Weigh-In Wednesday

I'm linking up for Weigh-In Wednesday yet again! :) Go check out all the other weigh-ins this week!

152.6 lbs. That's what I saw on the scale this week! :) I'm down 1.6 lbs this week, and down a total of 10.8 lbs! Maybe I'll see 150 next week? I would still like to lose around 30-35 lbs, but I'm getting there, one (or two) lbs at a time! :)

I am ecstatic! Paleo is working for me, and I could not be happier that I have finally found the kind of eating that works for me and my body!

Now, I am not 100% Paleo! I'd say most weeks, I eat about 80% Paleo. If I'm really craving some non-Paleo food, I will have it. I don't deprive myself and I never feel deprived, which I think has been the key to my success thus far. The short amount of time that I've been eating Paleo, I've seen a loss on the scale each week. That's one of the few ways that I know it works for me.

My jeans are fitting looser and my skin is starting to clear up a bit, too.

The one thing I need to work on this week is my motivation to workout. I've been slacking a little and not getting all my workouts in. But I am determined to finish Body Revolution! I don't want to stop doing the workouts with only three weeks to go; that would just be silly!

Be on the look-out for another recipe post on Friday!

How was your week, ladies? I want to hear about it!

Weigh-In Wednesday

It's that time again: weigh-in Wednesday! :) I'm linking up with Erin and Alex; go check out their blogs and the others that have linked up!

Now, let's get to it! My weigh-in this week: 155.4 lbs. I saw 155 this week! :) FINALLY! I was down 1.8 lbs from last week, so that's pretty awesome too.

Next week, I'd like to see any number that is at or below 155.0!

I've been doing great with getting my workouts in this past week, per my goals for March. I plan to continue with that trend in the coming weeks, obviously. I love the energy I have on the days I workout and I love how much better I sleep. It's definitely worth 30-60 minutes of my time each day.

At the beginning of the week, I decided to stop counting calories. No, I haven't lost my mind! Since I've started eating Paleo, my appetite is more satisfied than before, when I was eating more carbs and more processed foods. Imagine that... being more satisfied with more protein, fruits, and veggies instead of processed junk that's full of fillers and preservatives! I'm going to start listening to my body when it comes to food. When my body tells me I'm hungry, I'll eat. When it signals that I'm full, I'll stop eating. I'll still watch my portions and watch my fruit intake so that I don't hinder my weight loss, but I won't be counting calories on MFP for the time being. Now, on the occasional day that I do stray from a Paleo diet, I will be logging; carbs and sweets are easy to overeat, plain and simple.

How did your weigh-in go this week? What do you want to see next week? What's your plan to get there?

Weigh-In Wednesday

Linking up with Erin & Alex this week for weigh-in Wednesday! Go check out all the other blogs! :)

This week, I weighed in at 157.2 lbs. So I am down a few ounces, but not as much as I would have liked to have seen.

I've been failing miserably at following the Whole 30, but I am still following a Paleo diet. Over the past few days, I've been paying attention to the macronutrients of the foods I'm eating on MFP. I've been OVER on carbs every. single. day. So I'm working on that! It's one of my goals for the coming week(s).

I've been doing great with my workouts though! I even started with added cardio today! While the hubs was at Crossfit tonight, I did my first day of Couch to 5K... that's in addition to the Body Revolution workout I did this morning. I'm gonna keep doing that on hubs' Crossfit days (MWF)!

Starting next week, I'm going to start doing my weigh-ins on Sundays or Mondays. I'll still post my results on Wednesdays, but I'll be doing the actual weigh-in earlier in the week. The reason for this change is that I've noticed a trend with my Wednesday weigh-ins: my weight is always higher because, by Wednesday, I'm already sore from the workouts earlier the week. Sore muscles = water retention.

How did your week go, ladies?

Homemade Cranberry Larabars

I had to try one! :)

Now that the hubs and I are eating a mostly Paleo diet, I've been looking for quick and easy breakfast and snack ideas. Things that I can prep over the weekend, that we can both just grab on-the-go in the mornings during the week.

