August Summary and Week 10 & 11 Weigh In

I missed last week’s weigh in post so this will have to be a 2 for 1 post. First lets start off with a review of August.

In August I….

• Lost 8.8 pounds
• Lost 7 inches
• Dropped below the 100 pound mark of what I have left to lose
• Shifted cardio to less walking and more elliptical
• Added fitness classes to my exercise routine – Body Combat, Body Pump, Body Flow & Body Step
• Increased the intensity level of my exercise - less time, but more calories burned
• Exercised 19+ hours and earned 234 activity points
• Joined a 2nd gym (for the fitness classes) and mixed it in with my workout schedule
• Added a 3rd day/week to weight training -  2 with trainer & Body Pump class (the inches lost show that benefit)
• Started C25K program at end of month (1st day ran 8 minutes)
• Tracked my food every day
• Stayed on program 100%
• Tried new vegetables and ate a wider variety of fruits and veggies

August was my second full month on Weight Watchers and I have a lot to smile about! I continued to challenge myself. I took a big step adding the classes in. There were times I wondered what the heck I was doing in Body Step or Body Combat, but I stayed and finished them.

My August weight loss was about the same as my July loss, but what was huge was the inches lost. In July I lost 4 5/8 inches compared to 7 inches lost in August. That really shows how much weight training can make a difference. I started working with the personal trainer on July 24th. After a full month incorporating weights into my routine I almost doubled the inches lost.

That is amazing to me.

What is also amazing is the difference in my workouts. I exercised about 8 hours less in August than July, but by increasing the intensity and changing the type of exercise I actually earned more activity points = more calories burned.

Now time to catch up on Week 10 & 11 Weight In’s. One was good and one was a less than stellar showing:

I was down 2.2 in Week 10 and .6 in Week 11. In Week 10 I earned my 20 pound ribbon at my Weight Watchers meeting. Week 11 put me over 30 pounds loss total.  Both things to celebrate.

I think the difference in losses week to week has to do with a couple of things. First exercise –definitely in Week 11 I didn’t have as good of a week. I pulled my calf muscle in yoga and then was sick missing back to back days, so I had 3 off days for the week. It would have been 4 but I dragged my butt to the gym Wednesday night to get one more workout in.

Looking at it in summary for the week, it was only 20 minutes less week to week, but it was 15 points less activity points earned. I didn’t have as much cardio in Week 11.

On the food side of things, tracking and staying on plan points wise was good both weeks. But I know what impacted last week (Week 11) -  more alcohol over the weekend and too many starchy foods (potatoes and corn) during the week. By weigh in day yesterday I felt like my stomach was full of potatoes.

I was feeling like I was in an exercise funk earlier Wednesday morning. That had to be dealt with immediately. It has been a busy week at work and I haven’t had time to map out more than a day to day schedule. But that will be done this weekend so that I survive the next two weeks where exercise time will be a challenge.

I cancelled this weekends painting plans. The only deadline for that is our own and really, I don’t want to have a bad workout weekend going into next week with Mike and I gone on back to back trips. We’ll end up with a lower key weekend with the kiddos which will be good since Mike and I will both be gone for a few days.

I also decided to continue working with my personal trainer. When I started I wasn’t sure if I really wanted to work with a trainer. I am finding it working so well I am not ready to give it up and now for the next 6 months I don’t have to.

WEEK 10 GOALS:

• Track food and activity each day – DONE
• Exercise at least 5-7 days averaging 45 minutes per workout – DONE Week 10 – fell short in Week 11
• Strength training with trainer 2x – DONEWeek 10, missed one Week 11
• Take 3 classes this week including Body Pump - DONEWeek 10, missed one Week 11
• Navigate potluck at work Monday – DONE Visited with co-workers at potluck, but brought my own lunch

WEEK 12 GOALS:

• Track food and activity each day
• Work with trainer 2x
• Body Pump, Body Flow, Body Combat – 1x each
• Couch To 5K Training 3x
• Plan out workouts for next week – traveling and Mike out of town
• Choose wisely for dinner out with family on Saturday

An Exercise Funk Needs A Plan

“If you fail to plan. You plan to fail.” - Harvey MacKay

It is so easy for it to happen. Sunday I pulled my calf muscle at yoga class. I tried to stretch it out that night with the foam roller but the pain was still there on Monday, so I took a rest day.

