I promise I haven't fallen off track! I've missed two weeks of blogs, though for fairly valid reasons. Week #1 I got sick...like sinus AND Ear Infection sick. I spent most of that week eating soup and drinking mass amounts of orange juice. I did weigh myself on that Monday and had gained about half a pound, which was okay by me given that I did not do well with my eating that week. The leading up to being sick meant being very tired, and very tired of eating chicken, and I made a number of not great food choices because I didn't have the energy to cook. While sick, I didn't have the energy to cook, but I also didn't really have the desire to eat...so they balanced each other out.
Last week I was at home for Thanksgiving vacation and I could have blogged, but I didn't weigh myself because I didn't know how accurate moms scale would be compared to my own. I didn't want the numbers to be off and then have an unrealistic idea of how my week went. So, I figured that since I didn't have a weight update and I'd eaten soup pretty much all week, I didn't really need to write the blog.
In any case, last week I officially started round 2 of the 21 day fix. You may think I'm crazy for doing it over Thanksgiving, but it wasn't so bad - although I really should have been better about actually tracking. I forgot my workout DVD back at my place, but my sister gave me one heck of a workout instead. She recently became a personal trainer for the Y as well as their Zumba instructor, so I went there on Monday for her expertise and she surely gave me a workout! She was by no means a drill instructor - she just told me what to do and I did it, but I was definitely feeling it afterwards. Tuesday I went to her Zumba class and it was so nice to see everyone again, but was a bit more challenging since I was still really sore from the workout the day before. I did the best that I could and then continued to be unimaginably sore for the next few days. Wednesday I spent pretty much the whole day on my feet helping Mom bake pies, so while I didn't do an actual workout, I rarely stopped moving.
My food for most of the week was good, but not great. I didn't really eat things I shouldn't, but I didn't necessarily keep track of what I was eating nor did I eat very much at all. I suppose it's better to not eat as much as you should than to eat more than you should, but it's definitely not a good habit. Thursday was the real test, though. Thankfully (see what I did there...), our Thanksgiving dinner isn't super unhealthy anyway. Turkey is a great protein, the mashed potatoes are homemade, there's no marshmallows on our sweet potatoes, and no extra stuff in the vegetables. So, being good was mostly just a matter of watching my portion sizes. I got a good bowl of salad and ate it first, then I had some turkey, a small amount of mashed potatoes, one slice of sweet potato, a very small serving of stuffing, and some corn. And, our "mindless snacking" while we play games has always been a veggie tray. The desserts are what normally get me in trouble, but this year I allowed myself a small sliver of pumpkin and a small sliver of cherry. Enough to get a taste and enjoy it, but not enough to be detrimental to my weight loss.
We have Thanksgiving at my uncle's house, so we normally do a much smaller version at our house on Friday. This year, I went to help the same uncle with his horse and carriages at a nearby light-up night event so I missed the second dinner. I did eat the leftovers for dinner, but it was late and without being at the table I didn't feel any kind of pressure to eat everything. I just grabbed a little bit of the things I wanted and called it a night.
Saturday was a little tougher because we went wedding dress shopping with my future sister-in-law out of town, which meant eating out. I certainly didn't make the best choices I could have, but I also didn't make terribly bad choices.
In the end, I had a pretty successful week and am looking forward to getting back to business this week. I've already pre-made my breakfasts for the week and stocked up on plenty of healthy foods. My schedule should be pretty easy this week so nothing major to throw me off track (fingers crossed).
Initial weight: 254.4
Week 5: +0.4
Week 6: no weigh-in
Week 7: -1.4
Total weight loss: -7.2
Current weight: 247.2
Monday, November 30, 2015
Monday, November 9, 2015
Take it easy....
I mentioned last week that this week I would be watching what I ate, but taking it easy since I would be in between 21-day challenges. I was unsure how the week was gonna go, to be honest. I wanted it to go well, but I was a little worried that old habits would rear their ugly heads and cause me to make poor decisions. I'd say it was a little of both.