Last week, I made these Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Larabars. They were delicious! Since they were such a success, I decided to experiment with swapping ingredients a little.

I wanted to make them without the chocolate and I knew I already had some dried cranberries in my pantry. I think they turned out pretty yummy! :)

mmmmm!

Homemade Cranberry Larabars

Loosely adapted from Oh She Glows

Makes 10 bars (12 if you cut them smaller)

Ingredients:

1 cup cashews
1 cup dried cranberries
1 cup tightly packed pitted dates
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp sea salt
splash of lemon juice

Directions:

1. If the dates are stiff or dry, soak them in water for 30-60 minutes. Drain well and pat dry.

2. Add all ingredients to food processor and process until it looks crumbly and gooey and well-combined.

3. Line a 8" square pan with parchment paper. Add the mixture to the pan and spread evenly to the corners. Freeze for at least 30 minutes.

5. Slice into 10 evenly-sized bars. Store as you wish; I like to put them in snack-size ziploc bags or wrap them individually in cut-to-size parchment paper.

stored individually in snack bags

If you make them, let me know what you think! :)

I'm back from Disney World

... and I ate too much food. Too much of the foods that I know I need to avoid (i.e. carbs and sugar). I still logged it all in MFP though, and I was over my calorie limit by quite a lot one of those days.

And this morning, I was up almost two pounds on the scale! I have two days until my official weigh-in so I'm hoping it will be back down by then? That's a lot of hoping but we'll see. :)

One thing I did do right was bringing my Body Revolution DVDs with me! I'm on Week 2 of Phase 2 now and I did not want to get behind on my workout schedule. I brought my laptop to play the workouts, my resistance cable, and I used water bottles as my weights (something that Jillian has recommended before in her podcasts). :)

Hubby and I had a great time celebrating Valentine's Day together at WDW. I mean, we don't always have that opportunity to celebrate special occasions or holidays together since he is in the Navy.

Now that I'm back home, I'm mostly back on track and I've started the Whole30 challenge. I think my body is kinda in detox mode from all the foods I'd been avoiding up until this past weekend. After the pasta dinners and sweets, my body was just kinda like "what are you doing to me?"And I am sooo ready to feel back to normal again...

Weigh-In Wednesday

Well I decided to join in with Weigh-In Wednesday this week! I mean, I already do my official weigh-in on Wednesdays, so it only made sense! :)

I was down from last week to 157.4 lbs, but it still wasn't what I was hoping for. I sneaked a peek at the scale yesterday and it showed 157.0 lbs, and I think that may be a little more accurate, but yesterday wasn't weigh-in day! My weight has just been hovering between 156 and 158 for the past month (longer actually) and it has been really frustrating.

MFP Progress Screenshot for the past 30 days.

What I really want to see on that screenshot is 155 or lower! I'm hoping that once I start the Whole30 Challenge next week, I will be able to see that number on the scale and eventually see less than that.

I already suspect that my body doesn't like carbs (and sugar too) and that they are not my friend... no matter how yummy they are. It is reflected in the way my skin looks and the scale and the muffin top. With the Whole30, I'm hoping that I'll be able to confirm my suspicion.

Body Revolution Update and more...

Okay, so I haven't been very consistent with my postings on this blog as of late. But I am going to get better with that. Here's my goal: at least one new post per week. At the very least, I will update ya on how my workouts and eating are going and the direction my weight is headed in; after all, weight loss is the goal right now!

I have quite a few updates for you ladies:

First up: Body Revolution. On Saturday, I finished Phase 1!!! :) I started Phase 2 off yesterday with Workout 5, and let me tell you, my triceps are hurtin' today! But I want me some skinny(er) and toned up arms, so it's all good. No pain, no gain, right? I love that sore feeling I have the next day or two after a workout; it means they're working, even if the scale doesn't reflect that! Plus, I can do the advanced version of some of the moves now! :) It's so awesome!

