Accountability Monday - 3/25/13

I feel like I have been away from the blog forever!  Life has been super busy and I find myself posting to the facebook page more because it is quick and easy.  If you’re not following there YOU SHOULD BE!  Go now – https://www.facebook.com/losingit2012 and LIKE it!  My blog posts tend to get wordy (I know, you’re shocked).  While life has been super busy for me, I had the best of intentions to post my Monday accountability post after the Biggest Loser finale last week.  Buuuuuuut instead I got hit with a stomach bug that put me out of commission.  Boo!  But I have to say that I have been VERY lucky this winter avoiding most of the germies that had been making the rounds.  So the 1-day bug wasn’t too terrible.  Now if I could just get the allergy/sinus yuck to go away, life would be super grand!

I continue to be amazed at how good I feel these days!  I don't ever remember feeling this good - having this much energy, this much zest for life, this much of a sense of peace.  I am LOVING this new lifestyle!!!

Soooooo…I feel like I have lots to catch you up on.

• Weight loss has been very good for me the last couple of weeks.  I am solidly into the 190’s and think it is safe to say that I plan to never see a 200 weight again!
• I achieved 30% weight loss and 85 pounds gone milestones last week
• I competed in my second 5k race of the season and finished with another new personal record – 38:44 (last year my time for the same race, my first 5k, was 57:59)
• I have made it into size 14 jeans!
• I need to plan another shopping trip….it is getting harder to find clothes in my closet that aren’t baggy again!
• I am starting to see some baby muscles beginning to emerge in my arms and legs.  Still lost of work needed to tone, but I am making some progress (and getting away from being the cardio queen)

Top - 2012 Run 2 Believe 5k....my first race!  Who knew it would be so addicting?!??!

Bottom - 2013 Run 2 Believe 5k

My weekly results...(3/4-3/10)

Monday weight:  193.8 (down 3.0 from last Monday) - loss of 87.2 pounds to date
Weekly scale +/- (Mon-Sun all weights):  down 2.0
Workouts last week:  6 (3 rest days though due to illness and scheduling)

Workout minutes:  284
Total miles last week:   3.1 - due to being sick the only running I did was my 5k race

Times at the YMCA:  4

 Weekly pic (finally a different outfit!)
The skirt and the shirt are size LARGE!   I am really hoping to be able to rid my closet of x's for good very soon!   I bought the skirt earlier this summer on clearance for about $10 I think and am now able to wear it comfortably. I love the versatility....I think this will be super cute this summer too with a fun pair of black sandals! 

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It's finally official.....80 baby!!!!

This is totally how I roll!  I celebrate every 5 pound achievement!   So I bet you can guess what today is......happy dance time!!

Starting weight (Aug 2011) - 281.0

Today's weight - 200.6

Weight loss to date - 80.4 pounds

HOLY MOLY!!!!  It is finally official....after a couple of weeks of flirting with it (seriously I was within 0.2 pounds, but I like to keep things exact around here), I have finally officially hit the 80 pounds GONE mark!  Man does that feel awesome to say!!!!!  It is hard to actually wrap my brain around it though.  The more weight I lose and the closer I get to 100 pounds, the more surreal it feels.  The more I look in the mirror and see a new person.  I am actually starting to like the way I look in photos and not be completely negative and be uuber critical/pick apart all of my flaws.  It is AMAZING to finally get to that place of self love & respect.

I didn't do a post when I hit 75 pounds because quite frankly it snuck up on me so quickly.  But I will tell you that 75 pounds brought me to tears.  After it had had a couple of hours to sink in, I found myself sitting at my desk sobbing.  It was a mixture of emotions that came over me like a wave - disbelief, pride, accomplishment, strength, and even some mourning (the loss of and saying goodbye to the broken and sad person I once was).  It is crazy to think that 15 YEARS of my life was spent being so heavy.  I am soooooo blessed to have the chance to take back control of my life and begin living again!  I truly do feel like a completely different person.

As I thought about hitting the 80 pound mark, I wanted to do something special to really help truly grasp how much of a loss that is.  I am a very visual person, so for me seeing is believing!  I hope you enjoy my little experiment!  (I actually did this a couple of weeks ago in anticipation....I am thrilled that I FINALLY get to share it with you!!!)