I realized that when I'm not actually counting the things I eat all day every day it's really easy to skip the good and go with the bad. Having said that, I didn't let myself get that bad. I definitely ate more carbs than I was supposed to, but I didn't go crazy. I allowed myself to eat pretty much what I wanted, but I often found that after I ate it, it didn't taste as good as the idea of it had been. During the fix challenge, I ate a lot of quinoa and a little bit of brown rice. On occasion when I ate them with baked chicken, I would put some of the chicken juice/gravy over it but it was often left plain. Sometimes I would see that box of white rice in my cabinet and really just want some white rice with butter and I was tired of the plain better-for-you stuff. This week I allowed myself to eat some white rice with butter....and it didn't taste very good. I actually ate it with baked chicken and wished that I had put some of the juice over it instead of the butter.
I allowed myself to eat one mini-sized Kit Kat....I LOVE Kit Kats....but I didn't like this one. I took one bite and thought "holy cow that is so sweet!!" There was nothing wrong with the candy bar - I just realized that my taste buds had already changed so much. I've been drinking pretty much just water since I started the fix (other than the Shakeology drinks), with just the rare exception of some tea with honey. I started getting a migraine at work the other day so I broke down and bought a diet Pepsi with the hope that the caffeine would help my headache go away. And the drink was disgusting. I could actually taste the sweetener in it and I certainly didn't like it.
While doing Weight Watchers I had essentially cut out all pop-like drinks, but when I would go back to one it never was quite as bad as this time. I think the difference is that while I may not have been drinking the diet drinks, I was still using artificial sweeteners in my food and other drinks. I'd put them in my tea, use them to sweeten my plain greek yogurt, etc. But the fix doesn't allow you to have them at all. I sweeten my tea and yogurt with honey, I eat my oatmeal plain or with peanut butter, and everything is natural. So I didn't just cut out pop this time - I cut out the sweetener altogether and it's made a huge difference.
I'm finding that I don't need to add as much to sweeten things, I don't use as much salt (not that I really used a whole lot to begin with), and several things just aren't tasting the same as they used to. Microwave popcorn...I didn't enjoy it as much as I thought I would.
So, while my week obviously wasn't as good as the past few have been, it was still pretty successful. I still lost a little weight, but more importantly, this was a great opportunity for me to see these changes and realize that during those 21 days when I'm craving something not-so-healthy and wishing I could just eat whatever I want, I can remember this week and remind myself that if I ate that thing I wanted when I wanted it, there's a really good chance it's not going to actually taste as good as I think it will.
A lot of people say things like "nothing tastes as good as skinny feels" and I've pretty much always thought that was bogus because I've tasted some pretty amazing things. But after this week I understand it a little more. I won't live my life depriving myself of things in an effort to be skinny, but when you spend more time eating natural foods that are good for you, your tastes themselves change. And maybe that amazing cheesecake or chocolate ice cream or whatever floats my boat right now, isn't going to float my boat as much when I get myself even healthier. And healthy is the goal...not skinny.
Initial weight: 254.4
Week 4: -0.4
Total weight loss: -6.2
Current weight: 248.2
I'm a little behind where I was at this point on Weight Watchers, but I also haven't been working out like I was then and I'm eating better quality food. I didn't eat "bad" stuff on WW, but it gives much more room for including processed foods than the fix does. And, our new challenge got pushed back another week so this week I'm not being super strict, but much more so than I was this past week.
I realized that when I'm not actually counting the things I eat all day every day it's really easy to skip the good and go with the bad. Having said that, I didn't let myself get that bad. I definitely ate more carbs than I was supposed to, but I didn't go crazy. I allowed myself to eat pretty much what I wanted, but I often found that after I ate it, it didn't taste as good as the idea of it had been. During the fix challenge, I ate a lot of quinoa and a little bit of brown rice. On occasion when I ate them with baked chicken, I would put some of the chicken juice/gravy over it but it was often left plain. Sometimes I would see that box of white rice in my cabinet and really just want some white rice with butter and I was tired of the plain better-for-you stuff. This week I allowed myself to eat some white rice with butter....and it didn't taste very good. I actually ate it with baked chicken and wished that I had put some of the juice over it instead of the butter.
I allowed myself to eat one mini-sized Kit Kat....I LOVE Kit Kats....but I didn't like this one. I took one bite and thought "holy cow that is so sweet!!" There was nothing wrong with the candy bar - I just realized that my taste buds had already changed so much. I've been drinking pretty much just water since I started the fix (other than the Shakeology drinks), with just the rare exception of some tea with honey. I started getting a migraine at work the other day so I broke down and bought a diet Pepsi with the hope that the caffeine would help my headache go away. And the drink was disgusting. I could actually taste the sweetener in it and I certainly didn't like it.
