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.

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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.

Week_9__Daily_Exercise

Week_9_Exercise_Summary

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.

Week_9_Weigh_In

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

 

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

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20120825-IMG_1692 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.

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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

Dinners

Saturday

Sunday

Monday & Tuesday

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

Wednesday & Thursday

Friday

Snacks

  • Fruit or veggies
  • Weight Watchers String Cheese
  • Fiber One Bars
  • Popcorn
  • Skinny Cow Ice Cream or Bars
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Losing Weight and Getting Fit Is Possible

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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.

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

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20120818-IMG_1645 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

Sunday & Monday

Tuesday – Thursday

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.

Week_8_Weigh_In_Summary

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.

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

Week_8_Summary_Comparison

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
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My Skinny Iced Pumpkin Nutty Vanilla Latte

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20120812-IMG_1634 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

Directions

Weight Watchers Points Plus Value – 0    Calories – 15

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

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Fish Taco Salad Especial

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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. 20120806-IMG_1609[gmc_recipe 702]

Week 7 Weigh In Results

Saw this on Facebook this week, so very true - 20120810-IMG_1828

As weeks go, it wasn’t my best work out effort. It has been hot, like 91 degrees at 5 a.m. hot accompanied by storms in the evenings makes for a disgusting prospect to subject yourself to when you first wake up.

I am still battling a cut on my foot that doesn’t want to heal properly. It is on the edge of my heel and it is aggravated by shoes and band-aids won’t stay on. I also cannot seem to completely kick the cold that has lingered for a few weeks. I feel fine most days, but when I first wake up I feel worse than I end up being later in the day. It makes it harder for a morning workout. Adding to “my problems” I think I may have a blood clot on my right leg I have an appointment on Tuesday to check it out. If it is it is superficial not the dangerous kind, but I hope it will not affect my activities. None of these things are major obstacles just annoyances that I can’t let become excuses.

Week_7_Excercise_Summary

But there were many positives in the activity adventures this week.

I took my first spinning class and survived.

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I also switched up the cardio via the elliptical as a way to change it up and challenge myself more.

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I definitely think I can do better but it was definitely a decent effort. I can see by my notes that I need to change some things to keep moving forward in the exercise area. I love working with the trainer.

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Despite the slight drop in exercise, I did lose 2 pounds this week.

YAY ME!

Week_7_Weigh_In

Overall I am still happy with my efforts. Saturday we ordered Carrabba’s for dinner and I ended up splurging a bit more on sourdough bread and Caesar salad than I may have planned - dipping more into my weekly points (right along with the oil for the bread) than I would prefer to do in one day/meal.

Week_7_Summary

WEEK 7 GOALS:

  • Track food and activity each day – DONE
  • Exercise at least 6 days at least 45 minutes on 5 days – missed one day on both efforts
  • Strength training with trainer 2x  - missed one night for back to school night – wasn’t able to re-schedule to a different day
  • Maintain activity with cut on foot – DONE

WEEK 8 GOALS:

  • Track food and activity each day
  • Exercise at least 5-7 days averaging 45 minutes per workout
  • Strength training with trainer 2x
  • Maintain activity with cut on foot
  • Get leg checked out for blood clot

I don’t like to make specific weight loss goals from week to week. I don’t think it is realistic. I focus mostly on the overall average and ensuring my actions (exercise and eating) are in line with what I need to do for weight loss.

So, I’m not making it a goal, but I would love it if I lost at least 2.1 pounds this week to get past the 25 pound total loss mark. It’s a number I want to get behind me since it is around that mark where I have dropped off in the past.

Here’s to a good week!

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Weekly Menu 8/11 - 8/17

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I went a little crazy at the Skinnytaste blog this week. I kept finding things that would work great with the veggies and guacamole pack we got this week from our Bountiful Basket.

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This week’s fruit & veggie basket included: 2 bunches romaine lettuce, kale, cantaloupe, 2 bags cherries, 2 green bell peppers, broccoli, package of mushrooms, cucumber, 2 large tomatoes, 8 peaches,  a bunch of bananas and 2 mangos.

The guacamole pack add-on came with: 5 avocados, cilantro, green onion, 6 limes, garlic, 2 onions, 4 jalapenos, and 3 dried ancho chili peppers.

I rounded out the produce baskets at the grocery store with: bananas, cilantro, grapes, 4 plums, green bell pepper

And from Costco: grape tomatoes, strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, and blackberries

We still had left from last week’s basket and store trip: cucumber, cabbage, carrots, cherries, grape tomatoes, cantaloupe, 3 mangos, 3 plums, 2 peaches, onion, berries, bananas and red potatoes.

The fruit and veggies we get from Bountiful Baskets tends to be much fresher than the grocery store and will usually last close to 2 weeks, giving us the opportunity to use most of it up. I actually end up throwing out very little each week. I plan the week’s meals and snacks around the produce we have.

Most of the fruit left from last week will get chopped up for a fruit salad. The bananas will be cut into slices and frozen for smoothies or banana ice cream, the rest will be used in this week’s meals or for snacks.

This week was a little more of a challenge with figuring out how to use up 5 avocados. I love them, but they can get high in points very quickly, so I wanted to even them out over the week but use them before they go bad.

Breakfasts

Lunches

Dinners

Saturday

Sunday

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

  • TBD - Date night for our anniversary

Desserts/Snacks

  • Cherry Lime Sherbet– substituting cherries for strawberries from recipe
  • Brown bag popcorn
  • Banana ice cream
  • Skinny Cow ice cream banana splits
  • Fruit, grape tomatoes, or carrots
  • Smoothies
#blackouttuesday
Last day and first day of 5th and 7th grade. Bring on the summer! #boymom
So lucky to be there mom! They make me want to do better and be better every single day. The benefit of working at home the past 2 months has been that I have been blessed with extra time with them everyday. Something I don’t get when I am at w