Sticking to the Plan

Yesterday was a pretty successful day by the end of it. The plan was to eat dinner at a certain time and then hit the pavement for my run before it got dark but unfortunately it did not work out that way. My husband was late getting off from work, dinner wasn’t coming out the way that that I hope it would (new recipe) and I had a mess in the garage to clean up that one of the dogs had made.

Once my husband came home we had dinner, cleaned up, and I was already dressed to work out and my mind was set on it, so that’s what I did! I had a little bit of day light left so I went for a two mile run. By the time I got home it was DARK, but I still wanted to take my dogs for their walk so I got to try out these new lights I had bought a couple of weeks back. They are so cool. It’s a strip that lays flat on their collar, that has Velcro loops. You can have them blink or non-blinking but either way they put off good light. So with their blinking collars and me with a small LED flashlight, I knew we would be seen by cars (Safety First People!!!!). We ended up going for a 3 mile walk, and let me tell you when we got back I felt so good! It was so nice outside and not too many cars. The only thing I noticed was it appears that other people tend to let their own dogs loose at night to hang out with them I guess on the porch without any restraints so we had a few times were a random dog would come up to us. My boys are very social but they are pretty big so I worry when someone’s little dog comes up…. I mean Hello…. Chew toy!! But we made it home safe and sound and I am so glad that I stuck to my plan.

Time for Recap of meals

• Egg white scramble with lean breakfast ham and organic spinach
• (1) Garlic hummus with slices of cucumber and bell peppers
• (1) turkey taco- ground turkey, low fat cheese in a lettuce wrap
• (1) serving of turkey pepperoni, slice tomatoes and steamed edamame
• (4) small Turkey meatballs with (1) cup steamed organic spinach

Hope everyone has a great end to your week, and ready to step it up even more next week!

Feel the Burn

As I posted yesterday, today was the first day of adding weight training to my schedule. It has been sooooo long since I have done this. In the past few months I have used a few hand weights at home and some machines but didn't really focus on a routine. After this morning I realized what I have been missing. I was lucky several years ago (and 95lbs thinner) a group of ladies through me into their rotation, sadly I forgotten the routines, and ever since have been hesitant to get back into it. A friend of mine at work had a trainer that had worked with her on establishing a routine so this morning we met at the gym and after a 30minute cardio we hit the free weights!

I thoroughly enjoyed myself. My friend helped me focus on my form, breathing and demonstrated when ever I needed the help. After an hour and a half of working our arms and chest, with squat intervals we called it quits. Now going half way through the day I feel that nice, little burn. You know what I'm talking about. It's not sore or uncomfortable but my body is just letting me know that it did it's thing this morning!!!

Time for Recap of meals yesterday

• (1) whole grain waffle with Organic natural peanut butter and 4 slices of Turkey bacon
• (1) cup of mixed fruit with a Kashi Go Lean cereal sprinkled on top
• (1/2) cup of tuna pasta salad - whole grain pasta, steamed organic asparagus, steamed organic carrots
• (1) serving of Fage Greek Yogurt
  
• (1) Turkey taco - ground turkey, black beans, low fat cheese in a lettuce wrap

Guess what?!?!? I was able to eat before 6:30 pm, so that way my belly was not full before bedtime! (very happy about being able to do this)

Tomorrow is my cardio day so will let you know how it goes!

Time to Mix it up

For the past three months I have been very diligent at eating 1600 calories a day and at least doing an hour of cardio for 3-4 days a week. I have lost a total of 23 lbs (within 3 months) with doing this (a grand total of 41lbs) and am so close to being under 200 lbs, I am fighting the urge from doing the happy dance as I write this.

Though I am currently at a new challenge. In the past two weeks I have either stayed the same or actually gained a couple of pounds on weigh day. I had a few moments that looked all too familiar from my past attempts. This is usually when I would throw in the towel, and eat anything I want and sit in front of the couch and feel sorry for myself and be pissed at the scale, and.... myself! I had to fight these feeling all last week and had to walk completely out of kitchen when I had the door to my freezer open staring at a gallon of Blue Bell Homemade Vanilla ice cream.

Instead of throwing all of my accomplishments out the window from the past few months I wrote a list. Kind of like a pro and con list of how I have been feeling emotionally, spiritually and physically since I have been on this plan. I wasn't really surprised that the Pros out did the Cons (by a landslide). By reviewing the Cons I realized a lot about myself and were my frustrations are, and were I tend to get bored. I reviewed my eating journal the weeks that I didn't get the results that I was looking for. One thing I noticed I have been more relaxed on writing down what I am eating and my activities. I know I am still making the right choices but for me, writing it all down helps me keep on track and keeps me accountable. Another thing that I quit doing was taking pictures and writing down what I am eating on here.

So the areas that I need to improve and others things that I am adding to my routine are:

• writing in my food/activity journal everyday
• posting a few pictures of my meals on my blog
• MOVE everyday (even if it is just a quick walk with my pups or taking my son to the park. I need to move a little bit everyday)
• Starting tomorrow I will begin weight lifting 3 days a week (I am very excited about this one)
• jog/run five days a week. (I plan on doing intervals, to further increase my distance and continue working on my breathing)
• no carbohydrates in the evening (trying to eat carbs earlier in the day)
• eating 5 small meals a day
• no eating past 6:30 p.m. (this one will be the hardest of all because of our work schedule)

I'm very excited about several of these changes and am looking forward to seeing some new progress. Hope you all are having a great week!

Not with it this week

This has been a crazy hectic week with very little sleep. Ever have one of those days where you feel like it's never going to end? ......... well that is how I have felt for five days now.

It hasn't all been bad, our wedding anniversary was this Wednesday, and since my husband had to have his wisdom teeth out this week we celebrated Saturday. My husband took me to the Melting Pot - it's a delicious Fondue restaurant. I'll tell you I can really tell that I have learned moderation because I was only able to eat very small portions. Still felt like I over ate but not nearly what I use to pack away.

Since this week has been off on my sleep and eating at my regular times, my exercise has been very difficult. I have forced myself to do something every day but it hasn't given me that extra boost of energy I usually get. Yesterday my work had a "Safety & Health" day. They usually declare it as a "stand down day" meaning no work needs to be done so we can go and enjoy the booths and get educated on safety and health. I spent four hours walking our campus and seeing what is out there, and I even got to join in on some Zumba fun (been wanting to see what it is all about, I really want to go check it out now at my gym). They ended the day with 5Krun/2mile walk. My good friend Mike had asked me last week if I wanted to run it together for fun and I said sure. Though when it was time for it I felt more nervous than my previous run and kept feeling defeated before we even started. I will tell you sadly now I did not push through the pain. I have been having problems in my left foot. Don't know what’s going, but my left heel has been getting worse since last November. For some reason my breathing was all off and I could not get in that place in my mind where I can push all other thoughts out. Every time I stepped down on my left foot I just lost my breath. I got very discouraged with myself but I am very lucky that I have a good friend who supports me, so instead of running the 5k we did the two miles, and we only jogged at a steady pace till I needed to stop and regain my breath. So we did a little bit of jogging and some walking and finished the two miles in 17 minutes. Now was it what I wanted it to be, no..... but that just gives me the drive to improve (and yes Mike, go see me doctor about my foot).

When I see Mike he always gives me good advice and just tells it like it is. One thing that he said that really shed some light on things was so many people want the fast results and are only willing to put in the minimum effort. I see that all the time, I have been guilty of that myself. I'm willing to change that thinking, and work hard to do it. Will it be easy.... hell no! Will it be worth it......... Oh Yeah!!!