Weigh In 2/29 + Leap Day Plans

Last week was a good week. I was healthy and sickness free. Fingers crossed this stays this way! My food intake was on point, and I exercised 3 times.

A great NSV from yesterday: I was able to wear size 15 jeans. I started the beginning of this year wearing 18 women's/19 junior's. So I'm down 2 jean sizes! Pretty stoked about that.

It makes sense though because my legs and butt are the first things to go when I lose weight. I so wish I were a pear shape, but alas, I'm not. My boobs have hardly gone down, and my arms need serious work. I wish there was a gym close to me, so that I could do some strength training. I may just have to resort to YouTube videos or something.

Moving on...I lost 1.2 pounds this week for a total of 26 pounds total lost! Happy for a loss after last week.

I worked out twice on my bike last week (Tuesday/Wednesday) and walked yesterday at the Nature Trail. It was my first time back since the day before Valentine's Day. And I FINALLY got to use my Garmin 10! Unfortunately, I didn't realize it was still "getting location" for almost 8 minutes after I started walking. So I can't really compare it to the Fitbit (it picked up the whole walk).

I also went grocery shopping yesterday at Walmart and Sam's and got in a lot of steps. I got my largest daily step count yet in.

Awesome Step Count!

For Leap Day, Katie at Runs for Cookies has mentioned she is doing a 4 mile run. Well, I am not running, but I want to go to the Nature Trail today and get in a four mile walk. I would like to do it faster than 18:30, which is my current record there. I've mentioned before that it is uphill for 2000 feet and then you come back down. It is still a struggle for me going uphill, especially the last winding hill. If I can ever get my speed up going uphill, my pace will be much better. I would love to work on improving my speed today.

I'll report how the walk goes tomorrow!

 

Foodie Friday

Last week I was sick, and barely ate anything, but this week, I've been enjoying real food again! I've been sticking to my plan for the most part, but there has been maybe a bit too much sugar. I went to Sam's on Tuesday, and instead of getting my usual 2 pounds of plain pecans (they last for at least 2 months!), I decided to buy these:

Because they are so small, and taste sooo good, I usually eat two servings at a time for snack. It's only once a day, but I should limit it to one serving.

That's about all I've been snacking on this week.

For breakfast twice this week, I've had my strawberry banana smoothie. It's very simple, four ingredients. Frozen strawberries, a small banana, tablespoon of turbinado sugar, and unsweetened vanilla almond milk. And lots of ice of course. It's a great way to get in some fruit in the morning.

My lunches have consisted of salads. I also bought a 2 pound bag of Romaine lettuce at Sam's to be used up by March the 6th and some DELICIOUS grape tomatoes. So I've been making Caesar salads for lunch with the Jack Daniels chicken strips, lettuce, Parmesan, and tomatoes.

Between the salad and smoothie, I hit my 5 fruit/veggie servings daily goal every day!

My dinners have varied this week. Monday night's dinner was Jack Daniels steak strips, tri color peppers, baby bella mushrooms, sour cream, and white corn and black bean salsa.

My guacamole expired, so that was left off :(

Last night, my husband grilled pork chops on the George Foreman grill. I used Mrs. Dash Lemon Pepper to season mine. It was my first time using it, and it was really good. The rest of the family had mashed potatoes, but I paired my pork chop with broccoli and cheese and grape tomatoes. Yum!

Just a sampling of what I've been eating this week as I'm feeling better! 

Weigh In 2/22

What a week it has been! Sick for the umpteenth time this winter with a respiratory infection. I did 0 exercise for the first time this year I believe. The last time I worked out was Saturday the 13th, a walk at the nature trail. That was actually a really good day for my steps and all. I walked my longest distance so far, 4.26 miles in 1:18:54 (18:30 pace). I took a rest day that Sunday since I had hit my exercise target for the week. Then last Monday, I woke up with a ragged cough. I thought it would be nothing, but nope.

I am all better now though, and will be back at exercising today! Bike tonight, and tomorrow and Wednesday- nature trail (Hubby's off). I still have yet to use this...

And to ward off any future sickness, I bought these...

Since I lived off orange juice and soup, it's no surprise then that I had a significant loss. Pretty sure for breakfast this morning I have eaten more calories than I ate daily Monday-Friday last week. So these results are definitely not typical, haha.

The best thing about last week and being sick was that I was able to start and finish a pretty lengthy book that I have had on my list for a while. I love to read, and actually my only resolution this year involved reading. I wanted to read 24 books this year, so two a month. One of my favorite authors is John Grisham, and I have yet to read his latest few books. So after finishing up a Nicholas Sparks book (The Rescue- so good!), I started on the "sequel" to A Time to Kill.

Sycamore Row turned out to be very good and I finished the whole book by Saturday, over 600 pages. Now on to The Racketeer.

So onward and back to normal this week!

