Mid-Week Check In 1/19/12

Well, I have been having a little setback this week. I went and kickboxed on Monday and had a great time and then I ate all really healthy, good food. Tuesday my breakfast and lunch were great because I made them but then I ate out with Sarah and we had a cupcake after dinner and then went to the movies so I had dessert and didn't exercise. Yesterday I did well on breakfast & lunch and then I had to grab something fast and head to Stillwater for the OSU Women's game. I could have made a smarter decision but I grabbed a grilled cheese from Sonic which usually fills me up but yesterday it just didn't so then I ate peanut m&m's at the game. And I didn't get to exercise again so today I just feel ginormous. I think what is frustrating me is that I know how to well even when having busy, hectic days and for the last 2 days I just didn't do it.

I'm getting back at it today though. I've been doing really well with packing my breakfast and lunch the night before and my healthy meals have been doing a great job at keeping me full throughout the workday. On days when I don't have anything and can actually go home I have a healthy dinner waiting on me (this week was sweet potato stew w/whole wheat biscuits from neverhomemaker's blog) and everything seems great. But on other nights I need to learn to stay in control because it makes all the difference in the world how I feel the next day. Also, I'm in a conundrum with exercising. I love it and when I workout all 6 days I feel so much better but I don't want to limit my interactions with people just because of zumba class interference. Should I just suck it up on days that I know I can't make it to the gym and just get up early and workout that morning? I need a plan to combat these things.

I've felt so busy since starting my new job (which is a great thing!) but I just feel like I'm a little out of sorts and really want to get everything organized and back on track. I feel so much better when I feel I have control over things. I get to go home tonight and eat a normal dinner and then go to zumba class so my goal is to sit down and decide what I want the rest of January to be like and plan it out.

Hope you're having a great week! You seem to be doing so awesome and are really motivating me! It almost makes me feel like I've been a slacker but it's good that you're there doing so well and making me want to do better.

Hump Day

So I wanted to try out a new way to post spreadsheets and stuff.  I saw someone else use a screen shot that had been cropped in Paint, so I figured I would give it a shot.  If you open the file you want and press "Alt" and "Prt sc sysrq" at the same time, it takes the screen shot, and then you just paste it into Paint to crop it.  From there you can just save it and upload it like a regular pic!

My week is going pretty well so far, except the big blister I now have at the base of my big toe.  Lesson learned: don't wear socks that are loose around the toes to do Zumba/workout in; stick with the "cling-to-your-whole-foot" type of socks.
____________________________________________________________________

Here's the calculator so we can find it again:

http://www.triathlontrainingblog.com/calculators/calories-burned-calculator-based-on-average-heart-rate/

End of Week 2

So, here are my stats for the week:

• Weight 132.6/134.8 --So yesterday the scale was really nice, and reflected the first number, but today it was back up to 134.8.  I know my water flux has been crazy this week, as there have been days I can't get my rings off, so I am not too worried about it.  
• Arms: 11.0/11.0 (-0.5 on each side)
• Bust: 35.0 (-1.0 inch)---It really is sad that this is the first to go...
• Waist: 26.5 (-1.5)
• Hips: 35.5 (-1.0)
• Thighs: 22.0/22.5 (+0.5/+0.5)--they don't look/feel bigger, but I think the muscles are holding onto water... I really worked my legs this week.
• Calves 14.0/14.0 (+0.5/+0.5) Same thing here.  
• The parentheses are total losses from the beginning stats.

My thoughts:

• I'm really not concerned with weight at this point, especially since both James and I have noticed a visible difference in my body, and my clothes fit a lot better already. I know I am really retaining water (I don't think I gained 1/2 an inch of muscle in my thighs/calves--they are hoarding water!)
• I can definitely feel more muscle/firmness....  does the protein work that quickly?  
• My bikini for our vacation came in earlier this week, and man, it is some real motivation!  Visualizing myself wearing it what keeps me going strong and staying positive because I'm determined to get there and know I can do it! I think it is like signing up for a 5k--it pushes you to reach that goal when you have a definite end point/deadline.  In my head, it is "just 8 more weeks to get where you need to be."  I was worried it would be a negative thing that would disappoint me and drag me down, but it has actually been a really positive thing for me!
• So I went to another Zumba class on Thursday night (much better and more intense than the first one) and I didn't have enough energy for it--I was very sluggish and just tired from the beginning.  So this week, I am going to work on making sure I have enough fuel to do my workouts.  I'm also going to keep up the 100g of protein per day.  I feel full when I do and the shakes/smoothies are great for a dessert/sweet tooth!
• Also, I forgot to mention, we went ahead and signed up for a membership at our little gym!  I'm pretty excited to plan my workouts for the week!