While doing Weight Watchers I had essentially cut out all pop-like drinks, but when I would go back to one it never was quite as bad as this time. I think the difference is that while I may not have been drinking the diet drinks, I was still using artificial sweeteners in my food and other drinks. I'd put them in my tea, use them to sweeten my plain greek yogurt, etc. But the fix doesn't allow you to have them at all. I sweeten my tea and yogurt with honey, I eat my oatmeal plain or with peanut butter, and everything is natural. So I didn't just cut out pop this time - I cut out the sweetener altogether and it's made a huge difference.
I'm finding that I don't need to add as much to sweeten things, I don't use as much salt (not that I really used a whole lot to begin with), and several things just aren't tasting the same as they used to. Microwave popcorn...I didn't enjoy it as much as I thought I would.
So, while my week obviously wasn't as good as the past few have been, it was still pretty successful. I still lost a little weight, but more importantly, this was a great opportunity for me to see these changes and realize that during those 21 days when I'm craving something not-so-healthy and wishing I could just eat whatever I want, I can remember this week and remind myself that if I ate that thing I wanted when I wanted it, there's a really good chance it's not going to actually taste as good as I think it will.
A lot of people say things like "nothing tastes as good as skinny feels" and I've pretty much always thought that was bogus because I've tasted some pretty amazing things. But after this week I understand it a little more. I won't live my life depriving myself of things in an effort to be skinny, but when you spend more time eating natural foods that are good for you, your tastes themselves change. And maybe that amazing cheesecake or chocolate ice cream or whatever floats my boat right now, isn't going to float my boat as much when I get myself even healthier. And healthy is the goal...not skinny.
Initial weight: 254.4
Week 4: -0.4
Total weight loss: -6.2
Current weight: 248.2
I'm a little behind where I was at this point on Weight Watchers, but I also haven't been working out like I was then and I'm eating better quality food. I didn't eat "bad" stuff on WW, but it gives much more room for including processed foods than the fix does. And, our new challenge got pushed back another week so this week I'm not being super strict, but much more so than I was this past week.
Monday, November 2, 2015
21 Days
I have officially made it to 21 days!!! Starting out when I would see something I wanted, but it wasn't on the food plan, I would just remind myself that it was only for three weeks and if I was successful and still wanted that thing I could have it. At the time, 3 weeks sounded like an awfully long time to wait, but it just FLEW by! I can't believe the 21 days are over already - that's just nuts.
I had a few people ask me about last weeks post and the answer to that actually ties in to this weeks post! No, I did not write a post last week because this past week was a bit of a disaster and I simply didn't get around to it.
Week 2 was overall, pretty great. I had spent that Sunday planning meals and precooking things. I hard-boiled a whole dozen eggs, I made a batch each of steel cut oatmeal and quinoa, then I grilled some chicken and baked some, too. I separated the oatmeal into individual containers and left the others together in large containers that I could just scoop out what I needed when I needed it. It was great! That whole week I was so good about sticking to my plan and having the things precooked so they just needed reheated was so nice! I even got a little bit braver with experimenting with foods and made an amazing substitute for chicken fried rice using quinoa and cauliflower instead of rice! The workouts were surprisingly easier and I had even bought myself a small set of hand weights to use during my workouts instead of the cans of sauce I had been using the week before.
I went home over the weekend to see my family and took all my stuff with me - the containers, my plan book, several of the Shakeology packets, and my workout DVD. In regards to food, I did pretty well while I was home. I used my containers, I talked with my mom about what foods I'd be able to eat and worked with what she was nice enough to fix for us. However, I did not do well with working out. It's a 3 1/2 hour drive, so I got in Friday evening and spent the evening catching up and not working out. Saturday we babysat 3 young girls pretty much all day and while I didn't do my actual workout, I did play Just Dance with them for about an hour so that was a fairly decent workout in itself! Sunday was much the same as Friday only in reverse....church, packing, early dinner, then driving...and of course because of weekend detours in Pittsburgh and a quick stop to drop something off to my brother, my 3 1/2 hour drive actually took about 5 hours. So, it was about 9 when I got back to my place and I hadn't eaten since about 3 that afternoon. But, I weighed myself Monday morning and I had still lost another 2 pounds! Woohoo!
