Aftermath

Well, I woke up today with a massive hangover. I'm still quite tired, and my head is spinning. I took some vitamins and an advil earlier, and gratuitous amounts of my home version of "iced coffee" is helping with the headache also. I just ate some mild lunch, so I'm doing okay. I don't know how long I will end up staying awake today, though. I think I can honestly say I'm done drinking for a while. (I haven't really drunk much recently, anyway.) I'm so over the usual binge drinking scenario, and in fact any drinking at all I find myself loathing lately. I don't want to say regretting, because that rings of guilt, and guilt might indicate some underlying issue. I'm really not a problem drinker, I just go all out when I do drink most of the time. I'm just sick of wasting time dealing with the aftermath. If I do drink on Halloween, I will take a very gradual, measured approach. I also want to end up at home that night, instead of staying somewhere. I may not even drink at all, we will see.

Other than that, fitness and nutrition have been the topics of the last day or so. My g/f and I would like to start our clean eating tomorrow. My friend and I made up an eating plan for her last night, in a drunken stupor around 3:30 AM. However, having double checked it today, it looks pretty feasible. Sami and I went on a grocery shopping adventure today and got some supplies to do this right. I think we're in pretty good shape, but I'm most concerned about having enough protein staples. Anyway, her goal is to lose 20 pounds by Christmas, which is very realistic from my experience. I would like to get back up to 160, but that will be a serious challenge for me. I weighed in today at 145.8, and I'm a serious "hardgainer" for the most part. Anyway, here's the baseline eating plan we designed for her:

Breakfast-
2 egg whites
2 whole eggs
1 serving oatmeal
1 cup milk

Morning Snack-
1 fruit
1 scoop protein in milk
1 serving nuts

Lunch-
2 slices wheat bread
turkey/ham/chicken/tuna/ deli meat
cheese, lite mayo, mustard, lettuce, tomato, onion, pickle etc.
1 or 2 cups green salad (spinach or romaine lettuce)

Post Workout-
Shake in milk

Dinner-
chicken/lean beef/fish
1 or 2 servings veggies
1 fruit

*Remember: losing weight is 80% nutrition, and 20% exercise.

Sami asked me today "if this is what I'm going to eat, what are you going to eat then?" I told her everything you eat, times three. In essence, that's the situation. I will clean up my diet considerably, but I have to work primarily on hitting my key calorie range, likely 4000+ daily. I'm also stressing the importance of water for both of us. Of course the plan listed above is quite rough, and surely will require tweaking, I think it's a good baseline day. I haven't calculated out the calories, but I think that practice is overrated when used in excess. They are clean calories, and that's what counts more. I'm an advocate of overall (holistic) health, more so than following a specific diet plan.

As for exercise, she currently feels most comfortable working out at home. I'm going to see if I can get back in the gym for lifting, which benefits me most. It really depends on the financial situation (a little tight right now, as mentioned previously). I hope to jump on my friends' plan, a strength program 3x a week. Pretty basic, good to get back on the bandwagon. For Sami, I'd like to see "lifting" at home with dumbbells 3x a week. I'm going to teach her proper form first and foremost, and stick with compound movements for maximum benefit. Then I told her for starters, pick 2 days in there to do cardio, she has a pretty nice (Jillian Michaels) DVD she picked up. I tested it myself, and found it quite vigorous, so for all intensive purposes that will be cardio for now. We both dislike running, she doesn't know how to ride a bike, and even though I do, outdoor biking season is pretty much wrapped up for the year.

I have off today and tomorrow, and I'd like to make the most of that time obviously. I have to make a serious effort for school, especially. I hope I can wake up here yet today and do some productive things. I need to clean, too. Mostly do the dishes, and sweep/mop the floor, as well as wipe up the kitchen surfaces. We like a tidy house around here :)