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!

Someone is in single digits!!

That’s right. The fam went to the pool for the first time this season and I was hunting for my bathing suit. I pulled a storage box down from the closet that had all my “skinny” clothes and I didn’t find my suit but I found almost an entire new wardrobe!

Capri’s and shirts and more shirts…shirts that are perfect for our upcoming trip to California. Shirts to wear to wear to work...shirts I haven’t seen or fit into in over 3 years but are still totally in style…that’s how I roll. I’m a classic kind of girl.

I was even able to fit into a size 6…let me qualify…the “Kohl’s” definition of a size 6 which in my opinion is really a size 8. To prove my point I tried on my old school “Old Navy” jeans that are what used to be known as size 8’s and although I could fit into them I had a muffin top but I am well on my way to being muffin topless.

I was excited about my find and I plan on rearranging my closet on Friday…out with the old and in with the new old.

Two posts in one day…I’m on fire…I guess I should crack open my book and study for my PMP (Project Management Professional) exam.

Peace and Love!

Professional Maturity

Look at me…I’m blogging way early in the week. I told you my schedule would free up. Not that I’m without stuff to do …I have stuff but I’m not really motivated to do any of it.

I am happy to report I am on day 8 of the 30 Day Shred. I’ve even been getting up at 4:30ish…ok…5 in the AM to get my shred on and then I’m able to run after work. It seems to be working out just fine…this week.

Speaking of running…last week I was struggling to run in the heat and looking back there was a combo of things…fueling properly, my lightening quick (faster than I should be going to sustain a consistent) pace and I blamed it all on the heat.

Since I have been struggling with the runs I decided that running during my lunch hour would help alleviate the heat excuse. On Monday, I had a couple of meetings and headed back to my desk to make sure I was good before I headed out when low and behold I had some work to do…and I had a choice…I could go run and do what needed to be done when I got back…but who knew how long it would take and I needed everyone in their brother to review the pitch and the reviewers are on a one hour earlier time zone OR…wait and run after work.

I made the professionally mature (I love that term) decision, stayed and did what I need to do, missing my opportunity to run in cooler temps.

At 4 I go out to the trails and I start out on my 3 mile run/walk and I’m feeling good, really good in fact. I get to the 1.5 turnaround and I’m still feeling strong. I am now attempting to figure out why it is that I’m feeling this strong after a week of struggling and things start to add up.

I ate properly, didn’t miss any meals and I drank my water. I’ve been shredding and I would like to think that had something to do with feeling stronger and then I noticed the lack of my shadow on the ground. YES! There was a cloud following me and not in a dismal, rainy kind of way. A cloud, that shaded me from the death rays of the sun, a glorious cloud that when the wind kicked up made everything a smidge cooler. I swear that cloud followed me from start to finish and kept the temps at least 5 degrees cooler. And I must also mention I intentionally kept a much slower pace than last week.

It could be a mere coincidence but I’m going to think of it as a reward for making a responsible decision earlier in the day.

L-4 Weeks

No numbers to post this week…and why not…BECAUSE I’m not weighing myself anymore. YAY ME. Numbers don’t mean jack anyway.

What will matter is the before and after pictures I’m going to post to showcase my progress. I’m super duper excited about that.

This week has gone okay in the eating dept…I say ok because I was in training for three days and day one I did well…then day two and three happened. Let’s just say I indulged in the muffins and kolaches…although I didn’t over indulge and that is a positive. As soon as I got home I’ve been eating clean. Such is life.

Due to the time constraints of the week I decided to dust off my 30day Shred DVD. Am I weird that I like to feel the soreness of a good workout? Weird or not…I do. It reminds me of my accomplishment for the day.

I’ve ran twice this week and I’m fixin to embark on run number 3 as soon as this is posted. Man it’s getting hot. Yesterday was rather challenging. (I lied…I’m going to post some numbers) I adjusted my interval times to 2:1. I really missed that extra :30 of rest yesterday.

The STS-132 mission is going great and I got a nice surprise when I came in this morning…an email from space! If you think of it as just an email it’s no big deal but when you try and wrap your head around it…it’s pretty amazing. I never thought I would begin a sentence…”Life on Earth is…”. I have a cool job!

That’s about it…short and sweet for a change. But I can’t leave without a recap of goals.

Recap of week 4 goals:

•12oz of water with every meal – WIN (FINALLY)
•Follow the 14 day clean eating meal plan – FAIL
•Run at least 4 days and lift at least 3 days – half WIN (I changed my plans…I lifted on Monday then decided to Shred) I think that should still count.

