Week 2 Weigh In + Goals

This week's weigh in was just as awesome as last week's.

Down 5.8 pounds this week for a total of 14.8 lost in the induction phase of the Dash eating plan. I am super excited about that. Now that I am eating more fruit and whole grain, I know it will slow up, but I can't believe I lost that much in TWO weeks! This definitely motivates me to keep going. 

I can't really tell a difference in the mirror, but I can definitely tell it in my clothes and the way they fit now. Pants are a little baggy (size 18- I'm short, only 5'2"), and I'm sort of between sizes now because 16s are still too tight. 

Exercise went well last week also. Tuesday, Friday, and Saturday on the bike. 

Oh, and with everything going on yesterday, I didn't even get a chance to do the 5k. I knew it was a possibility with my husband at work, and having the little one during the day alone. Then after Cub Scouts (which ran over 30 minutes until 8:30), I was just pooped last night. I will be going for a walk tomorrow at the Nature Trail since husband is off. I'll do a 5k then. 

I mentioned I would make a few weekly goals to hit from now on so here goes:

1. Exercise 4 times 
2. Get to bed by 10:30 during the week- Sunday-Thursday nights (I did last night already.) This will make getting up for school better. Not a morning person at all, even after 31 years!
3. Watch fruit and grain intake. Don't want these to get out of hand. 

This is a pretty good start, and I'll check back in next week to see how I did.

Wrapping Up the Week

I mentioned that I had pink eye Wednesday. In my right eye. And just my luck, I ended up with it in BOTH eyes. So I've been pretty miserable this week with sickness. But antibiotic eye drops and DayQuil did the trick, and I'm on the mend finally! The weather here is so crazy too. No snow, but cold one day and in the 60s three times next week (including 66! Tuesday). I still managed to work out on Friday morning and last night though. My eating has also stayed pretty much on track through all of it.

My workouts both included the bike, and even though I have Katie's 5K tomorrow, I haven't done any practice walks on my treadmill. It'll have to be on my treadmill and not outdoors because my husband works tomorrow and won't be able to watch the little one for me. When I did a 5k in November, I was able to do it at my local Nature Trail. It's off a lake, and goes up into the woods (a paved road). It's so beautiful and peaceful there. It's only 2000 feet from bottom to top and winds up through the woods. So I have to walk it, along with the riverwalk/boardwalk, about 3 times to get my 3 miles in.

So even though I haven't done any practice walks, I ready for it. I think I set a finish goal of less than 48 minutes, but the one I did in November was 46 minutes so I'm going to try to beat that time.

I don't think I am going to work out tonight, so I only got three workouts in this week. Still totaled over two hours in my three days though, so I can't be upset about that. I'm going to have to start setting weekly goals for myself so I know exactly what I want to accomplish for the week and review them at the end of the week.

My speed is improving!

10 Miles

So, I've been feeling under the weather since Sunday. Cold and pink eye. So I have had a couple of oranges and orange juice. Not DASH phase 1 compliant, but it did make me feel better. I'm actually going to look into Emergen-C and see if that will help. I've been sick a few times since October, and I'm so over it. Having 2 kids in elementary school now, they bring home germs all the time.

Also, since I've been tired and my taste bubs haven't been working, I have just been eating what I can the past two days, but I'm back on track today. I haven't even finished the whole book yet, but almost! I've been jumping around, looking at the shopping list, and some recipes I want to make. 

Last night, I worked out on my bike in spite of all this (did I mention AF also showed up Monday? Sheesh, everything hits at once!) I did the workout while listening to the Hamilton album. I am pretty obsessed with this album, and I wish I could see the Broadway musical. I don't know why I never thought to listen to music and sing (rap?) along while biking. I got into a groove and went almost 52 minutes on the bike and 10 miles!

As I mentioned, today I'm back on track with food, and will continue doing what I've been doing. Other than the cold, I can definitely tell a difference in my body. I feel better and have more energy. I'll just be glad when this sickness is gone!  