I started by taking a laundry basket and filling it with items from my pantry and around the house.  My goal was to come up with items that would total the 80 pounds that I have now lost.  Mind you, this ended up being a pretty good sized laundry basket (it comes up to my knee)!!  As you can see in the pic, it was mostly full too!

I put it on the scale until I reached 80 pounds (80.6 was what I ended up with)

Here is the inventory of the items I ended up with to make the 80 pound weight:

• 10 pound bag of potatoes
• 6 pound jar of peanut butter
• 1 gallon jug of vinegar (not quite full)
• 1.32 gallon jug of floor cleaner
• 5 pound jar of honey (about 2/3 full)
• 1 bottle flavored coffee syrup
• 2 - 5 lb hand weights
• 2 - 3 lb hand weights
• 16 cans
• 1 can pineapple
• 4 cans soup
• 1 can evaporated milk
• 1 can water chestnuts
• 1 can cranberry sauce
• 2 large cans of crushed tomatoes
• 1 can kidney beans
• 1 can green beans
• 1 can peas
• 1 can mandarin oranges
• 2 cans manwich

I really wanted to fill a backpack with 80 pounds and force myself to wear it for a full day to really get the experience, but I couldn't find heavy enough items that would fit in a backpack!  I guess I need to get some more hand weights??  I can tell you that hoisting that basket on and off the scale to keep filling it and weighing it was a lot of work.  Honestly I am not sure I would have made it a whole day of carrying around that much weight again!  I seriously wonder how on earth I carried all of that weight around for so long????  I definitely do not wonder why I never had any energy to do anything but sit around all the time!  Again, I am soooo grateful to be regaining my life and my health!

A fun list of factoids for you...it also looks like I have lost the world's largest ball of tape :-)

What have you lost??  Leave a comment so we can celebrate your success!

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Motivational Monday - 2/18/13

Well last week was another whirl-wind crazy week for me!  Really, do I ever having anything other????  I was traveling for work.  If you have been reading this blog and paying attention at all, you may recall that I take extreme comfort in my routine.  So anything that puts a kink in my routine is a challenge for me.  I have to work that much harder to stay on track (and not to mention it was TOM, so throw in a little emotional and irrational and that is just an awesome combo!).  But I am happy to report it was a week of eating well and exercising...YAY! 

I will say that I was surprised at how tough being away from my hubby on Valentine's Day was.  It really caught me off guard how bummed I was to spend the day by myself (here is the irrational - he does taxes and didn't even get home until late that night, so it's not like I missed out on tons of quality time anyway....sheesh).  I tired and wasn't in the mood to workout most evenings, but I did it anyway and that always makes me feel at least a tiny bit better...guilt is really no fun!  I wasn't in my normal routine, so I wasn't taking the classes at the Y that I usually do, lifting weights or even jogging - my workouts basically consisted of walking on the treadmill at the hotel while watching tv on my ipad to pass the time.  But hey, it burned calories! 

I was THRILLED to see the scale continuing to move down last week!  Espec with TOM!!  That made the food and exercise choices worth it!!!  I was able to see 201.2 on the scale......soooooooo close to ONEDERLAND!!!!  I cannot wait for that day!!!  I am hoping for this week, but with traveling again, not 100% sure how my body will react to more routine changes.  Stay tuned to see!  You can bet that I will be blogging it from the rooftops when I do finally get there!!!!

It was GREAT to be back home to spend time with my family this weekend...absence does make the heart grow fonder!  Friday night I got some cuddle time with my hubby while my older girls were at school activities.  Saturday, the momma taxi was in full swing shuttling the kids from swiming lessons, school to decorate for dance, soccer game, dance...but fortunately the hubby and I got to squeeze in a date night and catch a late dinner and a movie (my first cheat meal in 3 weeks!).  I  also did a little shopping to celebrate recent successes and found Old Navy was running a sale on jeans, so I decided to get a pair of the size 14's I was able to get into recently.  And I scored the cute silver sweater top at Lane Bryant on mega clearance and only paid $12 for it!  I have to say I was feeling like a HOT MAMMA for our date on Sat!!!

