You've Been Tagged

Hello! I've had an interestingly busy week with family affairs. Guests from out of town (my father's aunt, her daughter and her family), another cousin of mine is having a job scare, last night she cried for hours "my daughter is just 4, how am I gonna take care of her with only my husband's income..." My father did a little asking around today and the situation may not be as bad as my cousin thought at first. And stuff like that. I was talking to mom last night and we both think bad or not so ideal things come in bulk. We will just need to get through our own hell with the finance, lack-of-jobs, and all the rest and there will be light at the end of the tunnel!

About the weekly planning... I did good last week and lost another pound :) But this week started bad. With the guests and oh very horrible eating especially on monday and tuesday. Now I'm working very hard to take it back. For example, yesterday I did The Biggest Loser Last Chance Workout and walked on the treadmill for 40 minutes! That added up to 925 calories burned in one day! I am sore obviously so only walking for today. Tomorrow I wanna have a similar workout session as yesterday. I had to rest for four days around the weekend because of my knees. But hopefully I won't have to for a while and promised myself to walk at least 45 minutes every single day. I really really really want to see a loss next monday too. Well I wanna see a loss every monday till I'm on target!

(UPDATE: Before I finished this post my mom called me and told me she wasn't gonna workout today so I could get on the treadmill right away. So I did. Walked 5.3miles (8.6km) in 90 minutes, burned 920 calories!! WOoHOo)

Oh hey I changed my blogger template! What do you think? I loved the old one but it was even more childish looking or so I thought. I love the new hot chick :) I'll call her River (as it is not my real name anyways) how smart am I :p (say "very") Love you back!

I was tagged by the magnificent Patrick! Thank you sir, you are very kind. I'm suppose to answer these 8 questions and make up new questions and tag others. Let's give it a try.

1.You can have one super power, what would it be?
Losing the weight and staying in perfect shape. Would that count as a super power? May be not. So let's think. I certainly don't wanna hear people's thought. Too scary and probably depressing for me. I'd also be very paranoid about anyone else reading my own. Do you think flying would burn a lot of calories?? That could be nice.
But honestly I would like to have the power of healing. Myself and others. Both physical and mental healing.

2.Which do you see as more important, diet or exercise?
I would say exercise. May be because overall that is the thing I need to work on most and keep at it. Diet by itself can't shape your body, build strength and don't forget endorphins!

3. If we're forced to become vegetarians by law could you do so or would you frequent the black market for meat?
No way! Don't even think about it. That would be a nightmare coming true for me! I'd sell my soul to the black market just to get a piece of turkey even! I'm a fast oxidiser and without a proper portion of protein I do not function and I need my meat to support that throughout the day.

4. Do you consider the word 'Obese' to be a proper word to define those extremely over-weight, or do you consider it to be improper if not a hateful word?
I don't mind the word obese or fat or whatever. Probably because I don't let people to use it in the "wrong" way. But I'm an intimidating woman so I know other people who have a problem with others using these words. I simply use them to state facts.

5. Do you believe that Elvis died on August 16, 1977 or was his death a conspiracy cover up?
Sorry to disappoint anyone but right this second Elvis is watching a game show in my living room. As soon as I'm done here I'll join him and may be he'll sing Heartbreak Hotel for me before bedtime. (Dare to dream people)

6. How much water do you drink a day and do you agree that water intake of 8 glasses a day or more is critical to a healthy body?
I agree cos I have seen what the lack of enough water in your body can do to you. A friend of mine used to forget to drink water cos she hated it. She fainted frequently and many other problems followed..
I drink about 12 glasses. This is an average. I drink more during summer and even more if I workout. I don't drink it to lose weight or be healthy. I drink because I get thirsty. It's been the same all my life. I'm just lucky about water.

