Rainy Tuesday

Today was a rainy, rainy day!  I loved it, and the grass and garden loved it, but it made it difficult to exercise.  So, instead of the jog I wanted to do, I played Just Dance Wii for an hour with Riley and Reese.  So fun!  Definitely sweating and got my heart rate up, but still wish I had been able to have a bit more intensity.  Better than nothing though!


Breakfast - Shake
Lunch - Turkey Sandwich with colby, spinach, and tomato and 15 PopChips (YUM!)
Snack - Greek Yogurt with Strawberry
Dinner - Country Style Pork Ribs baked in the oven with Salt Lick BBQ sauce, Okra and tomato, and green salad
Snack - Think I'll have a lara bar or maybe I rice cake with dark choc PB.


Til tomorrow...

The start of week 2

I made it through the first week, and I think it was pretty successful!  I worked out 5 times and the only sugar I ate was one piece of chocolate pie.  For me... that's awesome!!  Now, I just have to keep pushing through.  My sister in law came over today and the girls got to play with their cousin, so fun!!  And I got some girl time with my sis!  It was a really good day.  Here's my food journal for the day:


Breakfast - Any guess???  Yep!  Protein Shake with PB
Lunch - Roast beef sandwich with colby cheese and spinach with a handful of grapes.
Snack - Greek Yogurt with honey and 4 honey wheat pretzel sticks
Dinner - Baked salmon with garlic, butter, and chives.  Roast okra and squash and potatoes and onion cooked in the skillet with olive oil.  It was a great dinner!!


I ran 4.5 miles this morning at 6 am.  It felt awesome!!!  Now, I'm going to spend the evening with the family, then I'm sure I'll eat a snack while I watch The Voice finale!  Woo hoo!!!

Made it through the weekend!

The weekend came and went and I didn't kill my goals... too bad.  


Friday:
My mom came in to town, so I wasn't as strict with my food, but I still did ok.  I had a glass of wine on Friday night and we went to dinner at Salt Grass Steakhouse.  I had the steak salad, which is my favorite thing there.  So good!  I did Stroller Strides Friday morning, so I did get in some exercise.


Saturday:
I was still so sore from Body Pump that I was planning to jog, and couldn't make myself do it.  I regret that decision, I should have gone anyway.  Oh well, move on, don't dwell.  I still had my breakfast shake for breakfast, and we had to be out the door early for Riley's soccer game.  Now, this was Cinco de Mayo, so after some adult time shopping with my mom we decided it was only right to have a margarita, right??  So I had two.  =)  But, for lunch I did have corn tortillas instead of flour, and I had black beans instead of refried, so I didn't feel so bad.  We ate lunch kind of late, and ended up skipping dinner because we weren't hungry.  I do have a confession though... we made a chocolate pie that night.  I had baker's remorse the next day.  But I only had one piece and sent the rest home with my mom.  Overall, not too horrible, but could have been better.


Sunday:
I started the morning with a cup of coffee, of course it had sugar and yummy creamer.  But coffee makes me not hungry, so I didn't eat breakfast til almost 11, so I guess it was brunch.  We made breakfast pizza, sounds bad, but really it's not too bad.  It's a extra thin whole wheat crust, topped with refried black beans, salsa, eggs, and a little cheese.  Considering that's all I ate until dinner time, it was really not that bad at all.  Mike smoked fajitas for dinner, and they were awesome!  I had 2 beef fajitas with cheese, low fat sour cream, lettuce and salsa.  YUMMY!!  Looking back, I didn't eat much this weekend, but the few things I ate for a little higher in fat and calories than what I eat during the week.  


Overall, I feel ok about this weekend because I feel like I didn't restrict myself but still made decent choices.  Now, on to week 2 of the fitness challenge!

Thursday, already??

This week has gone by really quickly!  I can't believe it's already Thursday night.  I've now completed more than half of my first week of eating clean, and can already tell a difference.  Woo hoo!