I'm part of the MLFC Biggest Loser Challenge. Shout out to Jennifer for putting it together and receiving tons of emails each week with pictures of feet for weigh-in Wednesday! :) I haven't been super-successful on the scale lately, but I can tell that I'm getting so much stronger. I'm able to do more push-ups than I was before (and not those girl push-ups either!) and I can use more weight with the Body Revolution workouts. But I'm still really enjoying it; it keeps me focused on my goals and keeps me away from the bad stuff. I don't care about the prizes or being biggest loser of the week; I just want to get this weight off, keep it off, and be strong and healthy... and this challenge is helping keep me accountable with achieving those goals.

In my last post, I talked about the hubs considering starting Crossfit, and he did! Last week, he finished the "on-ramp" class and he went to his first official class last night. He's loving it and the atmosphere; he says everyone is very welcoming and friendly. He likes working out with a group; I on the other hand, would much rather workout at home!

Lastly, the hubs and I have been discussing the idea of going Paleo (no dairy, no grains), and have officially decided to give it a try. I have some health issues that I think will be lessened with this type of diet and the hubs is on board, so why not try it? I bought the book, "It Starts with Food" by Dallas and Melissa Hartwig and I'm almost done reading it. It's filled with information about the goodness of eating   real, whole foods and the effects that today's processed foods have on your body.

Later this week, hubs and I will be spending Valentine's Day weekend at Walt Disney World! :) We have annual passes, so why not take advantage? After all, we both love it there! I'll try my best not to indulge in too much pasta or sweets...

After Valentine's Day weekend, I will begin the Whole30 Challenge, which is covered in "It Starts with Food" and is basically a stricter version of the Paleo diet. For 30 days (possibly longer), I will have NO grains, dairy, added sugar, or legumes. After the 30 days, I will slowly begin to add in some of the foods and see how they affect my body.

So that's what's going on with me; what's up with you?

Body Revolution: Update

I finished my first week of Body Revolution and have begun my second week. I have to say, I'm missing the extra cardio that I was getting in with two videos a day in the first week! But I also don't want to get burnt out on the cardio videos from Body Revolution because I do have to stick with those for a month! Therefore, I plan on supplementing with other cardio videos I have on hand, and maybe jogging... that's a BIG maybe, though. I kind of despise running! lol It's just not my thing!

The workouts that I have and plan to supplement with Body Revolution, include:

Nike+ Kinect Training | Insanity | Nike Training Club | Turbo Fire

I got a little behind on my workouts this past weekend because hubs and I went up to Charleston so that he could run his first marathon! He did it in under 5 hours; he's already planning to run another one because he wants to improve his time! haha Anyway, I will be caught up on my workouts soon!

So, now that hubs has completed his marathon, he is considering joining a Crossfit gym! Oh boy, he hasn't begun yet, but I'm just waiting for the day that he comes home talking about going Paleo. If you follow me on Pinterest, then you may have noticed my Paleo recipe pins and boards! I'm just preparing! :) Although, I do believe it would be beneficial to me as well, as far as cutting out some carbs and sugar from my diet.

One thing I did get right this weekend was staying under or near my calorie goal each day! It payed off because I lost weight. :) I'm getting closer and closer to my next mini-goal (see sidebar) of 155 lbs! Can't wait to see that number on the scale, and then it will be on to my next mini-goal of 150.

It's a New Year

Happy 2013 ladies! So the last time I weighed in before Christmas vacation, I was 159.0. Today, I was 157.0! :) That's two away from my first mini-goal of 155.0! I'm so excited that I'm starting this new year off right.

The original plan was to workout while I was away with the Nike Training Club app, but that did not happen. I didn't have any room to pack my workout clothes in my bag! And I got a really bad chest cold Christmas night, which I still. have. blah!

I had planned on being well enough to get back to working out New Year's Day, but now, the plan is to start on Monday, as long as I'm better then. I certainly hope so! So, whenever I am well enough to workout, I will begin Jillian Michaels' Body Revolution, as long as I don't find out I'm preggo by then, ya know, obviously.

One thing I did get right, and will continue to do so is log my food intake on MFP. It helped me lose that two pounds. :)

Moving on...