 

Other than my family time, I would say that the highlight of my week was on Sunday when I completed another outdoor 5k jog in preparation for upcoming 5k season.  I was elated to find that I was able to jog another entire 5k!  It was awesome to know that when I did it 2 weeks ago it wasn't just a fluke and I really am able to do it!  Last time, my brother in law ran with me, so I had that pressure of not stopping so I wouldn't disappoint myself or him.  This time, he ran ahead with my middle daughter, so I didn't have anyone to push me to keep going.  I had to rely on myself for motivation.  I must have done a decent job of it...I shaved over a minute off my time from 2 weeks ago....not too shabby for not having run all week!!  I think that when you achieve motivating yourself, that is one of the most empowering and amazing experiences.  It makes me sooooo proud of all that I have accomplished and how far I have come.  And I still have so much more to accomplish!  I am keeping my fingers crossed that it will be nice enough that I can get another try in this weekend too.  Another PR would be GREAT! 

The run had an element of adventure to it also...I lost my car keys out of my pocket while running...EEK!  I have heard horrow stories about it, but didn't really think it would happen to me (I don't have that problem when running on the treadmill!!!).  I am VERY GRATEFUL for the good samaritan that stalked found my car and returned the keys safe and sound....I was sooo glad to not have to retrace the trail and try to find them!!!  So I promptly went to Academy sports and I now am the proud owner of a pretty pink fanny pack that I will wear for the upcoming 5k's so I can keep my phone, mp3 player and keys safe and sound! 

5k season is around the corner and I am now offically registered for FOUR races coming up!  YAY!!!  The Diva Dash is on March 9th to start things off.  Then Run 2 Believe will be March 25th, the Color Run Springfield with my gal pal Melissa will be an absoulte BLAST!  And then the Color me Rad race will be May 4th.  I still have a few others I want to do this year, but this will be a good start.

And since 5k season is coming up, I bit the bullet and bought a new pair of tennies....something tells me it was time??  I have logged over 500 miles on them (they say as a runner you are supposed to replace every 2-300 miles....oops!)  I should take a pic of the bottom of my old shoes and share....I literally ran the tread off them!  It was time.

So (finally) on to my weekly results...(2/11 - 2/17)

Monday weight:  202.4 - down 1.4 pounds from last Monday
     (still recovering from my cheat meal I think or it might have been higher)
Weekly scale +/- (Mon-Sun all weights):  up 0.2...TOM so I wasn't surprised
Workouts last week:  6

Workout minutes:  392
Total miles last week:  27.23 - awesome! 

Times at the YMCA:  0 (traveling)


How was YOUR week??? 

 

Leave a comment with your Success or struggle...we are in this together!!

 

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Motivational Monday - 1/21/13

Last week was survival week.  It was not a week for impressive numbers.  The Biggest Loser contest I am hosting has kicked off and I was super busy entering the names and info of almost 400 contestants into a spreadsheet….yikes!  I am THRILLED beyond words with that turnout.  It is very touching to see the comments of thanks from those participating thanking me... to help give them something to work towards or help keep them motivated and accountable.  I really love helping others so while this is a lot of work, the blessings far outweigh any negative from it.  So needless to say I had some much shorter nights than I should have.  One goal for this week is to get my sleep back on track!

Last week was also TOM for me, which is never a good week on the scale. Hoping that this week holds true to past trends and will be a good loss week.  I did do a major happy dance in the bathroom yesterday morning to see another best (207.4) on the scale but was back up again today (that is VERY normal for me to see a low and then take a couple days or longer to get back to it.  Another reason it is good to track your progress so you can see trends and not get as frustrated by what is normal for your body).  Gotta love water weight!

Since it is Biggest Loser night (and I will be working out on the treadmill while watching) it seems fitting to have my motivational quote of the day come from the show.

It's been an emotional day...I made another 5k personal record while watching biggest loser tonight and working on the treadmill.  38:30.  I ran some 5.2, 5.5, 5.7 and 6.0 one minute intervals!!!!!  6.0 is the fastest I have run on the treadmill so far!  I was sooooo stoked!  And to have finished my 5k as the BL contestants were running across the finish line of their first 5k....needless to say I cried!  Then when my middle daughter was asking me how I did on the treadmill tonight I told her how many calories I burned, how far I'd walked/jogged, how many steps I took, how fast I went and my 5k pr...she told me how proud of me she was. Repeatedly.  There was genuine pride in her eyes.  It is truly amazing to be a role model to your children and show them that you can do anything you set your mind to, no matter how difficult it is.

my calorie burn during biggest loser tonight....not too shabby!