7. Aliens have invaded earth and landed a mile from your house, do you run for the hills, do you grab a weapon & charge, or do you try and communicate with them?
First I try to find a vantage point for me and my family. Then I observe if they are hostile or not. If they are hostile I run for my life. If not I try to communicate. Of course they may hide their agenda. So I'll always be looking the exit signs. Then again does anyone has a chance if aliens invaded earth. Thank God I live in Istanbul. Aliens always invade USA :)

8. Is your current approach to getting healthy an approach you consider to be fun and can you do it for the rest of your life?
I want to do it for the rest of my life. That's why I take it a week at a time. I don't follow someone else's diet. I'm trying to learn more and try new things, get them in my favorites list somehow. It's a process and it will not end at any given point of my life.

You've been tagged:
Stefi
baygirl32
Jessica
Tammy
Whitney
Putz
Luke
Kimbo (and here)

Your questions:
1. Who is your hero? Why?
2. Do you have a garden where your grow your veggies? If not do you try to buy organic or do you find it costs way too much?
3. Do you use exercise videos? What's your favorite, why?
4. Favorite workout music?
5. How do you measure your progress? If you haven't reached your goal yet, do you own any skinny clothes you keep to remind you of your goals?
6. Do you have any secrets to keep your energy up for the workouts or your day in general?
7. I like Patrick's super power question so what would your super power be if you could have one?
8. If you had the opportunity to move to anywhere in the world, where would it be?

Aphrodite

This is my new favorite workout cd :) I love Kylie and there are at least 4 songs in this album I just can't get enough of and make me wanna go harder, faster, stronger! ♥ If you're also constantly looking for new songs I recommend Get Outta My Way, Aphrodite, Cupid Boy and Can't Beat the Feeling.

As promised I made out a plan for the whole week. Food and exercise. The exercise part is going fine, I'm all sore! I missed that feeling. I'd been avoiding strenght training most of the summer. No more avoiding. The food part is fine too really. But I've been eating about +100-120 calories on top of my plan. It's not that big of a deal. Although I'm not getting a reward this week I decided. If I am good next week I'm getting a hair cut. I need it, yet I can't seem to get my wallet agree with me. So as a reward wallet won't hold a chance to argue.

By the way I have no weight change to report. I wrote a post about this on monday and forgot to push the "Publish Post" button and now it sounded so irrelevant that I skipped on it. I wanna try not to torture myself every day, still can't help it. I can't change my stress status for now. Well I can try little things to help I know, I do I guess. But I need to fix my sleeping schedule once again. I'm trying to pull it back half an hour every night. With this rate I'll fix it in six months. Just kidding. I need a solid week though.

I'm going out to dinner with my boyfriend and his sister tonight. During Ramadan we have a lot of these dinners. Hard to be a good girl, but let me tell you I've done so much better than previous years. I'm gonna give you an example of these dinners tomorrow. I gotta go workout now =) Have a greak wednesday!

Old

They say "the heat" is going away in 10 days!! Excellent news but it's the middle of August. How much better can it really get??! Hopefully a lot... I'm just not gonna get my hopes up yet. My last post was mostly about the heat and I got some wonderful comments so thank you all. I'm in the process of "sucking it up" and I gotta push myself a little more. All I can manage is an hour long walk right now. Or 75 minutes tops! :D

I want to plan my whole week and stick to eating and exercising for 7 days. Then may be reward myself :) Since I wanna do this more than once, the reward must be something little but will make me look forward to the end of the challenge. May be a book or a skin product? Something to make me feel good but not really nonsense, I wanna be able to use the reward not wear it a couple of times and forget like a necklace.

I've been bored a little lately. Need to try new recipes. My confidence in kitchen isn't really all that high yet. When I see a recipe I think I'd love, I think to myself no way I'm pulling this off. Ridiculous, right? I'm old enough to know not to give up at first try! Duh!

My habits keep changing slowly. My favorites, dislikes... For example, did you know I did not like pears a bit all my life. I didn't like the taste, texture, nothing. Two weeks ago I really really wanted fruit and all my options were watermelon and pears. Well.. it was the middle of the night so I had to try pear because I didn't wanna have to get up every hour to get all the juice watermelon would provide out of my system all night long.