Breakfast - Protein shake with PB (surprise!)
Snack - I had to watch a roomful of 3 year olds, so I stopped for starbucks.  I had a non fat iced mocha, and only drank half.  It was good, but almost too sweet.
Lunch - While at the girl's school, I had a plate from the left over teach appreciation that I volunteered for, so it was a small turkey and ham sandwich, a piece of cheese, a small side salad and some strawberries.
Snack - greek yogurt with strawberries
Dinner - Chicken sausage, brown rice, tomatoes and carrots

Exercise:  I did Body Pump at the Y today and feel so great.  I'm definitely going to be sore tomorrow!

Now, I'm sure I'll have a snack while I watch Vampire Diaries and Grey's Anatomy, but I'm not sure what.  Rice cake w/ PB?  Lara Bar?  Wish I had pudding...  Maybe an apple.  I'll decide in a bit!

Getting my groove back!

So today is day 3 of fitness challenge/clean eating and I feel like I'm already getting in to a groove.  Maybe that's because this isn't the first time I've done it.  Maybe starting is the easy part, sticking to it is what I need help with!  The test is going to be our beach trip at the end of the month.  Can I really stick to my clean eating on the beach??  I'm sure gonna try!!  Here's day 3 food journal:


Breakfast - Protein shake with a scoop of PB
Snack - Clif trail mix granola bar, sample size
Lunch - Roast beef sandwich with Colby cheese and 4 slices of avocado.  I got some Salt and Vinegar PopChips and do NOT like them, so that's a bummer, but probably a good thing.  So, I ate 3, but threw the rest away.
Snack - Bowl of grapes and a hard boiled egg
Dinner - Roasted Chicken and roasted potatoes, beets, and carrots.  I was having that "I need something sweet" feeling, so I had a cutie.  Feeling ok, but will definitely need a snack tonight.  Maybe even some chocolate milk... mmm!




Exercise: I taught Stroller Strides this morning.  I always seem to get a better workout when I'm instructing... maybe it's because I bribe my children to stay in the stroller.  ;-)

Fitness Challenge Day 2

Day 2 was a good day!  Still motivated and working towards my goal of being healthy.  I know it's only day 2, but I was thrown a challenge.  My stroller strides friends got together for lunch today, and since the location was chosen before we started fitness challenge, it was not so healthy.  To be exact, it was a burger joint with no healthy options.  I wanted to eat with my friends, so I took some sound advice and stopped at the Jason's Deli next door, grabbed a salad bar to-go, then hopped over to the burger joint and enjoyed my salad and the company of good friends!  Score for me!!  One of the girl's had her husband there.  He asked me where I got the salad, I told him "I cheated."  He said, "That doesn't sound like cheating, that sounds like winning!"  Yay!!  So here's the rest of my day:


Breakfast - Protein shake with a scoop of PB, I also had a cup of coffee with raw sugar and about 2 TBLS of chocolate carmel creamer.
Lunch - Jason's Deli Salad (veggies, 2 boiled eggs, pickle, 2 gingerbread mini muffins) I used the low fat ranch dressing
Snack - Greek Yogurt with strawberries, cutie orange, handful of almonds
Dinner - Half a spaghetti squash covered with spaghetti sauce (ground beef in the sauce)
Snack - Apple with dark chocolate PB


I also ran 3 miles.  I am very proud of those 3 miles for 2 reason.  Number 1, I didn't run until 8 pm, so the fact that I pushed myself at the end of the day when it would have been easy to skip was huge!  Number 2, after just 2 days of eating right I was able to shave over :30 off my pace time.  AWESOME!  Feeling good and pushing forward!

Third time's a charm... I hope.

Well, it's me again.  And I'm doing the same thing I'm doing every time I write here after a long absence...  I'm starting over.  I'm a bit frustrated with myself, but as my sister in law said "Tomorrow is a new day, and thank God for His grace."  My good friend Robyn posted something on Facebook a while back that said "If you are tired of starting over, stop giving up."  AMEN!  That's my new motto, it runs through my head now every time I thinking about caving in and having a giant bowl of ice cream, or every time I think about sitting in front of the TV instead of exercising.  