Sick

All week. Since my walk on Saturday really. This is why I don't do cold, haha. I need to learn to dress properly I suppose (for this I mean cover my whole face up except my eyes maybe- to keep wind from getting into my lungs). I'll be glad when it warms up and winter is over. Pointless post, but I wanted to remember why I didn't post this week.

I've been living off of orange juice, chicken noodle soup, DayQuil, and antibiotics. Not on plan and definitely not exercising. Hopefully this respiratory infection leaves me soon!

Weigh In 2/15

It's been a busy day today, nice weather (68*, although we are currently under a tornado watch),  but I wanted to make sure I got my weigh in posted.

I lost 1.6 pounds this week for a total of 20.6! This means I will be getting my first reward, the pedicure. I am so happy with how this last month has gone. I am thisclose to "ONE"derland!! Here's to seeing it soon!

I did good last week with regard to my food and exercise also, and I will do a recap tomorrow with my goals. I finally downloaded Momentum to track my goals so that's pretty neat.

My husband also got me a Garmin Forerunner 10 for my walks at the nature trail. Too bad it's raining today because he is off. I probably won't get to use it until Friday, but I'm still super excited about it. Of course, because he got me the watch, I need a new reward for 30 pounds lost. I'm sure I can think of something, haha.

Treadmill Walk

I planned on going to the river walk to walk again yesterday, but the temp was in the mid 40s, and I don't do cold. I decided to use my treadmill that I haven't used in almost 2 years (since before I got pregnant with my baby). The stats really boggled my mind. I felt like I was flying going 3.2 or 3.3. It certainly felt like I was going faster than I do outside. I go at a pretty easy pace, even up through the winding trail that's straight up 2000 feet.

The treadmill is mostly flat. A little incline, but nothing serious. It is a cheap Weslo one from Walmart, and the incline can't be adjusted at all. I was breathing hard and sweating pretty good after about 10 minutes. Of course, it's warmer in my house than outdoors, but I did have the fan on. These are my stats:

Splits:

Compared with my walk last Thursday:

So when I was walking, it seems to me, a slower, more relaxed pace outside, I was going 43 seconds faster per mile than on the treadmill? Not only that, outside I was not even tired. This morning I am sore. The place where the top of my thigh meets my bottom is sore. (I'm sure there's a name for that place, but I don't know it, and am too lazy to look it up.) My back hurts also. I really felt like I was going faster on the treadmill. 

Plus the calories were very different too. My treadmill asks me nothing about my weight or age. It just has some general algorithm for calculating calories burned in x distance and y time. And the fitbit is probably off as well. I may need to get a heart rate watch sooner than later. That way I'll know a pretty accurate calorie/pace count. 

Goals and Rewards

Since I'm approaching 20 pounds down, I thought I should reward myself with something (none food, of course). It has been so embarrassingly long since I've had a pedicure, so I decided to do that. Then I decided that I should probably make rewards an every-ten-pound thing. This is what I came up with:

20 pounds lost- 200.8- Pedicure
30 pounds lost- 190.8- Garmin 10
40 pounds lost- 180.8- Pioneer Woman Cooking Set, Dutch Oven
50 pounds lost- 170.8- DSLR camera
60 pounds lost- 160.8- Massage/Spa Day
70 pounds lost- 150.8- New Clothes (because I have clothes in totes down to this size/weight.)
80 pounds lost- 140.8- TBD
88 pounds lost- 132 (GOAL!)- TBD

Those last two being to be decided because I honestly can't fathom those weights. My goal has been 132 since forever. I would put me at a "normal" BMI, me being 5'1.5". The goals that I do have are definitely motivating though. I would love to reach every single one of those weights so that I can get the rewards.

Moving on to goals, these were my goals from last week:

1. Exercise 4 times. (Exercised 6 times.)
2. Get to bed by 11. (All but Thursday.)
3. Get in 3 veggies daily. (I honestly can't remember, but I think I did. I need to get the Momentum app!)
4. Get water intake up. (Check, check.)

I did pretty good last week!

This week , my challenge is to fight hormones, and NOT eat Valentine's candy. I've already told my husband not to get me any chocolate. What he's gotten me the last couple of years is not available this year anyway, so I'll take that as a sign, haha. That pretty much leaves nothing for me then because I don't care for cards or flowers. I'm weird I know.

Anyway, goals for this week:

1. Exercise at least 4 times. 
2. Bed by 11.
3. Avoid Valentine's candy!
4. Do a household project this weekend. 

Weigh- In (2/8)

I had a great week last week. I really stepped up my workout game and stayed on track. Plus, I really think my mind and body are adjusting to this form of eating. I shouldn't gush too, too much, lest I jinx things!

I have had some weird cravings lately. While feeding my baby grits, I suddenly have the urge to eat cheese grits. Why?? Lol, I haven't had those in FOREVER. Years, a least. AF is on the horizon, and should be making an appearance this week or early next week. So maybe it's just pms.