Week 2 Check-in

Good morning!!! I was a little worried about how things would go this week. Eating out with work/friends and family didn't make me feel like I had done that great but I did manage to get my workouts in and when I got home last night I decided to do a "last chance" workout. I went outside and walked for 5 minutes then ran for 2 walked 1 and repeated that for 30 minutes. Then I came in and did Ripped in 30 with Jillian. I was wiped afterwards but I felt really good. My body is a little sore this morning but not something that won't work itself out when I go to the gym later today.

Week 2 Stats
Weight: 155.5 (down .5)
Arms: 12" (no change, although I think my left arm is little less this week so I'm happy about that!)
Bust: 33" (down .5)
Waist: 28.5"(down .5)
Hips: 35" (down .5)
Thighs: 24"/24" (down 1", down .5")
Calves: 15"/15" (down .5/no change)

Everything is going down pretty much so I'm really excited about that!

Today I'm going to meal plan for the week. Last week I made mini mexican casseroles on Sunday and they lasted me til Thursday so that was great. No thinking when I came home. I could just reheat and go. I think I will try that again but with zucchini/turkey burgers this week. My lunch consisted of turkey wraps w/hummus and greek yogurt. I liked that but I will try and get a fruit/veggie in too. My breakfast was oatmeal w/cranberries and a skim chai. I liked it but again I need fruit/veggies. I'll be menu hunting this morning. I'm trying to get my workout/grocery shopping in so I can be home and ready to chill by the time the Golden Globes come on tonight.

Thursday 1/12

This blog post should be titled "What's the Next Step?".

I know it's only the second week of the new year and there will be lots of hurdles that come at us for the next 50 weeks but I feel like my workouts are going well so far and I have been feeling really good about my portion control. I think this is the first time that I've had tortilla chips and dark chocolate in my house at the beginning of the week and it's still here at the end. However, with that being said that still means that every day I may eat a chip and a piece of dark chocolate. I'm trying not to get back into my crazy WW mentality of tracking everything because then I just feel way too guilty about everything and every time I mess up I feel like I've committed a crime. I don't want to put myself through that. I want to find a way to live healthy and a way of life that I can keep for the long haul.

Okay, the entire paragraph above is a preface to how I've been feeling today....good and bad. I feel good because I feel stronger and healthier but I don't feel as good as I could. Along with portion control and food needs to come some healthy guidelines that I haven't been incorporating. Where are all my servings of fruits and veggies? Where is all the fabulous lean protein that sounds good whenever anyone else describes it? My food this week has been mixed. Mainly a lot of it has to do with starting a new job and eating there twice already this week because of special occasions. And last night Sarah and I had pizza so that wasn't super great (but it was tasty!). All the other meals have been planned out though and relatively healthy. However, I still feel like I'm missing something. I don't want to go hardcore food diet so I need to reach some healthy middle ground. Maybe the 80/20 that most people talk about?

So I've been thinking about how to do this and have some realistic target to aim for and this is what I've come up with to try for the next week. Get in my water no matter what. Even if the thought of water disgusts me. And journal how I feel after each workout because I guarantee I'll notice a difference with my energy. Eat at least one serving of fruit/veggie at breakfast and two servings with lunch/dinner. Have only one non-healthy item in the house (so I must choose between chips or chocolate for instance). I will still eat when I'm hungry. But if I have only healthy items to choose from let's see if that will change how I feel.

***On a totally separate note I've been thinking about getting body fat and metabolism measured. I'm not worried about either of them but how cool would it be to account for them now and at the end of the year to see how much changed? I would be really interested to see what the numbers look like. What do you think?

