Changes, Updates, and Planning

So I finally found that sneaky motivation that has been MIA this fall. No idea where it was, but I'm going to go with inside that thanksgiving turkey :-) Or maybe I just got tired of seeing bigger numbers on the scale. My full on recognition came on Sunday, when I was hiking. It made me realize 1. How much I missed hiking with my sisters, and 2. that I'm not done yet. I want to get fitter, healthier, thinner. I still have a ways to go, and I need to start doing better again, for real. Not just talking about it. I need to get strict again.

One thing I never understood was the mentality of "you can eat whatever you want on weight watchers". Because when I do that, I don't lose. I think WW was great for teaching me that I didn't have to starve myself, but it also taught me about making choices, and limiting indulgences to when they are actual indulgences, or treats. And not just something I eat everyday. When I was doing well on WW, I was only eating dessert 2-3 times a week. I was only drinking 2X a week, and one of those times was 1-2 beers. I would eat my hamburger topless (hehehe), without the top bun, and portion things out ahead of time, so that I wouldn't accidentally eat more than a serving size. To me, that isn't eating anything I want. That's following a plan and restricting yourself, however slightly, to make effective change.

I understand what the saying means, it was just always something that never registered with me, because to me, effective weight loss is restricting certain things, and following a plan. And that is what I'm getting back to. Portioning out food, planning ahead, limiting "treats"

So in that realm, here are some changes  I'm making:

•  To keep me accountable, I'll be posting the following:
• A weekly post on either Monday or Tuesday which will review my weekend, and plan ahead for the week!
• Recipe Reviews on either Sundays or Wednesdays
• Weighing In On Thursdays, which I will post every Thursday (with a better name)

I'm really excited for this! I'm also getting a new phone (Samsung Infuse I think?) Either next week or the week after, so the amount of pictures I post will increase. like a lot. :-)

And I have some updates as well...
-Thanksgiving was great. I combated the dreading snacking by going to see the Muppetts with my sisters. Great movie, family bonding, what more could you ask for? The food was amazing too, and we had so much left over! My mom gave us giant ham steaks (bc my dad doesn't eat turkey, so naturally she bought an entire ham) so we have been using them to go along with our breakfasts (cut up of course)

-I managed to work out Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Sunday's workout was a whopping 865 calories, thanks to a 2 hour hike. I felt so awesome afterwards. Oh , and guess who left her HRM at the bottom of her laundry basket. Best find ever!

- I did no shopping this weekend. Well that's a lie, I bought clothing for myself. Whoops. Now I'm onto holiday mode. And I have no freaking idea what to get anyone. But this is rare, normally I do all my shopping online this weekend, and I'm pretty much set for the holidays.

-I made an eggplant parm soup last night after dinner. From scratch (like boiled boullion to make stock). It was way more work than I had hoped for, so hopefully it's tasty! But I'm excited to have so much of it- Lunch for the week for Matt and I!

-I've updated my financial and weight loss goal pages on here, for once. I'm back to hard core budgeting (I knew November would be a wash with all the moving) and work out goals. Lets get it!

Plan for week
Day	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
Lunch	Turkey BLT	Eggplant Parm Soup with slice of french bread>>>
Dinner	Buffalo Chicken Bites with roasted pot/veg	cheesy taco pasta	brats w/ aspara	1/4 lb burger, sweet pot fries, veggie	steak stir fry
workout	rest	1/2 cardio (elipt) and 1/2 strenght	yoga/video (morning?)	cardio (run/walk), strength	morning yoga

Happy Tuesday! Now if only my sinus issues would go away!

Namaste

So after months of talking about it (as you all know haha) I finally did it.

This morning I got up 40 minutes early, and worked out.

But let me back track a bit.

So I did make it to the gym last night, and had a great strength workout alongside some cardio (mainly walking on an incline, with a little running although my indigestion was terrible so it wasn't too much!)

