PITA continued...

Oh man. My legs and my glutes have not been this sore in a long, LONG time. Tonight was 30 minutes of cardio and "pull" lifting...I planned to do my usual elliptical routine, which is the "random" program at level 11. I lasted about 40 seconds before I had to bump the resistance/level down to 7. Good grief, my butt...and my legs...are KILLING me!

So, it's been almost one week of tracking my food intake. Most days, as I said, I averaged 2300-2400 calories. Yesterday was significantly higher -- much closer to 3000 -- because we went out to dinner at Mixto. Paella, a couple of glasses of wine, and half a gigantic slice of red velvet cake will do that!

But today -- I was very surprised to see how much lower my calories were. Pretty much without trying, I'm just under 1500 calories for today. I had my usual breakfast -- Chobani, quarter cup of granola, and berries, with a large skim latte -- and lunch -- sandwich with hummus, turkey, spinach and fat free cheese on an Arnold's sandwich thin, with pretzel chips on the side. The difference, I think, is that I ate lunch much, much later, and so between running errands, the dog park and the gym, there was no time for snacking between meals, whereas typically, at work, I'll have two snacks (apple with cheese, and a pre-gym snack of Clif bar or a second latte).

Finally, I leave you with this. I had said before that I didn't have a good "before" picture, because I've been more or less avoiding cameras. And yeah, I was. But I did find this one, from a black-tie fundraiser event Mike and I went to in November at the Please Touch Museum:



The angle in this is kind of flattering (sad to say), but I think you can really see the weight gain in my face, and my arms are nowhere near as cut as they were last year. Sadly, I wouldn't be surprised if I'd put on a couple pounds since this picture was taken, but I think it gives a good idea of where I'm starting from. (I do LOVE this dress, though, and if [when!] it gets too big for me, I am SO having it taken in.)