The pear... was heavenly. Just like the cabbage soup I just had. No way you could make eat cabbage a year ago. Now when I go crazy I can't even binge properly. :D I get frustrated with too much sugar or fat. Not that I'm losing weight any faster and it's been real slow, true. But I think I need to let go of the old girl and embrace what's changing in me and my life. Because a lot is going on and I've been acting like a scared little girl. It is time except my new responsibilities and get on with the process already. Losing weight is a big part of it. It is a big big change that effects a huge part of my life. It is there every day, with every bite I eat, every choice I make, every time I put on my walking shoes...

Since my birthday, and I never cared for birthdays, I've been feeling like it's gonna be OK. Everything will be just fine soon. I will find the balance again.

Coming Up

Yeah I got more dogs today. Across the street from my aunts house a neighbor gave birth to 6 lovely puppies. My cousin is holding 2 little girls and she kept praying she wouldn't drop them. Ha ha! Love is a battlefield, aint it!

These smart ladies have the most gorgeous eyes I've seen on a dog. And look how smart the right one is, covering her sister's vahvahs with a quick move :)

But I was in love with their brother. For some reason this guy stole my heart the moment I laid my eyes on him. Summer love...

Monday is my BIRTHDAY!!! Aww I'm 26! The last five years or so I really didn't want to get any older. Yet it keeps happening every year. My mum always wanted to stay 30. I don't understand it. I wanna be 16 or 20 at most. Well... if it were really possible I think I could settle for 23 also. It's all about the plans really. I meant to be a lot slimmer by my birthday and of course I'm too late for that. I'm gonna have to except the fact I only lost 27 lbs all year. But I'm 27 lbs lighter! Yay! I guess.. I have new deadlines about my weight. Cos I don't wanna wear a wedding dress with my size! No offense to anyone but I would die!

My mama is in 100% diet mode. She got new tests done about her heart,etc and every problem she has can be connected to her weight and cigarettes she smoked for 30 years (she quit about 2 months ago btw). I hope this will encourage me more and may be even my father. He seriously needs to lose a lot. His blood sugar keeps jumping up and down yet he can't put his ice cream down. Fingers crossed.

One little issue. Ramadan beings on wednesday! I don't fast. But my dad and boyfriend do. And at Ramadan food gets crazier. Special breads and bacon all over. There is cream and more butter, desert for every single dinner.... an endless feast. We'll be eating out every weekend (we already do but Ramadan is just different) which will be difficult for me to control myself. Then again may be this is the perfect timing for Ramadan because I need to learn self control already. Don't you think? I'm beginning to feel like a soldier :) That must be a good thing cos I'm fighting and I shall win!

The week is almost over!! =)  Have a superb thursday!

Quick Update and Weigh-in

Hello! Hello! I've got updates for you. Which might not pass for a decent blog post and I realize I've been lazy about the blog (scares me to death) but I promise (especially to myself!) that I'll get my sh*t together.

1 - I lost weight! YAY =) -3lbs this week. Me happy ☺

2 - My treadmill is not working. On wednesday I got ready and stepped on my little stubborn monster wouldn't start. The panic, the annoyance, followed by the fear of the weigh in... The repairman showed up the next day, but it he stopped by on his way to an appointment so he just looked around to see what the problem was and is promised to fix it today. Fingers crossed.

3 - I have gone down to 1200 the first couple of days of the week then went up to 1600s on wednesday and closed the day at 1300 the last two days. These numbers are like miracle to me. Planning ahead worked so far and I don't have to get stressed over eating something then balancing it later in the day. Me happy again.

4 - My little doggy, Snow White, continued her peeing conquest until friday. She even peed in her own bed!!! Not normal at all. We have been to the vet and he is there is nothing wrong with her. She is definitely protesting something. I don't understand why I didn't think about this before but my grandma is visiting my cousins out of town for a couple of weeks. She did leave the fist day doggy pee arrived on my bed. But grandma doesn't really like the dog. If it were up to her Snow White would be back on the streets to be honest. But that doesn't matter to a dog. She just loves people. Can't help it probably. We have been giving "extra love" however we think it's possible since the "enlightenment" and she seems fine for now.

