L- 7 days

Today calls for a bulleted list:

•THE REUNION IS NEXT WEEK
•A week of late meetings, deadlines and rainy weather     
•Foul moods do not make for a productive clean-eating, shredding week
•On Wednesday morning I built myself a carb pyramid, it was one of THOSE weeks.
•Wednesday afternoon I threw most of the carb pyramid in the trash.
•Wednesday evening I couldn’t eat I was so miserable.
•I had only a protein shake for dinner.
•Thursday I was back on track and managed to get in a run and Shred.
•My body thanked me for the exercise and clean food intake by allowing my energy levels to come back and my sinuses to drain less.
•I brought my oldest to work with me today, this is the first time he has seen my work. We’ve had a lot of fun seeing “space stuff”.
•He doesn’t understand the significance now but I hope he will appreciate that he had this experience.
•My youngest is turning 2 tomorrow.
•Where does time go?
•I FAILED on all of my goals for the week.
•I’m not concerned, I’m wearing size 8’s right now and I’m very happy with my progress thus far.
•My fit initiative will not end at L-0 days as I have not reached my goal weight.
•Breathing deeply.
•One day at a time.
•My goal for the week is only one…enjoy every minute of every day.

Have a great weekend.

L-2 Weeks

Wasn’t it just yesterday that I was starting out with 15 weeks to go? Sure feels like it. But man…I sure don’t look like I did 15 weeks ago. No worries…pictures will be posted shortly after “launch” (the reunion).

Remember in my last post I said to indulge a little? Well…this chicka didn’t waste any time with “a little”. Let’s put it this way…there was some significant damage done by a certain someone to a lemon cooler cake from Costco. It was divine and I have not one regret. On Monday night when I ate my last GYNORMOUS piece...with a BIG OLE glass of skim milk, I went to bed miserable…freakin miserable. Sure the temp in the house was left warmer than normal but I was blaming it all on the cake and my body going…WHAT…THE…HECK! Needless to say I didn’t and still do not have a need to eat cake for a while.

I didn’t work out the entire holiday weekend either…I was kinda bummed about that so I pushed myself to complete my workouts this week.

I ran Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. Wednesday, I went to change clothes at our gym and a big ole thunder clap sent me back to my car then on to the house in case the weather was clear on my side of town. No joy. I could have done the elliptical but I didn’t. I’ll make up for it on Saturday to get my fourth run for the week in.

Last Friday I graduated to level 2 on the 30 Day Shred. Oh good grief! Jillian loves her plank moves. I like it because it is challenging and different than level one. I can see definition in my legs…from all the squats…and my arms…especially my shoulders. For 20 minutes coupled with a 3 mile run it’s a perfect routine for me.

This weekend we have our first T-Ball meeting to form teams then 2 nights a week during the week will be filled with practice and games. Thinking about it…the month of June is going to be non-stop. My youngest turns 2 on the 12th, pre-reunion party on the 18th, reunion on the 19th, Father’s Day – 20th, Family vacation to California 23rd-29th, my oldest turns 6 on the 26th. Not to mention babies randomly being born...I better start a list.

Food has remained on track since Tuesday, although I did something I’ve never done before…I ate cauliflower and enjoyed it! We had two heads of cauliflower in the fridge so I decided to roast it and it goes like this:

Oven – 425

Chop the cauliflower and place in a baking dish, drizzle a bit of olive/sesame oil, throw in a bit of soy sauce, garlic and sesame seeds and bake for 40 minutes, stirring about halfway through. YUM-O-LICIOUS! I even ate the left over’s. AND I DON’T do raw cauliflower.

Recap of week 2 goals:
•12oz of water with every meal - FAIL
•Shred every day of the week - FAIL
•Limit carbs to 1 a day, before 3 – with only two weeks to go I’m going hard core. – FAIL

That was a big check mark in the FAIL column. Holidays...humprh...Let’s try again.