The scale this morning showed 201.8 for 3 pounds lost this week, and 19 pounds in 4 weeks. I earned every ounce this week. If only all weeks could be like this! Jk, I know slow and steady win the race, but it's nice to be rewarded by the scale when I put the effort in.

Now that it is pleasant weather here, I am able to get back to the river walk. I went one day last week, but I'll definitely do it more in the coming weeks. I blasted Hamilton musical songs, and the time just flew by. It's better for me to go in the afternoon after it has had a chance to warm up. So I can only do it when hubby is off work.

Pretty much blew it out of the water with activity on Thursday!

I also did the Just Dance again on Thursday. Clearly I need to change the sweat program down a notch since I only worked out on the Wii twice last week. I'll do the middle program this week, and see if I can reach my goal. I ended up doing 9 songs, trying some ones I haven't done in a while. My kids like to try to dance along with me, so that's fun for them too.

Lastly, I got in four workouts on my bike- Monday, Tuesday, Saturday, and Sunday. On Saturday, I went my longest distance and time so far. 13 miles in 64 minutes. I was listening to my Spice Girls station on Pandora, reliving the 90s, lol! Working out on the bike has certainly gotten easier since the beginning, as long as I'm staying consistent with it.

Anyway, looking forward to another great week this week!

Foodie Friday

I wanted to make a post showing some of the things I've been eating. I've cleaned up my eating a lot in this past month. Lately, I've been craving chicken caesar salads, and I made a strawberry banana smoothie with unsweetened vanilla almond milk tonight that was so good! Too bad I didn't get a picture of it though. I'll be making it again tomorrow I'm sure.

Last weekend I made a taco soup in the Crock-Pot.

This was so good. I adapted it from The Frugal Girls recipe. I used chicken breasts instead of ground beef and no salt added canned foods. I got 7 one cup servings out of the pot. I only have one more jar as I have eaten one every day this week (I ate one cup on Sunday also). 

I found a yogurt that I love also, Oikos Greek Triple Zero Strawberry. I add in granola I found at Target and it makes an awesome afternoon snack. 

(My granola is almost gone!)

Another snack I've been enjoying is carrot chips and a Greek yogurt Ranch dressing that I saw on Christina's blog Love Yourself Healthy. You wouldn't even know this is made from Greek yogurt. It is yummy!

Finally, my simple chicken Caesar salad. I found some Jack Daniels chicken strips that are delicious. I had this as a side salad for dinner Wednesday and Thursday for lunch. 

Just a sampling of what I've been eating this week. Still making good choices!

Wordless Wednesday

Goals

Let's review some goals. Last week I set three goals for the week:

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.

I did exercise 4 times. So a point there. Getting to bed before 10:30 was more difficult. I did it the first two nights, then went to bed after 11 the other nights. But that is an improvement over midnight. 

The fruit intake was good, but I did overdo it a bit with grains. I had oatmeal and granola in my yogurt both in the same day a few days, but I still had a good loss, so I don't think it affected me too much.

This week my goals will pretty much be the same, but I need to make sure I'm still getting my green veggies in like I had been the first couple of weeks. So...

1. Exercise 4 times.
2. Get to bed by 11. 
3. Get in 3 veggies daily. 
4. Get water intake up. 

These are attainable for me, and I'm sure I can do all of them!  We'll see in a week!

Weigh-In 2/1

This last week pretty much flew by. Lots going on with the kids, taxes to be prepared/filed (still not finished). Plus my husband's birthday was Saturday. We went to Longhorn, and I was not on plan, but I think I did good. I got the Wild West Shrimp appetizer, and ate a little more than half. It was so good (cause I was really hungry by the time we got to eat, what with a 30 minute wait and all), but greasy and battered too. It upset my tummy the rest of the night!

Even though I only got one post in last week, I wasn't off eating whatever and not exercising though. In fact, my workouts for the week were great. I even finally did something other than biking yesterday. I went back in time and pulled out my Just Dance 2 for the Wii and did six songs. I earned over 3000 sweat points, and was exhausted by the time I finished. Dancing really burns calories and gets your heart rate up!

For my other 3 workouts on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday, I did do the bike. Over an hour on Tuesday and Friday, and 30 minutes on Wednesday. Saturday was pretty active also because we went to a strip mall type place and did a LOT of walking to and from stores, as well as walking around inside of a few stores. I got in over 11,000 steps on Saturday. Steps aren't something I normally track or set a goal for because my daily step count is usually paltry. Unless I go to the Nature Trail or something, I don't go over 6000-7000 or so steps in a day. But I obviously get exercise in other ways, so it's good.

To the weigh in. I was really expecting to be up this week after losing so much the last two weeks. Especially since I've been reading posts on the Facebook page about other people gaining a little in week three. Something about the body adjusting after adding grains and fruits back in. And to be perfectly honest, I overdid it a bit with grains last week. So I was happy to see that I lost 1.2 more pounds this week for a total of 16 pounds lost!

Onward and Downward!