Tuesday I woke up at 4:45 a.m. for Body Combat but I was achy, feverish, and all around flu-ish. It’s quarter end at work, and there was no way possible I could stay home. I skipped Body Combat. By 10:00 a.m., I knew I would have to cancel the appointment with my trainer I had for Tuesday night.

Now, it’s Wednesday morning. I am starting to feel good again but I didn’t get my butt up out of bed, and I now need to get ready for work. I don’t have a game plan for today’s workout. This gets me in trouble.

I only have 1 session in my training package. I would like to continue, but it is expensive. I haven’t made up my mind and because of that I feel like my work out routine is completely up in the air.

I also  am getting concerned about how I am going to get my workouts in next weekend. I have a trip planned to go to Dallas for the weekend. When I get home, Mike leaves for Dallas for a few days. I am less worried about my trip. I will be by myself and should be able to get my work outs done in the morning before my conference.

When Mike is gone, that is another story. For the first time since our kids were born, I will be on my own taking care of them for 3 days during the week. I have to work (although I have arranged to work from home for those 3 days) and the kids have school. I know lots of people have to manage this and more, but it isn’t something I am used to doing. And in the past I would just take those days off from working out, but I don’t really want to do that. I just need a plan.

That is what all this is boiling down to. I don’t feel like I have a plan.

Today I will figure it out. Today I will make a plan.

On The Weight Watchers Menu This Week 9/1/2012 - 9/7/2012

Breakfast

• Saturday & Weekdays – Greek yogurt, Kashi Go Lean cereal with blueberries
• Sunday – egg and egg whites with mushrooms and peppers, toast with Laughing Cow spread and bacon
• Monday – Melt Away Banana Pancakes

Lunches

• Weekdays – Easy Potato Soupwith half sandwich wrap and fruit
• Weekend – Buffalo chicken wraps with fruit and pretzel crisps or pop chips

Dinners

Saturday

• Cheesy burgers with sautéed mushrooms & onions (no bun)
• Baked Chipotle Sweet Potato Frieswith light ranch dip (light sour cream and ranch dip mix)
• Grilled Corn on the Cob

Sunday – Another repeat from last week it was so good we are making it for friends

• Hard Rock Café Shrimp Fajitas(using corn tortillas and light sour cream)
• Skinny Baked Jalapeno Poppers
• Homemade Guacamole with tortilla chips
• Skinny Pumpkin Pie

Monday – Thursday

• Almost Fried Chicken
• Slim Potato Casserole
• Escarole Green Salad with Homemade Vinaigrette (2 servings – 1 tsp. olive oil, 2 tbsp. balsamic vinegar, 1 tsp. honey, 1 tsp. Dijon mustard, fresh ground black pepper – 1 Weight Watchers Points Plus per serving)

Friday

• Buffalo Chicken Flatbread Pizza (substituting Flat Out Light flatbreads for pizza dough) – We made this last Friday night and it was my favorite pizza we have made since we started lightening up our pizzas. I adjusted the amounts and will post the way I made it later this week.

Snacks

• Fruit or veggies
• Weight Watchers String Cheese
• Fiber One Bars
• Popcorn
• Skinny Cow Ice Cream or Bars

Week 9 Weigh In, a New Gym & Fitness Classes - YIKES!

I am late getting this post done, I don’t know where the last week has gone. My next weigh in is tomorrow, so I better get last week’s done now. The biggest obstacle of the week I thought would be a date night for our anniversary.

I was comfortable enough this week to wear a dress, a sleeveless one no less.

It turned out that a change in my exercise routine and schedule was more of a challenge for me this week.

After taking my first spin class a few weeks ago, I caught the fitness class bug. I had just joined YouFit not even one month ago and I have been working out with a personal trainer. That has been going great, but I still wanted more options.

So my anniversary gift was a 2nd gym membership to Fitness Works so I could have access to more classes. Once I joined I got a little overwhelmed by all the options.

I finally decided to try the Body Step class.  I thought, “I used to do step all the time and was pretty good at it.”  5 minutes into the class I wanted to cry, I couldn’t believe I had thought I could do this class the more I thought about it I realized that I had not done a step class in 17 years.