•●●ஐ๑HAPPY FATHER'S DAYஐ●●•

Burn Baby Burn

 
I kinda sorta hate myself (or dislike very much) when I don't post often enough. I've gone lazy. But not only that... After everything going so well all week I weighed in on saturday and my scale informed me that I gained half a pound. Excuse me??? What the hell is that stupid square bastard is trying to tell me? I feel rage!

Still I did not give up. Don't think for a second that I did. No! I had an average day on saturday. Ate whatever I wanted on sunday (I will probably do this till the rest of my life). Just like I planned. When I say I ate whatever I want it's not really what it used to be. I don't wanna jinx it though :)

This week I'm going lower with the calories. I have been thinking about going down to 1200s. But couldn't get myself to even consider it. Last week with planning so much I felt that I was ready to try. It's been two days now. On monday I had 1230 and today 1252 calories. I'm about to go to bed so I'm certain I won't eat anything else. I already planned tomorrow's meals and hoping to end the day with 1227. I'll go higher for the weekend especially considering I'll be out dancing with J on sunday at the music festival I've been waiting for all month. It will be our only day/night our for the rest of the summer as she is leaving for New Jersey just a week from now! Damn... I'll miss that girl.

I burned my belly with boiling milk yesterday. I thought the weather was hot. Who said milk was good for you!! It's total bs. I have burned skin size of a zippo. It turned a deep purple color today with dark pink corners. At least it's not hurting anymore, right! Hold on. I took a second look. It's 3/4s of a zippo.

The bigger problem is my dog actually. On sunday night I was watching tv till my eyes wouldn't stay open. What a shock! I somehow managed to change and get ready to get in the bed. I turn the lights off. I'm in haven with my pillow. I'm a stretcher 24/7. So I stretch my legs and something is wet. I turn the lights back on. Sit up. Yeah the feet of my bed is wet. I'm thinking did I spill something. No. So what the hell is that. I bent down to investigate and yes it smells like pee. Now I'm in hell. I had to get up, change my sheets, open the window... Of course I couldn't sleep half the night. I'm thinking was she mad at me? Or was she unable to control her muscles??

So the next day she pees on my sweatshirt which was on bed again. I'm mad but confused. I don't yell at the dog cos I really need more information about what happened. My dad is already mad at her all the time because my dog does pee on carpets all over the house for different reasons. We have a behavioral problem. Might also be the reason she was kicked out of her previous house, but getting kicked out might also be the reason for peeing whenever she decides she wants more attention. (My cousin rescued her from streets)

You see why I need more info? I don't wanna jump to conclusions especially considering she is about 13 years old (again just the vet's guess because of her heart condition). But today I caught her on action!!! I walked her twice before the afternoon to make sure she won't have to pee all over. But she did. She has a large pillow next to my bed she uses when she doesn't wanna be in her own bed. This time she peed on it. I was mad alright. Very disappointed also. I'm stressed about this business all day and don't know what she'll aim at tomorrow. Gonna take her to vet thursday probably. I need a ride from my dad. He won't be home much tomorrow though. So we'll wait one more day. I don't really know what the vet might say. Will he even have anything to say about it. Because whatever we did we couldn't stop her peeing on the carpets. Now this... Hope she'll give up on her own.

And look at this beauty. Who's think she was such a naughty naughty girl?

Challenge is going....

PRETTY GOOD!! I'm as surprised as you are. I have to treat myself like a child and it works so who's gonna complain! Not me. So here is my report for the past 5 days (official report I will need to send to Biz tomorrow!)

- track food every day

I was afraid I would fail miserable at this because it's so boring and annoying and a second time annoying! Hah! I rocked at this. Monday I logged in everything I ate on Spark People. But since tuesday I've been planning all what I should eat the night before. I stuck with all this planning most of the time. The exception being last night. I had some dumb cramps etc so I gave myself some random excuse to eat a cheese sandwich (200calories aprox) which also put me over my calories for the day.