Goals for week 3:
•12oz of water with every meal (gotta keep this one there to make it a habit)
•Shred every day of the week
•Follow a clean eating meal plan without any deviations

Off to get my run on…

Out!

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-7 Weeks

The scale and I had one last rendezvous this morning and success is mine! Down 2.1 and my first 10 pounds are history. Hello new outfit, nice to finally meet you. The scale and I came to an agreement that I will not weigh again until Monday morning and I promise to stay off until next Monday morning for a carb deplete week weigh-in. Let’s talk about carb deplete…

With 7 weeks till my event, I am not thrilled with the rate of weight loss so I’m going to mix things up. I went back and logged the food that eat regularly and I found that I’m not doing a good job balancing my carbs and proteins, my carb numbers are way too high.

As a result I’m going to start a carb deplete week next week and begin the “Crack the Fat Loss Code” way of eating. Last time I had minimal success…I lost successfully the first two weeks then failed miserably. I’m in a better place now with my eating and I’m very confident that this will be just what I need to get me back on target.

Something I learned today…I cannot do upper body then go run 3 miles worth a flip if I haven’t fueled my body properly. Talk about ZERO energy. My 3 mile run turned into mostly a ½ walk ½ run. It was a tough one. Protein shake from now on…I’m going to have to set a daily reminder for the future.

Something else I learned today…BOTH training wheels are going back on. I am SOOO not ready for 3:1’s. But I do know I am ready for a change so it’s 1:5:1.5 for me. I’ll report next week how that worked out.

Report on my goals announced on week 10 for week 9:

• Morning workouts all week – NOPE! But I have been doing them in the evenings or during lunch when time permits. This seems to work and I don’t have to go to bed at 8p to get my 7 hours in.

• Fruit and beef jerky late afternoon snack – NOPE! But I have been eating a Luna bar and drinking 24 oz of water on the way home from work…this seems to have helped.

•12 oz of water with EVERY meal – NOPE! No buts…haven’t done it.

So…goals for week 6:

•12 oz of water with EVERY meal
•Carb Deplete successfully
•Fuel up before working out

Good luck to all the weight warriors out there…keep up the good work.

Peace!

L-9 and L-8 Weeks

EEEk…I’m so behind. Whatev, not gonna dwell on it. I’ll sum up the last two weeks…FRUSTRATING!! Net loss is .5 with a total loss of 7.8. URGH! I STILL haven’t gotten to wear my new outfit. BUT…I’ve lost (glass half full baby!)

So…my scale and I are NOT friends anymore. It’s not you…it’s me. We need some space, a trial separation if you will. That’s all I can offer right now. How about we meet up again on June 1st and see if we can salvage this thing…deal!

The numbers are stagnant I’m starting to play mental games by over thinking, adding unnecessary pressure and rationalizing ways to get the numbers down and then I’m a big o ball of stress and really think about giving up. (This is so much harder than it used to be…Getting old sucks!)

As frustrating as it is watching the scale go back and forth 1-2 lbs I am noticing changes in all the right places AND some wrong places too…by the way…If you happen to come across my boobs please tell them I miss them and they are welcome to come back but the extra lbs are not welcome.

My scale is the target of my wrath but it doesn’t feed me or work out for me…I am responsible and suck it up WAYNE…I need to manage my time better to allow myself to workout. Food wise…although I’m eating the right stuff…I’m thinking portion sizes are doing me in and with 8 weeks to go I am really…for reals cutting back my cheat day to a single cheat meal (I think I said that a few weeks ago but I never followed through). According to my scale I am staying on track throughout the week and losing quite nicely then on Saturday, my cheat day, I eat whatever I want…gain 5 lbs and spend the rest of the week taking it off. NOPE!

Jodie convinced me to start running again and oh how I’ve missed thee. I’m starting slow as to not injure myself…not getting younger and one wrong twist and my back is out for a month…did I mention getting old sucks!! I’m doing the C25K program to get me back up to speed…HA! (Did you see what I did there?) It’s been a perfect start, distance wise I go about 3 miles with 1:1.5 intervals. I’ve done that for a couple of weeks and I’m ready to move to 3:1. I find myself almost sprinting (well…sprinting in my book) with the 1:1.5 intervals and I would like to take the training wheels off…perhaps just one wheel and see where I stand.