Protein Week

This week, one of my goals is to get more protein.  Specifically, I'm aiming to get 100g per day, which is a lot when you actually have to eat it all....  I've been studying online about all of these really buff girls and the one thing they all do is to up their protein during their training. So I followed their calculations and decided to do 1.7g/kg a day, which ends up being around a hundred grams a day.  At first, I tried just eating more eggs/meat/cheese/etc to up it, but realized pretty quickly that this was extremely difficult and I was WAY to full.  So I decided to dig out the giant tub (5lbs!) of protein powder James bought a while back....cake batter flavored.  It smelled alright-good, even.  So I thought, why not? and dived right in.  The powder is whey protein and is sweetened/flavored with Splenda, so it is low carb/sugar free.  It tastes pretty good too.  Here's what I've done for the past couple of days:  

• 1 cup unsweetened almond milk
• 4 ice cubes
• 1/2 scoop protein powder "cake batter" 
• 1 egg
• a shake or two of "apple pie spice" and a teeny bit of vanilla
• splenda to taste
• Blend and enjoy

Ok,ok,ok, now before you get grossed out about the raw egg--I only do that to make it lower carb (1 scoop powder=3carbs) and to thicken it.  You can't taste the egg at all (just as you can't in batter), but you could easily just omit the egg and do a full scoop of powder.  It doesn't really taste like cake batter to me (probably because my Mom's cake batter is the best in the whole. wide. world.) but more like a fancy milkshake.  

(And yes, it brings all the boys to the yard.)

My second recipe is lower in protein, but also tastier and it has, gasp, vegetables in it!! It's a pumpkin pie batter shake.  I got this idea from making crustless pumpkin pie for us for dessert the past couple of weeks.  It is awesome because pumpkin counts as a veggie and you can make it with splenda, so it has been a life-saver.  That being said, I enjoy licking the spatula almost as much as I do eating the pie--so I thought why not make it a shake?

• 1/2 c. canned pumpkin (I use a 1/3 c. because it is lower carb, but it is tastier with more pumpkin)
• 1 c. almond milk 
• 4 ice cubes (it is best to run water over them before adding them--they will blend up easier)
• pumpkin pie spice, little bit of vanilla, pinch of salt
• I also add one egg (because my pumpkin pie actually has eggs in it and I really liked the way the batter tastes and for protein) but you could omit.  
• Could add a dollop of whipped cream for more fun!

While we are on the subject of protein, I would also like to add something about the supplement I bought to use as a workout-booster.  So far, I really like it!  It is calorie free and has "Branched Chain Amino Acids" or BCAA's, which aim to help reduce soreness and promote recovery.  I have been seriously impressed with it.  When I drink it during a workout, I don't feel sore the next morning; in fact I don't feel sore until the next evening, which is strange to me but I'll take it.  There are some BCAA's in my protein powder too--apparently they are the new hot thing in working out/strength training.  It doesn't taste the best, but is similar to gatorade I think.  Overall, I think it is a win since I'm not miserable after strength training.  

So that's my spiel for the day!  Hopefully something I shared could help you! 

1/10/12

I'm still getting used to the fact that it's 2012. Does this seem weird to you to?

The job is going really well. I love the environment. Everyone is super friendly and seem really relaxed. Of course I'm really enjoying getting to work with Kirby again. I've already had stuff to do and the days have gone by fast so far. I don't think I'm used to working full 8 hour days. I came home yesterday and was exhausted. I didn't have time to make it to Kickboxing so I told myself I would just do a Jillian video but I kid you not I could not get off the couch. I was so, so tired. More tired than I've been in a very long time. I watched some Sherlock on Netflix and went to bed super early. Btw if you haven't watched the present day BBC version of Sherlock Holmes go and do it now! It is so good!

I got back out there tonight and did some zumba. Class was packed because 200 people bought that groupon (so it was a blessing and curse at the same time). I amaze myself at how competitive I am. Clearly zumba is just for fun but now since I know all the songs I felt like I was trying to out-do myself at class tonight. The good part was that my heart rate was really up there. I averaged 181 tonight for a 56 minute workout.

My body is feeling really good this week. I already feel stronger. I am doing some zumba tomorrow because Sarah and I are having a movie night afterwards but on Thursday I'm planning on getting my strength training in. I liked the Body for Life link you gave me. I think I will try that. Do you have any tips for when you do it?

I'm off to read. Megan got me started on Hunger Games and I can't stop. Have you read them? So amazing!