Goals for week 1:
•12oz of water with every meal
•Shred every day of the week
•Eat Clean everyday

Those are totally manageable.

I’m out to get my run in then shred. Have a great weekend.

Out!

L-3 Weeks

This week was a very good week. Today will be all about bulleted list…caust that’s how I roll.

Workouts:
•Shredded 5 times this week (week being Sat-Fri) – Advanced from level 1 to level 2 on Friday. I’ll let you know how that went on Monday.
•Ran 3 times this week (Mon, Tues, Fri), I would have liked to have gotten in a run on Thursday but I was fully booked.

Meals:
•I am very happy to report that I stayed on task with my meals all week. No cheating, no bad cravings and I feel great.

Here is what I primarily eat during the week:
•Breakfast
o ½ cup of old fashion oats
o 1 tsp of walnuts
o 1 scoop of Elite vanilla whey protein powder
o 1 pkt of Stevia
o Berry of my choice (this week it was blueberries)
•Mid morning snack
o I must say this week I skipped it mostly…oatmeal keeps me pretty full most of the morning
o If I am hungry I’ll eat edamame or a protein bar
•Lunch (my hubby calls this a freak sandwich)
o All natural oven-roasted Turkey breast deli meat (or ½ of a chicken breast or a salmon patti)
o A wedge of Laughing Cow
o Sandwich Flat (100 calories)
o ½ of red bell pepper
o ½ Luna Bar for dessert
•Afternoon snack
o Other half of the Luna bar
OR
o Beef Jerky
OR
o Protein bar
OR
o Protein shake (when Jodie doesn’t eat all of the ice…sheesh…pregnant women) ;)
•Dinner
o 3oz salmon or ahi tuna filet
o Broccoli
OR
o ½ chicken breast
o Broccoli
OR
o Breakfast for dinner...(my fav)
 Egg whites
 Morningstar Sausage patty
 Ezekiel bread
•Evening snack
o Protein cake (hubby calls this one “freak cake”)
 1 scoop of Dessert protein powder – I have chocolate coconut now…heavenly
 ¼ tsp Baking powder
 1 TBL All natural applesauce
 1 pkt Stevia
 1 egg white
 Mix in a wide, deep cup and cook in microwave for 1:30 sec and you have yourself a nice little protein cake…that is almost as good as the real thing.
 The texture depends a lot on the protein powder you use…I’ve used several diff ones and the best results have been with the Dessert powder…just sayin.

Long and drawn out I know but I thought I should lay out what I’m stuffing in my pie hole.

I put on a size 10 capri’s on this morning and I need a belt to hold them up. It’s way awesome. Operation closet clean up is commencing tonight!

If you haven’t heard STS-132 landed yesterday…it was picture perfect…no really…here is a shot one of my colleagues’ took as she was there to witness landing…if she wasn’t so nice I would tell her she sucked. (I’m just jealous)



I am working on a separate post of all things STS-132 to commemorate my experience.

My oldest bestie (since we were 8 and 9) is coming into town this weekend and a bunch of us are meeting for a little din and shenanigans…I’m way excited. She was in town back in November and we hung out a bit. At one point in our friendship we didn’t talk for ten years. It’s crazy to think there is a reason you connect with someone and more than words can articulate…that reason is for them to be your lifelong friend.

I’ve managed to accumulate several “to do’s” for today so I better get to it.

The crew comes in at Ellington this afternoon and 4 and I’m planning on attending, I’ve never made an effort before, it seems that my opportunities are numbered so I’m going to give it a go.

Before I do…let’s discuss goals:

Recap of goals for week 3:
•12oz of water with every meal– with the exception of 1 or 2 so not EVERY (but doing better) - FAIL
•Shred every day of the week – All but 2 but still not EVERY day - FAIL
•Follow a clean eating meal plan without any deviations – WIN

Note: I’m not a black and white person…I’m about all kinds of shades of gray so even though technically I FAILED I still look at them as wins because I’m doing WAY better.