For those toe grippers out there…I’m WAY BAD. My first run I didn’t have my toe condoms on and holy sore pointer toes…is there a name for your second toe next to your big toe? Ok, so they are not toe condoms they are Digital Caps and you can find them at any Walgreens or CVS. I use these and I seriously cannot run without them. When I was training for my ½ marathon I lost a toenail before I realized what was going on. I thought it was because my shoes were too small…NOPE…I’m a gripper.



It looks like we are California bound the end of June! WOOT! My hubby’s fam lives in San Diego and although the reunion spurred my motivation to get fit again, Cali is now my motivation to work harder…there are BEACHES in San Diego and lots of FIT people and I have summer dresses that desperately need to be displayed on a FIT body…MY FIT BODY.

Last year we went to visit the fam and the hubby and I took a side trip to Vegas and let’s just say I wasn’t in the best shape. HA! (Understatement) Some of those pictures are just gross and I’m not up for a repeat this year.

My pre-flight work for STS-132 is slowing down and time will again be on my side…barring any unforeseen incidents…who am I kidding there are always incidents.

I’ve had a great experience with this crew. They are a fun group of guys and they have really made my job incredibly easy. May 14th is the last shuttle launch of Atlantis. To show you how fun they are…check out their flight poster. Yeah…that’s right…the Juice Box baby! If you blow up the pix I'm in the orange circle...small I know.



Keep your glass half full…I’m out..

L-10 Weeks

I’ll get straight to the weigh in…. 1.2 lbs…WOOT! I’m 2.6 lbs closer to my new cutie patootie spring outfit in celebration of my 10 lb loss. Of course I’m not there yet so it’s still taunting me in my closet.

Jodie and I were walking during our lunch break the other day and I confessed to her I was a slave to my scale. I’m truly obsessed. Seriously…I need an intervention. I am weighing before bed, in the morning, before I workout, after I workout. I know why I’m doing it…seeing that needle move (totally old school) number decrease is giving me validation that I’m moving toward my goal. Luckily I don’t get depressed when I see a number bigger than I expected, I use it as motivation to figure out what I did wrong and make better choices the next time around. Seems to be working for me right now….I will agree…if at any point I become depressed and want to give up and stuff my face full of cheetoes then I will chunk the scale for the duration. Agreed?

Workouts for the week are not happening on schedule…meaning I’m doubling up on cardio/weight training because I’m missing days. This could be easily remedied if I would do my workouts in the morning. So…there is a goal for week 9… workouts in the AM!

I’m doing well in the food dept…no crazy cravings. (Wait…I did remember I had a handful of chips last night after work…I was STARVING). Chips are my nemesis. Never fear they are gone and will NOT be replaced. The afternoon after work and before dinner I seem to be way hungry and struggling and grabbing whatever is available. This weekend I am going to have more fruit and beef jerky in the house. I just need something to tide me over till dinner without ruining my appetite. Goal #2.

Let’s recap the goals for week 9:

• Morning Workouts all week
• Fruit and beef jerky for late afternoon snack
• 12 oz of water with EVERY meal

I will be interested to see my progress in the weight dept sticking to those goals.

What changes have you made that have given you the biggest results?

Have a fantabulous weekend.

L-11 Weeks

What I have learned this week…FOOD Journals are critical to weight loss success. When I’m asking myself why the scale only moved a smidge to the left…left right…right? (I am SOOOO left/right dysfunctional. I was the kid that played twister with an L and R written on the back of my hand.) But I digress…

This is the first time I have committed to sticking with a food journal and to calculate my calories and more importantly my macros. I’ve begun using dailyplate.com…thanks janetha! I was using SparkPeople but I found I was going to thedailyplate to get all my nutrition info…who knew! The dailyplate also allows you to input homemade recipes and then calculate the nutritional info. I’m using it as a tool to plan my eating to guarantee I stay in my caloric/fat/carb/protein range. Way coolio!

I’m down .8 for this week. Initially I was sad it wasn’t more…but I am beginning to realize I may have expected too much to soon in the 2 lb a week dept. Regardless it is still a goal and I’m using my journal to look back and see what areas could be tweaked to give myself a better chance of making the weekly goal. Again, the looseness of my clothes is telling me I’m on the right track.

My home is where my workouts are happening…I use free weights, elliptical, bench, a weight machine and a balance ball. For the most part I’m happy with my progress with my arms…I totally hurt for a few days my workouts after but I’m thinking I’m underestimating my leg strength and not challenging myself enough.

The weather is ripe for running outside (for this month) and I’m planning on going tomorrow to renew my gym membership at work so I can have the option of running the trails and not to mention have access to the gym when I can’t make my workouts happen at home. (i.e., mix it up a bit).