But the highlight of my week though BY FAR is my husband taking the next step in reclaiming his health.  He is really working on overcoming his food addictions.  I know firsthand just how hard that is and I seriously could not be more proud of him for it.  I would love it if you all gave him a shout of of encouragement and support in the comments!  I am hoping to get him to write a guest blog post one of these days!  

So on to my weekly results (Jan 14-20)
Monday weight:  210.4 (up 0.2 from last Monday's weigh in)

Weekly scale +/- (Mon-Sun all weights):  down 2.0 for the week

Workouts last week:  5

Workout minutes:  330

Total miles last week:  9.45

Times at the YMCA:  4

Weekly progress pic:

Motivational Monday - 1/14/13

Let me just start of by saying last week was a GREAT week!!!!! 

It really does!  Sometimes Often on this journey we don't get the instant gratification we want.  I am an "I want it NOW" girl, so that is hard for me to take.  Patience is definitely not my virtue.  But I am learning that with a lifestyle change, when you stick with it, you are rewarded.  I was THRILLED to see the scale finally go down this week.  What a joy to see some decent losses without the teeter totter up and down gaining and loosing the same 2-3 pounds I have been doing since Thanksgiving.  I think that the key to success this week was mixing things up with my workout routine.  I did water zumba, water tabata, weights, jogging, and walking.  I am really striving to add in more strength training.  Not only will that help my metabolism and help me get a better calorie burn, but it will help firm things up instead of being so floppy and flabby.

I am still trying to figure out how the workouts fit into my schedule.  I think by this next week I may have a plan to share with you and be pretty well on track.  I have to give a shout out to my fellow fit camp gal pal (and neighbor) Jen for asking me to the Y and getting me to try new things....who knew I would love the water classes so much and actually LOVE a group exercise class???  Yeah I would have lost money on that bet fo sho!!!  To my co-worker Brenda for holding me accountable to go to the Y over lunch to DO something (instead of just sitting at my desk working).  And another shout out to my brother in law Steve (and by the way ladies, he is single!) for being my personal weight trainer and helping me get over my mental block against weights and the intimidation and fear of the machines.  To my kids for understanding that time for workouts is something I need to do, for me and for them.  And last but not least, to my hubby - for trying to get into a workout routine of his own, for working with me so that I can cram all the workouts I want into my schedule (even when it means he is up earlier than he wants to be).  I am a very blessed and lucky gal!!   Hmmmmm...can you tell we watched the Golden Globes at our house last night??  Sounds a bit acceptance speachy lol!

So on to my weekly results (Jan 7-13)
Monday weight:  210.2 (down 2.4 compared to last Monday's weight)

Weekly scale +/- (Mon-Sun all weights):  down 3.0 can I get a wooooooo hoooooooo! 

Workouts last week:  5

Workout minutes:  321 (I think)

Total miles last week: 12.49 

Photo time!

Not sure you can see much of a difference in the pics.  But I can sure feel it!  This is a difference of only about 2-3 pounds, but the pants sure button easier this month.  And my girls commented that they were looser in the legs this time.  Sometimes the non-scale victories are sweeter than the lower numbers!  Enjoy ALL of the victories!  You have earned them!!

What was your victory this week???

Thank you so much for taking the time to stop by and read this!!!

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2012 - what a year it was!

As I sit here winding down the last couple of days of 2012, I am frustrated with my (lack of) progress in December on the scale.  But as I look at my December numbers, I am reminded that there is more to progress than just the scale.  It was still a good a good month.

• I gained 0.2 for the month - womp, womp.  I was REALLY hoping for an awesome month.  And I even stayed on track almost the entire month.  Booo!
• I logged 88.81 miles on the treadmill this month
• I lost 4.75 inches this month
• I worked out 26 out of 31 days this month - only 5 rest days (goal was 4 though - womp, womp again)
• I have beaten my 5k personal record time multiple times this month.  

I have been slacking again on logging my food and lack of variety in my food and workouts.  Starting tomorrow I plan to be back to My Fitness Pal and planning for more variety in my food and workouts so stay tuned for updates on that!

And as I reflect on the month of December, I am reminded that 2012 really was an amazing year for me overall!  I need to celebrate my successes even if they were short of my ultimate goals/wishes.  I have come so far and have much to be thankful for and proud of.  It was certainly quite a different year than I am used to!