Why did I think I was ready for this? I was on the far side of the room and I didn’t want to have to put my step away and walk out of the class. Again I wanted to cry. I just tried to keep up the best I could and keep moving even if I couldn’t do the steps that the instructor was doing. When I started to take things at my own pace I started to look around and saw others that were definitely in better shape than me needed to make modifications as well.

That is when I kicked myself in the butt and fought those voices in my head telling me I couldn’t do this. Everyone has to start somewhere, and this is my somewhere. The negative thoughts were pushed aside and I fought through to the very end. I was tired but so proud of myself for not giving up.

I survived Body Step and pondered what my next class would be. My friend Cindy (the one that conned me into a spin class) teaches Body Combat early Tuesday mornings. On Monday I told her I was going to be there. I didn’t sleep well that night afraid I would oversleep when my alarm went off at 4:40 a.m. She texted me as my back up plan.

Committing to Cindy I would be there was good motivation, it made me show up. I knew this class would be hard, so I did the best I could and Cindy kicked my butt. I definitely had a hard time keeping up, but again I kept moving through the whole class and I finished.

That night I had an appointment with my personal trainer and she showed me no mercy. I made the mistake of telling her I was able to do a real plank at the step class over the weekend, so guess what she made me do. I made it 10 seconds at least twice.

This will get easier as the weight comes off and I keep at it.

I would say overall I had a good exercise week I had 4 really good workouts including really increasing my speed on the elliptical workouts.  I tried and achieved new things, but the change in routine threw me off and I had 3 days off. I would prefer to keep it to 1-2 off days.

On the food front, staying on track for the week was easier than I expected even with our date night out.

My weigh in for the week was about what I expected. I had a big loss last week, so I didn’t think I would lose as much this week. I was right.

I still am at a 2 pound a week average so I am totally okay with the lower loss this week. At my meeting when I weighed in, I was asked if it was what I expected. It made me realize in the past I would have been mad at that kind of loss given how much I exercised and how well I stayed on track.

This time I am really looking at overall progress and I had bigger NSV’s (non-scale victories) this week and I was really happy about that.

I shared my experience with the Body Step and Body Combat classes at my meeting and I hope that sharing my choice to not give up will encourage someone else that needs that push.

WEEK 9 GOALS:

• Track food and activity each day  - DONE
• Exercise at least 5-7 days averaging 45 minutes per workout – MISSED 3 DAYS ENDED UP SHORT ON NUMBER OF WORKOUTS, BUT EXCEEDED TIME TARGET
• Strength training with trainer 2x  - DONE
• Stay on plan on our anniversary (eating breakfast and dinner out)  - DONE
• Look into fitness classes – JOINED FITNESS WORKS & TOOK BODY STEP & BODY COMBAT

WEEK 10 GOALS:

• Track food and activity each day
• Exercise at least 5-7 days averaging 45 minutes per workout
• Strength training with trainer 2x
• Take 3 classes this week including Body Pump
• Navigate potluck at work Monday

On The Weight Watchers Menu This Week 8/25 - 8/31

More brussels sprouts and cauliflower to get creative with with our Bountiful Basket this week which also included 6 Anaheim peppers and 6 onions. We still have tomatoes left from last weeks 20 lb. box to finish up too.

We also got a fajita pack add on (3 green and 3 red peppers, 2 onion, garlic, dried Anaheim and adobe chili peppers)

Mike has a cold again (less than 2 weeks after getting over the last one) and after lots of cooking last week, we are keeping this week easy with a few nights of leftovers.

Breakfast

• Monday – Saturday - Greek yogurt, Kashi Go Lean cereal with blueberries
• Sunday – egg and egg whites with mushrooms and peppers, toast with Laughing Cow spread and bacon

Lunches

• Weekdays – Quinoa w/ black beans, corn and Mike’s Pico De Gallo with fruit and Baked Caprese Stuffed Tomato
• Weekend – Frozen Smart Ones with fruit and pretzel crisps

Dinners

Saturday

• Cheesy burgers with sautéed mushrooms & onions (no bun)
• Baked Cauliflower Poppers
• Crispy Brussels Sprouts with Garlic Aioli  (substitute Greek yogurt for mayo)