It hurt, a lot. That's what I get for only doing cardio/videos for like, a month. But it was a good hurt (ok some of it wasn't so great feeling), because I love strenght training, I love doing reps and feeling it in my muscles. It's a workout that makes me feel so confident in myself, something I don't always get from cardio (because there is always someone killing it just a bit more than I am). Sure, I get the high and good feeling, but there is something about strength training. Maybe it's the way it makes me feel, maybe it's the fact that I'm normally one of like 3 girls in the gym doing it. I dunno, but it's an awesome feeling :-)

And what's more, I went home, ate a relatively healthy dinner ( LOVE fajitas), watched my shows (Bored to Death, which had the weirdest ending, and Dexter), and went to bed. No snacks, no dessert, pure OPness.

I planned to wake up early and do a video. I woke up this morning (early) and realized I didn't set up a video. I almost just said "eff it" and went back to sleep, but I pushed myself to get up. And I'm so glad I did! Once I was up, I felt fine, no more tired than I normally am in the morning.

I did a Yoga video, something I had never done before, but always wanted to try. I started out with a Jilian video, but one squat and I realized how sore my legs were from the gym the night before, so I switched to a starter yoga video on demand.
It was actually a really good one for beginners, because none of the movements were that hard, but I was still sweaty and felt like I was getting a workout,  I was actually really surprised. Was it killing me as much as a Jillian or Biggest Loser video does? Nope, but it was a different kind of burn, and when I was done I felt so awake and energised. I think it's really good that I did this, because now I can use the fact that I KNOW  I'll feel great afterwards to push me to get up and going earlier in the morning. And hopefully, I can do this a couple times a week!

Today I have a pork sandwich for lunch, Matt and I are making a African peanut soup, which I'm psyched about :-) I'm excited for tomorrow, I love Thanksgiving, especially with my family. Where so many of us watch our weight, it's really easy to stay OP during the meal. I just gotta watch my snacking and drinking!

Happy Thanksgiving!

So fingers crossed everyone, I'm back on track and I (hopefully) have my motivation back! woohoo!

Ready for a Break!

Happy Tuesday everyone! I am happy to report that:

-I did not go crazy this weekend. And
-I had a really good time :-)

Did I eat fantastically? Nah. But I was honest, tracked everything (including all the drinks. Starting early really sets you back), and resisted on multiple occasions. In fact, I think that my worst was probably sunday, due to the hangover. All I wanted was fried food, haha.

Positives/Negatives:
-I didn't work out but I focused on portion sizes and filling meals. I bearly snacked which is really good for me
-I ate an entire chicken parm grinder for dinner on Sunday but combined with my french toast for breakfast, I was still only a little bit over
-I drank a lot, but I tracked everything, and focused on low calorie mixed drinks

hey, could be worse!

-
So overall, it definetly could have been worse. I'm glad I didn't just write this weekend off as a wash. I need to stop doing that so much! I didn't get to work out yesterday (didn't feel good/had a million things to do!) but was pretty good with my eating so I'm ok. I was so tired from all the traveling, I think it's understandable. I have plans to go tonight and tomorrow (hopefully for a morning workout!)

And we have a meal plan, which is great because I won't lie, the temptation to throw caution out the window since it's a short week is definetly there. But we have so much food to eat up, it's good :-)

T- ground turkey fajitas with black beans, peppers and onions (cardio/weights at the gym)
W- african cashew soup from 110pounds.com. I'm so excited for this! We are pairing it with sourdough bread, and slicing some cheddar cheese on top as well :-) (video workout)
Th- Thanksgiving!! (hiking!)
Friday- leftovers for lunch, fish tacos for Dins (workout outside I think, it's gonna be so nice!)
Saturday- steak stir fry for lunch, then out for pizza for dinner! (walking)

Should be a good week, hopefully my efforts will be reflected at the scale!

On the Edge

So to start, I didn't expect a loss today. You wanna know why?