Goal for next week…I’ll actually post that tomorrow since I’m sorta a week behind and the goal for next week happened last week and since last week already happened I know right now if I made it or not. :D (I am weighing on Wednesday’s and I didn’t post anything last week but it is only Tuesday so I’m still on last week…this week). EXACTLY!

OUT!

L-12 weeks

Week one on the BFL program is complete…then I had to go and screw it up over the weekend. I did great during the week, got all of my workouts in and stayed on task with food and water. I went into the early weekend planning to make Friday my cheat day since I was spending the day at the rodeo with my oldest and hello…nachos and funnel cake…and I lost all control from there…

Saturday came around and here I will list the things I could have done differently

…choose egg whites instead of three full eggs. I know this but I was just lazy when I made breakfast for the fam.

…pack food with me for ANY outing so I will not be tempted to eat what is available via fast food…even if it is one nugget and a handful of French fries…not acceptable.

…pass on the cake and chips and rice crispy treat at the birthday party…I already had my cheat day and I need to be make sure I’m not hungry or bring my own food that is within my plan.

Moving on to Sunday

…choose egg whites yet again and the waffle and ham samich can be eaten sans butter.

…Mexican food is OUT OF THE QUESTION on a non-cheat day. I am not to even consider it when asked where I want to eat for lunch.

For those reasons I lost 1 lb. I will so take that win in spite of making bad food choices. Tonight I am so going to measure because the scale may say I lost a 1lb but the clothes are saying…lost some inches and me likes! It’s regrettable I didn’t take measurements in the beginning but oh well…onwards and upwards.

This week is proving a bit tough schedule wise to get my workouts in…I did fine on Monday but new schedule challenges have come my way and mornings are going to be the only way I can get my workouts in…and Wednesdays I will carve out time to hit the gym sometime during the day.

Can’t say there is ever a dull moment around my house. Or lack of sleep…which I have to get so from now on I’ll be going to bed yesterday…every night…I’m actually sleep typing right at this moment.

Luck!

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.

Coming out of the Dark...

I’ve introduced myself to my blog again and it’s like an old friend. No matter how long you have been apart, we catch up and it seems like I never left.

Have you ever had one of those moments where someone says something to you or you read a book and the obvious is stated and for whatever reason that particular time the light bulb comes on and the clouds part and the sunshine just fills you upside? I had that situation occur a couple of times in the last few days. I discovered things about me that I never considered and those things have given me much insight into myself. I know I’m being vague but the specifics do not matter. What matters is that I am succeeding in my quest to better myself on a daily basis.

Wow, organic tastes so much better than, for lack of a better word…,”regular” food. What is the new buzz word? Non-organic, pesticide infused, or contaminated sewage sludge. I’m not a radical so I’ll just go with non-organic. Apparently your utils last longer with organic food.

What is a util you ask? A util is the one thing I learned about in my college economics class that still sticks with me to this day. And my husband is the only other person that has ever known what I’m talking about when I say my utils have ran out without having the statement explained to him…my lobster.

Think of utility. (Here is the definition from Wikipedia - utility is a measure of the relative satisfaction from, or desirability of, consumption of various goods and services. Given this measure, one may speak meaningfully of increasing or decreasing utility, and thereby explain economic behavior in terms of attempts to increase one's utility. For illustrative purposes, changes in utility are sometimes expressed in fictional units called utils. ) In laymen’s terms…when you have that first sip of a Chai Pumpkin Latte your utils are at their all time high…almost euphoric. As you continue to consume the latte the 6th, 7th , or 10th sip, although still good, do not bring you the same satisfaction of the 1st sip. That is because your utils are decreasing. If I ever start a restaurant I am going to name it Utils. This concludes your economic lesson for the day.

I inquired about scheduling a session of family portraits today. My co-worker found this gem of a photographer. I cannot wait! Well...I can…but I can’t.

Knowing that family pictures are looming in the near future and wanting to slip into a sexy little number or two when the hubby and I go out this holiday season and or course for the overall benefit of being healthy, I am on a quest to become a lean, mean fighting machine. In an attempt to not bore myself or anyone else that happens on this blog, I am not going to post food/weight details here; I have a notebook for that. I’ll do recaps of the week/weekend and talk about my endeavors. If you are interested in specifics…email me.