Sunday

• Hard Rock Café Shrimp Fajitas (using corn tortillas and light sour cream)
• Skinny Baked Jalapeno Poppers

Monday & Tuesday

• Leftover Hard Rock Café Shrimp Fajitas (recipe linked above)

Wednesday & Thursday

• Whole wheat pasta w/ ground turkey and Roasted Tomato Marinara Sauce
• Green Salad

Friday

• Buffalo Chicken Flatbread Pizza (substituting Flat Out Light flatbreads for pizza dough)

Snacks

• Fruit or veggies
• Weight Watchers String Cheese
• Fiber One Bars
• Popcorn
• Skinny Cow Ice Cream or Bars

Losing Weight and Getting Fit Is Possible

As I was leaving the gym last Thursday night I realized that I belong there. For so long the thought of going to the gym was more than I could deal with, so I didn’t. We had a family membership at the local rec center for close to 2 years before I ever stepped foot in there. I went once did 30 minutes on the treadmill, left and never went back.

A month ago I decided I needed to add strength training to my workouts. It was time to add to the walking I was doing for exercise. I was having knee pain when I tried to run so I knew I couldn’t do that quite yet. I decided it was time to venture out to a gym again. I also decided I was going to give working out with a personal trainer another chance, someday I will have to write about why that was a big hurdle for me to overcome. I am very glad I did.

My trainer, Michelle is awesome at kicking my butt. For my part, I will not allow myself to complain or whine about doing anything she makes me do during a workout. I give everything I have to finish a set even when I start to feel like it is not possible. I just dig deep and keep going.

The workout we did last Thursday was hard. She wanted me to keep going until I couldn’t do any more reps. I have programmed myself to keep going until she tells me to stop, so it was hard for me to stop on my own. By the time we got to the end and she wanted me to try to do a plank, something I have never been able to do in the past I did not want to fail.

She showed me how to modify the move and told me to try. I visualized myself doing it and not immediately falling down. And you know what? I did it, not for long, but I did it.

The past week has been full of reflection of my efforts at losing weight and getting fit since I hit my highest weight last August. I had a good start last year but stumbled. As I look at then and now I see a lot of differences in where my head is at now versus a year ago.

THEN:

It was one year ago this month when I thought I really had had enough. It was the week I started on the Dr. Oz 14-day Diet, which I followed diligently for 2 1/2 months and lost 25 pounds by the end of October. I felt good but when life started to get in the way it became harder to follow and my commitment waned. Little by little I got off track and by the holiday’s hit the program had been abandoned. I managed to keep off 20 of it through the end of the year.

I wasn’t exercising regularly during that time. I was still recovering from foot surgery and the only exercise I was getting was at physical therapy. I was okayed only to ride the stationary bike or swim, which did not appeal to me at all. I wanted to walk, and I did not want to get up early.

When I was okayed to walk again, I never pushed that hard when I did actually get out the door. I would walk 1.5 miles in about 35 minutes, and never tried to get any faster.

As the new year started I had lots of starts and stops of getting back on track, but I couldn’t make anything stick. By the time June 2012 rolled around and I rejoined Weight Watchers I had gained back 15.5 pounds of the 25 I had lost.

NOW:

Since joining Weight Watchers in June staying on plan has really become just part of what I do. Making better choices just happens now. I don’t eat anything without tracking it, and usually I have most of what I am going to eat in a day planned ahead of time.

Most of my meals every day are filled with fruit, vegetables, good proteins, and whole grain. I avoid a lot of simple carbs because they are high in points and not as filling.

But, I don’t eat “perfectly healthy” every day or every meal. I drink alcohol and eat ice cream on most days. Those are the things I choose to have. I enjoy them, every bite, every sip.

I bring my lunch. I eat take out less often. I don’t randomly eat the food that may sit outside of my office some days. I pass on the bagels someone brought in because it’s Friday. I skip the birthday cake from Costco. It’s not that I can’t have any of these things, I just can’t have all of them and lose weight. Usually now I really don’t want them. In the past I would mindlessly grab them, because they were there.

I no longer eat high calorie (point) foods without really thinking about whether I really want them. That is really all it is. I stop and think, before I grab and eat. Being mindful of what I put in my mouth helps me make better food choices.