Weigh In (1/18)

Well this has been the best first week I have ever had on a "diet." Who knew cleaning up my eating for real, and cutting out the crap (as opposed to trying to work it into my points/calorie allowance) would lead to a NINE pound loss?! I'm pretty shocked and excited to say the least. Add to the fact that I didn't count calories: I just ate the foods that were allowed. I also ate foods that weren't really allowed yet, like oranges, blackberries, the apple chips, the apple juice in the dressing, and Quaker Oatmeal Squares. But I certainly ate no junk foods. And it showed on the scale this morning!

I also got my last workout in last night about 9. Again on the bike. I do have a treadmill I should put some use to also. I will definitely be using it when I walk Katie's birthday 5k next Monday, so some practice walks this week would be nice!

Last week I set a goal to exercise 4 day, 30 minutes each day. I did work out 4 days, but I totaled over 2.5 hours on the bike for the week. With the exception of Wednesday where I struggled through my workout, the other days' workouts flew by. On Monday I watched The Biggest Loser as I was working out. I tried to find programs that would make my workout go by faster on other days also. Again, I know that it will get easier as I get more into my routine and build up my stamina. 

Here's to a great second week!

Temptation Nation

As in years past, I have been watching the new season of the Biggest Loser on NBC. The theme for this season is Temptation Nation. Simple, and appropriate for America. The U.S. has, in the past few years, ranked anywhere from 9th to 26th on the list of World's Fattest Countries (from various sources or studies). The contestants have been tempted with money; $25,000 the first day to go home right then, and $40,000 for the second challenge. But they have been tempted with food most of all. All the foods they used to eat that got them to this point in their lives.

Yesterday, I went out to eat with my family. Ten of us at Ruby Tuesday celebrating my mom's birthday from Thursday. In line with the obesity/overweight rates in America, 6/10 of us fit into one or the other category. The food that was ordered! For appetizers, there were fire wings, boneless wings, shrimp fondue, and quesadilla ordered. I had none. "Salads" (a little lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, a TON of cheese, a TON of ham, and a TON of full fat ranch or thousand island dressing, plus pasta salad, and apple/grape salad with a mayonnaise dressing) from the garden bar were had by 6 people. I had none. 9/10 people had tea, soda, or strawberry lemonade. I had water.

Onto the entrees. There was steak with loaded mashed potatoes, steak with loaded baked potato, bacon cheese burger with fries, seafood sampler, chicken fingers, ribs, etc. I had looked up the menu the night before and knew what I was getting. I ordered the Chicken Bella with grilled zucchini and steamed broccoli. And it was delicious! I ate every bite, as by the time I finally got to eat, I was starving. Everyone else had been chomping on appetizers or salads for a least 30 minutes by the time I got my food! The chicken bella was 332 calories, the grilled zucchini was 41 calories, and the broccoli was 52 calories. For a grand total of 425 calories. I very proud of myself for sticking to my plan in the face of SO much temptation. I realize this is my first week on plan and I may not always be as strong, but I'm giving myself a little pat of the back for now. At a different time, I would have been tempted by all that food and would certainly have (over)indulged.

In other eating news, I loved the Panera salad I had so much, I decided to recreate it at home. I bought the ingredients on Thursday and made the salad for the first (and only so far) time on Friday. I was pretty good. The dressing recipe that I got from here tasted a little too vinegary to me. I think I'm going to make again, and try to play around with making it not taste so vinegary.

I also just made lettuce wraps for the first time ever. Nothing groundbreaking here obviously! 

(Romaine leaves, natural turkey, natural honey ham, one slice of swiss, light cucumber ranch dressing) Less than 260 calories

On Friday night, I got on the bike again. MUCH easier than Wednesday. I'll still need to exercise once more today to get my four days for the week. 