Because I've been honest with myself. I've been tracking things to the best of my abilities, trying to watch portion sizes, etc. I walked a ton on Saturday and worked out Sunday (30 day shred) and Tuesday (running and abs!).

Was I perfect? Nah, but I was honest. I resisted cravings, (for the most part), and offered to drive  on Saturday night so that I wouldn't drink to the point of getting drunk (or even tipsy for that matter). I didn't feel the need to binge like I had been the past few weeks, and it felt good to be somewhat in control. It made me feel good about going away this weekend, because I know I can come up with a gameplan and follow through with it.

AT least, I hope so.

anyways, backtracking haha. This weekend was a lot of fun. Friday night I met some friends out at a bar for some good beer. I had a good amount, but  not too much, thanks to my indigestion acting up something fierce about half way through the night. OH well. Saturday I still felt crummy (It was seriously the worst) and after a nice soup Matt and I showed his parents our place, and then I met up with my friend D, who was visiting with her boyfriend for the weekend. Saturday we had dinner at Wagamamas (after walking about the north end, which was great!), which I definetly ate too much of haha and then out for drinks. It was a nice night, and I didn't feel bad about my eating/drinking, because I did my best to moderate.

Sunday was probably my worst day, not due to my eating, but the fact that I drank all day. But it happens, and I didn't actually get drunk, just a little tipsy :-)

I also found out that the ice cream place near us has "hard yogurt", which is really low calorie, and ultimately delicious. Best. Find. Ever.

The rest of the week was pretty in control. I didn't go crazy with eating, I tried to stop myself at one portion, etc.

I weighed in this morning at 197.2. I don't even want to talk about that. Because for all my overkill this week, I know I didn't go over  by that much (remember the honesty?), and I burnt at least 1000. At least. I miss my Heart rate monitor. Over thanksgiving I'm making an honest effort to find it. I'm 75% sure it's somewhere in my car.

I'm tired today, abut am happy to report that I went home and worked out (because Matt took my ipod today. Tricky) and cooked dinner (This) 

It's a work in progress haha dinner came after working out, and took a bit longer than I thought. But oh well. Heading to Jersey after work tomorrow, could not be more excited :-)

.08 is enough

So fun little story. Remember that time that I threw caution to the wind and snacked and drank and ate food without abandon for a full week? Blaming it on the stress of moving, and learning to live with someone else, being tired from moving and "getting a workout" from that.




I'm not gonna call it a spiral, because it wasn't. It was a break. A break from a break from a break that I've basically been on since June when I hit 200. And I'm having so much trouble stopping.

Sunday night Matt and I had a talk where he told me he felt like he couldn't stop eating, and was nervous that he was falling back into his old habits of eating, and would gain the weight back. And it made me feel better that I wasn't the only one who felt this way, because once I hit 200, that's how I've felt. I've made excuses for it, and claimed I was going to recommit myself, and get back on track. In reality, I've been flip flopping. At the first opportunity to cheat, I give in, and make excuses. Something comes up after work? I just don't go to the gym, I mean it's ok, I'll just go tomorrow right?

So to summarize, I've been a lousy loser lately :-P


And I'm not going to say "but I'm back on track, because I'm acknowledging it". Because that hasn't worked. Instead, I'm going to tell you what I saw on Sunday morning, when I peeked at the scale after a night of martinis (only 2!)  chips and queso, and a sausage/potato/butternut squash roast thing I ate at home. Oh and a giant burger with fries I had for lunch. I felt bloated, and pretty damn disgusting. And then I saw this:


202.4

now, I'm not crazy, I didn't panic, I knew I didn't gain 10 pounds in a week. But it was enough to get my ass doing cardio max for  a half hour on Sunday morning, and focusing on being better.

And this week, I've made mistakes. I've had a bit too many candies that my mom kindly gave me for my treats jar (why do I have a treats jar?) , and snacked a bit in between meals. But I was closer to my calorie goal, and made an honest effort to eat healthy and work out (hit the gym once, did two videos, took an hour walk/job on saturday), and was only up .08 this week. Which is far better than 10 pounds. But I need to stop the yoyos.