For the next four weeks on the exercise front I will be doing Pilates. I definitely need to strengthen my core before I even think about weights, running, or picking up my 15 month old son. My back is already offered its opinion on my sporadic activity level of intensity and it is not good one. Fear not…my chiropractor has seen me more than ever in the last couple of months…but as much as he helps, seeing him is a reminder that I hurt and I am changing that starting today. (cue uplifting music)

I so need a soundtrack, you know one of those cool ones with the obscure music that delicately adds an emotional undertone to each scene. Hmmmm…

Off to fry it up in the pan…healthy frying of course…

W2D3, 4, 5

Wednesday I didn’t do a thing, moving right along to Thursday.

Thursday I attempted to run two miles but my knees had other plans. Jodie and I started out and I didn’t even make 300 meters before I had to stop and walk. It was painful; I can’t even describe the pain other than to say…it freakin hurt. I walked for half a mile, attempting many times to get it up to a jog with no luck. Finally, on the second lap I told myself I was doing this…and yeah it hurt, I took it slow and I either began to get used to the pain or it subsided after awhile but I was able to run .5 miles the entire time…with lots o pain.

I had to leave to take the boy to TaeKwondo so that cut my run, walk, waddle short.

My thought is the knee pain if from shredding but my own fault, not that of the workout itself. POOR FORM. I noticed at the end of my workout on Tuesday I was really…really tired and I was just pushing through and I know my form sucked it. And…yes it did and my knees are telling me so.

I am going to take Friday off…also because I think I’m trying to shake off a cold or some kind of ailment, my body was aching last night and this morning.

I’ll get back at the shredding on Saturday morning; I’m also going to move up to level 2. Here’s hopin it all works out.

Have a good weekend, may the wind be at your back.

Out.

W2D2

I shredded last evening, it is getting so much easier, my knees are hurting a bit today though, not sure what that is all about, they are prolly just sore from kicking myself in the butt…a lot. I blame Jullian.

A cold front came through and it is windy and 50 so me no runny today. I know you guys up North are telling me to shut it right now…I get it. Suck it up…right. Nope! I don’t have the gear…and just wait until Summer when it 150% humidity and I’m swimming through my run half naked, I’ve got plenty of gear for that…perhaps too much. It all evens out.

On tap for this evening…after my I get my do done will be more shredding. This will be my last workout on level 1. Sniff…sniff. I graduate to level 2 tomorrow, I hope I am worthy.

Oh…and my youngest better figure out how to sleep through the night EVERYNIGHT cause momma is not wide awake at 2 am as no living human being should be. Learn it…love it…DO IT! For goodness sakes…I’m begging.

That’s all I got. Nothing earthshattering.

Out.

W2D1 – Week 1 results

Here are the numbers:

17JAN09
Starting Weight: 167
Waist: 32.5
Hips: 38
Right Thigh: 23
Left Thigh: 24
Right Calf: 14.5
Left Calf: 15
Right Arm: 12.5
Left Arm: 12.5
Neck: 13.5

26JAN09
Starting Weight: - 2.2
Waist: - 1.0
Hips: - 1.0
Right Thigh: 0.0
Left Thigh: - 0.5
Right Calf: + 0.5
Left Calf: 0.0
Right Arm: - 0.5
Left Arm: 0.0
Neck: + 0.5

So there ya go…I love seeing all those negatives.

Yesterday I forgot my running shoes so I went home and Shredded. I think I’m just about ready to move up to level 2. One more workout tonight should do it. I’ve been using 5 lb weights and I’m even thinking I’m ready to move up to 7.5, in some of the exercising that is. The lateral raises are still tough with the 5lbers so I may have to switch back and forth. Who knows…Level 2 may kick my butt so bad I stay with the 5s.

Overall I’m happy with the results so far…I need to keep my eating in check and I just think about how many more numbers will fall off if I did it every day. Still working on that.

This evening I will be shredding late since I didn’t get my ass out of bed this morning. I was teerd and I love sleep. Sleep…sleep…sleep.

I hope all had good results their first week of the challenge. Keep it up…after this week we are all halfway there.

Out.

W1D5 – D7

Still shredding, albeit not as often as I would like but such is life. No…really…life so gets in the way of working out. Seriously…could you just be mindful of my schedule please?

Last week I ran 2 miles on Thursday and attempted 3 on Friday but only made 2. You don’t even know how bad of an attitude I had on Friday. I was struggling from the push of the button on the stop watch. Unfortunately I let my attitude win and stopped at 2. I just wasn’t feeling it and the thought of making two more laps around the 800 meter trail was too much for me to handle, on that day.

I was proud of myself that I didn’t go home and wallow in whatever carboliscous thing I could stuff in my pie hole. I had my EZ pizza, which I’m loving and could eat every night. Come to think about it…I think I have.