A look back at my 2012 - 

• I started actively logging my weight and food
• I came out of the "diet closet" and am openly sharing my story and progress with others
• I lost 49.2 pounds this year
• I have now lost 25% of my highest body weight
• I now weigh less than my driver's license says I do
• I have lost 46.25" since I started taking measurements in July
• I started regularly exercising
• I logged 402.3 miles on my treadmill just since I started logging in May
• I participated in four official 5k races
• I started running (or slogging as I call it)
• I finished c25k training program
• I have started being able to buy some size Large clothes
• My birthday and Christmas wish lists consisted of many fitness-related items
• I am more confident and happy

I wonder what 2013 has in store for me??  I struggle with goal setting anyway.  I tend to wing it and be a "fly by the seat of my pants" kinda girl - whatever happens, happens.  It is hard to set goals for an entire year.  I think partly because of all I have accomplished on this journey so far - I never dreamed I would be where I am today, let alone be even further!!  I struggle to wrap my brain around what the possibilities are.  It is hard to imagine where I might be next month, let alone in a year.  But I do better when I am working toward a goal (don't we all??).  So I am challenging myself to come up with a few new things to do or try.  Here are a few of my goals (so far!):

• Get to Onderland and STAY there!
• Run an entire 5k (no walking)
• Finish a 5k in 30 min or less (I am at 40 min now)
• Do more outdoor running
• Fit into my "when I was 18" jeans (size 12 Rockies)
• Wear size 10 or less pants
• Wear size M tops 
• Hit 100 pound total weight loss (at 70 now)
• Consistently log food in MFP and wear BM armband
• Continue taking measurements monthly
• Complete Jillian's 30 Day Shred workout (with before and after photos/measurements)
• Do more strength training
• Add more variety to my workouts and diet
• Take a group fitness class at the gym
• Minimum weekly blog posts
• Post daily on Losing It facebook page

What are your resolutions/goals for the upcoming year?

I want to cheer you on too!

May 2013 be an amazing year for all of you.  

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The long and short of it

I have discovered recently that I am not a fan of distance running…like at all.  The end of c25k was super hard for me to mentally push through.  I get bored.  My mind wanders all over the place.  Seriously there are a LOT of voices in my head when I run and none of them are very good cheerleaders.  Pretty negative whiners really (and they are fat and lazy).  After completing c25k, I first I decided to alternate my running days with distance (at least 20 min straight run) and pace (begin c25k program again, working on increasing my speed).  What I VERY QUICKLY found was that I do not like the long runs.at.all.  I much preferred doing w1 again (1 min jog/90 second walk alternating 8 times).  I was able to comfortably increase my pace.  When doing c25k the first time, my speed was pretty much 4.0 mph for any of the running portions.  I really was never able to kick it up any more than that, def never past 4.2 and for the longer runs, I had to go that slow to make it to the end.   Thus, my realization that I prefer the short rather than the long distances.

I was amazed at how much easier w1 was the second time around.  I felt like I breezed through it compared to the last time.  D1 I started at 4.5 mph and made it through all 8 at that pace, and kept alternating jogging/walking to finish out a 5k.  D2 and 3 I started getting a little braver.  I kept increasing my speed to see what I could handle.  Now it was a battle with myself to keep increasing my overall pace.  And I did.  I had some good days.  I REALLY liked the 1 minute of running.  I felt like it was doable.  I didn’t find myself obsessing about watching the timer and dreading the amount of time I had left.  Time seemed to pass quickly and I wasn’t getting bored, miserable, or having to fight with myself to continue.  I had an epiphany and realized that I may never be a traditional “runner”.  I may never like running an entire 5k (or other distance).  So what?  Do I really care that I am able to run an entire 5k or would I rather keep increasing my speed?  If I am being honest with myself, the speed (and feeling confident and strong) is a bigger deal to me than being able to say I dragged my butt through the whole thing (feeling tortured through it).  I don’t want to hate it.  So I decided to continue with what I enjoy instead of making myself miserable (and risk getting frustrated and wanting to quit) by trying to make myself fit into the mold of a “runner”. 