When I go out to a restaurant, I look at the menu before I go. I have changed the restaurant we are going to before because it just isn’t worth the effort to make a good choice there. I find plenty of delicious things to eat at restaurants that allow me to stay on plan.

Exercise is no longer a matter of “if I have time”, it is part of my day almost every day of the week. I don’t look for excuses not to go, I look for ways to get it done. There were a few days I didn’t plan my day well enough and missed working out; I was disappointed in my poor planning and made sure it didn’t happen again the next day.

The other thing about exercising now is I don’t just go through the motions. I use everything I have and push as hard as I can during whatever amount of time I have that day.

I have a busy life, just like most people that work full time and have little kids. All of these things didn’t happen overnight. It really didn’t take that long to make these changes. I made little changes everyday and stuck to them. And I continue to do that everyday.

I made planning and tracking my food a priority.

I made time for exercise non-negotiable.

I invested money into joining a gym and hiring a personal trainer. It wasn’t money I had sitting around, I made a choice to invest in my health rather than buying scrapbooking supplies, eating dinners out or decorating my house. All things the money probably would have been used for in the past. In the long run it will be cheaper than doctors visits and medications for obesity related health issues and diseases.

I have found every reason and excuse in my past to not make this happen. I was always too busy with work, kids, life. If I can do it anyone can. I’m just saying we all make choices of how we use our time and how we schedule our lives. If you want to find the time you will. Sometimes we aren’t ready. I believe I am ready now.

The biggest difference now is my mental approach to getting healthy. I now really believe that I can lose weight. I believe that I can become athletic. I have already seen a change in my strength and endurance in just a couple of months.

I want to run a 5K, do a triathlon, hike some local trails, and lots of other things that I never dreamed of doing before. I can see myself achieving these things, and when I am pushing through something hard at the gym I picture myself crossing a finish line with that rectangle number on my chest.

I know I can do it. I know I will do it.

And so can you.

On the Menu This Week 8/18-8/24

This week the vegetable gods were challenging me, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower and 4 bunches radishes. Yikes! What is a girl to do?

Hit Pinterest and Google in search of recipes of course. It will definitely be a week of new things, but we will keep it easy with a few leftover nights. Sunday will be cooking and freezing day, but that will make for an easier week.

Breakfast

• Saturday & Weekdays - Greek yogurt, Kashi GoLean, blueberries
• Sunday breakfast – egg/egg white mix, bacon, hash browns, toast

Lunches

• Weekdays - Quinoa with black bean, corn and tomato salad
• Saturday - Smart Ones frozen meal and fruit
• Sunday – Smoothie

Dinners

Saturday

• Cheesy burgers
• Baked Parmesan Kale Chips
• Tomato and bleu cheese salad with olive oil and balsamic vinegar

Sunday & Monday

• Roasted Beer Can Chicken
• Caramelized Onion & Roasted Garlic Mashed Cauliflower
• Baked Brussels Sprouts with Parmesan  (lighten up with  light cream cheese, non fat Greek yogurt for mayo)

Tuesday – Thursday

• Baked Turkey Meatballs
• Roasted Tomato Marinara Sauce with Garlic and Oregano
• Baked Caprese Stuffed Tomatoes

Friday

• Flatbread Pizza Surprise (I don’t know what kind we are making yet)

Snacks

• Fruit (fruit salad, peaches, nectarines, berries)
• Smoothies
• Grape Tomatoes
• Radish Chips- spicy
• Cinnamon Sugar Radish Chips– sweet
• Popcorn
• 2 Point Devil’s Food Cupcakes (2 ingredients – cake mix and 1 cup Greek yogurt)
• Skinny Cow Ice Cream Banana Split

Week 8 Weigh In

Holy weigh in I lost 3.8 pounds this week!

3.8!

It was this week last year when I was at my highest weight and I started the Dr. Oz diet to lose. Since re-joining Weight Watchers in June, the number I wanted to get past was 25. Not only did I hit the 25 pound mark again, I passed it by to bring my total loss to 26.7.

Since I stated Weight Watchers I hadn’t lost more than 2 1/2 pounds in a week. I didn’t expect to lose more than that this week, I expected to be just shy of 25. So I was beyond excited and pleased with myself that the scale was extra kind this week and rewarded my efforts.

