender to school, and I honestly don't have space in my refrigerator to store pre-made salad smoothies. You should see my fridge. I'll try to post a picture. You know those little drawers at the bottom made for storing veggies? Those are all I can afford to spare for loan to the roommate (who happens to be my sister, so don't feel too bad) to put normal food. That thing is stuffed with $100 worth of leafy greens. $100!! And that is for ONE week...one week for ONE (relatively small) person. If for no other reason, I cannot afford to keep up a diet like this! (There is, of course, the resounding reason of "I don't want to," as well)... No, but really - I would like to start eating better. A lot better. And there is a handy recipe book with some dishes that look quite tasty (even more so, I'm sure, if I add CHICKEN)...which I'm likely to do after this week. Part of this diet also includes giving up processed foods, alcohol, and the like. I have no problem with most of these other demands. And it requires water. Lots and lots of water. Water has been something I've been actively trying to increase on my own, anyway, but for a girl who only makes one or two - three tops! - bathroom trips a day, this first morning is off to a surprisingly uncomfortable start. I've been awake for less than three hours and this class cannot end fast enough...holy water rushing, Batman!
Stay tuned for the tales of these tribulations! Workouts begin tonight. I may or may not have energy to write again this fine evening. Either way, I will try my best to chronicle as frequently as possible. I apologize if some of my grad school griefs make it in here. I'm in the process of wrapping up Year One. I should have an entire blog dedicated to that. SO much material, so little time.