Goals for week 2: (gonna see some repeats)
•12oz of water with every meal
•Shred every day of the week
•Limit carbs to 1 a day, before 3 – with only two weeks to go I’m going hard core.

Wow…that was wicked long but I apparently had a lot I wanted to say.

It’s a holiday weekend…have FUN, indulge a little, be safe and I’ll catch you on the flip side of May!

L- 6 and L-5 Weeks

Wow…Time flies when you sleep may or may not be an option busy.

I can’t believe it’s been so long since I’ve updated my progress and progress it has been.

L- 6w I successfully carb depleted. To be honest…it wasn’t as bad as the first time around and I’m down 6 lbs. Eating clean for the past month or so definitely helped ease the transition into a week with no carbs.

Now L-5w…I don’t even want to talk about it. But I’m going to…the last couple of weeks have been out of control crazy at work with launch prep. Launch prep meaning Space Shuttles…or just one in this case. As the lead Flight Data File (FDF) Coordinator for STS-132 my activities go into overdrive at about launch minus 3 weeks. Throw on top of that a kiddo with a double ear infection and “aunt flo” coming way earlier than expected…my head exploded as well as my need to stuff crap in my pie hole.

I’m riding with it…not getting too upset with myself but upset enough not to continue the cycle.

I ran Monday and Thursday and I am really loving it again. I look forward to the “me” time, pushing myself and I’m feeling stronger after every run. I’m not training for anything in particular just enjoying the exercise.

With launch today I am anticipating my schedule will be freed up considerably, without as many distractions, because there are always distractions (refer to double ear infection above) and I can get back to a regularly scheduled lifting and running program.

At L-4w I will begin again…clean eating with a balance of carbs and proteins and working my hiney off…literally. I’m stepping it up a notch now we are in the home stretch.

Off to see my boys launch! God speed ATLANTIS!

Just I’m back from Mission Control and a picture perfect launch, the only thing better would have been to see it in person. My work here is done.

Recap of week 5’s goals:

•12 oz of water with EVERY meal – FAIL
•Carb delete successfully – WIN, down 6.
•Fuel up before working out – PERHAPS? I seriously don’t remember and I didn’t work out last week because of the deplete but I haven’t been feeling nauseous after my runs so let’s say WIN!

Goals for week 4:
•12 oz of water with every meal – (I’ve seen this one before…)
•Follow the 14 day clean eating meal plan
•Run at least 4 days and lift at least 3 days (running and lifting may happen on simultaneous days)

Alrighty…apparently I am attending a post launch happy hour. I’ve got some celebrating to do.

Peace!

L-13 weeks

I have officially dusted off my copy of Body for Life (BFL) and put together a little workout plan. With 13 weeks left to the reunion I’m putting myself in a position to rock my cute little black dress.

I began at L-15 weeks giving myself a goal of losing 2 lbs per week. 30 whole pounds! Holy schmoly…I was probably at that number before I met my husband 7 years ago, maybe (I didn’t own a scale back then), but not since. And when I was just out of high school I was athletic skinny but without any muscle definition to speak of. I think it is a perfectly reasonable and attainable goal…heck…it works out on paper…but until this week the execution was sorely lacking.

Making substantial sweeping changes all at once NEVER works out for me. I can plan like no one’s business but I tend to over look the risk management phase of the planning stage. And true to form I became overwhelmed with trying to do EVERYTHING (plan, shop, and make clean meals, plan and actually execute work outs, drink water and give up ALL my bad habits regarding food) and I almost…was this close…had one hand in the cookie jar, the Mexican food jar and the cake jar …but I was able to reign myself in by remembering the bigger picture…cute little black halter dress hanging in my closet.

Thankfully, I still have time on my side and I told myself to take two weeks to get my food on track then I’m going all BFL on myself.