-weekly limit of 11,000 calories

I've given myself 500 extra calories a week to give myself some room not to go panick mode. But I was trying to save it up for weekend. Not happening. Which gives me the impression that at least one day I will not care for the calories. Now here is the important part. May be it is OK not to care for calories for a day (does not mean having high calorie foods all day at all) but I also promised myself 11000 calories a week. But I couldn't save up enough to have a "happy" day. Then again if I don't have my day I might just lose it!!!! Because I've been hungry and unsatisfied almost all week!!!!!!! I'm screaming inside but don't wanna disturb you with all capitals cos if I start now I won't be able to stop.

OK. Deep breaths. Everything is fine. This was a great week. So just calm down. Keep breathing. Fine!

-limit fat and sugar

Only sugar I had all week came from fruit. I didn't think I would survive without ice cream. Turns out I can. And fat was all from olive oil and hazelnut oil on my salads, veggies, etc. Now tell me that doesn't sound good! Hah! Score! on both fat and sugar! =D

-workout 4 times a week

Well I've been doing my "walks" of 1 km, 1.5 km blah blah. I find it a little boring going so slow and don't really have any motivation for it. But in a week the kilometers will get to be more serious and it will all come back to me. Oh and thank you for all who asks me about my knee... it's doing well I guess. Didn't have any pain lately. It's making a lot of noise though! It used to be scary. Now I'm just too used to it so it's just funny! I also have to wear a knee thingy while walking as a workout. I'm not in love with it but it feel like it's doing a lot of the job instead of the knee so can't complain. (I'm still gonna say I didn't like paying about $70 for it)

-keep my living space organized

I'm not done yet but I've gone through some spaces in this room that I haven't seen or cared for a long time. If I end up alone by the time I'm 60 (and I'm being optimistic) I'll be the cat lady who collects all the crap in the world cos she thinks "what if I need this some day". So I'm trying to change that. Thrown away a lot of junk and will keep going through every tiny little corner (I have nothing but time)

I'm not really planning on posting a report like this every week. I just thought this week was a little better than I thought it would be so I had to share :)

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I've been having some (a ton) problems with my internet. I don't know what the hell but let me tell you it took me about six hours to write this post because it keeps cutting off. So I might have forgot some (a lot) of the stuff I meant to write and it's been very difficult to read your blogs. Hope it will be fixed soon. It has been driving me crazy all day! So annoying.

Oh one more thing, thank you for the new followers. I have 77 followers now! Lucky number some might say =) When I click on your profiles though it just doesn't show up some of your websites or blogs. And I know some of you do have blogs because the same happens with some my favorite bloggers too. So if you have a blog and you realize I'm not following if you could just let me know your addresses that would be awesome. Thanx

Have a great weekend! ♥

Yawn

I haven't been able to sleep the last two nights. I mean I slept but I guess only enough to keep my body functioning. I feel so exhausted. I'm going to bed at 9pm with a sleeping pill tonight. I try not to take pills unless I feel like I'm drawning with the exhaustion, feeling dizzy all the time, no energy to go through the day... So I'm taking the pills two nights in a row and try to sleep on my own the next day.

I will however go for a walk by the sea tomorrow morning with J. I miss our walks so much! Especially being sick last week I got so bored. I hoped to walk on the treadmill today. Nothing too hard. Simple walk. Not happenning. I don't have the energy even a bit. I kinda wanted to skip posting but didn't want to have the guilt to build up.

I'll be going to Ankara, the capital, next week. At least I hope so. Because there is a job interview I have to but don't know when it'll be. (I want the job so bad!!!!!!!!!!!! I'll tell you about it later) I'm gonna be visiting my closest friend from college. Ivy. I hate that she went back home after the graduation! Her sister lives here and we are all here, but she is back home. I miss her so much! Are you reading this little missy?? We all miss you here! And you were suppose to come here on Fabruary. What happened?! Are you cheating on me now? I'll make you pay. Hold on. I'll be there in 7 days!

So about next week. We got some things to do with Ivy and some catching up obviously. J will also try to come towards the weekend if she can and if I stay that long. Nothing is certain yet. Another friend is also trying to come. But she needs to have a little corrective operation on her nose and her mother needs her with some stuff. So.. I don't know. We'll see who shows up. I don't mind the crowd, but I do prefer a couple of days I can be alone with Ivy.