I decided that instead of moving on to w2 I would just continue with the w1 schedule and continue working on my pace.  That started out like a good plan, but I quickly got very worried about my progress this week.   I was starting out at 4.5 for the first run interval and then increasing it by 0.1 each interval until I was at 5.0 or as far I could push myself (think 5.2 was the farthest I made it).  What I found out quickly was that I am pushing myself on the increases too quickly.  I was doing really well the first half of the 5k.  My mile 1 spilt was about 14 min.  My mile 2 spilt has been about 13 min, but I am getting GASSED by the end of the second mile (or sooner).  My overall pace has been good, but I am starting to fight myself again. 

Then Wed afternoon I stated getting a tickle in my throat and I couldn’t seem to quit clearing my throat and coughing.  By the time I was ready for bed (early for me) I started having a chest cough.  I was really worried that it would get worse overnight and I would wake up Thurs full blown sick.  I took a NyQuill and went off to dreamland, crossing my fingers.  I truly expected that when the alarm went off at 5am that I would crawl out of bed to turn it off feeling like death on toast, skip the workout and go back to bed.  But I was pleasantly surprised that I really wasn’t feeling bad.  I had some congestion to get cleared out but the bad chest cough was gone.  I couldn’t justify skipping the workout so I got dressed and headed to the treadmill anyway.  I did choose the safe route and just did a walk instead of a run.  It was the first time I have just walked in a loooooong time.  But I was super proud of myself for not skipping the workout completely.  I was back to running this morning.  Although I have to say today’s session totally sucked!  I started out feeling very strong.  But I found that I def pushed too hard too quick again today.  

So decision made, I plan to go back to the drawing board and figure out how to still do the increases, but in a way I won’t kill myself doing a 5k.  And perhaps I need a more substantial food boost before my workout?  I will be looking into that too.  I’m not sure what that will look like yet, but I will sure keep you posted!

This pretty much sums it up (my husband says I could have just posted this and spared you from my ramblings)

Oh and as an added bonus, here are a few more songs I added to my running playlist:

• Fat Bottomed Girls (Glee version) - Queen
• Hey Soul Sister (Glee version) - Train
• Teenage Dream (Glee version) - Katy Perry
• Locked out of Heaven - Bruno Mars
• What doesn't kill you (Stronger) - Kelly Clarkson
• How bad do you want it - Tim McGraw
• Some Nights - Fun.

And just so you've been forewarned....I am on vacay till Jan 2 so prepare for a blogapalooza of posts as I try to get caught up!!  

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Motivational Monday - 12/17/12

Oh what to share this week?  I seriously have so many ideas swimming in my head, I am REALLY hoping for some writing time over my extended holiday break to share some with you!  I have 16 articles in draft mode at the moment – YIKES!

I thought this motivational picture was a good representation for where I am at now...

There are many times I have wanted a burger or insert food here - but I made the choice to say no.

I have said a big screw you to the fat and unhappy old me!

I have gotten on the treadmill many a time, wondering is it really making a difference, but doing it anyway.

It really is all about making good choices!

Last week was hum drum.  Nothing exceptionally exciting going on….just the same ole same ole craziness of life.  I am trying to get in the mood to do my Christmas shopping (yes, I wait until the last minute – I am VERY deadline oriented!)  I don’t know if it’s the unseasonably warm weather or what, but I seem to be in denial that Christmas is NEXT WEEK!  EEK!

I am on target with my December goals.  I took today as my 3^rd of 4 rest days for the month after completing 7 straight days of jogging workouts.  I used 2 too close to each other last week, so it will be a challenge to make it through the month with only one more.  I was hoping to push through for a couple more days, but I could tell that it was getting more and more difficult mentally and physically to push through and focus, so thought it was in my best interest to take a rest day.  Today was a beautiful day out and I was fortunate to have meetings in other buildings for work, so I was able to get in a couple of short walks to burn a few bonus calories.  Tomorrow morning I will be hitting the treadmill again!  I have started adding in plank hold and squats to my daily routine.  My legs were sore earlier in the week, but I am quickly building endurance and strength.

I am focusing on trying to eat more fruits and veggies and less carbs.  So lots of green smoothies and carrots/hummus for snacks, and my new fave is greek yogurt parfait!  It is a GREAT source of protein and yum!  I have also been having a salad lunch or a small entrée portion with a salad filler, and cutting back on the rice and potatoes (two of my major weaknesses!).  It seems to be going well and I am not feeling deprived and am pleased with my results for the month so far.