New Recipe

This week has been going well so far! I have exercised 2/3 days (Monday and Wednesday), and have been eating new to me things. Yesterday, I went to Panera Bread for maybe the second or third time ever. But this was the first time I've gotten anything healthy there. Pretty sure I remember getting a greasy steak melt there once. But yesterday I got the Fuji Apple Chicken salad in the half size.

Oh my word! It was delicious. Too bad it's 40 minutes away and I can't get it often for a lunch option. This will be my go to when we go into the big city from now on.

I also tried a new recipe last night. It was just frozen and pre-made stuff from the store, so it required almost no effort on my part. I made fajita-less shrimp fajitas. I made it with frozen extra small shrimp, frozen tri-color peppers, and Wholly guacamole. I took 10 minutes from start to plate. I sprayed the pan with butter flavored Pam, and threw the shrimp and peppers in and sauteed them until they were cooked through. After I plated them, I drizzled them with a couple of tablespoons of the guacamole. The finished product (and please note that I am NOT a food blogger-their food always looks so good!):

Even though it may not look so good, it was so yummy and filling. I will definitely be making this again. Maybe for lunch though. I only made something for one because my older kids were with my mom, and the baby is sick. My older boys love shrimp, but have never tried guacamole. Not sure they'd be a fan of the peppers either as they were a bit spicy.

On the exercise front, I biked 41 minutes on Monday night, and then struggled through a workout last night. I was so tired after being out all day. It reinforced to me just how out of shape I've let myself get. I know I'll get there in terms of endurance, but for now it's tiring.

Weigh In and Getting Started

First things first:

Pretty disappointed in this number to say the least. But it is my starting point, and I want never to see a number this high ever again!

Also, this came today:

I'll be cracking it open and start reading tonight.

Even though I haven't read the book yet, I still had a great on plan day. It's always hard getting used to eating healthfully again. I've been pretty much eating whatever the heck I've wanted to since Thanksgiving if I'm being honest. But I feel I'm at a good place to start getting healthy.

 My weight loss efforts have always been vanity based. This time, for the first time, it's about my health. I really don't want to be on medicines forever or die early because I didn't give my all to get healthy.

I'm actually off to exercise on my bike now. I'll be incorporating aerobic exercises into my plan as well. To start, I'm committing to 30 minutes, 4 days a week. I don't want to get burnt out on exercise as this is something I usually struggle with when dieting in the past.

Hello World!

I've decided to start this blog to chronicle my weight loss and experience with the DASH dietary approach. My book actually won't be here until tomorrow, but I'll be starting tomorrow all the same. There is enough information on the internet to get me started, plus I'm in the Facebook group. This is the book that I got:

  The Dash Diet Weight Loss Solution: 2 Weeks to Drop Pounds, Boost Metabolism, and Get Healthy (A DASH Diet Book)

A little introduction of myself: I am a 31 year old, married, full time mom of three little ones. I love it, but I have let my weight and health fall to the wayside while focusing on raising kids. My oldest son (7) has autism, and I have a 6 year old and a 13 month old. They keep me busy, but I know I need to take more time and focus on myself and my health.

My doctor actually told me about this approach to eating. I've recently been diagnosed with high blood pressure and high cholesterol. She is letting me try to bring down my cholesterol without medicine, and will recheck it in three months on April 4th. No so though with my b/p. It was running 174/114 and 150/102 in the office, so I am on Losartan daily and Clonidine as needed for b/p over 150/90. I've had to buy a blood pressure monitor and check my b/p twice a day. 

She would obviously like to see me lose weight, eat healthier, and exercise to get my health problems under control. She suggested the DASH plan because it's not some get-skinny-quick meal replacement/shake/pill/whatever deals where I don't learn anything from it. This will steer me away from processed foods toward more fresh/whole foods. Gotta say, though, I'm nervous. This isn't usually the way I lose weight, so maybe it is for the best, because none of those others were lasting. 

I will post my weight tomorrow after I officially weigh in in the morning. Plus more about my plan.