So, here I am again, trying to get my self motivated and back on track.  Today marked the beginning of our 8 week Fitness Challenge at Stroller Strides.  I'm going to really push myself this 8 weeks.  I am setting a goal of exercising 4-5 times a week and eating no processed foods.  I'm also going to avoid sugar for the whole 8 weeks too.  Now, this is not a weight loss adventure for me, but rather a way to FEEL my best.  


As part of our challenge Robyn asked us to food log, so here's my food log for the day:


Breakfast - Protein shake with 1 TBS of peanut butter blended in
Snack - Fage Greek Yogurt with Strawberries
Lunch - Tuna salad (relish, celery, eggs, mayo) on a bed of romaine lettuce and avocado
Snack - Banana and a bit of beef jerky with a few almonds
Dinner - Two links of chicken sausage, squash, salad and brown rice
Snack - I haven't had one yet, but I'm planning either a rice cake or apple with some Dark Chocolate PB I bought.  


Today was a good day.  That's all I can do, one day at a time.  Let's do it!!

What day is it again!?

So today I woke up and had NO idea what day of the challenge I'm on. Whoops!! I had to go to my best friend Jennifer's blog to see what day she was on because we started the same day. So I guess today is day 7. =) Don't get me wrong, I'm still following the plan and taking my cleanse pills, I just don't feel like it's a "challenge".

This weekend my mom came in to town. We had a great time playing with the girls, shopping, and eating out... yes, eating out. Friday night we went to Chili's. Normally I would have gotten a burger, or something fried, followed by a molten chocolate cake. YUM! But not this time. I had salmon and broccoli and rice. It was really good, and I didn't feel guilty afterwards which is the important part!! Then yesterday, for lunch, we went to Serrano's. Torture! I had a grilled chicken breast salad with vinegarette. I watched my girls eat rice, beans, enchiladas, and tacos. But I survived, and again, had no guilt later! Really, I think what makes this even more impressive is that this is the time of the month when I would normally be hoovering food, especially mexican food and sweets, into my mouth. I feel wimpy and drained, but I know it's just hormones. Hey, we are being honest here, right??

So far, the only exercise I've gotten this weekend was Just Dance Wii for 30 minutes, but I was definitely sweating. I may jog tonight... or I may not. We'll see!

So, I guess since tomorrow is Day 8, I'll be back to the Fiber Drink. I'm excited to get in to the MAX phase and start taking all the vitamins. That's where the real energy comes from!! Less than a month til Hawaii, so I've really got to get serious about the extra exercise I need. I teach class on Wednesday and Saturday this week, and I always end up sore after I teach, so that will be good!

Well, I think that's it for now. Here's to a good week!

OMG!!!

Holy crap!!! I just ran 3 miles in 27 minutes!! That means I was running 9 minute miles. That's BOOKING it for me. So pumped!! I told Regan, I wouldn't believe it if it wasn't me that was doing it. I can't believe what a difference it makes to eat right!! I'm only on day 4 of the challenge and already feel like a new person. Why do I ever let myself get so far off track!?!? I must have been hanging on to some serious water weight because I was down 4.5 lbs this morning. I think maybe I was super bloated from the Mexican food we had for our "last meal". Either way, it feels great to see the scale going in the other direction. I'm not typically someone who cares about the scale, I'm more interested in how I look and how my clothes fit, because as a few people have pointed out, muscle weighs more than fat. But I have been hanging on to a bit of extra fat around the mid section I'm trying to tackle. I don't think I'll ever have a six pack, that's not my goal. I just want to feel good about myself, and I was there just 9 months ago, so I know I can do it again.

Ok, I've been seriously rambling, I think the endorphins from my run have me on a high. I'm all over the place! Here's what my day looked like yesterday:

7:30 - Fiber drink, breakfast shake

8:30 - Spark and Catalyst

9:00 - Stroller Strides

10:30 - Half of a protein bar (it was a gross flavor!)

12:30 - Chicken Sausage (OMG! MY FAVORITE THING EVER!), 5 cherub tomatoes, celery with almond butter and a cutie orange.