Weekly results:

Weekly scale +/- (Mon-Sun all weights):  down 1.2 pounds (I made up for my gain last week and down some! - YAY!)

Workouts last week:  7
Workout minutes:  311

Total miles last week: 21.79

What was your biggest challenge or success this week?

And in keeping with the tradition I started...my weekly pic

finally starting to feel a little more curvy instead of just feeling lumpy and bumpy!

Keep an eye out for another post (hopefully in the next couple of days) an update on my jogging.

Have a great week peeps!

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Greek Yogurt Parfait

When I first tried Greek Yogurt (used it in my green smoothies) I was NOT a fan!  It was good enough in the smoothies, but to eat it plain....YUCK!  It was too sour and I didn't like it.  Oh how the taste buds can change! I now find myself taking a lick off the spoon when I make my smoothies and thinking that it's pretty good. 

I love McDonald's Fruit and Yogurt Parfaits so I had the brilliant idea this week to make my own!    I was in desperate need for a new snack idea and this was just what I needed!  It is packed with protein to keep me from starving after 5 minutes and is just sweet enough to curb my sweet tooth.

Here's what I do:

1/2 cup frozen fruit, thawed - I use triple berry mix - raspberries, blueberries, and blackberries

1 cup greek yogurt - vanilla

Sugar free sweetener - I use Truvia (duh)

1/2 Nature Valley crunch granolla bar, crushed

Not too shabby - 285 calories and 20 grams of protein.  You can easily leave off the granola bar to save some calories.  It depends on if I have earned an extra treat or not.

Motivation Monday - 12/10/12

Sad to say this is the motivation I need today after my Saturday indulgence (thanks so much to my FitClub Aussie friend Kate for sharing this today....just what I needed to see!!!).  

I definitely had a set back this weekend.  It started innocently enough with a dinner date with the hubs.  I haven't had a treat meal for a while, so decided to take a bit of a splurge.  We went to a local mexican restaurant and I ordered my non-healthy favorite.  And dove a bit to deep into the chips and salsa.  And decided white cheese dip would be ok too.  So it wouldn't have been a travesty if I had stopped there.  But, unfortunately I didn't.  We were invited to go out with friends.  Mama doesn't get out too much and I made a couple of non-diet friendly choices.  But I do have to say I had fun.  Was it worth it?  Yes and no.

I really struggle when I stray from my normal routine.  I know I am supposed to allow myself a little give every now and then, but I really hate losing the momentum and progress I have worked soooooo hard to get.  I don't like having to lose the same pound (or few) more than once.  I want this process to be as efficient as possible so I can move into the next phase of the journey.  My problem is that I don't do just a bit of anything.  If I eat one piece of candy, it usually leads to the whole bag.  One cookie leads to a dozen.  You get the point...I tend to "go big or go home".  Moderation is a word I still need to look up the definition of.  Saturday was no exception.

Sunday I think I had a bit of a mental pitty party.  I did ok with my eating but I never made it a priority to get my workout in.  Which made me even more mad at myself.  One of my Dec goals was to only give myself 4 rest days for the month.  I just had my first on Fri the 7th and then turned around and burned another one two days later.  UGH!  Stupid!

Last night I gave myself a rousing halftime speech and decided to get my head back into the game.  Today was a new day!  I was back up with the too early alarm this morning and was hitting the treadmill as if I hadn't missed a beat.  I started round 2 of c25k and completed w1d1 easy peasy at an increased pace of 4.5 mph for the jog and 4.0 for the walk.  I made sure that Saturday was just a setback and not a failure.

So in posting today's stats, I am reminded that that short period of fun cost me over a week's worth of work.    But I am choosing not to dwell on that.  In the words of Rafiki from the Lion King...

So I choose to learn from it.

I will start over as many times as I need to.  And each time it gets just a little bit easier.

Here are my weekly stats - the good, the bad and the ugly.

Weekly results:

Weekly scale +/- (Mon-Sun all weights):  up 1.0 pound...womp, womp

Workouts last week:  5
Workout minutes:  235

Total miles last week: 16.1 

My weekly pic

(new to me shirt brought to you by my bestie Melissa!  love it!)

What are your struggles?  How do you pick yourself and get started again?  

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