Also there is the question of staying on track. Ivy has also some pounds to lose and she's been going to a gym everyday (I think) for awhile now. She is dieting also. But when two friends who love food so much come together things can get tricky. I hope it will not this time! But I asked her for one night of pizza and beer! I've been craving bad. And I'll do it one way or the other. So I thought I was a nice cheat for us to enjoy together. Making a movie night out of it. Hopefully we'll have worked out in the morning and burned some of the calories at least. I think we'll be celebrating the change of our lives' direction with the graduationg and looking for jobs, etc. (I don't wanna celebrate losing weight with food!)

I'm adding to this week's list:

8 - Nothing but yogurt after 6pm

9 - Get up at 7.30am every morning

Dear May,

WEEK # 1

1 - Stay under 1500 calories

2 - Workout 60mins/day (5 days)

 3 - If I can go for 90mins (mon-wed-fri)

4 - Track everything I eat and log all the workouts on Spark People

5 - Stay active for 1 hour each day when I have nothing to do

 6- No diet or any other kinds of soda
7- Cut back on sodium

to be continued...

LAST WEEK IN APRIL

1 - Workout 60mins/day (weekdays)

2 - If you can go for 90mins (mon-wed-fri)

3 - Stay under 1500 calories

4 - Clean my room

5 - Organize the wardrobe & the rest

6 - Take doggy to get a hair cut

7 - Finish the book I'm currently reading

TUESDAY

So I'm gonna start with admitting yesterday was not good at all. I ate a little over my max limit but the real bad part was after making a list of things I had to do I didn't workout. Then I went to bed late and woke up at 11 am, turns out I turned the alarm off and fell back asleep cuddling my cell phone. All is good though. Real life doesn't always match lists. I just need to make adjustments sometimes. So for the workout I missed yesterday I decided I can just go for 90 minutes for a couple of days and just add the numbers up.

Today was good. I would have said great if I could wake up on time. But I had a real good workout. I did 35 minutes of a workout dvd and walked on the treadmill for an hour. My total  for today is:
95 minutes
60 minutes @ target heart rate
Burned 1054 calories
Consumed 1665 calories

I'm happy with these numbers. I also cooked one meal as promised. Lentils for dinner. Also walked my doggy. I'm off to bed in an hour so I'm not doing bad with the hours today. I won't be able to get up at 7 am may be but I can do 8 am.

I'm kinda worried about my knees. They hurt not so lightly after my workout today. I iced both of them for 20 mins and rubbed with the gel I'm suppose to. They don't hurt anymore. But I might have to go easy on them tomorrow. Not sure what I'll do yet. We'll see.

Oh I also am forcing myself not to step on the scale until saturday, my regular weigh in day. It's so difficult! It's like the scale is calling me all the time, lifting up her skirt, showing some leg, trying to trick me into self-inflicted torture. But I am stronger than her. I will not fall for her games. Good luck to me
and
Good luck to you my friends!

MONDAY - SUNDAY

I lost only 0.5 lbs this week. I'd have thought I'd be sad/upset about it but I'm not. That's half a pound I'm not taking back. I'm actually smiling writing this. I believe this is an improvement of my attitude towards myself. So I'll take my half a pound loss and own it. May be I should admit part of this new attitude comes from the fact that I feel like I lost more than that. My body feels even better. People also keep commenting I've a lot of energy, can't keep still. I'm just moving all the time. Sitting at my desk right now writing this, my legs are moving up and down like a maniac. I love it. 

Last week I did good. But I didn't do what I should have. Soon I'll be working on a job and won't have this much time (probably ever) again. I need to use it to it's full advantage. So I made a list. May be I should make a list every week. We'll see. But here it goes: ( Inspired by Dr. Mo, she is celebrating her Birthday Week ♥ )

1 Go to bed at 10pm - light out at 11pm

2 Get up @7am

3 Workout at least 60 minutes all 7 days

4 Walk the dog myself both mornings and nights

5 Cook one meal of the day myself

6 Have a new post at least 5 days out of 7

7 I reserve the right to add or remove to/from this list any time
during the week