I knew I had a good week with food and I thought I had a decent workout week, even though I had taken 2 rest days this week.  However, when I looked back at my workouts for the week I realized I had pushed myself a lot harder than previous weeks.

I didn’t realize how much harder though until I looked at my weekly totals for the past several weeks.

I added a 3rd weight workout and switched to more elliptical workouts over walking. I am pushing myself harder on the elliptical machine because I can see my pace and I try to keep the RPM’s above 60 for most of the workout and keep my heart rate at 75% – 80% of my max.

I think those changes had to make a big difference, because the total time spent wasn’t really all that different than previous weeks.

WEEK 8 GOALS:

• Track food and activity each day – DONE
• Exercise at least 5-7 days averaging 45 minutes per workout – DONE
• Strength training with trainer 2x – DONE
• Maintain activity with cut on foot – DONEeasier now that I am not walking as much for activity
• Get leg checked out for blood clot – DONE need to schedule scan, but it is not a blood clot

WEEK 9 GOALS:

• Track food and activity each day
• Exercise at least 5-7 days averaging 45 minutes per workout
• Strength training with trainer 2x
• Stay on plan on our anniversary (eating breakfast and dinner out)
• Look into fitness classes

My Skinny Iced Pumpkin Nutty Vanilla Latte

When you live in the desert you start dreaming of fall by the middle of July. By the time August hits I am craving pumpkin. To transport myself to fall early each year I hoard some of my fall favorites from the past fall to tide me over until they start hitting the shelves again.

You will always find Bath & Body Works Sweet Cinnamon Pumpkin lotion & soap in my bathroom, can’s of pumpkin and bottles of sugar free pumpkin pie syrup in the pantry.

Every year I look forward to kicking off fall with Starbuck’s Pumpkin Spice Latte’s, but I recently calculated the Points Plus value for a non-fat, no whip venti at a whopping 9 points. Ouch!  It’s hard to tell by their nutrition information, but a venti iced version (non fat, no whip) may be a little less at 6 points, but still pretty steep for something I used to drink often.

I will definitely be saving that for an occasional treat. But I refuse to go out without one of my favorite fall things.  Each fall I buy a case of Torani Sugar Free Pumpkin Pie Spice Syrup which will last me through the following year.

Recently I tried almond milk and found the vanilla almond milk makes my favorite fall latte even better.

A full cup of unsweetened vanilla almond milk is only 1 Points Plus value and 3 ounces or less is 0 Points Plus. I tend to use a small amount of milk in my iced lattes, which has my version clocking in at 0 Points Plus (only 15 calories). If you prefer more milk a cup added to your latte would be 1 Points Plus (40 calories). I will be enjoying these guilt free from now until Thanksgiving.

Skinny Iced Nutty Pumpkin Vanilla Latte

Ingredients

• Ice
• 8-10 ounces of brewed coffee (my favorite is Starbucks Dark Italian Roast)
• Torani Sugar Free Pumpkin Spice Syrup
• Blue Diamond Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Breeze Almond Milk

Directions

• Fill a tumbler with ice
• Add 3 ounces of Blue Diamond Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Breeze Almond Milk
• Add 1-2 tablespoons of Torani Sugar Free Pumpkin Spice Syrup
• Pour brewed coffee over ice and milk mixture
• Mix and enjoy

Weight Watchers Points Plus Value – 0    Calories – 15

Note: Adjust points value for amount of almond milk used.

Fish Taco Salad Especial

If you like fish tacos this my friends is the most awesome salad ever to be had. When we received 2 heads of cabbage in our Bountiful Baskets last week I wasn’t sure what I was going to do with that much of a vegetable that I am not a big fan of. I thought about fish tacos, but with that much cabbage we would be eating them for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I came up with this salad as my take on Rubio’s Fish Taco Especial, this one little taco will set you back 10 Weight Watchers Points Plus. If you order the meal you will are set back 25 Points Plus, almost a days worth of points for some. This skinny version of the Rubio’s Fish Taco Especial is a large filling salad that will fill you up for 8 Points Plus and 2 points for a generous amount of dressing, the recipe is easily scaled back to shave a couple of points if you have a lower daily points target. [gmc_recipe 702]