Then Monday happened. The day started off well enough, but then right before the end of my workday I had a work issue go haywire. I ended up having to stay at work late, I hadn't done any of my food shopping or food prep since the drive in took so long the previous night, and by the time I was out of work I was so hungry and had no food to eat and was just mentally in a bad place because of the issue. I went straight to the store and got my groceries - for the most part I stuck solely to my shopping list and only deviated because I needed something to eat for that night. And despite my bad mood and my desire for nothing more than my couch and a tub of ice cream, I ignored the siren call of the stress food and went for the already prepared lemon chicken, green beans, and roasted potatoes. I didn't get my exercise in, and I didn't eat all the food I was supposed to for the day, but overall the day was a major win because I didn't succumb to the temptation.
Frankly, the rest of the week didn't get much better. The same issue went through the entire day Tuesday, and it again got to dinner and I had no food already prepared and no will to actually make anything let alone exercise. Wednesday I put in some volunteer hours with a conference that we were hosting so I literally worked all day - barely had time to stop to eat let alone workout. Then on Thursday, my friend Pam came to visit for the weekend from South Carolina. We ate out a couple times and I am super proud of the choices I made. We went to one of our favorite places, Mad Mex, and instead of getting the plate-sized burrito that I normally would have gotten, I got the chicken quesadilla. It was loaded with lots of chicken and veggies and had just a little cheese in it. On Saturday, we went to a tailgate and to the football game. I allowed myself to have one brownie and one sausage, but I resisted all the other delicious but not so good for you foods there, and didn't buy anything in the stadium....plus we walked A LOT. I made chili in the crock pot that was done when we got home and I had used both beef and turkey to make it a little healthier. We ended up eating that again on Sunday since there was a lot left over.
Given the week that I had, and that I didn't work out at all during the week, I could have done a lot of damage to my progress. But, I feel like I made some of the best choices I could given the circumstances I had. I avoided trigger foods, didn't eat any candy, didn't make any pumpkin seeds (which makes me so sad), and made some reasonably healthy choices while eating out without depriving myself. I'm pretty proud of myself and I think it really showed me that while I certainly don't want to have a week like that all the time, it's manageable. You can eat delicious foods and still lose weight. You don't have to deprive yourself - I even had a few drinks this weekend...I just limited it to one each day. I even made cupcakes to take to the tailgate and managed to avoid eating any of them!! There's still about half a dozen sitting in my apartment and they don't even look that tempting to me. I can do this.
So, my 21 days has officially come to an end, obviously that doesn't mean that I have to stop. I've been working these last three weeks with a "challenge group" on Facebook with other women who have also been doing it. I liked the accountability and support that came with it - people who were just starting and facing similar demons, people who had gone through it before and could share how much they hurt the first week too and tell us that it gets better, who would share recipes of things they tried and liked. There's another one with my coach starting on Nov. 9th that I've committed to joining. For this week I'm going to still follow the plan but go a little easy on myself...I may even eat the frozen homemade meatballs that have been staring me in the face for the last three weeks. Then, when the new group starts up next week, I'll be ready to tackle things again head on without losing any progress.
Initial weight: 254.4
Week 2: -2.0
Week 3: -1.2
Total weight loss: -5.8
Current weight: 248.6
I also took my measurements before and after and have lost 5.5 inches! Two from my waist, one from my hips, and two and a half from my thighs combined! I have no doubt that if I had done the exercises more these numbers would be even better. I can't wait to see how different they look the second time around.
I had a few people ask me about last weeks post and the answer to that actually ties in to this weeks post! No, I did not write a post last week because this past week was a bit of a disaster and I simply didn't get around to it.
Week 2 was overall, pretty great. I had spent that Sunday planning meals and precooking things. I hard-boiled a whole dozen eggs, I made a batch each of steel cut oatmeal and quinoa, then I grilled some chicken and baked some, too. I separated the oatmeal into individual containers and left the others together in large containers that I could just scoop out what I needed when I needed it. It was great! That whole week I was so good about sticking to my plan and having the things precooked so they just needed reheated was so nice! I even got a little bit braver with experimenting with foods and made an amazing substitute for chicken fried rice using quinoa and cauliflower instead of rice! The workouts were surprisingly easier and I had even bought myself a small set of hand weights to use during my workouts instead of the cans of sauce I had been using the week before.