New Year's Goals 2013

Money

-Pay off car loan 

-Stick to our budget (use cash) 

-Pay off credit card 

 Health & Fitness

-Reach my ultimate goal weight of 115

-If I don't reach that goal, at the very least I want to get down to 130 lbs 

-Exercise 5-6 days per week 

-Continue to log on MFP 

-Get pregnant!

Spontaneity While Staying On Track

Yesterday morning, I wanted to sleep in; hubs was ready for us to start our day (he's on leave for Christmas right now). To get me out of bed, he asked if I wanted to go to Disney for the day. :) That certainly woke me up, and of course, I said YES!

So we both got ready super fast, grabbed a couple bananas for breakfast, and hit the road to Orlando! We stopped for lunch at Wendy's on the way, and I was good and ordered a salad and water. BTW, if you haven't had their apple pecan chicken salad with pomegranate vinaigrette dressing is really good! I was determined to stay under my calorie goal for the day.

Wendy's Apple Pecan Chicken Salad

After a short break for lunch, we got back on the road and shortly arrived at Disney! Yay! We went to Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios, then back to Magic Kingdom before we came back home. Oh, and we also went and checked out the new Art of Animation Resort! It was so awesome and I definitely want to stay there sometime.

at half-staff for Sandy Hook victims

We got an early dinner at the Magic Kingdom; I stuck with water the whole day, and even brought my pink Camelbak water bottle with me (and yes, I got all my water in for the day, too! :). I got a BBQ pork sandwich with a cucumber salad and ate a few of the hubs' fries. lol

Once it got dark, we got a snack because we were hungry again; the candied pecans are one of my favorites, so I got that and hubs got gingerbread hot chocolate... and later, he also got a GIANT cinnamon roll and an apple cider-type drink in the new Beauty and the Beast/The Little Mermaid section called LeFou's Brew. Yes, he's skinny and can eat whatever he wants. LOL

So, below is (most of) the summary from yesterday on MFP. I had to guesstimate on the BBQ sandwich, but I'm pretty proud of myself for not just saying, "screw it, I'm not logging and I'm having a 'cheat' day!" That's what I would have done before when put in this situation. I'm learning how to stay on track with this new healthy lifestyle even when I'm around delicious Disney food. :) And I'm super proud of that!

New Plan

Weigh-In: 157.8 lbs (total 10P/10D loss: 3.8 lbs)

You may have noticed that I didn't post yesterday about 10 Pounds in 10 Days, and that's because I'm not doing it anymore. I'm not big on "diets" to begin with, and eating the same foods at every meal, every day, was getting old. I prefer to eat what I want, when I want, but not eat so much that I begin to gain weight. The main reason I even wanted to do it was because my weight was stuck around 160. And the five (almost six) days that I did the diet, I did get past that. And that's exactly what I wanted. So, back to my normal eating... yay food! ha

I'm back to logging on MFP (add me!), and my plan is to stay under my calories and get back to my normal workouts. Tomorrow, I will start doing my Nike Training Club workouts from my phone again.  And I plan to do these workouts while out of town for Christmas too! There's no sense in starting back to my Nike+ Kinect workout plan if I'm going to be out of town so soon, with no access to a Kinect. 

Today, I cleaned my oven. It was looking pretty horrible! But, it looks pretty good now, if I do say so myself! :) I'm counting it as my workout for the day; I'm sure my arms will be feeling it tomorrow!

After I cleaned the oven, I baked some cookies, but I only ate a few! :) I could eat them all, honestly. I l.o.v.e. cookies, especially when they're fun, like a ninja and Darth Vader! lol But I practiced self-control.

I created a new goal for myself this week. I want to drink 24 oz of water at every meal, including snacks throughout the week. And I hope to continue doing so through my Christmas vacation and into the new year. When I get out of my usual routine, like going out of town to visit family, I tend to get off track with the amount of water I drink. That is something I will definitely be focusing on during that time. 

What are your goals for the week?

