The good, the bad, and the ugly

The good: Yesterday was a beautiful fall day in New England. I made a red sauce that was really more of a bolognese. I used 4 cheese italian sausage (out of casing), ground beef and pork ribs. The sauce was a little on the spicy side, and I loved the little hint of a kick that it had. I like to make a sauce that you can stand your spoon up in, and this one failed to disappoint!

I had a carnation instant breakfast for breakfast, a bit of popcorn as a snack, and a small plate of fiberific spaghetti with sauce (and a small piece of garlic bread). The meal was very filling (and I must say yummy), and I didn't eat anything else for the rest of the day. I consumed 874 calories of food, and I was quite pleased with myself.

After my nice hike with Henry, I relaxed in the hot tub for a bit, and then read a book on the hammock, under the colorful oak tree. When I was finished with that, I went into the house, and settled into a chair downstairs, and had some of the cider I had been brewing all day. It was delicious, and I had quite a nice little fall day.

The bad: While I only ate 874 calories of food yesterday, apparently I drank about 550 calories of cider. Oooooops. In my head, I was thinking it couldn't be that bad - I *never* drink sugary drinks, and I wasn't eating dinner, but I think the cider really bloated me quite a bit. I weighed myself before I went to bed and I was up 11 lbs from the morning. Can you believe how much my weight fluctuates? I swear, I'm a sponge for bloat.

This morning, I was up 5 lbs over yesterday. That is quite annoying since I've been so good, and I forced myself to go on a vigorous hike when I wasn't feeling well. I was so good about eating in moderation, but I think the pasta combined with the cider is just making me retain water. The bloat should be gone by tomorrow.

The ugly: Me! I went to bed around 10:30, and I was so tired that I had trouble falling asleep. When my alarm went off at 6:30 this morning, I was way too exhausted to get up. I changed it to go off at 7. I love working near my house, because I can get ready and get to work within 45 minutes of waking up.

I'm still fighting something off, or dealing with a reaction from the measles vaccine (or both). My face was completely puffy and allergy-rrific this morning, and my eyes looked like I'd been up crying for 3 days.

I brought some chemical filled diet coke with me today, because I have to wake up. I'm trying to keep my chemicals to less than 10% of what I consume, and the only chemical product I will consume today is a few glasses of diet coke. I don't want to get hooked on caffeine again, so I'm very cautious to use it sparingly. On days like these, however, it's really a must if I want to accomplish anything.

*****************************
Onward and Upward: Although I'm not feeling well, and I'm up 5 lbs for (almost) no reason, I know I need to work out that much more. I'd really like to go swimming today for my cardio. I don't think that's going to happen, though. We'll see - I just emailed Darcy to look into a few options for me, so fingers are crossed! If not, depending on the weather, I'll either go hiking or to the gym, or/and use my Wii personal trainer. I will get the work out in, no matter what.

I'm still being very careful with my knees because I can't afford the set back of another re-injury.

That's all for now! I'm hoping for a 6 lb loss (really a net 1 lb loss) for tomorrow!