I didn’t shred on Friday but I did Saturday morning while the hubby and the boy went to karate. Monkey went down for his morning nap and I got a ton of stuff done, it felt good.

Saturday I managed to stay on track food wise but I got derailed on Sunday. Not crazy or anything I can’t recover from, just a few bad habits I’ve picked up along the way that I fell back into. Such as…getting my lunch from McyD’s, it’s only a hamburger happy meal so at least I’m not talking super size me on anything, it could always be worse but nonetheless it is a bad habit. Did I mention I got a chocolate chip cookie too? No, well, normally I have two; I gave the other to the boy. Also, I had cereal after din, but only about half of what I used to eat.

So I consider it a win that I wasn’t as bad as I could have been but I know I need to oust those habits altogether because none of it is “clean”.

I got my three workouts in for the week, barely. I did run 4 times this week, one more than last week. So I’m content…I did much more exercising than I did the previous week and that my friends is progress.

I’m happy to report my hubby is still shredding too and when he is done I kind find him cussing Jillian for the soreness he feelis throughout his body. It’s cute. I guess he told is business partner how tough it was he went out and got a copy.

I’m still doing level one, I’ve read several reviews that mentioned peeps stayed on each level for 10 days. I guess I better get to shredding more frequently if I want to successfully reach level two by WEDNESDAY. Holy cow! I guess I’ll be shredding Monday and Tuesday fo sho.

Next entry will include the numbers from last week and the beginning of this week. All I can tell you is I have good news!

Challenge W1D4

Fessing up…I didn’t exercise at all yesterday and I don’t feel that bad about it. I’m trying to learn the best way to get it the Shredding and running all in and I think I’ve got it down.

This morning I got up at 5a (thankfully the monkey has been sleeping through the night) and I shredded. You know I’ve only done it one other time but this time was a bit easier. That’s way exciting. So, even though it sucked getting up early, it really wasn’t that much earlier than when I have to get up with the baby, I felt and feel better for it. So…the hubby and decided to work it out and coordinate our times.

I’m running after work, 2 miles this afternoon, before I meet the boys for Teakwondo. I had the boy’s patches sewn on his jacket, I’m so proud of my bug!! The running should take care of the sushi I had for lunch. There are worse things people AND I didn’t use as much soy as I normally do, so I’m happy I cut back on the sodium. I’ll mention that had the fortune cookies (2)…oops.

I am admitting that I have been weighing myself daily…ok…who am I kidding once in the morning and once at night…and someone has been losing lbs!! I’ll report the official number on Monday.

I hope everyone is sticking with their challenge! Keep it up! It’s 76 and sunny in H-town…a good reminder that bathing suit weather is just around the corner.

Out.

Challenge W1D3

Technically if you are following along I am reporting on Tuesday's activity so it’s really a W1D2 report…it’s all semantics.

Yesterday I busted out a big 3 miles, 3x1 style in 35:33. Not too bad for an out of shape white girl. I was fighting with my ear buds a few times so I know that slowed me down a bit. All in all everything felt good, I can tell my body is remembering what it was like to run miles and it seems happy.

I got out to the track a bit later than I wanted therefore I finished later, stopped for gas and ran by the alterations place so they could sew patches on the boy’s TaeKwondo jacket before Thursday’s class; which equates to not getting home until almost 6:30, frick.

We tagged teamed getting the kids fed, bathed and off to bed and it is 8:30 before I can figure out what I need to get done the rest of the evening, I still haven’t eaten or Shredded and the house needs to be picked up for our house cleaner coming on Wednesday…and yes, I know I am blessed to have this luxury and I would sacrifice many other luxuries in order to hold on to her…she’s awesome. Bottom line I decided to go ahead and eat my EZ pizza and call it a night. My thought was that I would try and Shred in the morning.

No getty uppy this morning so I’ll use my allocated running time to Shred today, yesterday’s rest day will be today then I’ll pick back up Thursday and Friday. I need to get my ASS out of bed; nights are too hectic to expect to get in a run and Shred. I’ll coordinate with the hubster so we can plan a schedule for working out in the mornings.

Gotta have friends…two of them told me today that my waist looked smaller. I can attribute that to two things…a great pair of black pants I found at Target and I’m not bloated from the crap I was eating prior to this week. Three days does make a difference and its reflecting on the scale (yeah…can’t help it…my name is Sandy and I’m a daily scale watcher). Is there a twelve step for that?

That’s all I got for now…I’m out.