10P/10D: Day 6

Weigh-In Day 4: 157.4 lbs (-.2, -4.2 total)

Tonight was date night, so hubs and I went out to eat at a local Mexican restaurant called Pepper's. I know, not ideal when you're on a diet, but after getting sick after breakfast this morning (see below), and eating my diet food for 5 days in a row (again, that's an accomplishment within itself!), I felt like I needed something more substantial than chicken and broccoli. Not to mention, I was getting really sick of chicken. :) We'll see how bad that was for the diet tomorrow morning. For now, I'm practically chugging water to try to counteract at least some of it!

Food

Breakfast: oatmeal (maple and brown sugar), green tea with Splenda, and water (umm yeah, I puked all that up right after I ate it)
Lunch: sandwich with mustard, spinach, and tomato, and water
Dinner: chips, salsa, and chimichanga

Workout

No workout today. I wasn't feeling so hot after breakfast, so I pretty much took a day-long nap. ha!

Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5 | Day 7 | Day 8 | Day 9 | Day 10 | Final Results

10P/10D: Day 5

Weigh-In Day 4: 157.6 lbs (-1, -4 total)

I'm sure you're getting bored with these posts by now! ;) It's kinda the same thing every day. But the good thing is that, if you were considering trying this diet, you know that it's working for me! :) And I'm not even following the diet to a T... and that means it could work for you too. It would probably even be easier for you if you're not such a picky eater like me.

Food

Breakfast: oatmeal (maple and brown sugar), green tea with Splenda, and water
Snack: apple slices, almonds, and water
Snack: peanut butter and water
Linner: sandwich with mustard, chicken, spinach, and tomato, and water

Workout

I did Day 5 from the book today. It involved weight-lifting with no cardio breaks.

Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 6 | Day 7 | Day 8 | Day 9 | Day 10 | Final Results

10P/10D: Day 4

Weigh-In Day 4: 158.6 lbs (+.6, -3 total)

Well, that just goes to show you that exercise is an important part of this diet! It's not all about the food. Some of you have asked me on MLFC if I've been hungry on this diet, and honestly, I really haven't been hungry.

Food

Breakfast: oatmeal (maple and brown sugar), green tea, and water. Again, I added Splenda to the green tea; no grapefruit today.
Snack: apple slices, water, almonds
Snack: peanut butter and water. I skipped the celery again (big surprise ;).
Linner: sandwich with mustard, chicken, spinach, and tomato, and water. Again, I didn't use the avocado or sprouts.

Workout

Today, I did Day 3 and Day 4 workouts to make up for missing yesterday's workout. Treadmill HIIT for Day 3. Weight-lifting for Day 4.

Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 5 | Day 6 | Day 7 | Day 8 | Day 9 | Day 10 | Final Results

10P/10D: Day 3

Weigh-In Day 3: 158.0 lbs (-2, -3.6 total)

There's really not much of anything new today. I'm still sticking to the diet, which I think might be a record for me sticking to a diet! The old me would have already caved and eaten a juicy burger and sweet potato fries. (mmm that sounds good!) I think between my husband and y'all reading my blog, I feel obligated to finish this! So, thank you! :)

Food

Breakfast: oatmeal (maple and brown sugar), green tea, and water. Again, I added Splenda to the green tea; I also omitted the grapefruit today, just because I didn't want it.
Snack: apple slices, water, almonds
Lunch: sandwich with mustard, spinach, and tomato, and water. Again, I didn't use the avocado or sprouts.
Snack: peanut butter and water. I skipped the celery again (big surprise ;).
Dinner: chicken, broccoli, and water
Snack: green tea. I haven't needed this after dinner at all yet.

Workout

I didn't get around to doing the workout for Day 3 today, so I plan to double up tomorrow!

Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 4 | Day 5 | Day 6 | Day 7 | Day 8 | Day 9 | Day 10 | Final Results

10P/10D: Day 2

Weigh-In Day 2: 160.0 lbs (-1.6)

I was in a really bad mood today, but I still stuck with the eating and the workout for today, for the most part... I may have eaten a small piece of chocolate or two. And by may, I mean I did! *side note: The hubs said I needed to tell you how awesome he was today by helping me clean the house and trying to cheer me up. :)

Food

Breakfast: oatmeal (maple and brown sugar), green tea, and water. Again, I added Splenda to the green tea; I also omitted the grapefruit today, just because I didn't want it.
Snack: apple slices, water, almonds
Lunch: sandwich with mustard, spinach, and tomato, and water. Again, I didn't use the avocado or sprouts. (I don't think that will change in the next eight days either :)
Snack: peanut butter and water. I skipped the celery again.
Dinner: chicken, broccoli, and water
Snack: green tea. Still didn't drink it today, but again, I will if I need to. (I ended up not needing it last night)

Workout

I did the Day 2 workout from the book. It was more weight-lifting with jump-rope breaks. I used 5 and 10 lb weights today; my arms were pretty sore from yesterday's workout!

Stay tuned for Day 3 tomorrow!

Day 1 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5 | Day 6 | Day 7 | Day 8 | Day 9 | Day 10 | Final Results

10P/10D: Day 1

Weigh-In Day 1: 161.6 lbs

Whoops! Last night, hubs and I went to a friend's birthday party. We had a blast! It was bacon themed; not that I actually had any bacon, because the smell of it was making me nauseous! But I had some cake, a can of Coke, and quite a bit of cheesy bread (I had to pick the bacon off, of course :). I didn't prepare by taking my water bottle with me like I usually would, so that's the reason for the Coke, which I totally regret!

Today, I started Jackie Warner's 10 Pounds in 10 Days diet. I honestly wasn't hungry throughout the day.

Food

Breakfast: oatmeal, grapefruit, green tea, and water. I had to add a little Splenda to the green tea to be able to drink it.
Snack: apple slices, water, almonds
Lunch: sandwich with mustard, spinach, and tomato, and water. I didn't use the avocado or sprouts.
Snack: peanut butter and water. I skipped the celery; I just wasn't feelin' it today. And I subbed peanut butter for almond butter.
Dinner: chicken, broccoli, and water. I actually couldn't even finish it all, because I was full!
Snack: green tea. I haven't had this yet, but I might if I need it.

Workout

I did the workout that Jackie provided in the book for Day 1. There was a warm up, cool down, and weight-lifting exercises with cardio (jump-rope) breaks in between. I used 5 and 15 pound weights for the exercises. The workout was pretty tough, but not nearly as tough as the workouts I normally do; but that's definitely a good thing, since the calories are low for this first phase.

I'll be back tomorrow to tell you about how Day 2 went!

Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5 | Day 6 | Day 7 | Day 8 | Day 9 | Day 10 | Final Results

Happy December!

Yesterday was December 1st. I decided to start the month off right with a workout! I played the Nike+ Kinect Training game. I only did about 20 minutes, and today, I. am. sore. There were some insane one-legged squats that killed my thighs and butt.

I really love this workout (game?) though. It allows you to enter your stats, and choose from three options: Get Toned, Get Lean, or Get Strong. It even lets you choose how many days and which days you'd like to do it. I chose "Get Lean" six days per week (M-Sa) since I am trying to lose fat/weight. So really, it's like having a personal trainer at home, because it tells you what you need to do to get the results you want. It even tells you to correct your form if you're not doing it quite right!

I'm going to continue doing Nike+ Kinect Training workouts, because I really like them so far and it's a great workout in 30 minutes or less.

I just started reading a book by Jackie Warner, called 10 Pounds in 10 Days: The Secret Celebrity Program for Losing Weight Fast. I know it probably sounds like a fad diet, but once I'm done reading the book, I'm planning on trying it. It's a 30 day program, with 10 days of low calorie, 10 days of moderate, and 10 days of high; at least, that's my understanding of it thus far. I'll let you know what I think of the book once I'm done with it!

The reason I'm considering this is because 1) I'd like to lose 10 pounds this month, and 2) my eating needs to improve. This diet will help me get back on track with eating healthy foods to fuel my workouts rather than junk, which just works against all my hard work!

Well, that's all for now! I'll keep y'all posted! :)