At L-15, by changing only my food choices - NO fast food, desserts or BBQ or MEXICAN and eating clean, for the most part, I was able to knock off an easy peasy 2.4 lbs. HOLLA…2.4 lbs without trying really…really hard!

At L-14 I continued with my clean eating plan and set goals for how I would tackle the next 12-13 weeks. I did really well up until Sunday, I’m finding the weekends are the hardest to stay on task. So here we go…

The BFL way is, in a nut shell, clean eating with portion control and a specific workout regime for 12 weeks and one day a week you can have a cheat day. I live for cheat days…but now I’ve gotta earn it. Earning it means in order for me to have a cheat MEAL…not giving myself a day, yet…I workout at least 4 days that week and one of those days must be Saturday (the day in which I will be partaking in my cheat meal). Needless to say I have not earned a cheat meal but I’m well on my way this week.

On the H2O front I’ve happened on motivation from a couple of blogs I came across…OH! Side note>>

I made a yummy clean bean soup last week and the only thing missing was corn bread…of course I only know how to make my Grandma’s yumicilious cornbread with loads of butter and sugar. I googled “clean cornbread” and happened on a blog of a woman that lives in the Woodlands, about 30 minutes from me who had an incredible weight loss journey and her blog linked to another girls blog that has had huge success on BFL. Crazy how small the internet makes the world. >>

H20, the reason I mentioned that story is because I was noticing that these ladies were drinking at a minimum a gallon of water a day. WHAT!! I gallon…I can’t even get my 8 recommended servings much less a freaking gallon…what… do these people have camel backs attached to them at all times? Then I solved the formula and made it a game…I am so competitive.

1 gallon of water = 128 ounces.

I make myself a Chai tea soy latte in the morning…al la starbucks style but only 120 calories and $5 saved. Before I can drink my tea I have to drink 30 oz of water, usually on my way in to work.

I eat breakfast at work – usually oatmeal featuring Ash’s oats of the month and before I can eat lunch I have to finish 24 oz.

At lunch I have a diet Dr. Pepper…I know not clean but at this point I’ve gone from 3-4 to 1 a day…progress…and baby steps.

After lunch I have another 24oz that must be finished before I leave for the day.

24 oz for the ride home (45 min to 1 hour).

And finally 30 oz before dinner (I originally tried before bedtime but I DESPISE getting up in the middle of the night to pee).

That’s 132 ounces people. IT CAN BE DONE.

Yesterday I managed 102 oz and I was so close I had to figure out how I can make myself WIN…I mean drink a gallon of water daily.

Yesterday’s stats were:

W: BFL Upper Body

B: 1/2c Oatmeal, walnuts, nutmeg, cinnamon and peaches, Chai Latte

L: 15 Bean soup with 1/2c of brown rice, DDP

S: Waffle, almond butter, banana (usually the other half of the one I used in my oats)

D: Ahi Tuna Burger, half a sweet potato

Water: 102 oz

That’s all I got…for today.

Keep on…keepin on.

L-15 weeks - 20 Year High School Reunion

And there it is…

I worked out this morning…YAY! It so wasn’t pretty and I had to sit down because I thought I was going to throw up as I’m asking myself (Nancy Kerrigan style)…WHHHHHHYYYYYY! … (sob)…(sob)...WHHHHHHYYYYYYYY!

I know it will get better but 1. Getting up sucks it! 2. Right now I feel miserable doing it.

BUT…here comes the positive. YAY for positive!

1. I turned down Mexican for lunch; I should automatically lose 5lbs just for that alone.
2. I had a ton more energy this morning after my heart rate settled below astronomical
3. I got the kids to school on time
4. Even though it was torrential down pours this morning I still made it to work early

Boo-yah!

I have to say I’m already feeling a little twinge of soreness in my legs and that’s not a bad feeling either.