I went home over the weekend to see my family and took all my stuff with me - the containers, my plan book, several of the Shakeology packets, and my workout DVD. In regards to food, I did pretty well while I was home. I used my containers, I talked with my mom about what foods I'd be able to eat and worked with what she was nice enough to fix for us. However, I did not do well with working out. It's a 3 1/2 hour drive, so I got in Friday evening and spent the evening catching up and not working out. Saturday we babysat 3 young girls pretty much all day and while I didn't do my actual workout, I did play Just Dance with them for about an hour so that was a fairly decent workout in itself! Sunday was much the same as Friday only in reverse....church, packing, early dinner, then driving...and of course because of weekend detours in Pittsburgh and a quick stop to drop something off to my brother, my 3 1/2 hour drive actually took about 5 hours. So, it was about 9 when I got back to my place and I hadn't eaten since about 3 that afternoon. But, I weighed myself Monday morning and I had still lost another 2 pounds! Woohoo!
Then Monday happened. The day started off well enough, but then right before the end of my workday I had a work issue go haywire. I ended up having to stay at work late, I hadn't done any of my food shopping or food prep since the drive in took so long the previous night, and by the time I was out of work I was so hungry and had no food to eat and was just mentally in a bad place because of the issue. I went straight to the store and got my groceries - for the most part I stuck solely to my shopping list and only deviated because I needed something to eat for that night. And despite my bad mood and my desire for nothing more than my couch and a tub of ice cream, I ignored the siren call of the stress food and went for the already prepared lemon chicken, green beans, and roasted potatoes. I didn't get my exercise in, and I didn't eat all the food I was supposed to for the day, but overall the day was a major win because I didn't succumb to the temptation.
Frankly, the rest of the week didn't get much better. The same issue went through the entire day Tuesday, and it again got to dinner and I had no food already prepared and no will to actually make anything let alone exercise. Wednesday I put in some volunteer hours with a conference that we were hosting so I literally worked all day - barely had time to stop to eat let alone workout. Then on Thursday, my friend Pam came to visit for the weekend from South Carolina. We ate out a couple times and I am super proud of the choices I made. We went to one of our favorite places, Mad Mex, and instead of getting the plate-sized burrito that I normally would have gotten, I got the chicken quesadilla. It was loaded with lots of chicken and veggies and had just a little cheese in it. On Saturday, we went to a tailgate and to the football game. I allowed myself to have one brownie and one sausage, but I resisted all the other delicious but not so good for you foods there, and didn't buy anything in the stadium....plus we walked A LOT. I made chili in the crock pot that was done when we got home and I had used both beef and turkey to make it a little healthier. We ended up eating that again on Sunday since there was a lot left over.
Given the week that I had, and that I didn't work out at all during the week, I could have done a lot of damage to my progress. But, I feel like I made some of the best choices I could given the circumstances I had. I avoided trigger foods, didn't eat any candy, didn't make any pumpkin seeds (which makes me so sad), and made some reasonably healthy choices while eating out without depriving myself. I'm pretty proud of myself and I think it really showed me that while I certainly don't want to have a week like that all the time, it's manageable. You can eat delicious foods and still lose weight. You don't have to deprive yourself - I even had a few drinks this weekend...I just limited it to one each day. I even made cupcakes to take to the tailgate and managed to avoid eating any of them!! There's still about half a dozen sitting in my apartment and they don't even look that tempting to me. I can do this.
So, my 21 days has officially come to an end, obviously that doesn't mean that I have to stop. I've been working these last three weeks with a "challenge group" on Facebook with other women who have also been doing it. I liked the accountability and support that came with it - people who were just starting and facing similar demons, people who had gone through it before and could share how much they hurt the first week too and tell us that it gets better, who would share recipes of things they tried and liked. There's another one with my coach starting on Nov. 9th that I've committed to joining. For this week I'm going to still follow the plan but go a little easy on myself...I may even eat the frozen homemade meatballs that have been staring me in the face for the last three weeks. Then, when the new group starts up next week, I'll be ready to tackle things again head on without losing any progress.
Initial weight: 254.4
Week 2: -2.0
Week 3: -1.2
Total weight loss: -5.8
Current weight: 248.6
I also took my measurements before and after and have lost 5.5 inches! Two from my waist, one from my hips, and two and a half from my thighs combined! I have no doubt that if I had done the exercises more these numbers would be even better. I can't wait to see how different they look the second time around.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)