I'm not entirely sure the point of this post. More just to be honest, and not keep stuff hidden, like it didn't happen. Because the past week, month, 4 months really have happened, and I need to be honest with that. And move on.

So here is my plan, that I am going to try and stick with:

• work out at least 4 times. Including getting up 1/2 hour early tomorrow for a walk/jog. Plan for Friday, Saturday or Sunday, Monday, and Wednesday
• focus on pre tracking, because that makes me think twice about bad choices
• keep to portion sizes
• limit sugar, soda,etc. When in doubt, say no!

I have my friend D and her boyfriend coming up to visit this weekend. I'm excited! But nervous for the temptation. I think It'll be a good test though, and a good time regardless :-)

Happy Thursday (almost Friday!)

October results and November goals!

So I cannot believe how fast October went! With moving at the end of the month, I didn't workout for the last weekend, but I'm sure I burnt something. Just not tracked :-) I'm also not on my work computer, so bear with me with the formatting :-)

note: I'm the worst. I wrote this last week, and never posted. So here you go, because I've been awful, and don't want to post about it :-P

Burn 8000 Calories: 7114. Not too shabby!
Lose 4 pounds:Start Weight: 194.2. Current Weight: 192.8 1.4 down. Better than nothing, right?
Work out 20 times! 16 Workouts. So close! 
Pretrack 50% of meals and track all: Probably my worst month for this. 

Ok, so all things considered, going away, my birthday, Halloween, moving, etc, I think it's pretty great that I did as well as I did. Now I'm back on track. November goals!


1. Burn 8000 Calories, for real
2. Lose 2 pounds. 
3. Workout 20 times
4. Focus on tracking. Don't get sidetracked!
5. Meal plan every week
6. Get up early for a workout at least 2X this month. I have my own living room, and a beautiful park a minute away, I have no excuses!

Lets do this!Number 4 is especially important for me, because with moving out comes more expenses (ugh). Matt and I are committed to meal planning, couponing, and sticking to our budget (100 a week max). Living near a trader joes will definetly help this, but either way meal planning will help me stay OP and in budget :-)

  I'm going to give myself the rest of this week as a break, working out wise. I want to get organized, that's a priority. This weekend I am going to hit up the gym at least once.

Downtime has been rare

These past few days, anyways. Moving has been crazy! And as a result I haven't been the best dieter, which stinks. But here we go, getting out all out there:

Everything I've done wrong the past 5 days:
-lots of candy
-More soda than I should be drinking
-large quantities of pizza yesterday for lunch
-mcdonald's late night on Saturday (I didn't really have dinner...)
-blackjack chicken sandwich for lunch on Monday: chicken cutlet, bacon, chipotle mayo and pepperjack cheese. It was as delicious as it sounds :-)

So not completely awful, but not great either. I definetly didn't portion control, which would have been my saving grace. Oh well, Matt made a delicious dinner with brats and veggies last night (including roasted asparagus which was divine) and today I've had:
-Trader Joe's bagel with light Cream Cheese and a banana
-light ceasar salad with a handful of crutons.

And I have a turkey pumpkin chili cooking in the crock pot, which I'm so excited for! I found it at 110pounds.com, so I'm hopeful it's going to be delicious!

The apartment is great, I love the area as much as I thought I would. It's so neighborhood y and funky. We're still unpacking and moving stuff, but that's why I have the week off :-) I do miss my family, and my puppy, but I'll be home tomorrow, and probably throughout the weekend. We got our couch today, and cable and internet last night, and we're going to tackle the coffee table and dining room table tomorrow, so hopefully from there things come together :-)

I just can't wait until we're done. I've been having trouble sleeping, just knowing all the stuff we had to do, you know? Tomorrow we're doing a day date to the aquarium, after we go home to clean and what not. I'm excited, it's going to be a nice change to do something!