I had pumpkin oats for breakfast and I’m fixin to have a mammoth lunch of veggies, hummus and fruit (not together…that’s just gross) with a side of organic yogurt and I’m looking forward to making Asian Noodle soup for din.

I know it will get easier; I had that dialogue for 20 minutes this morning as I convinced myself to get out of bed.

Waters up!

Out.

Reunion Recap

The hubby and I met up with Mandy and Greg and the high school cafeteria Friday night to begin the La Porte High School class of ’89 festivities. I personally thought it was a great idea to have a homecoming of sorts at the high school. We got a chance to walk the halls and wow…things have changed and I wouldn’t necessarily say for the better…in my opinion of course.

It’s been twenty years and remodeling has been done but everything looks more institutionalized. Zip ties are on the lockers, we surmised that they didn’t use those anymore, adopting the two sets of books philosophy. WHAT??? Isn’t that what half of the experience was about…relationships, sports, social clubs, and lockers, I’ll throw learning in there for good measure.

A name we recognized as we meandered through the hallowed halls was Mrs. Kicklighter. Dang…she was old when I attended that school. She did show up to the dinner, although I didn’t recognize her until later. Picture the old woman from Beetlejuice and when she smoked it would come out of her neck…yep…that’s her. Mr. Nolen was in rare form, as flamboyant as ever. Steve and Kerry Reagan were there, the cool theatre teachers.

The retired Bulldog they used to take to the football games and run it up and down the track when we scored.


After the dinner we decided to ditch the football game and head to Outriggers for the after party. As we were walking to the car La Porte scored and our fight song filled the night air. I couldn’t help but throw an L sign in the air…La Porte Dogs…or Kicks…you know…I never really knew what they said at the end of our fight song.

Outriggers was fun, we were the first group there, had a few drinks and watched as the alum filtered in…we attempted to play a game, the first one who recognized someone had to pick a person to drink. I seemed to have had the advantage facing the door.

We headed downstairs and meeted and greeted those we recognized and those that recognized us…which was at times rather challenging. Not many people from the class of ’90 came; several I know went to Classic and from what I heard the two groups met up later in the evening.

Mandy, Me, Laura Haley, Sally Boldman


Me and Mandy


All in all, from what I witnessed it was pretty tame, no drama to speak of and it was great to see some old faces and catch up with old friends. High school was such a blip on the map of life, it is laughable how we were consumed by the relationships and drama…how can kids comprehend and understand “life” and just be…get along with each other...work hard…and look forward to the future with endless possibilities. Wow…that was deep.

I made a few more facebook friends and Mandy’s (Amanda to everyone else) shawl was so popular it had its own fan page created.
It was great seeing Mandy and meeting Greg. Mandy and I haven’t hung out like that in many o years. I hope it doesn’t take us 18 more to do it again.

No…I didn’t lose ANY weight for those keeping track…oh well…I have time before my “official” to get high school skinny. On to my next endeavor…

EEEKK!!! Mini Reunion next week!!

My 20 year high school reunion isn’t until next year but the class of ’89 decided to invite back all of the graduating classes from 1980-1990 to take part in their reunion. There is a bevy of activities planned for the weekend. Friday night football, dinner at the cafeteria, catered of course, and an after party at Outriggers. Saturday night is the more formal shindig at Moody Gardens in Galveston.

My oldest and dearest friend is coming in from Dallas for the reunion, she is an ‘89er. And it sounds like her sister is going to come down as well…I believe she may be an ‘84er. It looks like the hubby and I are going to attend the Friday night festivities, minus the football game.

Through the magic of Facebook I have managed to reconnect with most of the people I went to high school with and it still amazes me that most everyone looks the same, plus a few pounds and a lot less hair…both men and women. I haven’t been back to the high school since my sister graduated in ’98. I’m looking forward to seeing everyone. It will be a good dress rehearsal for my official 20 next year.

Now…I just need to lose about 20 lbs in less than two weeks. LOL!