Day 9

I woke up this morning and couldn't sit up. It hurt to cough, which was unfortunate since my winter cough has settled in for the duration. Guess I wailed a little too hard on my abs. So, no Pilates.

The amount of time cooking takes up is extraordinary, seconded  only by the amount of time it takes to do all the dishes. Plus side is I'm suddenly flush with cash. Downside being that when I have 30 minutes at home between work and a movie, I'm relegated to eating either leftovers or salsa.

We went to see There Will Be Blood last night. Sigh. Flaws aside, it really made me want some whisky. And, at the finale, a milkshake.

CONSUMED

Breakfast:

Banana

Odwalla Bar

Lunch:

Maple-Chipotle Sockeye

Roasted Brussels Sprouts

Brown Rice

Dinner:

Salsa and baked corn chips

Bit of Whole Wheat Pita

Movie Snacks:

Baked Whole Wheat Pita Chips (way to go, D)

Popcorn (homemade - I felt like a grandma)

Unsweetened Honeysuckle Tea

Dessert:

Coconut Sorbet with blackberries

"Cold Season" Herbal tea.

The Rules.

OK, so here are the original rules:

Part A. The banned list.

No Alcohol
No Smoking
No Caffeine
No Drugs - doctor-prescribed stuff is ok, as is Advil or whatever for those 'week 2 headaches,' but nothing else.
No "Big Bread" - this basically means no bread/bagels/muffins/etc. But, a pita is ok, and so is a tortilla.
No Red Meat or Pork - giving up bacon really sucks.
No Pasta
No Cheese
No Sugar
No Chips / Crackers
No Cream / Cream Sauces
No Artificial Sweeteners (aspartame, saccharin, etc.)
No Fried Foods
No Butter / Margarine
No Fast Food
No added salt - you can cook with salt, but no dumping table salt on you food after it hits the plate.

Part B. The allowances.
Light salad dressing is allowed on salad - hey, if i'm going to eat a freaking salad...
Small portions of Rice are allowed - for things like sushi, or a wrap can be "light on the rice"
Only enough Oil to cook with is allowed. About 1/2 tbsp per serving (less if possible)

Part C. Amnesty Day.
We are human, and sometimes we mess up. With health month, this is built in. You get one 'Amnesty Day' for the month. This means that for one day, you can have One of the things on the banned list. So, if there's a party you want to go to during HM, you can use your amnesty day then and have a drink. Or if you have a crazy sweet tooth, you can have a piece of cake at the end of week 2, as a halfway point reward.

Now, my Preferred Rules:

Part A. The banned list.

No Alcohol
No Smoking
No Coffee
No Drugs - doctor-prescribed stuff is ok, as is Advil or whatever for those 'week 2 headaches,' but nothing else.
No Red Meat or Pork - giving up bacon really sucks.
No Pasta
No Dairy
No Sugar
No Chips / Crackers
No Artificial Sweeteners (aspartame, saccharin, etc.)
No Fried Foods
No Fast Food
No added salt - you can cook with salt, but no dumping table salt on you food after it hits the plate.
No Eggs (I just threw this in because I hate eggs, and I figure i should go for the easy points where I can)

Part B. The allowances.

Brown Rice
Whole Wheat pasta or breads
Green Tea or Kombucha are OK (low Caffeine)
Maple Syrup

Part C. Amnesty Day.

We are human, and sometimes we mess up. With health month, this is built in. You get one 'Amnesty Day' for the month. This means that for one day, you can have One of the things on the banned list. So, if there's a party you want to go to during HM, you can use your amnesty day then and have a drink. Or if you have a crazy sweet tooth, you can have a piece of cake at the end of week 2, as a halfway point reward.

Part D. Exercise

I'm still working out my schedule, but it will be something like this:

Monday: Strength Training
Tuesday: Pilates
Wednesday: Cardio
Thursday: Yoga
Friday: Strength Training
Saturday: Yoga/Pilates

Health Month '08! This time..it's PHYSICAL.

Oh, lord. Health Month.

Well, here we go again. Last year, if any of you remember, I went into Health Month with both guns blazing. As one of the usually healthier participants, I figured it would be a regular fat-free vegan cake walk.

Oh, how wrong I was.

I hadn't realized how much certain habits had become routed in my general sanity. A cigarette at the bar, a beer after work - each of these things on their owwn is not a terrible thing to skip, but combined it added up to an entire upheaval of my day-to-day.

That, coupled with post-holiday blues and a slew of personal drama led me to be pretty fucking miserable. But I did it. I did it.

Now, Health Month '08 begins on Monday, and although last year sobered my expectations, I'm no less committed. In fact, this year I'm upping the ante: I'm going to add a slew of exercise to the routine. I'm going to monitor and publish my progress on Traineo. And I'm going to keep this blog up for the entertainment of all y'all.

But celibacy? Out.