3:00 - almonds, turkey jerky, strawberries

4:00 - Spark

6:00 - Spinach salad with grilled steak, avocados, tomatoes, carrots, and balsamic vinegerette. Yummy!

9:00 - Rice cake with almond butter and herbal cleanse pills.

It was a great day, and I'm just so glad to be feeling better!! Yay to being healthy!

Day 2

Ok, I guess for those of you checking in who didn't follow along last time, I'll do a quick summary of the challenge. The 24 Day Challenge is made up of 2 phases. The first phase, days 1-10, is the Cleanse. The word cleanse usually makes people wrinkle up their nose because they are thinking of the juice cleanse where you drink lemon water and eat nothing for several days. First off, that's completely unhealthy, second, you put it back on the first time you eat something! This cleanse is nothing like that. I eat 3 meals and 2 snacks a day. The challenge kit I purchased from Advocare also includes a fiber drink, probiotic pills, and cleanse pills (vitamins, appetite control). The trick is to eat CLEAN! No sugar, no diary, and no bread. I can eat fruits, veggies, lean meat, eggs, and nuts. It gets a little old, but it's only 10 days. Seriously.

The second phase is the MAX phase. This is when I will begin taking like 15 pills a day to get the MAX amount of vitamins and nutrients that my body needs. Stuff I miss from my normal diet. At this point my energy level should be through the roof and the weight/inches should start really coming off. I can introduce a very limited amount of bread and diary back in to my diet. Again, very limited. Ideally sugar should be cut out FOREVER. Not likely, but it's a good goal.

So that's it. Here's a sample of my diet from yesterday (I'm currently on Day 3, writing about Day 2).

Breakfast - Fiber drink and breakfast shake (I added a TBLS of PB)

Mid Morning Snack - Protein Bar (we were out running errands)

Lunch - Half a chicken breast, boiled egg, 6 baby carrots and hummus, 4 strawberries with almond butter.

Afternoon snack - Almonds, beef jerky, and grapes

Dinner - Salmon, green beans, salad

Nighttime snack - Herbal cleanse pills and more strawberries and almond butter... it's so good!

So that's it. I'm feeling pretty good today. I got my Stroller Strides in, but I'm still feeling like I need more exercise. Guess I shouldn't push too hard. Maybe I'll do a P90X workout at nap time. We shall see. Well, that's it for now. Thanks for checking in!

The Challenge... again.

Well, here I am again... going through the Advocare 24 day Challenge. I feel a little silly because I just read my last post, which said "I have NO intention of going back to how I felt before." Whoops. I completely lost control and completely lost sight of my health. I stopped taking my medication, stopped eating right, stopped jogging, and worst of all I weigh more right now than I ever have (except when I was pregnant). So here we are, beginning of a new year, and I'm going to work on getting back to the new me.

A huge part of my motivation right now is our trip to Hawaii in 34 days. I'm really excited about a trip with my husband, with no kids, for 6 days, but I'm having a hard time getting TOO excited because I feel so unhealthy and unattractive. Who wants to go to Hawaii feeling unattractive!? Not me! So, although I plan to continue healthy living long after the Hawaii trip, I needed something to jump start my weight loss and boost my energy level. That's why I decided to do the challenge again.

Yesterday was Day 1 and it wasn't hard at all. I think the difference this time is that I knew what to expect and I was better at planning meals. The hard part is going to be curbing my cravings for the bad stuff, i.e. ice cream, cookies, pizza. I really wish that I craved healthy food, but I don't. I have to force myself to eat it. It gets better, I know. But the craving for Mexican food never goes away. I guess my problem is that I haven't figured out how to be healthy 95% of the time and splurge the other 5%. It usually ends up at an even 50-50 split... hence the weight gain. The holidays were especially hard on me. I just need to improve my will power. So, that's what 2012 is about. The year of WILL POWER... will power over food, will power of clutter, and will power over laziness!!!

Well, I'm not sure who's going to be reading this, but it makes me feel better just to write it down. Here's to a healthy new me!