lindsay

Today I started my new job.

It’s nothing to crow about, and hopefully I’ll have a real job soon, but it does get me back into a routine. And it’s easier to watch what I eat when my life is structured like this.
Getting to work at 9AM and leaving by 4.30 PM gives my day a lot more structure than trying to get up by noon and usually failing.

Hopefully I’ll remain in a structured office environment and I’ll be able to watch what I eat really well.

L

Sometimes… we all fall off the wagon.

Sometimes we fall off the wagon for 6 months, you know how it is.

I’m back, I’ll try to be good.

L

I have been really good for the past few weeks about maintaining my caloric intake.  I’ve had only a few slip ups, more often than not unintentional.  But today was not one of those days.

Today I ate far more calories than I needed to.  But I did so mostly intentionally.
Tomorrow I’m donating blood.  This will be my 8th donation pushing me up to a total lifetime donation of ONE GALLON.  (I’m very excited.)

So for dinner I knew that I needed to get some red meat inside of me to up the iron count in my blood level so I don’t get turned away tomorrow.  (That would make me extremely sad.)  So, having had a long day and not wanting to cook anything, I ate a large, greasy cheeseburger.  And I don’t regret it.  That one delicious, albeit disgusting meal, contained 30% of my daily iron regiment.  I’ll probably eat some other form of red meat tomorrow for lunch.

Lately I have been avoiding most meat.  I’ve been good about eating some chicken and a lot of vegetarian food.  (Morningstar products and the like.)  And I’ve been really good about taking a daily multivitamin containing iron.  But these things aren’t really a substitute nor are they nearly as satisfying as a big piece of beef.

I thought that this is sort of a milestone for me and I deserve something very bad for me.
In moderation, of course.

I’m very excited to be donating tomorrow.  After tomorrow, in my lifetime, I will have saved between 24 and 32 people with my O- blood.

LMW

I love Chicago. I call it home and hope that no matter where I end up traveling I will eventually make it back to the Second City.
But it smells like chocolate.

I’m not making that up. If you live here, you know what I’m talking about and if you have never visited, you should, it’s wonderful. But it smells like chocolate.

The Blommer Chocolate Co., located at 600 Kinzie, produces 10 lb chocolate bars and roasts cocoa beans. On a good day downtown, near the river, you’ll really want a brownie.
The smell, itself, isn’t the problem. It’s the chocolate-inducing scent that causes such dangerous cravings.

I was walking downtown today and really really wanted a brownie.  Thankfully I resisted and I don’t smell it everyday.  But it is there and it is dangerous.

I love you, Chicago. But your smell makes me fat.

LMW

I am fairly sure that I have never taken the time to inform you fine people about the most delicious food in the world.

Oranges.

I effing love oranges like nothing else.   I honestly believe that if I had to, I could eat oranges every day for the rest of my life.  If you want to be my best friend (for at least the day) give me an orange and I will most likely give you a hug.

I love oranges.

Of course navel oranges are the best.  Especially fresh.  They are immediately followed by mandarin oranges, tangerines, and tangelos and everything in the same order but canned immediately follows.

I understand that when my mother was pregnant with me, all she wanted the whole time was oranges and she firmly believed that I would hate oranges in my life because of that.
She was wrong.

I remember when I was younger someone once threw an orange into my bag while trick or treating.  I was ecstatic.

There is no finer food in the world than oranges.

End
LMW

So my International Reporting instructor decided that the best place to have class today would be at a Russian restaurant (mostly because she wanted to.)  Nobody disagreed.

Now we ate an assortment of foods I had never seen before.  Mostly chicken (i think) hummus and breads.  This was the best meal I’ve had in a long time.  We drank Russian tea for about3 hours and talked.  This is a small class and most of us have had each other in other classes and we’re all on a first name basis with our instructor.

Because I don’t know the names of the things I ate, I don’t know how to count the calories in it.  So I guesstimated and came up with about 600.  Which, honestly, is probably too much because I succeeded in keeping my portion size small.  And when Rose, our instructor, decided no one was allowed to leave until we had all had desert I split a lemon sorbet with another girl and it was so lemoney that I couldn’t have finished it anyway.  I think I did alright.

But that was one fabulous meal.

LW

I maintained my caloric intake, I’m pretty sure.  (They don’t have an option for Chicago style pizza so I have to guess.  But it really was tiny, I swear.)

I didn’t get a whole lot of measurable  exercise in today.

But I did help work to eliminate global poverty by standing up and speaking out in the hopes that our leaders will work to achieve the Millennium  Development Goals.  And I got a sweet One Campaign tshirt.

Additionally, after two months, I’ve finished knitting my first pair of socks ever.
I rule.

I slipped again today.  I started off on the right track but at the end of the day I ended up helping two friends of mine finish a project we’re all involved with.  When two guys say they’re going to dollar burger night, I’d rather be one of the guys and order a burger.  So I did.
I’m just not very girly, nor am I an open dieter.  Maybe that would help…w

Either way.  I’ll do better tomorrow, I promise.

LM

I did extremely well.  Lots of protein, little fat, a reasonable amount of carbs.  (I’m carb happy and couldn’t survive without them.)
I didn’t get as much exercise yesterday but my overall caloric intake was low so I’m not too worried about it.
Today I need to go grocery shopping.  Fruit is high on the list.  Apples,  oranges and grapes.  If they are on sale I’ll get some crasins.  (loves me some crasins.)
LM

So I feel off the wagon slightly today.  I didn’t eat well. But I got a lot of exercise under my belt.  My friend made me leave the house and I had two beers in me.
But I stopped at two.

A trio of sch’bags decided to hit on me and my two friends.  The didn’t get hints.

But it was a fun night.  I took in a good show and it was definately worth my $10.

But I will have to get back on the wagon and do a little extra exercise tomorrow.

Lindsay Mae