Days 78-84 -- Grad School Is Killing Me

And I mean that in more ways than one. 

I know over the past week I've been a bit distant.  But if you only knew the week I had.  My grad school classes (my intense cohort program which meets only for one weekend a month, Fridays 5-10 and Saturdays and Sundays from 8-5) started this past weekend and left me feeling a little flustered.  On top of it all, I had to work late every night last week -- which made getting to the gym (and blogging) uber difficult. :-\

But... alas, I'm back!  And while I can't promise a post every day of the week (tons of homework!), I will be slightly more in touch with you all. 

So... my three weeks of no crap food was going fabulously!  Notice, I said "was." 

And then last weekend happened.  :-\  5:00 a.m alarm clocks, 8:00 a.m. class an hour from my house, and a wedding to boot really did not work so well with my little mini-challenge.  I didn't do awful, but I surely could have done better. 

The intensity of the course, and a seriously busy weekend besides class, left me unable to prepare much food-wise.  Not to mention, I ran out of packable lunch materials by the end of last week and had no time to go grocery shopping.  That said, there were two stops at Dunkin (Saturday and Sunday morning), but have no fear... I took Kali's last suggestion and ordered an eggwhite and cheese on an English muffin both mornings.  Saturday's lunch consisted of a grilled chicken sandwich on a wheat bun with pesto and a cup of minestrone soup.  That evening, I didn't eat much at all.  Ted and I attended my college roommate's wedding, and I made sure to steer clear of most of the passed hors d'ouvres (spelling???).  I had ordered the beef - which appeared in front of me still bleeding.  I like my meat medium-well.  This caused a problem.  Another problem?  Well, they served carrots.  I don't eat carrots.

I went to bed a bit hungry, only to get up and head back to class on Sunday.  Sunday's lunch consisted of tuna in a pocket from D'Angelos.  And for dinner -- well, a wheat Boboli pizza. Sunday was not the food highlight of my weekend.  The good news?  Well, getting home so late meant that no ice cream!  And in fact, I've only had ice cream once since last Wednesday.  Pretty good in my book :-)

One thing that's happened in the past week that I'm pretty proud of???  Well, for this wedding, I needed a dress.  So, I ventured off to Lane Bryant on lunch one day and picked myself up slinky little, clingy, black dress... in a SIZE 14/16!!!!  For the past few months, clothes have still been too tight for me to get a 14/16, and I've been forced to buy the 16/18 sizes.  Blech.  Well, not anymore!  And I felt good in the dress!  I mean, I was a little self-conscious, because I'm not used to wearing something quite so fitted -- but I got tons of compliments and even a few "Wow, you're looking really good!"  I found my new feel-good dress!

That little victory was all I needed to get myself re-focused.  Granted, this weekend did not go as planned.  And my meal choices definitely left room for improvement.  But, I'm going to continue this little mini challenge of "no crappy foods" for another two weeks.  I feel like this weekend could have done more damage than I intended it to, and I want to see what two consistent weeks can do.  So we'll see what happens two weeks from now.

Also, lovely Mother Nature paid a visit this week, so working out has been tough.  Nothing like running with major cramps!  I'm feeling pretty bloated, lethargic, and all over just icky.  And although I'm not going to be running tonight, I will be working out.  I plan to do some free weights while watching TV with the hubby this evening.  I figure it's got to be better than just sitting there, right? 

In addition, I'm still taking in no more than 5 carbs per day (less if I can swing it).  And I'm adjusting to that pretty well.  I think I might try and cut carbs out altogether for a week.  But let's not get ahead of ourselves -- I know.  Maybe I'll try gradually cutting back to four, three, two, etc.  Either way -- more running, weights, and healthy eating to come this week!  I'm feeling pretty energized (despite the physical handicap this week), and can't wait to get a good run in! 

OH -- and for all those out there who doubted my love of veggies:  I LOVE baby spinach!!!  I'm really enjoying this addition to my lunch salads :-)

Keep fighting the good fight, everyone!  Hope you're all having fantastic weeks!

Nicole's Daily Menu
Breakfast
Multigrain Cheerios with 1% milk
Babybel Light Cheese Round
Snack
Chobani Strawberry Yogurt
Lunch
Baby spinach & romaine lettuce salad with shaved turkey and fat free Italian dressing
Banana
Snack
1 plain rice cake with Babybel French Onion spreadable cheese
Dinner
Grilled barbeque chicken
Broccoli

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